Records fall as Valley athletes win region dive, swim titles

WASILLA — For the bulk of his high school career, Brayden Schachle has been the top boys’ diver in his region. Now, the Wasilla High senior can boast the best Region III mark in the event ever.

Schachle, the two-time defending state champion, captured his third straight region title with a record-breaking performance during the Region III Championships in Kodiak. Schachle crushed the prior mark of 516.16 points, setting a new Region III record with 587.15.

“We could not have asked for a better weekend,” Valley diving coach Wendy DiGerlando said by cellphone earlier this week.

To give Schachle’s historic total a frame of reference, the boys’ 1 meter diving record at the state championships is 517.25 points, set by Alvin Spencer of Chugiak in 1982. Last year, Schachle won his second state title with a total of 491.35, the fourth highest total ever in the event at the state championships. State records can only be broken at the state meet. Schachle also finished more than 140 points ahead of the runner up in the 2016 region meet. Colony’s Tanner Belliston was second with 443.10.

DiGerlando, who coaches both the Wasilla and Colony divers, said Schachle actually broke the region record following his 10th dive, with one dive left to go. As far as the state record, DiGerlando said the region meet marked the third time this season that Schachle unofficially broke the state record. Schachle also bested Spencer’s mark at the Valley Invitational and the Chugiak/Bartlett Invite.

For more on Schachle, see the Friday edition of the Frontiersman.

Schachle was one of a pair of Valley athletes to set region records Saturday. Colony’s Camille Dayton also etched her name in the record book, breaking the mark in the girls’ 100 butterfly. Dayton posted a time of 58.78 seconds in the event to set a new record. Dayton earned a pair of individual titles for the second straight season to help the Knights finish as the runner-up in the girls’ standings for the second straight year. Dayton’s win in the 100 butterfly was her second straight. She also captured a region title in the 200 individual medley.

Dayton’s work helped the Knights finish with 77 total points, four shy of Soldotna, which scored the girls’ team title for the second straight year.

Eileen Cyr and Madeline Vig also earned region titles for the Knights. Cyr earned her second straight title in the girls’ 1 meter diving event. Last year, Cyr edged Kenai’s Mikaela Pitsch by just a tenth of a point. This year, Cyr finished with 342.35 points, just about three points ahead of Pitsch.

Vig earned a region championship in the 100 breastroke.

Jake Simmons also won a region title for the Knights, finishing first in the 200 individual medley.

Dayton, Vig and Cyr were among nine Knights to finish in the top 6 during the finals. Alexis Mattson was second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 500 freestyle. Samantha Belliston finished third in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 butterfly. Erika Farring (third in the 100 butterfly), Sarah Crosley (fourth in the 50 freestyle), Kati Laasch-Gray (fifth in the 100 breaststroke) and Kendyl Laughlin (sixth in the 100 freestyle) also swam in the top 6 for the Knights.

Gretchen Snelders used a pair of top-3 finishes to help Palmer finish fourth in the girls’ standings with 55 total points. Snelders was second in the 500 freestyle and third in the 50 freestyle. Savannah Geffken, Ashtyn Peterson and Julia Beck also placed in a pair of events. Geffken was third in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 500 freestyle. Beck placed fifth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle. Kameela Fletcher (fourth in the 100 butterfly), Rachel Hanson (fifth in diving) and Maria Beck (sixth in 100 backstroke) also placed for the Moose.

Simmons helped Colony finish third in the boys’ team standings with 38 total points. Simmons earned his region title in the 200 individual medley, and was second in the 100 butterfly. Belliston was second in the diving event, and Ryan Chastain finished fourth in the 100 butterfly.

Palmer placed fifth in the boys’ standings with 29 points. Max Snelders led the Moose with runner-up finishes in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Nick Geffken was fifth for Palmer in the 100 freestyle, and Dakota Olson placed fourth for PHS in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 500 freestyle.

Wasilla finished sixth in the boys’ team standings with 28 points. Three of the five Warriors who placed do so in the diving event. In addition to Schachle’s win, Elijah Chan was third and Theodore Fussell finished sixth. Koya Barrette was also fourth in the 100 backstroke and Miles Laughlin finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

Each region champion in the individual events earns an automatic bid to the ASAA/First National Bank State Swimming and Diving Championships, which starts Friday in Juneau. In addition to the four region champions in the state in each event, the next 12 best times from the region meets across the state in each event earn spots in state.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Region III Championships

Friday-Saturday, Kodiak

Girls team scores:

1. Soldotna, 81; 2. Colony, 77; 3. Kodiak, 71; 4. Palmer, 55; 5. Homer, 24; 6. Kenai, 11; 7. Valdez 8.

Girls’ finals:

200-yard medley relay — 1. Soldotna, 1:55.75; 2. Colony, 1:57.87; 3. Palmer, 1:59.46; 4. Kodiak, 2:03.07; 5. Kenai, 2:08.71; 6. Homer, 2:20.06.

200 freestyle — 1. Marina Cummiskey, Kodiak, 1:55.17; 2. Rachel Davidson, Soldotna, 2:06.92; 3. Savannal Geffken, Palmer, 2:08.62; 4. Madelyn Brennan, Soldotna, 2:11.02; 5. Julia Beck, Palmer, 2:12.13.

200 individual medley — 1. Camille Dayton, Colony, 2:14.03; 2. Lauren Kuhns, Homer, 2:14.28; 3. Samatha Belliston, Colony, 2:23.09; 4. Darby McMillan, Soldotna, 2:27.07; 5. Katie Creglow, Soldotna, 2:32.62; 6. Grace Keller, Valdez, 2:33.50.

50 freestyle — 1. Sydney Juliussen, Soldotna, 25.42; 2. Hannah Glover, Kodiak, 25.43; 3. Gretchen Snelders, Palmer, 25.50; 4. Sarah Crosley, Colony, 26.35; 5. Alia Bales, Homer, 26.44; 6. Rylee Norris, Valdez, 26.84.

1-meter diving — 1. Eileen Cyr, Colony, 342.35 points; 2. Mikaela Pitsch, Kenai, 339.25; 3. Lydia Stanford, Kodiak, 323.20; 4. Ryth Becket-Cook, Homer, 298.85; 5. Rachel Hanson, Palmer, 274.55; 6. Annalyn Brown, Homer, 268.40.

100 butterfly — 1. Camille Dayton, Colony, 58.78; 2. Portia Padilla, Soldotna, 1:03.90; 3. Erika Farring, Colony, 1:05.65; 4. Kameela Fletcher, Palmer, 1:05.74; 5. Samantha Belliston, Colony, 1:06.19; 6. Darby McMillan, Soldotna, 1:08.49.

100 freestyle — 1. Marina Cummiskey, Kodiak, 53.76; 2. Hannah Glover, Kodiak, 56.00; 3. Sydney Juliussen, Soldotna, 56.08; 4. Madelyn Brennan, Soldotna, 56.70; 5. Molly Blackmon, Kodiak, 57.84; 6. Kendyl Laughlin, Colony, 58.83.

500 freestyle — 1. Lauren Kuhns, Homer, 5:21.42; 2. Gretcher Snelders, Palmer, 5:32.52; 3. Alexis Mattson, Colony, 5:43.11; 4. Savannah Geffken, Palmer, 5:48.23; 5. Cheyane Sundberg, Kodiak, 5:54.90; 6. Julia Beck, Palmer, 5:58.91.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak, 1:42.77; 2. Palmer, 1:45.57; 3. Soldotna, 1:46.05; 4. Colony, 1:47.53; 5. Valdez, 1:54.73; 6. Kenai, 1:56.54.

100 backstroke — 1. Portia Padilla, Soldotna, 1:03.95; 2. Rachel Davidson, Soldotna, 1:04.50; 3. Olivia Apitz, Kodiak, 1:04.74; 4. Ashtyn Petersen, Palmer, 1:06.73; 5. Grace Keller, Valdez, 1:06.97; 6. Maria Beck, Palmer, 1:07.32.

100 breaststroke — 1. Madeline Vig, Colony, 1:09.89; 2. Alexis Mattson, Colony, 1:10.94; 3. Katie Greglow, Soldotna, 1:12.74; 4. Ashtyn Petersen, Palmer, 1:15.48; 5. Kati Laasch-Gray, Colony, 1:17.20; 6. Delaney Johnson, Kodiak, 1:17.40.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak, 3:44.19; 2. Soldotna, 3:45.76; 3. Colony, 3:51.86; 4. Palmer, 4:03.71; 5. Homer, 4:34.14.

Boys’ team scores:

1. Kodiak, 130; 2. Soldotna, 58; 3. Colony, 38; 4. Kenai, 30; 5. Palmer, 29; 6. Wasilla, 28; 7. Unalaska, 7; 8. Homer, 6; 9. Seward, 1.

Boys’ finals:

200-yard medley relay — 1. Kodiak, 1:40.68; 2. Soldotna, 1:41.37; 3. Kenai, 1:48.86; 4. Wasilla, 1:49.49; 5. Unalaska, 1:54.23; 6. Homer, 1:56.03.

200 freestyle — 1. Talon Lindquist, Kodiak, 1:40.43; 2. Jacob Hall, Soldotna, 1:47.11; 3. Dan Lambert, Kodiak, 1:48.40; 4. Dakota Olson, Palmer, 1:52.94; 5. Hunter Reese, Kenai, 1:53.95; 6. Nathan James, Kodiak, 1:55.69.

200 individual medley — 1. Jake Simmons, Colony, 1:58.44; 2. Luke James, Kodiak, 2:03.07; 3. Baxter Anderson, Kodiak, 2:03.45; 4. Jacob Creglow, Soldotna, 2:04.29; 5. Nevin Lee, Kodiak, 2:04.71; 6. Caleb Frederickson, Soldotna, 2:20.54.

50 freestyle — 1. Cody Watkins, Soldotna, 21.71; 2. Max Snelders, Palmer, 21.87; 3. Nathan Schauff, Kodiak, 22.42; 4. Graham Burnside, Kodiak, 22.82; 5. Gus Hanson, Kodiak, 23.12; 6. Adam Nguyen, Unalaska, 23.40.

1-meter diving — 1. Brayden Schachle, Wasilla, 587.15; 2. Tanner Belliston, Colony, 443.10; 3. Elijah Chan, Wasilla, 422.70; 4. Kylin Welch, Soldotna, 417.05; 5. Ruben Ulatan, Kodiak, 406.95; 6. Theodore Fussell, Wasilla, 368.85.

100 butterfly — 1. Cody Watkins, Soldotna, 51.15; 2. Jake Simmons, Colony, 51.49; 3. Hunter Reese, Kenai, 55.32; 4. Ryan Chastain, Colony, 57.46; 5. Patrick Peralta, Kenai, 59.48; 6. Connor Spanos, Soldotna, 59.58.

100 freestyle — 1. Nathan Schauff, Kodiak, 48.78; 2. Graham Burnside, Kodiak, 49.83; 3. Savaii Heaven, Kenai, 50.74; 4. Luke James, Kodiak, 51.70; 5. Nick Geffken, Palmer, 53.87; 6. Nicholas Upton, Unalaska, 55.20.

500 freestyle — 1. Baxter Anderson, Kodiak, 4:52.11; 2. Jacob Hall, Soldotna, 4:53.18; 3. Dan Lambert, Kodiak, 4:54.47; 4. Daniel Smith, Kodiak, 5:05.00; 5. Dakota Olson, Palmer, 5:10.28; 6. Nathan James, Kodiak, 5:11.68.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak, 1:27.80; 2. Soldotna, 1:30.77; 3. Colony, 1:34.62; 4. Wasilla, 1:34.74; 5. Palmer, 1:35.87; 6. Kenai, 1:41.22.

100 backstroke — 1. Talon Lindquist, Kodiak, 49.75; 2. Max Snelders, Palmer, 54.27; 3. Gus Hanson, Kodiak, 54.58; 4. Koya Barrette, Wasilla, 56.65; 5. Savaii Heaven, Kenai, 56.96; 6. Adam Nguyen, Unalaska, 57.98.

100 breaststroke — 1. Jacob Creglow, Soldotna, 1:00.24; 2. Anders Hocum, Kodiak, 1:02.75; 3. Nevin Lee, Kodiak, 1:02.99; 4. Wesley Dumm, Kodiak, 1:03.62; 5. Eric Kempf, Kenai, 1:07.30; 6. Miles Laughlin, Wasilla, 1:08.53.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak, 3:13.41; 2. Colony, 3:28.63; 3. Palmer, 3:29.06; 4. Kenai, 3:30.71; 5. Homer, 3:53.95.