Stars edge Colony in race for girls swimming and diving title

VALDEZ — The Colony Knights girls swimming and diving team was on a mission to dethrone region power Kodiak, and break Kodiak’s run of nine straight region titles. Kodiak’s streak was snapped. But it was Soldotna that surged to the top of the standings.

Soldotna edged Colony by five points in the team standings to win the girls title during the Region III Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday in Valdez.

Colony finished with 77 total points to finish as the runner-up in the standings. Camille Dayton captured a pair of titles to lead the Knights. Dayton clocked a time of 1 minute, 1.82 seconds to win the 100-yard backstroke. She also scored gold in the 100 butterfly, with her time of 1:00.90.

Eileen Cyr won the girls diving event, with 321.30 points, edging Kenai’s Mikaela Pitsch by less than a 10th of a point.

The Colony girls also earned a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay, and finished second in the 200 medley relay.

Yanne Toussaint, Samantha Belliston and Anne Sullivan each swam to runner-up finishes in individual races. Toussaint was second in the 50 freestyle, Belliston was the runner-up in the 200 individual medley and Sullivan was second in the 100 breaststroke. Toussaint added a third-placed finish in the 100 freestyle, Belliston was fourth in the 100 butterfly and Alexis Mattson was fourth in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 500 freestyle, and Sarah Crosley finished sixth in the 50 freestyle for the Colony girls.

Colony also featured a double winner on the boys’ side. Joseph Anderson led the Colony boys with wins in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Anderson posted a time of 2:00.47 to win the 200 IM, and finished first with a mark of 59.35 seconds in the 100 breaststroke.

Anderson helped Colony finish third overall.

Palmer’s Millie Snelders and Wasilla’s Brayden Schachle also won individual titles.

Snelders finished first in the girls 200 IM, with a time of 2:19.13. Schachle captured his second straight region diving title, with 473.15 total points. Schachle enters the upcoming state meet as the defending state champion in the boys dive.

In addition to Anderson’s wins, third-place Colony also posted a victory in the boys’ 200 individual medley. Jake Simmons (100 butterfly) and Tanner Belliston (boys diving) earned runner-up finishes for the Colony boys. Elliottg Amato was third in the 100 breaststroke, Ryan Chastain finished fifth in the 500 freestyle and Alex Zimmerman was sixth in the boys dive for Colony.

Palmer finished fourth in both the boys and girls standings.

Snelders added a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke to her win in the 200 IM. Sydney Howe finished fourth in the girls dive, Savannah Geffken was fifth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle for the Moose girls.

Max Snelders led the Palmer boys with a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle, and a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Gabe Waldhaus was third in the boys dive, and Nick Geffken was fifth n the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle.

In addition to Schachle’s win, John Boston was sixth in both the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestlye for the Wasilla boys.

Region III Swimming and Diving Championships

Friday-Saturday, Valdez

Girls team standings:

1. Soldotna 82; 2. Colony 77; 3. Kodiak 73; 4. Palmer 39; 5. Kenai 18.50; 6. Homer 18; 7. Valdez 17.50; 8. Wasilla 2.

Boys team standings:

1. Kodiak 104; 2. Soldotna 71; 3. Colony 55; 4. Palmer 38; 5. Wasilla 24; 6. Kenai 23; 7. Homer 10; 8. Valdez 2.

Individual results:

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay — 1, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 1:53.65. 2, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 1:54.62. 3, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 2:01.12. 4, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 2:02.53. 5, Kenai Central High School-AK ‘A’ 2:06.61. --, Valdez High School-AK ‘A’ DQ.

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay— 1, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 1:40.04. 2, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 1:43.20. 3, Kenai Central High School-AK ‘A’ 1:49.46. 4, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 1:52.53. 5, Wasilla High School 2015-AK ‘A’ 1:52.87. 6, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 2:01.87.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle — 1, Cummiskey, Marina P, Bears, 1:56.40. 2, Kuhns, Lauren B, Homer-AK, 2:03.93. 3, Blackmon, Molly, Bears, 2:09.44. 4, Sundberg, Cheyanne, Bears, 2:14.96. 5, Geffken, Savannah, PHS-AK, 2:15.19. --, Beck, Julia, PHS-AK, DQ. (B - Final)

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle — 1, Lindquist, Talon j, Bears, 1:41.27. 2, Hall, Jacob, SOHI-AK, 1:46.97. 3, Lambert, Dan J, Bears, 1:50.61. 4, Reese, Hunter, KCHS-AK, 1:55.24. 5, Geffken, Nick, PHS-AK, 1:55.29. 6, Smith, Daniel, Bears, 1:56.49

Girls 200 Yard IM — 1, Snelders, Millie, PHS-AK, 2:19.13. 2, Belliston, Samantha, Colony-AK, 2:26.20. 3, Cummiskey, Devon P, Bears, 2:26.77. 4, McMillan, Darby, SOHI-AK, 2:29.56. 5, McNelly, Josie L, VHS-AK, 2:36.46. 6, McDonald, JessiAnna, KCHS-AK, 2:36.69. PHS-AK, 2:39.77.

Boys 200 Yard IM — 1, Anderson, Joseph S, Colony-AK, 2:00.47. 2, James, Luke t, Bears, 2:03.87. 3, Creglow, Jacob, SOHI-AK, 2:03.93. 4, Anderson, Baxter M, Bears, 2:06.53. 5, Lee, Nevin C, Bears, 2:10.93. 6, Boston, John P, WWHS-AK, 2:19.16.

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle — 1, Juliussen, Sydney, SOHI-AK, 25.69. 2, Toussaint, Yanne A, Colony-AK, 25.74. 3, Glover, Hannah, Bears, 25.82. 4, McElroy, Claire, SOHI-AK, 26.48. 5, Norris, Rylee G, VHS-AK, 26.84. 6, Crosley, Sarah N, Colony-AK, 27.06.

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle — 1, Watkins, Cody, SOHI-AK, 21.94. 2, Snelders, Max, PHS-AK, 22.50. 3, Schauff, Nathan R, Bears, 22.66. 4, Hall, David, SOHI-AK, 22.77. 5, Burnside, Graham F, Bears, 24.03. 6, Heaven, Savaii, KCHS-AK, 24.08.

Girls 1 mtr Diving — 1, Cyr, Eileen M, Colony-AK, 321.30. 2, Pitsch, Mikaela, KCHS-AK, 321.25. 3, Rythem, Becket-Cook, Homer-AK, 283.25. 4, Howe, Sydney, PHS-AK, 280.10. 5, Metz, Annali, Homer-AK, 260.85. 6, Micael, Elianah, Bears, 240.40.

Boys 1 mtr Diving — 1, Schachle, Brayden, WWHS-AK, 473.15. 2, Belliston, Tanner T, Colony-AK, 410.30. 3, Waldhaus, Gabe, PHS-AK, 405.70. 4, Welch, Kylin, SOHI-AK, 378.90. 5, Hall, Ian H, Homer-AK, 342.60. 6, Zimmerman, Alex A, Colony-AK, 293.25.

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly — 1, Dayton, Camille R, Colony-AK, 1:00.90. 2, Cummiskey, Devon P, Bears, 1:04.09. 3, Padilla, Portia, SOHI-AK, 1:04.79. 4, Belliston, Samantha, Colony-AK, 1:06.49. 5, Doyel, Emily M, VHS-AK, 1:07.00. 6, McMillan, Darby, SOHI-AK, 1:11.43.

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly — 1, Lindquist, Talon j, Bears, 51.04. 2, Simmons, Jake J, Colony-AK, 52.69. 3, Watkins, Cody, SOHI-AK, 53.19. 4, Hannan, Sergius N, Homer-AK, 55.24. 5, Anderson, Baxter M, Bears, 56.92. 6, Reese, Hunter, KCHS-AK, 1:00.63.

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle — 1, Cummiskey, Marina P, Bears, 53.95. 2, Glover, Hannah, Bears, 57.28. 3, Toussaint, Yanne A, Colony-AK, 57.32. 4, Davidson, Rachel, SOHI-AK, 59.08. 5, Boone, Emily, SOHI-AK, 59.67. 6, Bolen, Cameron, Bears, 1:01.36.

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle — 1, Hall, David, SOHI-AK, 49.47. 2, Schauff, Nathan R, Bears, 49.73. 3, James, Luke t, Bears, 49.89. 4, Snelders, Max, PHS-AK, 50.20. 5, Burnside, Graham F, Bears, 52.60. 6, Geffken, Nick, PHS-AK, 53.13.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle — 1, Kuhns, Lauren B, Homer-AK, 5:29.27. 2, Juliussen, Sydney, SOHI-AK, 5:43.48. 3, Norris, Rylee G, VHS-AK, 5:58.33. 4, Sundberg, Cheyanne, Bears, 5:59.07. 5, Mattson, Alexis D, Colony-AK, 5:59.94. 6, Geffken, Savannah, PHS-AK, 6:08.84.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle — 1, Hall, Jacob, SOHI-AK, 4:57.93. 2, Lambert, Dan J, Bears, 4:58.71. 3, Smith, Daniel, Bears, 5:06.20. 4, Olson, Dakota, PHS-AK, 5:20.41. 5, Chastain, Ryan B, Colony-AK, 5:21.77. 6, James, Nathan G, Bears, 5:30.82.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – 1, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 1:44.44. 2, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 1:45.51. 3, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 1:46.98. 4, Valdez High School-AK ‘A’ 1:50.91. 5, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 1:51.62. 6, Kenai Central High School-AK ‘A’ 1:53.16.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 1:28.99. 2, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 1:29.24. 3, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 1:38.04. 4, Kenai Central High School-AK ‘A’ 1:39.56. 5, Wasilla High School 2015-AK ‘A’ 1:39.89. 6, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 1:41.67.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke — 1, Dayton, Camille R, Colony-AK, 1:01.82. 2, Davidson, Rachel, SOHI-AK, 1:05.23. 3, Padilla, Portia, SOHI-AK, 1:05.43. 4, Blackmon, Molly, Bears, 1:06.14. 5, Doyel, Emily M, VHS-AK, 1:08.21. 5, Pitsch, Mikaela, KCHS-AK, 1:08.21.

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke — 1, Hanson, Gus L, Bears, 56.41. 2, Hannan, Sergius N, Homer-AK, 57.80. 3, Heaven, Savaii, KCHS-AK, 59.10. 4, Barrette, Koya, WWHS-AK, 1:01.88. 5, Cummins, Chris S, VHS-AK, 1:02.06. --, Simmons, Jake J, Colony-AK, DQ.

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, McElroy, Claire, SOHI-AK, 1:08.40. 2, Sullivan, Anne R, Colony-AK, 1:11.30. 3, Snelders, Millie, PHS-AK, 1:11.60. 4, Mattson, Alexis D, Colony-AK, 1:13.22. 5, Johnson, Delaney M, Bears, 1:18.24. 6, Ivy, Faith J, KCHS-AK, 1:18.65.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, Anderson, Joseph S, Colony-AK, 59.35. 2, Creglow, Jacob, SOHI-AK, 1:01.91. 3, Amato, Elliott M, Colony-AK, 1:04.57. 4, Hocum, Anders R, Bears, 1:06.09. 5, Lee, Nevin C, Bears, 1:06.35. 6, Boston, John P, WWHS-AK, 1:06.70.

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 3:46.68. 2, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 3:48.42. 3, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 3:50.12. 4, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 4:10.43. 5, Kenai Central High School-AK ‘A’ 4:16.81. 6, Wasilla High School 2015-AK ‘A’ 4:28.85.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Kodiak High School ‘A’ 3:16.00. 2, Soldotna High School-AK ‘A’ 3:16.81. 3, Colony High School-AK ‘A’ 3:21.15. 4, Palmer High Swim and Dive-AK ‘A’ 3:58.62. 5, Wasilla High School 2015-AK ‘A’ 4:06.25.