TREMENDOUS TAKEOFF: In just second year in diving, Palmer junior wins state title

ANCHORAGE — Valley divers took over the podium at the ASAA/First National Bank State Swim and Dive Championships at Bartlett High School on Saturday. Junior Chloe Hartman of Palmer won the state title and Tanner Belliston of Colony finished as the runner-up in the girls’ and boys’ classes of the 1 meter dive.

Hartman edged Wasilla’s Jayde Chan, the Region III champion, by only 3.3 points to win the state title and become the first Palmer athlete to reach the podium in girls’ diving since former Palmer standout Richelle Knapp won it all in 2000. Colony’s Eileen Cyr finished fourth.

Three of the four spots on the podium were filled with Valley divers. Carrie Mayer of Wasilla placed fifth and Tyler Coffman of Palmer took sixth.

Belliston placed second, a week after winning the Region III dive title, and Eli Krozel placed sixth for Colony in the boys’ dive.

Hartman won the title in just her second year of diving. After 11 years of competitive cheer and tumbling, Hartman went to the diving board and took off.

Quite literally.

Fueled by the friendship and competition of Chan, Hartman threw a back somersault two-and-a-half twist with a degree of difficulty of 2.7 en route to her championship.

"Honestly I never expected I would get state champion,” Hartman said. “It turned into something really fun and being something new this year. I started raising my goals a lot more because I realized how competitive it was and that I actually had a chance of winning.”

In his seventh year as Palmer dive coach, Jerry Godden said he was dealt good cards. Hartman is the first state champion diver he has coached, and her background in cheer was fundamental in her progression as a diver. Coffman has a background in gymnastics.

"I'd say probably July she came out of her shell and started to excel and allowed her to chase after Jayde," Godden said.

Overall, Godden said he’s thrilled with the work of his divers.

"To the moon," Godden said. "So proud of Chloe that it feels incredible."

Colony found the podium in many swimming events as well. The boys 200 freestyle relay team of Jake Simmons, Konnor Kolberg, Ryan Chastain and Gabe Vestri-Giovanni placed second. That team also placed fourth in the 400 freestyle relay.

Vestri-Giovanni took second in the 100 freestyle and third in the 50 free. Vestri-Giovanni's critical time of 21.26 in the last leg of the 200 freestyle relay was his fastest lap of the day, helping the Knights reach the podium.

Camille Dayton of Colony placed third in the girls’ 200 individual medley and fifth in the 100 butterfly.

Simmons was within a 10th of a second of the title in both of his individual events. Simmons placed second in the 100 fly with a time of 49.50, just nine-hundredths of a second behind Kodiak's Talon Lindquist. Simmons’ time of 51.17 was just seven-hundredths behind Thunder Mountain's Casey Hamilton.

Palmer's Snelders siblings had a record-breaking day in the pool as well. Senior Max Snelders broke his own school record in the 100 and 200 freestyle races. He placed fourth in both events.

Max's younger sister Gretchen, a sophomore, features a rare combination of prowess in both the sprint and the stamina events. She took third in the 50 free with a time of 24.80, and also took fourth in the 500 free with a time of 5:24.90.

Hartman was surprised by her own victory. She plans to dive for the Northern Lights swim club this winter as well as attending a dive camp to improve on her already state champion talent.

"I didn't think I had the potential. It's just crazy getting first. That's the way to end a year. I'm really excited to go into next year and try a bunch of new dives," Hartman said. "I just love the people and the experience that I get to have and I look forward to going to every meet and seeing all the girls and talking to them and building that relationship with them."

Tim Rockey is a freelance writer for the Frontiersman. Contact him at timothy.rockey@gmail.com.

ASAA/First National Bank State Swim and Dive Championships

Saturday, Bartlett Pool

Boys team scores:

1, Thunder Mountain High School, 94. 2, Dimond High School, 91. 3, Kodiak High School, 64. 4, Colony High School, 61. 5, Service High School, 56. 6, Kenai Central High School, 33. 6, Eagle River High School, 33. 8, Wasilla High School, 18. 9, Lathrop High School, 13. 9, Sitka High School, 13. 11, Palmer High School, 10. 12, Hutchinson High School, 9. 12, Bartlett High School, 9. 14, South Anchorage High School, 8. 14, West Valley, 8. 16, North Pole High School, 6. 16, West Anchorage High School, 6. 18, Soldotna High School, 5. 19, Juneau Douglas High School, 3. 19, Chugiak High School, 3. 19, Petersburg High School, 3. 22, Seward High School, 1.

Girls team scores:

1, Dimond High School, 97. 2, Kodiak High School, 92. 3, Sitka High School, 86. 4, Chugiak High School, 37. 4, South Anchorage High School, 37. 6, Soldotna High School, 31. 7, Homer High School, 30. 8, Palmer High School, 23. 8, West Valley, 23. 10, Colony High School, 22. 11, Bartlett High School, 18. 12, Eagle River High School, 12. 12, Lathrop High School, 12. 14, Wasilla High School, 11. 15, West Anchorage High School, 5. 16, Monroe High School, 4. 16, Thunder Mountain High School, 4. 18, Juneau Douglas High School, 3. 18, Ketchikan High School, 3. 20, Hutchinson High School, 1.

Individual results:

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay — 1, Kodiak High School (Marina Cummiskey , Leslie Spear , Devon Cummiskey , Hannah Glover ), 1:49.22. 2, Sitka High School, 1:49.27. 3, Dimond High School 1:53.52. 4, Homer High School , 1:53.86.

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay — 1, Thunder Mountain High School (Casey Hamilton , Bergen Davis , Spencer Holt , Chris Ray ), 1:36.47. 2, Service High School , 1:38.28. 3, Kenai Central High School, 1:42.39. 4, Dimond High School , 1:42.99.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle — 1, Marina Cummiskey, KHS, 1:53.22. 2, Erin Moody, DHS, 1:54.91. 3, Skylar Moore, SITKA, 1:58.08. 4, Emma Cegelka, DHS, 1:59.21.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle — 1, Maximus Addington, DHS, 1:41.67. 2, Alex Suleimani, LHS, 1:42.09. 3, Spencer Holt, TMHS, 1:42.26. 4, Max Snelders, PHS, 1:44.28.

Girls 200 Yard IM — 1, Jessica Davis, SITKA, 2:11.00. 2, Summer Cheng, SAHS, 2:11.47. 3, Camille Dayton, COLHS, 2:12.59. 4, Devon Cummiskey, KHS, 2:13.52.

Boys 200 Yard IM — 1, Talon Lindquist, KHS, 1:50.08. 2, Bergen Davis, TMHS, 1:53.07. 3, Casey

Hamilton, TMHS, 1:53.21. 4, John Heaphy, ERHS, 1:59.09.

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle — 1, Wanlaya Jarupakorn, BHS, 24.60. 2, Sydney Juliussen, SOHI, 24.74. 3, Gretchen Snelders, PHS, 24.80. 4, Katy McCarther, LHS, 24.82.

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle — 1, Reed Dittlinger, DHS, 20.48. 2, Caleb Law, SHS, 20.80. 3, Gabe Vestri Giovanni, COLHS, 21.53. 4, Samuel Horning, ERHS, 21.57.

Girls 1 mtr Diving — 1, Chloe Hartman, PHS, 380.95. 2, Jayde Chan, WW, 377.65. 3, Madison Cook, SAHS, 364.90. 4, Eileen Cyr, COLHS, 336.85.

Boys 1 mtr Diving — 1, Ethan Larson, BHS, 508.05. 2, Tanner Belliston, COLHS, 472.00. 3, Holt Dannenberg, WHS, 456.60. 4, Kylin Welch, SOHI, 436.85.

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly — 1, Marina Cummiskey, KHS, 57.77. 2, Wanlaya Jarupakorn, BHS, 57.85. 3, Devon Cummiskey, KHS, 58.40. 4, Summer Cheng, SAHS, 58.98.

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly — 1, Talon Lindquist, KHS, 49.41. 2, Jake Simmons, COLHS, 49.50. 3, Spencer Holt, TMHS, 49.57. 4, Reed Dittlinger, DHS, 49.78.

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle — 1, Erin Moody, DHS, 52.91. 2, Katy McCarther, LHS, 53.70. 3, Emma Cegelka, DHS, 54.19. 4, Cheyenne Burke, CHS, 54.28.

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle — 1, Caleb Law, SHS, 46.27. 2, Gabe Vestri Giovanni, COLHS, 46.47. 3, Maximus Addington, DHS, 46.67. 4, Max Snelders, PHS, 46.74.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle —1, Camryn Williams, DHS, 5:23.30. 2, Grace Harang, SITKA, 5:24.28. 3, Emi Soldwedel, DHS, 5:24.52. 4, Gretchen Snelders, PHS, 5:24.90.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle — 1, Raymie Matiashowski, TMHS, 4:52.62. 2, Chris Ray, TMHS, 4:54.26. 3, Daniel Smith, KHS, 4:55.11. 4, Andrew Walch, DHS, 4:55.15.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Sitka High School (Whitney McArthur , Kyleigh McArthur , Jessica Davis , Skylar Moore ), 1:39.26. 2, Dimond High School, 1:39.37. 3, Kodiak High School, 1:41.35. 4, Homer High School , 1:41.84.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Dimond High School (Maximus Addington , Jesse Tatakis , Nate Flores , Reed Dittlinger ), 1:26.35. 2, Colony High School , 1:28.05. 3, Eagle River High School , 1:29.24. 4, Kodiak High School , 1:29.90.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke — 1, Jessica Davis, SITKA, 58.81. 2, Cheyenne Burke, CHS, 1:00.61. 3, Aubrey Cheng, SAHS, 1:01.66. 4, Ellie Mercer, ERHS, 1:02.04.

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke — 1, Casey Hamilton, TMHS, 51.10. 2, Jake Simmons, COLHS, 51.17. 3, Savaii Heaven, KCHS, 53.72. 4, Brian Jarupakorn, SHS, 54.59.

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, Skylar Moore, SITKA, 1:05.43. 2, Patty Eppingher, WVHS, 1:08.42. 3, Madison Story, HOMER, 1:08.55. 4, Anastasia Chen, WVHS, 1:09.05.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, Bergen Davis, TMHS, 57.42. 2, John Heaphy, ERHS, 57.68. 3, Alex Suleimani, LHS, 58.61. 4, Anders Hocum, KHS, 1:00.12.

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Dimond High School (Emma Cegelka , Mikayla Terry , Breckynn Willis , Erin Moody ), 3:37.33. 2, Kodiak High School , 3:44.24. 3, Soldotna High School , 3:47.69. 4, South Anchorage High School , 3:48.73.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1, Dimond High School (Reed Dittlinger , Jesse Tatakis , Andrew Walch , Maximus Addington ), 3:10.34. 2, Thunder Mountain High School , 3:11.27. 3, Kodiak High School , 3:12.82. 4, Colony High School , 3:14.10.