Valley divers dominate at state meet

ANCHORAGE — The Wasilla Warriors dominated the diving board at the ASAA/First National Bank 2019 State Swim and Dive Championships at Bartlett Saturday.

Valley divers were prominent in the finals, but Wasilla’s Carrie Mayer and Andrew Layman each earned state 1 meter dive titles. Coming into the final round, Colony’s Eli Krozel held a slim lead, making the last three dives crucial for a handful of Valley divers competing in the finals. Layman received a total score of 464.65, Krozel trailing just behind him at 461.45.

“Me and Eli are actually like best friends since fourth grade and just to compete together all season was really fun and it just pushed me even more and it was fun and exciting,” Layman said.

Layman was joined in the finals by a crowd of Valley divers. Wasilla Warrior Kade Reynolds finished fourth, followed by his teammate Deshawn Campbell in seventh. Colony’s Xander Backus finished eighth.

“I’m a gymnast and this is my first year diving and I just decided to try and it and my gymnastics just carried over really well so it was really cool to see how my number one sport carries over to other areas in my life,” Layman said.

With the Valley’s three high school swim and dive teams confined to one pool, scheduling times became tough for some, but a hidden opportunity for others. Practicing from 5:45 to 7:15 a.m. on weekdays, Warriors dive coach Wendi Digerlando said that the Wasilla Warriors dive team featured a contingent of gymnasts who were able to dive because of the early morning practices. The trend for diving dominance in the Valley stretches over decades, but has made another resurgence to place six girls in the top 10 at state and five boys in the top 10. Wasilla’s Jayde Chan won in 2018 and Palmer’s Chloe Hartman won in 2017. Leading a group of determined divers, Mayer’s goal was to break 400 points, and she broke Chan’s school record in the process.

“I’ve got to thank her for like supporting me because she was like the reason I started diving so I’m very thankful that she is in my life,” Mayer said.

Mayer questioned Chan throughout the season, maintaining their relationship and seeking advice on how to improve her diving. Mayer is one of many Valley gymnasts making a habit of making a splash at the state meet.

“A lot of us are actually gymnasts from Denali Gymnastics so that’s like our home and we kind of transitioned it to diving and it’s really fun just to have two really good tight knit groups of friends,” Mayer said.

After leading the pack through the qualifying rounds, Mayer had broken 400 points and the title locked up before she even stepped on the board for her last dive. Mayer saved her best performance for last, executing her two flips and spin flawlessly and entering the water with hardly a splash. Mayer said that she was emotional before the dive, and wanted to end her high school diving career with the best effort she could.

While Wasilla dominated the diving board, Colony led Valley schools during the swim meet. Colony’s boys team earned the highest finish of any Valley school in the team standings, securing a sixth-place finish for the boys. Colony’s girls also led the Valley schools with a ninth-place finish. Wasilla and Palmer’s girls tied for 12th.

Konnor Kolberg led the Knights young core of swimmers that just came off a stellar performance at the region championships last week. Kolberg took fourth place in the 400-yard freestyle and took fourth place in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Colony Swim Coach Patrick Penoyar refers to the IM as Kolberg’s “I am good at swimming,” event.

“He’s not afraid to hurt and he really, really, really wants it,” Penoyar said of Kolberg.

The medley challenges swimmers to use each variety of stroke for 50 yards, and Kolberg held with the leaders until the final lap, finishing only .29 seconds behind third place with a time of 2:00.64. Kolberg also led the Knights hard charge for fourth place in the final and likely loudest event of the entire weekend, the 400 meter freestyle relay.

“You hear the noise they put everything on the line for these races and it’s kind of crazy that we spent an entire season, three months training for something that lasts under a minute,” Penoyar said.

The Knights team of Jonathan Cowin, Karson Kolberg, Aleks Tokalich and Konnor Kolberg finished fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.16. Konnor Kolberg’s relay time of 48.4 was .39 faster than his 100-yard freestyle time, saving his best performance for the last race of the finals. Cowin showed out as the highest finisher in the individual races of any Valley swimmer. Cowin took 2nd place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.42, just .13 seconds away from winning a state title.

“He doesn’t get to compete a lot with people on his level,” Penoyar said of Cowin. “In the breaststroke we have a sophomore, Jasmine Biederman who is just dropping time and is the most positive kid I’ve ever experienced.”

Biederman took fourth in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:07.08. The Colony girls 200-yard freestyle relay team of Taylor Nelson, Amalia Hunt, Kaitlin Laasch-Gray and Joscelyn Barrette took 5th in the 200 meter freestyle relay and set a new school record with a time of 1:44.12. Barrette also took eighth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.77. Also competing in that 100 freestyle final, Palmer’s Ally Ferguson is another underclassmen making a splash in the state finals in a sprint event. Ferguson was the only Palmer swimmer to qualify and took sixth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.72.

“It’s just a nice a positive environment and it’s fun to compete with people and have a good time,” Ferguson said.