Valley swimmers meet in Palmer

Swimmers and divers from Palmer, Colony and Wasilla met at the Palmer Pool Saturday for the 2001 Senior Sendoff multi-meet.

The meet featured a full slate of swimming and diving events between the three schools, but was more relaxed than most competitions.

A swim race between coaches rounded out the first segment of the races, with the coaches also participating in a diving competition.

All three of the schools took time to honor their seniors during a poolside ceremony midway through the meet.

"This meet is to recognize the seniors and all of the hard work they have accomplished," said Colony swim coach Dawn Brettrager. "It is a competitive and fun meet to wrap up the season before regions."

Colony won the girls' meet with a score of 149 points. Wasilla placed second with 101 points and Palmer finished third with 94.

Colony also won the boys' meet with a score of 74 points. Palmer placed second with 57 points and Wasilla finished third with 25 points.

In the individual events, Palmer's Kelly Cross won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:04.69, breaking the school record set by Anne Penniston in 1987.

Colony took first in the girls' 200-yard medley by almost four seconds over second-place Palmer.

Wasilla's Atali Smith swam away with the girls' 200-yard freestyle event, finishing nearly eight seconds better than second- place finisher Katye Long of Colony.

Palmer's Logan Bean provided a second-half kick that gave him the boys' 200-yard freestyle event over Colony's Wade Turner.

Sarah Brettrager of Colony finished ahead of teammate Elise Long to win the girls' 200-yard individual medley. Brettrager also won the girls' 100-yard freestyle event.

Colony's Tony Keller edged out Palmer's Sam Zimmer by .62 seconds to take the boys' 50-yard freestyle event.

Wasilla's Cara Hesselbach executed a series of graceful dives to win the 1-meter diving competition over second-place finisher Sarah Gillette of Colony.

Eric Hansen's combination of high-flight and body control propelled him to easily take the boys' 1-meter diving event for Palmer.

Colony's Elise Long narrowly edged Wasilla's Atali Smith to take the girls' 500-yard freestyle event in 5:39.69, just 0.57 seconds ahead of Smith.

Complete swimming and diving results

Girls' 200-yard medley relay -- 1. CHS A; 2. PHS A; 3. WHS A; 4. WHS B; 5. CHS B. Boys' 200-yard medley relay -- 1. CHS; 2. WHS. Girls' 200-yard freestyle -- 1. Atali Smith, Was; 2. Katie Long, Col; 3. Liz Percak-Dennett, Col; 4. Macky Cassidy, Was; 5. Katlyn Griese, Pal; 6. Aurora Johnson, Pal. Boys' 200-yard freestyle -- 1. Logan Bean, Pal; 2. Wade Turner, Col. Girls' 200-yard individual medley -- 1. Sarah Brettrager, Col; 2. Elise Long, Col; 3. Kelly Cross, Pal; 4. Allison Willis, Was; 5. Bristol Whitmore, Pal; 6. Maliaka Bowles, Was. Boys' 200-yard individual medley -- 1. Forrest Miles, Was. Girls' 50-yard freestyle -- 1. Jorin Klawitter, Col; 2. Zara Sykes, Pal; 3. Erica Johnson, Was; 4. Bridget Heimerl, Col; 5. Rebecca Wachter, Was; 6. Krista Cameron, Pal. Boys' 50-yard freestyle -- 1. Tony Keller, Col; 2. Sam Zimmer, Pal; 3. Tyler Svedin, Pal; 4. Joe Williams, Pal. Girls' 100-yard butterfly -- 1. Kelly Cross, Pal; 2. Allison Willis, Was; 3. Zara Sykes, Pal; 4. Katye Long, Col; 5. Kirsten Lein, Was; 6. Emery Tyler. Girls' 100-yard freestyle -- 1. Sarah Brettrager, Col; 2. Jorin Klawitter, Col; 3. Macky Cassidy, Was; 4. Lacey Jensen, Was; 5. Krista Cameron, Pal; 6. Christy Peterson, Pal. Boys' 100-yard freestyle -- 1. Brendon Bruns, Col; 2. Tyler Svedin, Pal; 3. Joe Williams, Pal. Girls' 500-yard freestyle -- 1. Elise Long, Col; 2. Atali Smith, Was; 3. Bristol Whitmore, Pal; 4. Whitney Bostick, Pal; 5. Emily McMartin, Col. Boys' 500-yard freestyle -- 1. Logan Bean, Pal; 2. Wade Turner, Col. Girls' 200-yard freestyle relay -- 1. CHS A; 2. WHS A; 3. PHS A; 4. CHS B; 5. WHS B. Boys' 200-yard freestyle relay -- 1. CHS; 2. PHS; 3. WHS. Girls' 100-yard backstroke -- 1. Anna Fernandez, Col; 2. Aurora Johnson, Pal; 3. Whitney Bostick, Pal; 4. Erica Johnson, Was; 5. Maliaka Bowles, Was; 6. Emily McMartin, Col. Boys' 100-yard backstroke -- 1. Eric Bleicher, Col. Girls' 100-yard breaststroke -- 1. Liz Percak-Dennett, Col; 2. Katlyn Griese, Pal; 3. Rebecca Wachter, Was; 4. Bridget Heimerl, Col; 5. Charlotte VonStieglitz, Was; 6. Katie Schlott, Pal. Boys' 100-yard breaststroke -- 1. Brendon Bruns, Col; 2. Sam Zimmer, Pal; 3. Forrest Miles, Was. Girls' 400-yard freestyle relay -- 1. CHS A; 2. PHS A; 3. WHS A; 4. PHS B; 5. CHS B. Girls' 1-meter diving -- 1. Cara Hesselbach, Was; 2. Sarah Gillette, Col; 3. Jeanie Lee, Was; 4. Lesli Hobbs, Pal; 5. Janelle Nutter, Pal. Boys 1-meter diving -- 1. Eric Hansen, Pal; 2. Eric Bleicher, Col; 3. Joseph Dickerson, Was; 4. Tony Keller, Col; 5. Riley McCorkell, Was.