Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
Frontiersman staff
PALMER — The Colony girls and Wasilla boys took home the top spots at the Senior Send-off meet Saturday at Palmer High School.
The Knights finished 19 points in front of second-place Palmer, while Wasilla was 24 points back in third.
Colony was led by sophomore Katelyn Payne, who swam to individual wins in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle and joined with Caity Crombie, Katie Nelson and Brandi Day for wins in the 200-yard medley and 400 freestyle relay races. Day also swam to victory in the 100 yard breaststroke for the Knights.
Palmer sophomore Stacy Swindells won the 200 yard individual medley and 100 yard freestyle for the Moose.
Wasilla also got a multiple winner in Caity Stigen, who finished first in both the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly. Other winners for Wasilla included Rachel Kennedy in diving, Charlotte Tunley in the 100 yard backstroke and the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Maddie Merriam, Lindsey Richey, Kina-Murrin Kamarae and Christina Shattuck.
On the boys side, Wasilla picked up wins in nine of 12 events to earn 132 points and the victory. Colony was second with 121 points, while Palmer finished with 53.
Wasilla’s Tommy Hightower won both the 200 yard individual medley and 500 yard freestyle, while Christian Long added titles in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle races for the Warriors, which also won two of the three relays.
Jeff Kennedy won the diving event for Wasilla, Charles Frey eaned the 100 yard butterfly win and Dylan Spargo finished first in the 100 yard breaststroke.
Second-place Colony won the 400 yard freestyle relay and also picked up individual victories from Jeff Frey in the 200 yard freestyle and Evans Willard in the 100 yard backstroke.
The meet was the final event of the regular high school season. All three teams are scheduled to travel to Soldotna this weekend for the Region III championships, which begin Friday at Soldotna High School.
Senior Send Off
Saturday
Palmer High School
TEAM SCORES
Girls
1. Colony, 114; 2. Palmer, 95; 3. Wasilla, 90.
Boys
1. Wasilla, 132; 2. Colony, 121; 3. Palmer, 53.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Girls
200 Yard Medley Relay — 1. Colony HS 2007-AK 'A' (Payne, Katelyn SO, Day, Brandi , Nelson, Katie SR, Crombie, Caity SO), 2:08.05; 2. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Tunley, Charlotte FR, Schwarzburg, Ilsa JR, Barria, Karina FR, Merriam, Maddie SO), 2:11.28; 3. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Larson, Katrina SO, Swindells, Stacy SO, Miner, Stephanie SR, Stephens, Stephanie JR), 2:24.68; 4. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Kangas, Ashley SO, Kelahan, Heather SR, Willard, Janessa SO, Williams, Emily SR), 2:25.59; 5. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Verplancke, Krizia SO, Shattuck, Christina SO, Kamarae, Kina-Murrin, Richey, Lindsey SO), 2:31.95; 6. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Odegard, Jessica SR, Roy, Kelly JR, Huseby, Sam JR, Whitmore, Laura JR), 3:02.69.
200 Yard Freestyle — 1. Payne, Katelyn, Col-AK, 2:11.69; 2. Kelahan, Heather, Col-AK, 2:37.62; 3. Whitmore, Laura, PHS-AK, 2:56.06; 4. Huseby, Sam, PHS-AK, 3:04.48.
200 Yard IM — 1. Swindells, Stacy, PHS-AK, 2:53.39; 2. Preston, Daria, PHS-AK, 2:56.82; 3. Kangas, Ashley, Col-AK, 3:01.15; 4. Williams, Emily, Col-AK, 3:41.20.
50 Yard Freestyle — 1. Stigen, Caity, Warriors-AK, 27.15; 2. Barria, Karina, Warriors-AK, 27.50; 3. Nelson, Katie, Col-AK, 27.65; 4. Stephens, Stephanie, PHS-AK, 29.22; 5. Larson, Katrina, PHS-AK, 30.11; 6. Willard, Janessa, Col-AK, 30.52
1 mtr Diving — 1. Kennedy, Rachel, Warriors-AK, 158.90; 2. Whitford, Suzannah, Col-AK, 122.05; 3. Wilson, Darlene, Col-AK, 106.55; 4. Peterson, Madelyn, PHS-AK, 105.70; 5. Collins, Josie, Warriors-AK, 94.15.
100 Yard Butterfly — 1. Stigen, Caity, Warriors-AK, 1:07.72; 2. Merriam, Maddie, Warriors-AK, 1:20.23; 3. Crombie, Caity, Col-AK, 1:22.93; 4. Huseby, Sam, PHS-AK, 2:00.41.
100 Yard Freestyle — 1. Swindells, Stacy, PHS-AK, 1:05.65; 2. Fry, Irene, PHS-AK, 1:10.63; 3. Willard, Janessa, Col-AK, 1:11.97; 4. Shattuck, Christina, Warriors-AK, 1:14.82; 5. Williams, Emily, Col-AK, 1:17.62; 6. Richey, Lindsey, Warriors-AK, 1:19.27
500 Yard Freestyle — 1. Payne, Katelyn, Col-AK, 5:40.67; 2. Bill, Meghan, PHS-AK, 6:05.00; 3. Day, Brandi, Col-AK, 6:20.11; 4. Merriam, Maddie, Warriors-AK, 6:23.57; 5. Tunley, Charlotte, Warriors-AK, 8:44.56; 6. Miner, Stephanie, PHS-AK, 8:56.74.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Merriam, Maddie SO, Richey, Lindsey SO, Kamarae, Kina-Murrin , Shattuck, Christina SO), 2:06.51; 2. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Willard, Janessa SO, Miller, Kayla SO, Grediagin, Paige , Johnson, Jasmyn), 2:10.51; 3. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Miner, Stephanie SR, Bill, Meghan SR, Preston, Daria SR, Fry, Irene SO), 2:13.73.
100 Yard Backstroke — 1. Tunley, Charlotte, Warriors-AK, 1:21.19; 2. Preston, Daria, PHS-AK, 1:22.63; 3. Verplancke, Krizia, Warriors-AK, 1:28.71; 4. Odegard, Jessica, PHS-AK, 2:00.41
100 Yard Breaststroke — 1. Day, Brandi, Col-AK, 1:18.53; 2. Schwarzburg, Ilsa, Warriors-AK, 1:20.79; 3. Barria, Karina, Warriors-AK, 1:22.33; 4. Kelahan, Heather, Col-AK, 1:35.12; 5. Stephens, Stephanie, PHS-AK, 1:36.82; 6. Miner, Stephanie, PHS-AK, 1:44.28.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1. Colony HS 2007-AK 'A' (Payne, Katelyn SO, Nelson, Katie SR, Day, Brandi, Crombie, Caity SO), 4:32.96; 2. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Bill, Meghan SR, Huseby, Sam JR, Whitmore, Laura JR, Preston, Daria SR), 4:56.46; 3. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Larson, Katrina SO, Stephens, Stephanie JR, Fry, Irene SO, Swindells, Stacy SO), 5:05.08; 4. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Harrop, Erin SO, Wold, Crystal SO, Grediagin, Paige , Robertson, Jessica), 6:19.44.
Boys
200 Yard Medley Relay — 1. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Long, Christian SO, Merriam, Max JR, Hightower, Tommy SR, Frey, Charles JR), 1:50.30; 2. Colony HS 2007-AK 'A' (Frey, Jeffrey SO, Cueva, Tim SR, Stefanski, Rhowe SO, Willard, Evans SR), 1:51.78; 3. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Branham, Blake JR, Psenak, David SR, Johnson, Kyle SR, Obeso, Ry FR), 2:05.03; 4. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Nelson, Joey , Lefolii, Alex , Jahn, Corbyn , Brunger, Nick ), 2:08.03; 5. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Fife, Benjamin SO, Durdan, Matt , Snavley, Kevin , Knowles, John ), 2:12.06; 6. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Fry, Micah SR, Dewall, Drake JR, Simon, Jacob JR, Moore, Chad SR), 2:58.78.
200 Yard Freestyle — 1. Frey, Jeffrey, Col-AK, 1:56.14; 2. Frey, Charles, Warriors-AK, 2:00.04; 3. Gary, Bryan, Col-AK, 2:27.01; 4. Moore, Chad, PHS-AK, 2:44.31; 5. Merriam, Max, Warriors-AK, 3:00.07; 6. Wright-Shelton, Tannere, PHS-AK, 3:06.15.
200 Yard IM — 1. Hightower, Tommy, Warriors-AK, 2:22.62; 2. Willard, Evans, Col-AK, 2:46.72; 3. Nelson, Joey, Col-AK, 2:51.69; —. Branham, Blake, PHS-AK, DQ.
50 Yard Freestyle — 1. Long, Christian, Warriors-AK, 24.64; 2. Wagner, Cory, Warriors-AK, 24.72; 3. Jahn, Corbyn, Col-AK, 26.15; 4. Psenak, David, PHS-AK, 26.42; 5. Merriam, Max, Warriors-AK, 27.32; 6. Stefanski, Rhowe, Col-AK, 27.66
1 mtr Diving — 1. Kennedy, David, Warriors-AK, 153.65; 2. Deedy, Alexander, Col-AK, 145.10; 3. Schachle, Tim, Col-AK, 130.55; 4. Granquist, Chris, PHS-AK, 109.45; 5. Knowles, John, Warriors-AK, 109.40; 6. Liebing, Richard, PHS-AK, 105.75.
100 Yard Butterfly — 1. Frey, Charles, Warriors-AK, 1:00.15; 2. Snavley, Kevin, Warriors-AK, 1:13.94; 3. Cueva, Tim, Col-AK, 1:15.31; 4. Jahn, Corbyn, Col-AK, 1:17.78.
100 Yard Freestyle — 1. Long, Christian, Warriors-AK, 53.15; 2. Johnson, Kyle, PHS-AK, 56.90; 3. Stefanski, Rhowe, Col-AK, 56.96; 4. Psenak, David, PHS-AK, 58.68; 5. Gary, Bryan, Col-AK, 1:02.89; 6. Swanson, Steak, Warriors-AK, 1:14.94
500 Yard Freestyle — 1. Hightower, Tommy, Warriors-AK, 6:36.44; 2. Cueva, Tim, Col-AK, 6:44.22; 3. Fife, Benjamin, Warriors-AK, 6:45.11; 4. Bohman, Adam, PHS-AK,
200 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Knowles, John , Pulver, Keith , Spargo, Dylan SO, Wagner, Cory SR), 1:46.39; 2. Colony HS 2007-AK 'A' (Schachle, Tim, McAuliff, Jarrid , Lefolii, Alex , Gary, Bryan ), 2:03.79; 3. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Moore, Chad SR, Bohman, Adam SR, Dewall, Drake JR, Fry, Micah SR), 2:13.18; 4. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Class, Tommy , Minder, Lehvi SO, McAuliff, Levi , Nelson, Joey ), 2:13.20; 5. Palmer High School Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Monarch, Derek JR, Granquist, Chris JR, Liebing, Richard JR, Wright-Shelton, Tannere JR), 2:14.03.
100 Yard Backstroke — 1. Willard, Evans, Col-AK, 1:12.14; 2. Pulver, Keith, Warriors-AK, 1:16.04; 3. Moore, Chad, PHS-AK, 1:28.05; 4. McAuliff, Jarrid, Col-AK, 1:44.56; 5. Simon, Jacob, PHS-AK, 1:48.20.
100 Yard Breaststroke — 1. Spargo, Dylan, Warriors-AK, 1:14.50; 2. Frey, Jeffrey, Col-AK, 1:15.95; 3. Wagner, Cory, Warriors-AK, 1:17.77; 4. Liebing, Richard, PHS-AK, 1:38.99
400 Yard Freestyle Relay — 1. Colony HS 2007-AK 'A' (Frey, Jeffrey SO, Cueva, Tim SR, Willard, Evans SR, Stefanski, Rhowe SO), 4:00.58; 2. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'A' (Frey, Charles JR, Merriam, Max JR, Hightower, Tommy SR, Long, Christian SO), 4:24.96; 3. Colony HS 2007-AK 'B' (Jahn, Corbyn, Gary, Bryan, McAuliff, Jarrid , Brunger, Nick ), 4:28.01; 4. Wasilla Warriors Swim Dive-AK 'B' (Pulver, Keith , Durdan, Matt , Wagner, Cory SR, Spargo, Dylan SO), 5:02.89.