Wasilla senior runner-up at state swimming meet

ANCHORAGE — Wasilla senior Karina Barria raced to a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle of the ASAA/First National Bank State Swimming and Diving Championships.

Barria finished with a personal best time of 24.24 seconds. Service's Mary Uselmann won the event with a time of 23.89.

Barria and teammate Kevin Snavley both competed in the finals on Saturday. Barria also finished seventh in the 100 butterfly. Snavley was eighth in the 100 backstroke.

Wasilla senior Mariah Schachle and Colony senior Connor Eshelman, the Region III diving champions, participated in the state diving finals. Both finished eighth in their respective classes.

Barria and Snavley were among seven Valley athletes to swim in preliminaries, but six did not qualify for the finals. Colony’s Zane Mileur was 16th in the 100 freestyle and 14th in the 200 freestyle; Colony’s Alex Kessler finished 16th in the 100 breaststroke; Palmer’s Katie Stark was 13th in the 100 freestyle; Palmer’s Spencer Bloom was 14th in the 100 backstroke; and Palmer’s Noelle Graham was 16th in the 100 butterfly.

Wasilla's Hillary Graham, and Palmer's Ry Obeso and Joe Provo also competed in the diving preliminaries.