Wasilla senior shatters state diving record; scores 3-peat

JUNEAU — Wasilla High School senior Brayden Schachle twisted, piked, somersaulted and tucked to a new Alaska record at the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska state diving championships on Saturday in Juneau.

“I am really excited,” Schachle said. “I broke the record, unofficially, at other meets but you have to do it at state, so this is pretty awesome.”

Schachle compiled a score of 539.35 to erase the 1982 mark set by Chugiak’s Alvin Spencer.

“I just take a big breath before each dive and know that all the work I put in at practice will pay off,” Schachle said. “I think cleaning up my higher scoring dives and nailing them as you work up to them is key. I am just super excited. Words can’t explain how excited I am.”

This was the third straight state title for Schachle, who did not compete as a freshman.

He compiled 462.95 points for the title in 2014 and 491.35 last year. Each season he has upped his degree of difficulty.

“I think the hardest part is you just have to stay consistent and up your dives each year,” Schachle said. “I don’t think people understand how much mental focus it takes to dive and how much training goes into it.”

A healthy diet, 3 hours of dive practice a day on the town’s only 1-meter board, over an hour daily weight training and a background that features 12 years of youth hockey and recently four years of gymnastics earned Schachle the record.

Joining Schachle at state were teammates Elijah Chan (sixth place with 388) and Theodore Fussell (eighth 347.20).

“I made state with two of my friends who used to be gymnasts and I am really proud of how they did too,” Schachle said. “This was their first year and they both made it to finals. I am super proud of them. I would tell any young diver to follow your dreams, follow what you want to do.”

Schachle will take a brief rest before club season starts and his training for college. After several college visits Schachle has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is expected to sign a letter of intent soon.

Wasilla coach Wendy Digerlando said Schachle is a perfectionist who studies Olympic divers.

“We are all very excited for his future in the Big Ten Conference,” Digerlando said. “He will get a lot of chances there to compete against much higher level of athletes.”

Schachle’s mental mindset sets him apart from other divers and although he works through high degree of difficulty dives and does it with ease, he is more than an intelligent diver that thinks through his dives.

“He is a great person,” Digerlando said. “He is mindful, compassionate and helpful to his teammates and wants them to do well. He is pretty funny and witty, just an average teenage boy.”

An average teenage boy with the state championship record diving score.

Valley swimmers place in finals

A half-dozen Valley swimmers competed in the state finals, and a Colony swimmer scored a pair of runner-up spots.

Jake Simmons finished second in the boys’ 200-yard individual medley. Simmons clocked a time of 1 minute, 56.05 seconds in the event. Thunder Mountain’s Bergen Davis finished first at 1:54.75. Simmons was also second in the 100 butterfly, with a time of 51.19. Thunder Mountain’s Spencer Holt was first at 50.84. But Simmons did beat Soldotna’s Cody Watkins, who edged Simmons in the Region III Championships last week. Watkins was third at 51.87.

Simmons helped the Colony boys finish in a tie for 10th in the boys’ team standings.

Max Snelders led Palmer with a pair of top-4 performances. Snelders was third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 backstroke.

A trio of Colony Knights combined for four third-place finishes in the girls’ finals. Camille Dayton was third in both the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. Eileen Cyr was third in the girls’ diving. Madeline Vig was third in the 100 breaststroke. The Knights were also third in the 200 medley relay.

Colony finished seventh in the team standings.

Palmer’s Gretchen Snelders placed sixth in both the girls’ 50 and 500 freestyle races.

ASAA/First National Bank Swimming and Diving Championship

Friday, Saturday in Juneau

Girls Team scores: 1. Dimond, 95; 2. Juneau, 82.5; 3. Sitka, 68.5; 4. Kodiak, 54; 5. Chugiak, 38; 6. West Valley, 30; 7 (tie). South, Colony, 29; 9. Soldotna, 23; 10. West, 16; 11. Homer, 15; 12. Bartlett, 14; 13. Eagle River, 12; 14. Hutchison, 11; 15. Palmer, 10; 16. North Pole, 9; 17 (tie). Monroe, Petersburg, 5; 19. Kenai, 4; 20. Ketchikan, 2; 21. Lathrop, 1.

200-yard medley relay — 1. Juneau, 1 minute, 51.75 seconds; 2. Dimond, 1:52.92; 3. Colony, 1:53.11; 4. Soldotna, 1:56.38; 5. South, 1:57.44; 6. Hutchison, 1:58.41.

200 freestyle — 1. Marina Cummiskey, Kod, 29.67; 2. Erin Moody, Dim, 1:54.97; 3. Skylar Moore, Sit, 1:58.65; 4. Camryn Williams, Dim, 2:00.04; 5. Cameron Howard, Jun, 2:03.07; 6. Emi Soldwedel, Dim, 2:03.08.

200 individual medley — 1. Mia Ruffin, Jun, 2:06.38; 2. Jessica Williamson, NP, 2:14.06; 3. Camille Dayton, Col, 2:14.07; 4. Aleah Rohde, Dim, 5. Lauren Kuhns, Hom, 2:17.33; 6. Leah Knight, West, 2:18.74.

50 freestyle — 1. Izzy Powers, Chug, 24.17; 2. Wanlaya Jarupakorn, Bar, 24.68; 3 (tie). Whitney McArthur, Sit, Andyn Mulgrew-Truitt, Jun, 25.22; 5. Hannah Glover, Kod, 25.26; 6. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 25.37.

Diving — 1. Savana Trueb, Sou, 455.95; 2. Kendall Wagner, West, 362.75; 3. Eileen Cyr, Col, 325.85; 4. Lydia Stanford, Kod, 309.55; 5. Mikaela Pitsch, Ken, 305.15; 6. Rhythm Becket-Cook, Hom, 280.05.

100 butterfly — 1. Jessica Davis, Sit, 59.11; 2. Wanlaya Jarupakorn, Bar, 59.39; 3. Camille Dayton, Col, 59.65; 4. Elcee Evershed, Hut, 1:00.16; 5. Gabi Kito, Jun, 1:00.66; 6. Breckynn Willis, Dim, 1:01.26.

100 freestyle — 1. Izzy Powers, Chug, 52.80; 2. Marina Cummiskey, Kod, 53.33; 3. Erin Moody, Dim, 53.42; 4. Hannah Glover, Kod, 55.84; 5. Sydney Juliussen, Sol, 55.99; 6. Izabelle Ith, Pet, 56.23.

500 freestyle — 1. Camryn Williams, Dim, 5:15.91; 2. Gabi Kito, Jun, 5:18.47; 3. Lauren Kuhns, Hom, 5:24.95; 4. Victoria Schachle, Mon, 5:25.75; 5. Emi Soldwedel, Dim, 5:26.25; 6. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 5:32.73.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Sitka, 1:39.92; 2. Dimond, 1:42.23; 3. West Valley, 1:42.42; 4. Kodiak, 1:43.02; 5. Juneau, 1:43.68; 6. Eagle River, 1:45.38.

100 backstroke — 1. Jessica Davis, Sit, 58.31; 2. Cheyenne Burke, Chu, 1:00.55; 3. Alex Shannon, Sou, 1:02.14; 4. Aleah Rohde, Dim, 1:02.32; 5. Olivia Apitz, Kod, 1:02.89; 6. Cassie Watson, Sou, 1:03.20.

100 breaststroke — 1. Mia Ruffin, Jun, 1:05.82; 2. Skylar Moore, Sit, 1:08.04; 3. Madeline Vig, Col, 1:08.73; 4. Patty Eppingher, WV, 1:08.97; 5. Ruth Cvancara, Dim, 1:09.31; 6. Leah Knight, West, 1:09.98.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Juneau, 3:40.76; 2. Dimond, 3:41.19; 3. Sitka, 3:41.83; 4. Kodiak, 3:45.68; 5. West Valley, 3:48.81; 6. Soldotna, 3:48.97.

Boys Team scores: 1. Kodiak, 105; 2. Dimond, 86; 3. Thunder Mountain, 62; 4. Soldotna, 61; 5. Eagle River, 47; 6. South, 27; 7. Juneau, 25; 8. West Valley, 24; 9. Hutchison, 19; 10 (tie). Colony, Service, 18; 12. Lathrop, 15; 13. Wasilla, 13; 14. Palmer, 11; 15. Chugiak, 8; 16. Bartlett, 7; 17. Sitka, 6; 18. West, 2; 19. Kenai Central, 1.

200 medley relay — 1. Thunder Mountain, 1:38.58; 2. Soldotna, 1:40.23; 3. Kodiak, 1:40.93; 4. South, 1:41.38; 5. Juneau, 1:43.66; 6. Colony, 1:46.24.

200 freestyle — 1. Talon Lindquist, Kod, 1:39.78; 2. Maximus Addington, Dim, 1:43.51; 3. Alex Suleimani, Lat, 1:43.61; 4. Spencer Holt, TM, 1:44.68; 5. Jacob Hall, Sol, 1:45.26; 6. Nathan Alfano, Dim, 1:45.94.

200 IM — 1. Bergen Davis, TM, 1:54.75; 2. Jake Simmons, Col, 1:56.05; 3. Jack Weaver, Sit, 1:59.70; 4. Aidan Seid, JD, 2:00.82; 5. Luke James, Kod, 2:01.72; 6. Baxter Anderson, Kod, 2:01.84.

50 freestyle — 1. Caleb Law, Ser, 21.32; 2. Cody Watkins, Sol, 21.53; 3. Max Snelders, Pal, 21.80. 4. Nathan Schauff, Kod, 21.99; 5. Joe Min, ER, 22.25; 6. Lucas Wito, Sou, 22.42.

Diving — 1. Brayden Schachle, Was, 539.35; 2. Ethan Larson, Bar, 425.65; 3. Ruben Ulatan, Kod, 415.25; 4. Kylin Welch, Sol, 402.45; 5. Tanner Belliston, Col, 400.80; 6. Elijah Chan, Was, 388.

100 butterfly — 1. Spencer Holt, TM, 50.84; 2. Jake Simmons, Col, 51.19; 3. Cody Watkins, Sol, 51.87; 4. Nathan Alfano, Dim, 52.48; 5. Maximus Addington, Dim, 52.62; 6. Noah Palmer, Hut, 54.32.

100 freestyle — 1. Caleb Law, Ser, 47.10; 2. Reed Dittlinger, Dim, 47.28; 3. Tristan O’Donoghue, WV, 47.58; 4. Christopher Chung, Dim, 48.83; 5. Nathan Schauff, Kod, 49.08; 6. John Heaphy, ER, 49.18.

500 freestyle — 1. Alex Suleimani, Lat, 4:43.14; 2. Jacob Hall, Sol, 4:47.74; 3. Baxter Anderson, Kod, 4:50.68; 4. Dan Lambert, Kod, 4:51.44; 5. Andrew Walch, Dim, 4:52.62; 6. Ned Murphy, Dim, 4:56.56.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Dimond, 1:26.31; 2. Eagle River, 1:27.70; 3. Kodiak, 1:27.75; 4. Soldotna, 1:30.50; 5. Hutchison, 1:32.21; 6. Juneau, 1:32.94.

100 backstroke — 1. Talon Lindquist, Kod, 49.50; 2. Reed Dittlinger, Dim, 51.73; 3. Tristan O’Donoghue, WV, 52.96; 4. Max Snelders, Pal, 54.56; 5. Aidan Seid, Jun, 55.12; 6. Gus Hanson, Kod, 55.37.

100 breaststroke — 1. Bergen Davis, TM, 58.03; 2. John Heaphy, ER, 1:00.92; 3. Jacob Creglow, Sol, 1:00.95; 4. Anders Hocum, Kod, 1:02.28; 5. Nevin Lee, Kod, 1:03.46; 6. Charlie Gregor, Hut, 1:03.61.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Dimond, 3:09.05; 2. Kodiak, 3:11.76; 3. Eagle River, 3:18.25; 4. South, 3:18.52; 5. Thunder Mountain, 3:20.43; 6. West Valley, 3:21.80.