Growing up with siblings can lead to some interesting family rivalries that often continue into future years.
The Lindquist family of Kodiak can attest to that.
It all went down Friday in the 33rd SoHi Pentathlon at the Soldotna High School pool, when the brother and sister tandem of Talon and Tahna Lindquist of Kodiak charged to convincing victories in the boys and girls division.
Tahna, a senior, claimed her third SoHi Pentathlon crown in four years, adding Friday’s win to triumphs her freshman and junior years. Lindquist missed out on completing a four-year sweep due to an illness her sophomore year, but her older sister Jori filled in nicely that year (2012) by winning.
“I’d like to at least finish strong my senior year,” Tahna said. “Hopefully next year (Talon) won’t get sick.”
Jori also won in 2010, meaning a Lindquist has won the girls SoHi Pentathlon five years running.
Tahna’s freshman brother, Talon, has the chance to go 4-for-4 in his high school career, starting with a win in Friday’s boys Pentathlon in a total time of 2 minutes, 36.59 seconds. Tahna’s winning tally was 2:57.51.
“I knew I was gonna have to swim as hard as I can, and that’s what I tried to do,” Talon said. “I had a strong feeling I was going to win, but you never know.”
After the meet, Talon found it difficult to come up with an answer to why he and his family exhibit such a prowess in the pool. He ultimately admitted to good ol’ sibling rivalry.
“Both my sisters,” Talon replied when asked what his secret to going fast was. “It’s always a competition, I try to beat them in the pool, which I usually end up doing.”
The event is different from most swim meets in the fact that it combines the times from five races — the 100-yard individual medley, the 50-yard butterfly, the 50-yard backstroke, the 50-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard freestyle — and the fastest swimmer through all five races is crowned champion.
The Soldotna girls and Kodiak boys captured the team titles.
Both Lindquist’s began Friday with dominating victories in the 100-yard IM. Tahna finished 2.81 seconds clear of runner-up SoHi senior Alex Weeks in the race to stake an early lead, then added wins in the 50 backstroke and 50 breaststroke to ease to the Pentathlon crown.
“This is my senior year, and it’s the same girls that I’ve been racing with,” Tahna said. “Alex, Rachel (Henry), Sierra (Kinworthy), I knew my competition well and where we all separate and have our strengths and weaknesses.”
The reigning state champion in the 200 IM and 500 free said competing against rivals from Soldotna, Kenai, Colony and Wasilla has become the norm for her, and the relaxed atmosphere of the SoHi Pentathlon has helped to create intense rivalries, as well as friendships.
“It’s a non-contact sport so it makes it easier to be friends,” Tahna said.
Weeks broke a two-year streak of finishing third with her runner-up result, claiming wins in the 50 fly and the 50 free. However, Weeks still came up short by six seconds in the final rundown.
“I knew coming into this I’d get second or third,” Weeks said matter-of-factly. “I’ve lost to her all four years.”
After giving up nearly 4.5 seconds to Lindquist in events 3 and 4 — the backstroke and breaststroke races — Weeks finished strong with a dominant win in the 50 free that was 1.14 seconds faster than Lindquist, later admitting that she was hoping just to hang on through her weakest events.
“I’ve never really swam the breaststroke or backstroke at meets,” Weeks said. “Breaststroke is always like, don’t die, for me. My knees always hurt after that, so I kind of just pull with my arms, try not to kick so hard.”
Weeks’ teammate Rachel Henry used a steady consistency to claim third, and Megan English finished seventh.
Lauren Kuhns led Homer with an 11th-place finish, while Kenai Central’s fastest girl was Celestina Castro in 12th, just .03 seconds behind Kuhns.
SoHi freshman Portia Padilla also drew the praise of SoHi coach Lucas Petersen, partly due to her swim in the backstroke that saw her set the second-fastest time.
“She really shined,” Petersen said. “This is a good type of meet for her, she’s a sprinter, and it kind of meets her expertise.”
Soldotna also debuted new starting blocks that eased the transition into the pool, donated by the Silver Salmon swim club at a cost of $12,000.
However, the new blocks were not enough for Talon Lindquist to eclipse Petersen’s still-standing Pentathlon record of 2:31.41 from 2000.
“It’s great to have good competition, or somebody to chase after,” Petersen said about the effect the Lindquist siblings have on others. “It’s one thing to get to a point, or get first place, but I’d rather that drive them to get better to step up to the competition.”
But after the opening 100 IM, which Lindquist won by 2.35 seconds, it was clear that the field would have to come up with a miracle swim to catch him.
“When I looked at times, I didn’t think I was gonna go that fast,” Talon said. “When I did it, I knew I would have the lead, and I just had to hold it the rest of the time.”
Soldotna’s Cody Watkins topped all Peninsula finishers in the boys Pentathlon with a sixth-place finish in 2:45.95, while teammate Jacob Creglow finished 2.2 seconds behind in eighth.
Josh Peck led the Kenai boys squad with a time of 2:52.77, good for 11th.
33rd Annual SoHi Pentathlon
Friday at Soldotna High School
GIRLS
Team Scores — 1. Soldotna, 54 points; 2. Kodiak, 47; 3. Colony, 22.
Top 10 Individual results — 1. Tahna Lindquist, Kod, 2:57.51; 2. Alex Weeks, Sol, 3:03.51; 3. Rachel Henry, Sol, 3:07.34; 4. Sierra Kinworthy, Col, 3:08.04; 5. Marina Cummiskey, Kod, 3:10.41; 6. Millie Snelders, Pal, 3:11.24; 7. Megan English, Sol, 3:13.17; 8. Roslyn Kreigh, Kod, 3:15.21; 9. Portia Padilla, Sol, 3:16.62; 10. Camille Dayton, Col, 3:18.80.
Other Peninsula finishers — 11. Lauren Kuhns, Hom, 3:22.81; 12. Celestina Castro, Ken, 3:22.84; 13. Cheyanne Smith, Hom, 3:22.86; 14. Sasha Hamner, Sew, 3:23.13; 26. Claire McElroy, Sol, 3:33.08; 27. Rachel Davidson, Sol, 3:34.71; 28. Mikaela Pitsch, Ken, 3:35.50; 29. Belle Henry, Sol, 3:36.93; 31. JessiAnna McDonald, Ken, 3:37.94; 32. Elena Hamner, Sew, 3:38.38; 33. Emily Boone, Sol, 3:38.48; 36. Jenna Hansen, Sol, 3:41.04; 38. Desiree Barbaza, Ken, 3:43.26; 40. Kirsten Nyquist, Ken, 3:44.79; 43. Angie Cardoza, Hom, 3:47.59; 47. Mariah Schloeman, Ken, 3:50.19; 49. Madeleine Michaud, Ken, 3:53.90; 53. Caitlyn Gibbons, Sol, 4:12.13; 55. Makai-Lynn Smith, Ken, 4:18.31; 56. Jenna Fabich, Hom, 4:18.55; 59. Sara Faris, Sol, 4:24.85; 60. Megan Koster, Sew, 4:25.02; 62. Tacy Caldwell, Ken, 4:55.55; 63. Mariah Prosterman, Ken, 5:13.06; 64. Haley Trefon, Sol, 5:41.96.
BOYS
Team Scores — 1. Kodiak, 70 points; 2. Colony, 47; 3. Soldotna, 31.
Top 10 Individual results — 1. Talon Lindquist, Kod, 2:36.59; 2. Jake Simmons, Col, 2:41.76; 3. Zach Bloom, Col, 2:43.65; 4. Dyton Schauff, Kod, 2:43.67; 5. Joseph Anderson, Col, 2:44.90; 6. Cody Watkins, Sol, 2:45.95; 7. Blake James, Kod, 2:47.72; 8. Jacob Creglow, Sol, 2:48.15; 9. Nathan Schauff, Kod, 2:48.68; 10. Luke James, Kod, 2:50.63.
Other Peninsula finishers — 11. Josh Peck, Ken, 2:52.77; 13. Jacob Hall, Sol, 2:54.80; 14. David Hall, Sol, 2:57.00; 16. Remi Nagle, Hom, 2:58.93; 20. Nathaniel Lazaros, Sol, 3:02.90; 21. Griffin Downey, Hom, 3:04.32; 28. Jacob Dye, Ken, 3:11.48; 29. Leo Castellani, Hom, 3:13.63; 32. Brandon Sorhus, Ken, 3:19.03; 34. Brent Christensen, Sol, 3:25.62; 36. Jeremy Ruggiero, Ken, 3:27.99; 39. Thomas Vanek, Hom, 3:31.82; 40. Hale Wilkinson, Hom, 3:33.75; 43. Zachary Nelson, Hom, 3:37.95; 45. Sam Scheller, Ken, 3:39.90; 46. Hunter Reese, Ken, 3:41.39; 48. Trey Feagin, Ken, 3:49.04; 49. Daniel Kern, Hom, 3:49.93; 51. Sam McElroy, Sol, 3:55.76; 54. Lukas Patten, Sol, 4:00.99; 55. Ian Reger, Sol, 4:07.50.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Soldotna’s Alex Weeks finishes during a 50-yard breaststroke competition Friday September 19, 2014 during the Sohi Pentathalon in Soldotna, Alaska.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Soldotna’s Jacob Creglow swims during a 50-yard backstroke competition Friday September 19, 2014 during the Sohi Pentathalon in Soldotna, Alaska.
