The Soldotna girls and Kenai Central boys used different methods to win the Kenai Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Kenai Central High School.
The Stars, winning 2 of 12 events, scored 95 points to outdistance runner-up Colony’s 75 points. Homer was third, Kenai was fifth and Seward was seventh.
The Kardinals, meanwhile, won 7 of 12 events to score 85 points and beat runner-up Wasilla’s 67. Soldotna was third, Homer was fifth and Seward was seventh.
For the Soldotna girls, wins came from Katie Creglow in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200 medley relay team of Alex Juliussen, Portia Padilla, Sydney Juliussen and Creglow.
But with all of SoHi’s depth, taking the team title with just the two wins was not a problem.
“We just have too many talented girls, we just do,” Soldotna coach Angie Brennan said. “It’s pretty neat to watch.
“It makes organizing relays and events tricky. Coaches would kill for this problem.”
On the boys side, SoHi’s win came from Ethan Evans in the 500 freestyle.
“We definitely saw some big improvements today,” Brennan said. “We tweaked some things in practice, and looking at them swim I couldn’t believe it. Some of them were totally different swimmers than they were last week.”
The Kenai boys rode to the team title behind huge days from Hunter Reese and Savaii Heaven.
Reese won the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, while Heaven took the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. The two also teamed up with Trevor Bagley and Owen Rolph to win the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Rolph also took a title in the 200 freestyle.
“They both surprised me,” Kenai coach Winter Heaven said of Savaii Heaven and Reese. “Most of the region was here, and I expected them to do well, but I didn’t expect them to win both their events.
“They are both racing well and attacking swims moreso than I’ve seen before.”
But coach Heaven said the day was about more than those two, saying the medley relay continues to approach a school record, and that many boys got top-six finishes crucial to the title.
On the girls side, coach Heaven said Rachael Pitsch finishing fourth in the 500 freestyle at 6:02.81 was impressive considering how much she has been training. He also said Riley Reese finished third in the 50 freestyle at 27.19 and split a 26 in the 200 free relay, putting the frustration of some swims early in the season behind her.
Homer’s Madison Story also had a big day, winning the 50 freestyle and 500 freestyle while teaming with Adeline Berry, Alia Bales and Ella Blanton-Yourkowski to win the 200 freestyle relay. Blanton-Yourkowski also won the 100 backstroke.
Because it was the final home meet of the season for the Kardinals, seniors Reese, Rylie Fields and manager Alyssa Stanton were honored.
The day also was special for the Bethel swim team. Brennan said she talked to the Bethel coaches, and learned the squad was doing the first meet in school history and all the top swims would be on the school record board.
“A couple of the kids had never traveled out of Bethel,” Brennan said. “That was kind of cool. We cheered like crazy for them.”
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Soldotna, 95; 2. Colony, 75; 3. Homer, 69; 4. Palmer, 42; 5. Kenai Central, 31; 6. Wasilla, 17; 7. Seward, 1.
200-yard medley relay — 1. Soldotna (A. Juliussen, Creglow, Padilla, S. Juliussen), 1:58.82; 2. Colony, 2:00.37; 3. Homer, 2:01.15; 4. Kenai Central, 2:09.74; 5. Soldotna, 2:12.44; 6. Palmer, 2:14.68.
200 freestyle — 1. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 2:06.41; 2. Zeina Abouelkheir, Sol, 2:12.09; 3. Erika Farring, Col, 2:13.99; 4. Darby McMillan, Sol, 2:16.48; 5. Alia Bales, Hom, 2:21.13; 6. Grace Morrow, Ken, 2:21.31.
200 IM — 1. Alexis Mattson, Col, 2:23.62; 2. Sydney Juliussen, Sol, 2:32.52; 3. Adeline Berry, Hom, 2:33.10; 4. Taylor Nelson, Col, 2:34.96; 5. Katie Laasch-Gray, Col, 2:37.50; 6. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 2:44.66.
50 freestyle — 1. Madison Story, Hom, 25.95; 2. Portia Padilla, Sol, 26.93; 3. Riley Reese, Ken, 27.19; 4. Annika Genzmer, Ken, 27.36; 5. Ashtyn Petersen, Pal, 27.43; 6. Sarah Crosley, Col, 27.67.
Diving — 1. Jayde Chan, Was, 189.20; 2. Annalynn Brown, Hom, 179.40; 3. Eileen Cyr, Col, 176.95; 4. Carrie Mayer, Was, 162.50; 5. Chloe Hartman, Pal, 157.35; 6. Tyler Coffman, Pal, 150.15.
100 butterfly — 1. Camille Dayton, Col, 1:02.64; 2. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 1:10.57; 3. Savannah Geffken, Pal, 1:14.44; 4. Taylor Nelson, Col, 1:15.78; 5. Chloe Bechtel, Hom, 1:17.28; 6. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 1:17.35.
100 freestyle — 1. Alexis Mattson, Col, 59.54; 2. Ashley Cowin, Was, 59.58; 3. Alia Bales, Hom, 1:00.44; 4. Riley Reese, Ken, 1:00.85; 5. Kortney Birch, Sol, 1:02.51; 6. Lindsay Musgrave, Pal, 1:02.56.
500 freestyle — 1. Madison Story, Hom, 5:38.02; 2. Zeina Abouelkheir, Sol, 5:52.66; 3. Sydney Juliussen, Sol, 5:59.69; 4. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 6:02.81; 5. Portia Padilla, Sol, 6:03.10; 6. Erika Farring, Col, 6:05.19.
200 freestyle relay — 1. Homer (Berry, Bales, Blanton-Yourkowski, Story), 1:45.93; 2. Soldotna, 1:47.63; 3. Palmer, 1:49.27; 4. Kenai, 1:50.28; 5. Palmer, 2:00.11; 6. Wasilla, 2:00.24.
100 backstroke — 1. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 1:09.34; 2. Darby McMillan, Sol, 1:09.98; 3. Chloe Bechtol, Hom, 1:10.33; 4. Lindsay Musgrave, Pal, 1:11.26; 5. Annika Genzmer, Ken, 1:11.30; 6. Sarah Crosley, Col, 1:12.03.
100 breaststroke — 1. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:15.57; 2. Camille Dayton, Col, 1:17.79; 3. Madelyn Barkman, Sol, 1:22.50; 4. Maria Beck, Pal, 1:22.66; 5. Faith Ivy, Ken, 1:23.47; 6. Kylie Mullaly, Sew, 1:23.62.
400 freestyle relay — 1. Colony (Dayton, Nelson, Mattson, Crosley), 4:01.79; 2. Soldotna, 4:14.44; 3. Soldotna, 4:26.75; 4. Colony, 4:27.96; 5. Homer, 4:58.11; 6. Soldotna, 5:04.07.
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Kenai Central, 85; 2. Wasilla, 67; 3. Soldotna, 55; 4. Palmer, 54; 5. Homer, 31; 6. Colony, 25; 7. Seward, 9; 8. Valdez, 4.
200 medley — 1. Kenai (Heaven, Bagley, Rolph, Reese), 1:45.22; 2. Wasilla, 1:48.12; 3. Soldotna, 1:55.36; 4. Homer, 1:55.98; 5. Colony, 2:00.12; 6. Kenai, 2:07.43.
200 freestyle — 1. Owen Rolph, Ken, 2:01.57; 2. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 2:04.85; 3. Miles Laughlin, Was, 2:09.55; 4. Phoenyx Collier, Pal, 2:09.56; 5. Chase Randall, Val, 2:16.06; 6. Reed Godden, Pal, 2:19.74.
200 IM — 1. Max Snelders, Pal, 2:06.83; 2. Koya Barrette, Was, 2:12.76; 3. Ben Henderson, Was, 2:16.06; 4. Teddy Handley, Hom, 2:16.55; 5. Ryan Chastain, Col, 2:17.10; 6. Griffin Downey, Hom, 2:19.63.
50 freestyle — 1. Hunter Reese, Ken, 22.42; 2. Ethan Evans, Sol, 23.59; 3. Clayton Arndt, Hom, 23.70; 4. Travis Underhill, Pal, 24.66; 5. Dakota Olson, Pal, 24.69; 6. Jonathan Cowin, Was, 25.18.
Diving — 1. Tanner Belliston, Col, 275.35; 2. Kylin Welch, Sol, 271.40; 3. Eli Krozel, Col, 206.25; 4. Cole Johnson, Pal, 205.35; 5. Sam Skolnick, Sol, 194.00; 6. Reed Godden, Pal, 173.90.
100 butterfly — 1. Hunter Reese, Ken, 55.85; 2. Connor Spanos, Sew, 57.56; 3. Owen Rolph, Ken, 58.93; 4. Teddy Handley, Hom, 1:00.40; 5. Caleb Fredrickson, Sol, 1:00.71; 6. Dakota Olson, Pal, 1:01.07.
100 freestyle — 1. Savaii Heaven, Ken, 49.99; 2. Clayton Arndt, Hom, 51.51; 3. Ryan Chastain, Col, 53.25; 4. Camren Hancock, Was, 53.47; 5. Ben Henderson, Was, 53.52; 6. Connor Gross, Sol, 56.14.
500 freestyle — 1. Ethan Evans, Sol, 5:35.35; 2. Peter Anderson, Ken, 6:21.61; 3. Dominic Alioto, Ken, 6:22.13; 4. Jackson Lee, Pal, 6:48.47; 5. Evan Joyce, Was, 7:03.74; 6. Zachary Twing, Pal, 7:30.10.
200 freestyle relay — 1. Wasilla (Henderson, Cowin, Hancock, Barrette), 1:36.19; 2. Palmer, 1:36.67; 3. Soldotna, 1:39.32; 4. Homer, 1:42.43; 5. Soldotna, 1:46.96; 6. Palmer, 1:48.56.
100 backstroke — 1. Savaii Heaven, Ken, 56.05; 2. Max Snelders, Pal, 56.12; 3. Koya Barrette, Was, 59.36; 4. Will Gross, Sol, 1:07.57; 5. Phoenyx Collier, Pal, 1:09.36; 6. Jeffery Provost, Val, 1:11.79.
100 breaststroke — 1. Camren Hancock, Was, 1:06.42; 2. Miles Laughlin, Was, 1:07.77; 3. Connor Spanos, Sew, 1:09.86; 4. Griffin Downey, Hom, 1:10.00; 5. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 1:10.12; 6. Chase Randall, Val, 1:15.75.
400 freestyle relay — 1. Kenai (Reese, Rolph, Bagley, Heaven), 3:32.07; 2. Palmer, 3:38.91; 3. Soldotna, 3:52.25; 4. Wasilla, 4:02.78; 5. Colony, 4:08.54; 6. Soldotna, 4:14.44.
