SoHi boys swimmers take 4th at state

The Soldotna boys took home a fourth-place finish out of 19 teams Saturday at the ASAA state swimming and diving championships in Juneau.

Led by runner-up finishes from seniors Cody Watkins and Jacob Hall, the Stars finished with 61 points, one shy of third-place Thunder Mountain. Kodiak won the team title with 105 points, beating runner-up Dimond by 19.

SoHi coach Lucas Petersen said losing a podium spot by one point was tough to take, but added there was not a big margin for error at the state meet.

“I think a couple things could have gone our way, but overall they did a great job,” Petersen said.

Watkins just missed a school record in the boys 50-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 21.53 seconds to finish second. Watkins also took third in the boys 100 butterfly.

Hall finished runner-up in the boys 500 freestyle, beating a school record in the process with a time of 4:47.74, about two seconds off the old time. Lathrop’s Alex Suleimani won in 4:43.14.

“He was pretty happy at the end of his race,” Petersen said.

Hall also placed in the 200 freestyle with a fifth-place effort.

The Stars 200 medley relay team also finished second, losing out only to Thunder Mountain with a time of 1:40.23, just 1.65 seconds behind the Falcons.

SoHi diver Kylin Welch finished fourth with a score of 402.45 points. Wasilla’s Brayden Schachle set a state record with 539.35 points.

The SoHi boys also were presented with the Academic award.

The SoHi girls won the Good Sportsmanship award en route to finishing ninth in the team standings with 23 points. The Dimond Lynx won the girls championship with 95 points, 12.5 ahead of Juneau.

The SoHi girls took fourth in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:56.38, behind the 1:51.75 of winning team Juneau.

Sydney Juliussen grabbed the top finish for a SoHi girls swimmer, taking fifth in the 100 freestyle in 55.99 seconds. Petersen said the finals placement was particularly impressive as Juliussen made the jump from the 500-yard event to the 100-yarder.

The Kenai Central girls took 19th, getting their sole point from senior Mikaela Pitsch, who finished fifth in the girls diving event with 305.15 points. Diving champion Savana Trueb of South won with 455.95 points.

The Homer girls finished 11th in the team standings, spurred by the third-place result of senior Lauren Kuhns in the 500 freestyle. Kuhns finished in 5:24.95, about nine seconds behind champion Camryn Williams of Dimond. Kuhns also took home a fifth in the girls 200 individual medley.

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, 1:53.72; 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, Was, 2:18.74.

50 freestyle — 1. Izzy Powers, Chu, 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, Was, 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, Col, 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, Was, 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.