The Homer girls swim team blasted past the competition to claim first place at their own invitational meet last weekend at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center.

The Mariners racked up 85 points in the swim-and-dive meet to take the title, with Kodiak the runners up with 54 points. It’s not something head coach Caleb Miller (new this year) was necessarily aiming for, but he said he was happy to take the win.

“I think it’s pretty awesome,” he said. “… I think I talked to them this morning and I just told them that I wanted them to go out and swim — you know, the right way — and to do things the right way and to really focus on what they could control.”

Colony swam to first for the boys teams with 81 points, followed by Kodiak with 68. The Homer boys took last place at the meet with five points.

In their quest for first, the Homer girls won the 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 58.56 seconds with a team of Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Madison Story, Adeline Berry and Delta Fabich. They fell just short of winning the 400-yard freestyle relay, leading the pack for the first three legs until Kodiak’s Leslie Spear passed Homer freshman Bristol Johnson on the last leg of the relay to win it in 3:59.38, just two seconds ahead of the Mariners.

Story took first in the 200-yard individual medley ahead of Soldotna’s Katie Creglow, as well as in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Berry took first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.77, beating out Seward’s Lydia Jacoby, who is qualified for next’s summers US Olympic Trials. Jacoby took first in the girls 100-yard backstroke, followed by Homer’s Blanton-Yourkowski.

Miller said he had the swimmers focus on having fun with it at the end of the day, rather than getting hung up on who they were swimming against.

“I think we did what we came to do,” he said.

Members of the swim team are right where Miller thought they would be for this point in the season, or a little ahead of that, he said.

“I think for the girls, I think they have a great capacity for growth,” Miller said. “That’s what I would like to see from them, is to continue to grow into a really great team. I think that this year, to me, is more about setting them up for success in the future.”

Girls

Team scores: 1. Homer, 85; 2. Kodiak, 54; 3. Colony, 53; 4. Palmer, 42; 5. Soldotna, 30; 6. Kenai, 26; 7. Wasilla, 22; 8. Seward, 18.

200-yard medley relay — 1. Homer (Blanton-Yourkowski, Story, Berry, Fabich), 1 minute, 58.56 seconds; 2. Kodiak, 2:01.95; 3. Palmer, 2:08.42; 4. Soldotna, 2:09.50; 5. Homer, 2:11.35; 6. Kenai, 2:12.20.

200 freestyle — 1. Leslie Spear, Kod, 2:07.03; 2. Ally Ferguson, 2:10.84; 3. Joscelyn Barrette, 2:12.97; 4. Rachael Pitsch, 2:13.29; 5. Josephine Rogness, Col, 2:14.99; 6. Alex Juliussen, Sol, 2:24.30.

200 IM — 1. Madison Story, Hom, 2:16.82; 2. Katie Creglow, Sol, 2:33.16; 3. Olivia Beck, Pal, 2:44.45; 4. Kayleigh Rogers, Kod, 2:53.36; 5. Jeanine Wedekind, Col, 2:53.84; 6. Olivia Overdorf, Hom, 2:57.64.

50 freestyle — 1. Alison Narog, Kod, 26.38; 2. Adeline Berry, Hom, 26.89; 3. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 27.13; 4. Riley Reese, Ken, 27.26; 5. Katie Laasch-Gray, Col, 27.69; 6. Amalia Hunt, Col, 27.79.

Diving — 1. Carrie Mayer, Was, 192.70; 2. Taylor Miller, Pal, 152.30; 3. Morgan Robinson, Was, 148.45; 4. Audrey Dietz, Was, 148.45; 5. Tyler Coffman, Pal, 142.20; 6. Ally Hrncir, Pal, 136.15.

100 butterfly — 1. Adeline Berry, Hom, 1:03.77; 2. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 1:04.00; 3. Alison Narog, Kod, 1:08.11; 4. Ally Ferguson, Pal, 1:09.24; 5. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:10.95; 6. Avery Palenske, Col, 1:11.94.

100 freestyle — 1. Taylor Nelson, Col, 59.37; 2. Delta Fabich, Hom, 1:02.16; 3. Ashleigh Nicholson, Kod, 1:02.40; 4. Olivia Beck, Pal, 1:03.80; 5. Alex Juliussen, Sol, 1:04.28; 6. Kaylin Anderson, Hom, 1:04.68.

500 freestyle — 1. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 5:52.24; 2. Joscelyn Barrette, Col, 5:57.54; 3. Madison Snyder, Sol, 6:12.09; 4. Bristol Johnson, Hom, 6:26.48; 5. Jasmine Biederman, Col, 6:27.22; 6. Hannah Overdorf, Hom, 6:32.87.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Colony (Nelson, Hunt, Rogness, Barrette), 1:50.21; 2. Kenai, 1:55.66; 3. Soldotna, 1:57.88; 4. Seward, 2:03.70; 5. Wasilla, 2:11.56; 6. Soldotna, 2:13.76.

100 backstroke — 1. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 1:03.99; 2. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 1:09.93; 3. Kaylin Anderson, Hom, 1:10.11; 4. Josephine Rogness, Col, 1:12.20; 5. Kaylin Kloutunowich, Was, 1:14.13; 6. Bristol Johnson, Hom, 1:14.90.

100 breaststroke — 1. Madison Story, Hom, 1:08.83; 2. Leslie Spear, Kod, 1:11.26; 3. Jasmine Biederman, Col, 1:15.25; 4. Maria Beck, Pal, 1:21.31; 5. Hartley Miller, Hom, 1:21.62; 6. Riley Reese, Ken, 1:23.17.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak (Narog, Nicholson, Rogers, Spear), 3:59.38; 2. Homer, 4:01.32; 3. Palmer, 4:23.07; 4. Colony, 4:23.66; 5. Homer, 4:26.89; 6. Wasilla, 4:41.17.

Boys

Team scores: 1. Colony, 81; 2. Kodiak, 68; 3. Kenai, 63; 4. Palmer, 48; 5. Cordova, 19; 6. Soldotna, 18; 7. Seward, 16, 8. Wasilla, 12; 9. Homer, 5.

200 medley relay — 1. Colony (Cowin, Ka. Kolberg, Ko. Kolberg, Tokalich), 1:45.57; 2. Kenai, 1:45.99; 3. Kodiak, 1:50.44; 4. Palmer, 1:57.51; 5. Colony, 2:07.02; 6. Homer, 2:10.64.

200 freestyle — 1. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 1:53.93; 2. Koda Poulin, Ken, 1:54.87; 3. Trent Fritsch, Cor, 1:54.91; 4. Jackson Krug, Kod, 1:54.95; 5. Owen Rolph, Ken, 1:55.95; 6. Jaxson Lee, Pal, 2:02.49.

200 IM — 1. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 2:05.74; 2. Ethan Evans, Sol, 2:06.46; 3. Karson Kolberg, Col, 2:10.23; 4. Dominic Alioto, Ken, 2:18.79; 5. Skyler Rodriguez, Hom, 2:23.32; 6. Alex Jensen, Kod, 2:32.36.

50 freestyle — 1. Connor Spanos, Sew, 22.92; 2. Jonathan Cowin, Col, 23.69; 3. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 24.44; 4. Aleks Tokalich, Col, 24.71; 5. Connor Lee, Pal, 25.04; 6. Stewart Sawyer, Pal, 25.26.

Diving — 1. Eli Krozel, Col, 231.65; 2. Kade Reynolds, Was, 210.45; 3. Andrew Layman, Was, 203.75; 4. Deshawn Campbell, Was, 145.65; 5. Xander Backus, Col, 138.70; 6. Foster Boze, Sol, 106.70.

100 butterfly — 1. Connor Spanos, Sew, 55.91; 2. Owen Rolph, Ken, 56.02; 3. Jonathan Cowin, Col, 56.21; 4. Kaeson Dalrymple-Sorensen, Pal, 1:00.71; 5. Connor Lee, Pal, 1:02.24; 6. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 1:02.42.

100 freestyle — 1. Jackson Krug, Kod, 51.43; 2. Jaxson Lee, Pal, 53.48; 3. Dominic Alioto, Ken, 55.13; 4. Stewart Sawyer, Pal, 57.22; 5. Aleks Tokalich, Col, 57.53; 6. David Grinestaff, Sol, 57.68.

500 freestyle — 1. Trent Fritsch, Cor, 5:09.43; 2. Koda Poulin, Ken, 5:23.18; 3. Aiden Huff, Ken, 5:53.19; 4. Charlie Russell, Pal, 6:11.02; 5. Max Jensen, Kod, 6:37.57; 6. Lucas Nollar, Hom, 6:42.94.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak (Skonberg, Carver, Jensen, Krug), 1:39.52; 2. Palmer, 1:40.26; 3. Kenai, 1:40.68; 4. Cordova, 1:44.88; 5. Colony, 1:46.97; 6. Seward, 1:49.96.

100 backstroke — 1. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 57.83; 2. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 58.44; 3. Kaeson Dalrymple-Sorensen, Pal, 1:04.28; 4. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 1:05.48; 5. Charlie Russell, Pal, 1:08.11; 6. Samuel Anderson, Ken, 1:08.52.

100 breaststroke — 1. Ethan Evans, Sol, 1:05.41; 2. Nick Carver, Kod, 1:05.45; 3. Karson Kolberg, Col, 1:05.45; 4. Aidan Skonberg, Kod, 1:12.50; 5. Kristofer Vangorder, Col, 1:12.51; 6. Micah Arndt, Kod, 1:13.33.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Colony (Cowin, Ka. Kolberg, Vangorder, Ko. Kolberg), 3:34.22; 2. Kodiak, 3:36.46; 3. Kenai, 3:38.70; 4. Palmer, 3:44.66; 5. Soldotna, 3:52.89; 6. Cordova, 4:02.11.

Reach Megan Pacer at mpacer@homernews.com.

Seward’s Lydia Jacoby swims in the girls 100 yard backstroke during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Kodiak’s Leslie Spear swims past Homer’s Bristol Johnson to snag first place for the Bears in the girls 400 yard freestyle relay during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Kenai’s Rachael Pitsch swims to first place in the girls 500 yard freestyle race during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Colony High School’s Joscelyn Barrette swims in the girls 500 yard freestyle race during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Palmer swimmer Ally Ferguson competes in the girls 100 yard butterfly race during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Kenai’s Owen Rolph swims in the boys 100 yard butterfly race during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Soldotna’s Ethan Evans swims to first place in the boys 100 yard breaststroke race during the Homer Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 at the Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)