Homer girls take third at swimming regions

The Homer girls swim team raced to third place in the Northern Lights Conference regional championships last weekend at Kenai Central High School, and Homer swimmer Madison Story was named female swimmer of the year for Region III.

The girls earned 58 points at the swim meet, falling behind the championship winners from Colony with 80 points, and Kodiak in second place with 64.

Story took first place in the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 10.19 seconds, just ahead of her constant competition Lydia Jacoby of Seward, at 2:10.37.

“That was really exciting,” Jacoby told the Peninsula Clarion. “We go back and forth in that race, and I think it was (physically) extremely painful for both of us.”

Jacoby later edged out Story in the 100 breaststroke, taking first place in 1:01.93 while Story came in second at 1:06.42.

The Homer relay team of Story, Adeline Berry, Ella Blanton-Yourkowski and Delta Fabich also took first place in the 200 free relay, with a time of 1:43.50.

The Homer boys swim team came in seventh place with 12 points.

Head Coach Caleb Miller said most if not all the teammates swam their best times at the regional championships.

“I think the kids, they performed really well,” he said.

The fact that they’re still shaving off time shows that they’ve progressed well through the season, Miller said.

“I think we came in and swam the best possible meet we could have,” he said.

Now, a handful of Homer swimmers head to the state championships this weekend in Palmer. Going into this meet, Miller said the strategy is for the swimmers to get plenty of rest and swim even faster than they did at regions. He said the team will dial in on a couple small things as well, but the main thing is to rest and make good decisions in the week leading up to the meet.

Reflecting on his first season with the team, Miller said it took some adjustment, but that the athletes have been able to train well and do what he’s asked of them. He gave credit to their determination and “grit.”

“I think for me, it’s been impressive being my first season with this team, watching them grow throughout the season and mature into kids that are very capable,” Miller said.

Northern Lights Conference championships

NLC Female Swimmer of the Year: Madison Story, Homer.

NLC Male Swimmer of the Year: Ethan Evans, Soldotna.

NLC Coach of the Year: Winter Heaven, Kenai Central.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Colony, 80 points; 2. Kodiak, 64; 3. Homer, 58; 4. Soldotna, 38; 5. Palmer, 33; 6. Kenai Central, 19; 7. Wasilla, 18; 8. Seward, 16; 9. Unalaska, 2.

200 medley relay — 1. Colony (Rogness, Biederman, Nelson, Barrette), 1:54.05; 2. Homer, 1:54.61; 3. Kodiak, 1:55.79; 4. Palmer, 2:05.24; 5. Seward, 2:08.07; 6. Unalaska, 2:12.03.

200 freestyle — 1. Leslie Spear, Kod, 2:00.17; 2. Taylor Nelson, Col, 2:03.02; 3. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 2:07.60; 4. Josephine Rogness, Col, 2:09.38; 5. Madison Snyder, Sol, 2:12.08; 6. Alex Juliussen, Sol, 2:14.11.

200 IM — 1. Madison Story, Hom, 2:10.19; 2. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 2:10.37; 3. Jasmine Biederman, Col, 2:24.62; 4. Avery Palenske, Col, 2:26.81; 5. Emily Hubert, Kod, 2:27.94; 6. Hannah Overdorf, Hom, 2:41.53.

50 freestyle — 1. Alison Narog, Kod, 25.19; 2. Adeline Berry, Hom, 25.81; 3. Madelyn Barkman, Sol, 25.84; 4. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 26.30; 5. Amalia Hunt, Col, 26.37; 6. Riley Reese, Ken, 26.70.

Diving — 1. Carrie Mayer, Was, 387.10; 2. Tyler Coffman, Pal, 359.60; 3. Taylor Miller, Pal, 349.60; 4. Lily Collins, Was, 349.00; 5. Lily Engebretsen, Col, 318.55; 6. Ally Hrncir, Pal, 316.60.

100 butterfly — 1. Alison Narog, Kod, 1:00.59; 2. Adeline Berry, Hom, 1:01.46; 3. Taylor Nelson, Col, 1:02.99; 4. Ally Ferguson, Pal, 1:05.36; 5. Amalia Hunt, Col, 1:07.57; 6. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:09.11.

100 freestyle — 1. Joscelyn Barrette, Col, 55.56; 2. Ally Ferguson, Pal, 56.09; 3. Ashleigh Nicholson, Kod, 56.82; 4. Madelyn Barkman, Sol, 56.86; 5. Kaylin Kloutunowich, Was, 59.22; 6. Riley Reese, Ken, 1:02.43.

500 freestyle — 1. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 5:37.81; 2. Madison Snyder, Sol, 5:45.45; 3. Emily Hubert, Kod, 5:58.67; 4. Bristol Johnson, Hom, 6:04.25; 5. Amaretta Settle, Col, 6:04.91; 6. Olivia Beck, Pal, 6:15.08.

200 free relay — 1. Homer (Berry, Story, Blanton-Yourkowski, Fabich), 1:43.50; 2. Soldotna, 1:45.30; 3. Colony, 1:45.36; 4. Kodiak, 1:49.21; 5. Palmer, 1:50.70; 6. Kenai, 1:54.07.

100 backstroke — 1. Josephine Rogness, Col, 1:03.40; 2. Joscelyn Barrette, Col, 1:03.89; 3. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 1:04.86; 4. Maria Beck, Pal, 1:07.85; 5. Addi Rogers, Kod, 1:09.20; 6. Kaylin Anderson, Hom, 1:09.92.

100 breaststroke — 1. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 1:01.93; 2. Madison Story, Hom, 1:06.42; 3. Jasmine Biederman, Col, 1:09.03; 4. Leslie Spear, Kod, 1:09.44; 5. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:12.69; 6. Maria Beck, Pal, 1:13.42.

400 free relay — 1. Kodiak (Narog, Rogers, Nicholson, Spear), 3:48.84; 2. Soldotna, 3:52.44; 3. Colony, 3:55.56; 4. Wasilla, 4:18.59; 5. Kenai, 4:22.87; 6. Homer, DQ.

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Kenai Central, 76 points; 2. Colony, 65; 3. Kodiak, 50; 4. Seward, 38; 5. Palmer, 34; 6. Soldotna, 20; 7. Wasilla, 12; 7. Homer, 12; 9. Cordova, 10; 10. Unalaska, 5.

200 medley relay — 1. Kenai (Poulin, Bagley, Rolph, Sorensen), 1:41.07; 2. Kodiak, 1:43.23; 3. Homer, 1:59.38; 4. Palmer, 2:00.58; 5. Colony, DQ.

200 freestyle — 1. Jackson Krug, Kod, 1:49.35; 2. Koda Poulin, Ken, 1:50.51; 3. Jonathan Cowin, Col, 1:51.45; 4. Paxton Hill, Sew, 2:03.75; 5. John Wright, Ken, 2:06.66; 6. Bryce Minder, Col, 2:11.80.

200 IM — 1. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 1:59.40; 2. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 2:01.53; 3. Karson Kolberg, Col, 2:05.43; 4. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 2:08.91; 5. Dominic Alioto, Ken, 2:11.08; 6. Kaes Dalrymple, Pal, 2:11.70.

50 freestyle — 1. Ethan Evans, Sol, 21.59; 2. Connor Spanos, Sew, 22.15; 3. Owen Rolph, Ken, 22.60; 4. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 23.19; 5. Trent Fritsch, Cor, 23.36; 6. Hunter Hollingsworth, Sew, 23.59.

Diving — 1. Eli Krozel, Col, 455.15; 2. Andrew Layman, Was, 450.35; 3. Kade Reynolds, Was, 443.60; 4. Deshawn Campbell, Was, 366.10; 5. Zander Backus, Col, 321.60; 6. Keith Bruce, Kod, 319.25.

100 butterfly — 1. Connor Spanos, Sew, 53.47; 2. Owen Rolph, Ken, 53.58; 3. Skyler Rodriguez, Hom, 57.48; 4. Shane Morris, Una, 57.64; 5. Kaes Dalrymple, Pal, 58.71; 6. Dakota Bjornn, Pal, 1:00.70.

100 freestyle — 1. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 49.37; 2. Jaxson Lee, Pal, 51.12; 3. Hunter Hollingsworth, Sew, 51.75; 4. Micah Arndt, Kod, 52.81; 5. David Grinestaff, Sol, 53.69; 6. Aleks Tokalich, Col, 53.78.

500 freestyle — 1. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 4:57.44; 2. Koda Poulin, Ken, 5:01.74; 3. Trent Fritsch, Cor, 5:07.67; 4. Aiden Huff, Ken, 5:40.08; 5. Hayden Woodring, Col, 5:43.28; 6. Tyler Belliston, Col, 5:57.30.

200 free relay — 1. Kenai (Rolph, Sorensen, Bagley, Poulin), 1:32.65; 2. Seward, 1:33.56; 3. Palmer, 1:37.32; 4. Colony, 1:40.74; 5. Cordova, 1:42.09; 6. Unalaska, 1:45.95.

100 backstroke — 1. Jonathan Cowin, Col, 53.72; 2. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 1:00.83; 3. Samuel Anderson, Ken, 1:03.18; 4. Brock Storms, Ken, 1:05.07; 5. Tyler Murray, Pal, 1:07.49; 6. Bryce Minder, Col, 1:10.00.

100 breaststroke — 1. Ethan Evans, Sol, 58.30; 2. Nick Carver, Kod, 1:01.11; 3. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 1:01.30; 4. Karson Kolberg, Col, 1:03.76; 5. Dakota Bjornn, Pal, 1:11.32; 6. Caden Dunford, Pal, 1:11.36.

400 free relay — 1. Colony (Cowin, Kolberg, Tokalich, Kolberg), 3:23.19; 2. Kodiak, 3:24.71; 3. Seward, 3:31.50; 4. Palmer, 3:37.15; 5. Soldotna, 3:37.42; 6. Kenai, DQ.

Homer’s Madison Story races in the girls 100-yard breaststroke final Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, at the Northern Lights Conference swimming and diving championships at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)