Soldotna sweeps Kenai Invitational

After Saturday's victory at the Kenai Invite, Soldotna High School's Swimming and Diving Team is bringing home the Mireille Thomson Memorial Aggregate Trophy again. The team has captured the trophy at nearly every Kenai Invite since Barry and Eleanor Thomson began awarding it in 1991.

"We did very well," coach Sohail Marey said. "It's just what we expected and we're very happy with that."

The team garnered 269 points at Saturday's meet. Points for men's and women's events were combined for team scores. The Kenai Invite is the only meet with this scoring scenario.

The combined scoring method reflects the performance of a whole team, rather than just the men or women, Barry Thomson said before awarding the trophy.

Marey said the number of events and scoring scenario allowed him to enter swimmers in events they don't normally compete in. He said he was especially pleased with the freshmen and sophomore boys who participated in the 200-yard medley relay. It was the first time he did not enter any juniors and seniors in the event, which Soldotna won.

Other coaches were thoroughly pleased with their times. Valdez coach Bard Hagen was especially excited about his swimmers, who broke seven school records.

"We're doing great," said Hagen, adding that doubling the size of the team, from 13 swimmers last year to 25 this year, really helped the team reach a new level of achievement. The athletes' personalities had a lot to do with the success of the team as well.

"These guys have a great attitude today and that's a big factor," he said.

Freshman Caitlin Coleman, who broke Valdez's records for the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley, had never swam in a varsity meet before.

"I was really surprised," she said. "I did well in my first meet as a freshman. I'm really happy."

Seward coach Janet VanDriessche was also excited about her swimmers' accomplishments. Everyone on the team had PRs Saturday, except for one student who was disqualified for a false start. The team also set PRs for their relay events.

VanDriessche praised team members for their ambitious and cooperative attitudes.

"I have a very good team this year," she said. "It's very cohesive. ... They all want to get better. They all want to help each other."

Thomson thanked all the teams for participating in a brief speech he delivered in Kenai Central's cafeteria after the meet. Tired swimmers and enthused coaches enjoyed chili, vegetables and brownies.

"Look!" said one swimmer to his teammates as he sampled a generous portion of the brownies. "All the calories I burned off swimming are just coming right back."

KENAI INVITE

At Kenai

Saturday

COMBINED TEAM SCORES -- 1. Soldotna, 269; 2. Homer, 168; 3. Valdez, 105; 4. Kenai, 55; 5. West, 39; 6. Seward, 12; 7. Skyview, 7; 13. Chugiak Alternative, 5.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES -- 1. Soldotna, 124; 2. Homer, 106; 3. Valdez, 45; 4. Kenai, 23; 5. West, 20; 6. Skyview, 7. Seward, 5.

200 MEDLEY RELAY -- 1. Soldotna, 1:57.80; 2. Homer, 1:58.45; 3. Valdez, 2:02.03; 4. Soldotna, 2:08.27; 5. Homer, 2:08.93; 6. West, 2:13.37.

200 FREESTYLE -- 1. Jenna Syverson, Sol, 2:09.43; 2. Keely Chavka, Sol, 2:12.30; 3. Hannah Baechler, Hom, 2:15.27; 4. Kim Holliday, Wes, 2:15.59; 5. Danielle Duggar, Hom, 2:17.74; 6. Karina Petersen, Sol, 2:18.56.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY -- 1. Monica Ulmer, Hom, 2:20.77; 2. Caitlin Coleman, Val, 2:21.28; 3. Kayla Schneider, Sol, 2:25.15; 4. Rosie Wohlgemuth, Hom, 2:32.18; 5. Fianna Condon, Hom, 2:36.59; 6. Emily Daly, Sol, 2:36.65.

50 FREESTYLE -- 1. Abby Kiffmeyer, Sol, 26.54; 2. Renae Rykaczewski, Hom, 27:53; 3. Tara Ganser, Sew, 27.82; 4. Kate Goudreau, Val, 28:00; 5. Ashley Risch, Sky, 28:14; 6. Sarah Christian, Hom, 28:37.

DIVING -- 1. Erin Orth, Sol, 190.50 points; 2. Rachel Knowles, Ken, 181.60; 3. Morgan Hansen, Ken, 167.45, 4. Trisha Ozhuwan, Sol, 154.50; 5. Christie Utrup, Sol, 150.45; 6. Lia Sloth, Hom, 121.05.

100 BUTTERFLY -- 1. Katie Fair, Val, 1:03.58; 2. Renai Rykaczewski, Hom, 1:05.60; 3. Amberlee Query, Sol, 1:06.86; 4. Keely Chavka, Sol, 1:10.74; 5. Rosie Wohlgemuth, Hom, 1:12.11; 6. Edith Lane, Hom, 1:13.51.

100 FREESTYLE -- 1. Jenna Syverson, Sol, 56.72; 2. Jennifer Jenkins, Ken, 58.58; 3. Erin Pate, Hom, 1;00.14; 4. Hannah Baechler, Hom, 1:00.67; 5. Stephanie Lambe, Sky, 1:00.71; 6. Tara Ganser, Sew, 1:03.34.

500 FREESTYLE -- 1. Caitlin Coleman, Val, 5:35.43; 2. Monica Ulmer, Hom, 5:35.68; 3. Abby Kiffmeyer, Sol, 5:58.97; 4. Ashley Risch, Sky, 6:08.79; 5. Kayla Schneider, Sol, 6:11.99; 6. Kelly Stocker, Wes, 6:20.46.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY -- 1. Soldotna (Schneider, Martin, Petersen, Syverson), 1:47.54; 2. Homer (Hendrickson, Rykaczewski, Ulmer, Pate), 1:48.80; 3. Valdez (Fair, Coleman, Flynn, Goudreau), 1:50.39; 4. Homer (Baechler, Condon, Riley, Duggar), 1:54.19; 5. West (Anderson, Johnson, Preutlke, Rogers), 1:58.83; 6. Homer (Lefton, Poindexter, Jeska, Velsko), 2:10.33.

100 BACKSTROKE -- 1. Erin Pate, Hom, 1:06.72; 2. Amberlee Query, Sol, 1:09.08; 3. Audrea Lubeck, Wes, 1:10.05; 4. Caitlin Martin, Sol, 1:11.09; 5. Erika Hendrickson, Hom, 1:12.72; 6. Jennifer Jenkins, Ken, 1:12.78.

100 BREASTSTROKE -- 1. Katie Fair, Val, 1:12.12; 2. Karina Petersen, Sol, 1:14.83; 3. Kim Holliday, Wes, 1:19.41; 4. Sarah Christian, Hom, 1:19.94; 5. Rhiannon Jennings, Hom, 1:20.50; 6. Danielle Duggar, Hom, 1:20.76.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY -- 1. Soldotna (Schneider, Martin, Petersen, Syverson), 4:03.43; 2. Homer (Christian, Duggar, Condon, Baechler), 4:11.29; 3. Kenai (McConnell, Woodard, Remsen, Jenkins), 4:21.38; 4. Homer (Lane, Jennings, Riley, Wohlgemuth), 4:23.59; 5. Soldotna (Youngren, Clare, Dudley, Franzman), 4:42.99; 6. West (Stocker, Alley, Tritt, Lovelace), 4:51.50.

TEAM SCORES -- 1. Soldotna, 145; 2. Homer, 62; 3. Valdez, 60; 4. Kenai, 32; 5. West, 19; 6. Seward, 7; Chugiak Alternative, 5.

200 MEDLEY RELAY -- 1. Soldotna, 1:51.82; 2. Valdez, 1:52.13; 3. Homer, 1:54.64; 4. Kenai, 1:55.33; 5. West, 2:01.12; 6. Soldotna, 2:02.86.

200 FREESTYLE -- 1. Joshua Gemmell, Sol, 1:45.44; 2. Luke Thomas, Val, 1:51.69; 3. Nick Sorrell, Sol, 1:55.76; 4. Leo Grasso, Sol, 1:59.38; 5. Jimmy Ritter, Chu, 2:00.39; 6. Evan Smith, Hom, 2:03.32.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY -- 1. Lucas Petersen, Sol, 2:04.54; 2. JD Pault, Ken, 2:17.28; 3. Daryl Wythe, Hom, 2:23.72; 4. Travis Riley, Hom, 2:26.62; 5. Ben Bradley, Val, 2:27.43; 6. Clayton Harrison, Sol, 2:28.08.

50 FREESTYLE -- 1. Szabi Ashoth, Val, 23.57; 2. Bill Hutchings, Wes, 23.60; 3. Ben Haring, Ken, 23:77; 4. Andrew Vait, Hom, 24.53; 5. Pehr Hartvigson, Sol, 24.73; 6. Lance Haggerty, Hom, 25:03.

DIVING -- 1. Matt Medina, Sol, 215.05 points; 2. Thai Patton, Hom, 129.35; 3. Chris Calhoun, Hom, 123.30; 4. Ryan Moen, Sol, 113.20; 5. Roy Hammer, Sol, 112.50; 6. Wes Busby, Hom, 86.15.

100 BUTTERFLY -- 1. Blake Mann-Schweigert, Sol, 56.57; 2. Seth Chavka, Sol, 1:02.68; 3. Bill Hutchings, Wes, 1:04.81; 4. Leo Grasso, Sol, 1:05.51; 5. Tristan Condon, Hom, 1:05.55; 6. Ben Bradley, Val, 1:06.23.

100 FREESTYLE -- 1. Nick Sorrell, Sol, 52.11; 2. Szabi Ashoth, Val, 52.51; 3. Ben Kuhns, Hom, 53.32; 4. Evan Smith, Hom, 55:87; 5. Devon Anderson, Ken, 56:36; 6. Aladean Marey, Sol, 56:85.

500 FREESTYLE -- 1. Luke Thomas, Val, 5:04.71; 2. Lucas Petersen, Sol, 5:08.40; 3. Ty Mann-Schweiger, Sol, 5:33.12; 4. Jimmy Ritter, Chu, 5:33.47; 5. Matt Goudreau, Val, 5:59.47; 6. Josh Temple, Sol, 6:23.62.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY -- 1. Soldotna (Gemmell, Mann-Schweigert, Sorrell, Petersen), 1:33.02; 2. Valdez (Ashoth, Park, Goudreau, Thomas), 1:37.92; 3. Homer (Haggerty, Wythe, Vait, Condon), 1:40.52; 4. Kenai (Tapley, Pault, Anderson, Haring), 1:42.25; 5. Soldotna (Chavka, Harrison, Temple, Hopkins), 1:47.53; 6. West (Stocker, Hanson, Hutchings, Hutchings), 1:47.87.

100 BACKSTROKE -- 1. Joshua Gemmell, Sol, 57.63; 2. Ben Kuhns, Hom, 1:01.24; 3. JD Pault, Ken, 1:01.94; 4. Alex Park, Val, 1:02.12; 5. Devon Anderson, Ken, 1:02.59; 6. Blake Mann-Schweigert, Sol, 1:04.20.

100 BREASTSTROKE -- 1. Jacob Boulden, Sew, 1:08.73; 2. Clayton Harrison, Sol, 1:11.28; 3. Andrew Vait, Hom, 1:11.96; 4. Ben Haring, Ken, 1:13.91; 5. Nick Hutchings, Wes, 1:14.38; 6. Seth Chavka, Sol, 1:14.47.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY -- 1. Soldotna (Gemmell, Mann-Schweigert, Sorrell, Petersen), 3:27.56; 2. Soldotna (Mann-Schweigert, Marey, Hartvigson, Grasso), 3:45.70; 3. Valdez (Goudreau, Bradley, Park, Dunham), 3:55.07; 4. Homer (Patton, Riley, Beaumont-Gay, Haggerty), 4:08.03; 5. Soldotna (Dietz, Hatfield, Hopkins, Reynolds), 4:36.79; 6. West (Hanson, Storch, Tredeau, House), 5:08.58.