Homer girls rule

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  Michaela Shirnberg from Soldotna swims the girls 200 individual medley on Saturday. Photo by Ben Stuart/Homer News -

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  Kenai Central's Christopher Hall, top, leads Homer's Brian Ritchie in the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday at the Region III meet in Homer. Photo by Ben Stuart/Homer News -

Kenai Central's Christopher Hall, top, leads Homer's Brian Ritchie in the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday at the Region III meet in Homer.

Photo by Ben Stuart/Homer News -

When it comes to depth in Homer, they’re talking about the team, not the water.

“We knew we had a pretty big advantage with the size of our team, but seeing everyone perform their best — we had a pep talk before the meet, and just said everybody go for it today. Everybody did that. It was pretty incredible,” said Homer’s Lauren Bell, who posted a pair of individual wins and swam on two winning relays to lead the Mariners to the Region III swimming and diving championship Saturday at Kate Kuhns Aquatic Center in Homer.

Bell posted both of Homer’s individual championships, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 26.02 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 1:02.78 seconds, but the Mariners also picked up four second-place finishes, three thirds, two fourths, two fifths and four sixths, in addition to winning all three relays. The Homer girls finished with 102 points in the team standings while Kodiak was second with 72 and Soldotna was third with 51 points.

In the boys competition, the Kodiak Bears won the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, to clinch a region championship. Kodiak netted 82 points to Wasilla’s 79 and Homer’s 61.

“All our relays made it, which is incredible,” Bell said of the Homer girls team. “Our girls team has a lot of depth.”

Michaela Shirnberg from Soldotna swims the girls 200 individual medley on Saturday.

Photo by Ben Stuart/Homer News -

Bell said looking up at the stands and seeing lots of hometown faces was a great boost, and the crowd had no problem making plenty of noise in the cozy confines of the Homer High School pool.

“Every time you breathe, (you hear) waves of it. It’s pretty exciting,” Bell said of the cheering.

While Bell was the only Mariner girl to confirm a berth at the state meet next weekend in Anchorage, quite a few more Homer swimmers will be likely to go as each region champion, plus the next 12 fastest swimmers in each event from around the state, earn trips to state.

Earning a spot at the state meet for the Kenai Central boys was senior Christopher Hall, who also posted wins in two events. Hall took the 200 freestyle in 1:52.12, and won the 100 butterfly in a personal-best 54.60.

“It was definitely a good day,” Hall said. “There’s some really good competition, and some pretty decent times.

“I’m getting excited. State is always fun, with a lot of fast swimmers that we don’t see throughout the year.”

Several of Hall’s Kenai teammates also had solid performances and will now be waiting to see the results from other region meets to see if they will swim for one more week. Alex Sonnichsen made the finals in the 500 freestyle and finished sixth in 5:50.16, and Dylan Wannamaker was third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.88.

For the Kenai girls, Amy Jahrig made a push on her last lap to finish second in the 500 freestyle in 5:56.05, and was fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:06.15. Taylor Moore was sixth in the 100 freestyle in 1:04.07.

Soldotna’s Lyla Marey won an individual title for the Stars, taking the 100 freestyle in 55.69.

“We all had 57 (in the preliminaries). In my mind, I wanted 55 so bad. I’m excited to go to state — I want to get 54,” Marey said.

Marey was fourth in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.59, and teammate Randi Freestone was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.54, following up a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle.

“I’m really happy with my 100 breaststroke time. I hope (I make it to state). I’m really excited, if I make it,” Freestone said.

Michaela Shirnberg, like Freestone a Soldotna freshman, also has a shot to make it to state after placing fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:34.87) and fourth in the 500 freestyle (6:08.23).

“My coach (Sohail Marey) expected me to make the finals, but I didn’t (expect to make the finals),” Shirnberg said of the individual medley.

For the Soldotna boys, Colin Dudley was fifth in the 100 butterfly (58.40) and third in the 50 freestyle (23.53).

Soldotna also put together some of their best relays of the season as Dudley, Forrest Eissler, David Japhet and Daniel SpeegleEvans finished third in the 200 medley relay (1:50.02) and second in the 200 freestyle relay.

Lars Matkin won a pair of individual events for the Homer boys, taking the 50 freestyle in 23.13, and the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.36.

REGION III CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Homer

Friday-Saturday

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1. Homer, 102; 2. Kodiak, 72; 3. Soldotna, 51; 4. Colony, 40; 5. Wasilla, 19; 6. Valdez, 14; 7. Palmer, 9; 8. Kenai, 8; 9. Seward, 7; 10., Cordova, 6.

200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY — 1. Homer (Greiner, Bitterman, Bell, Harrison), 1 minute, 57.08 seconds; 2. Kodiak, 2:00.17; 3. Soldotna, 2:04.58; 4. Colony, 2:08.26; 5. Valdez, 2:09.08; 6. Palmer, 2:12.46.

200 YARD FREESTYLE — 1. Karen Philpot, Kod, 2:06.30; 2. Saanti Steyer, Homer, 2:06.88; 3. Naomi Beck-Goodell, Kod, 2:07.62; 4. Randi Freestone, Sol, 2:15.00; 5. Sara Bitterman, Hom, 2:19.38; 6. Nyssa Baechler, Hom, 2:19.46.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Naomi Franquelin, Kod, 2:16.46; 2. Jaclyn Arndt, Hom, 2:25.42; 3. Jennifer Bitterman, Hom, 2:30.06; 4. Michaela Shirnberg, Sol, 2:34.87; 5. Brandi Day, Pal, 2:39.46; 6. Fabienne Pollner, Kod, 2:39.91.

50 FREESTYLE — 1. Lauren Bell, Hom, 26.02; 2. Caity Stigen, Was, 26.08; 3. Grace Harrison, Hom, 26.54; 4. Meghan O’Leary, Sew, 26.55; 5. Melody Mileur, Pal, 27.08; 6. Jillian Sanford, Val, 28.51.

DIVING — 1. Emily Whitstine, Col, 385.30 points; 2. Shereen Whitford, Col, 370.90; 3. Sasha Smith, Kod, 354.70; 4. Nicky Collet, Sol, 283.25; 5. Suzannah Whitford, Col, 262.05; 6. Madelyn Peterson, Pal, 245.75.

100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Lauren Bell, Hom, 1:02.78; 2. Jaclyn Arndt, Hom, 1:05.25; 3. Naomi Beck-Goodell, Kod, 1:05.61; 4. Jorden Greiner, Hom, 1:06.49; 5. Fabienne Pollner, Kod, 1:11.69; 6. Kyla Young, Kod, 1:13.83.

100 FREESTYLE — 1. Lyla Marey, Sol, 55.69; 2. Saanti Steyer, Hom, 57.02; 3. Caity Stigen, Was, 57.29; 4. Grace Harrison, Hom, 58.50; 5. Rachel Halley, Val, 1:00.43; 6. Taylor Moore, Ken, 1:04.07.

500 FREESTYLE — 1. Katelyn Payne, Col, 5:19.11; 2. Amy Jahrig, Ken, 5:56.05; 3. Kerstin Cullen, Val, 5:56.93; 4. Michaela Shirnberg, Sol, 6:08.23; 5. Sara Bitterman, Hom, 6:09.63. 6. Nyssa Baechler, Hom, 6:25.54.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Homer (Saanti Steyer, Nyssa Baechler, Jaclyn Arndt, Grace Harrison), 1:47.55; 2. Kodiak, 1:56.40; 3. Soldotna, 1:56.95; 4. Wasilla, 1:57.56; 5. Cordova, 1:58.68.

100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Katelyn Payne, Col, 1:01.14; 2. Karen Philpot, Kod, 1:03.82; 3. Meghan O’Leary, Sew, 1:04.69; 4. Lyla Marey, Sol, 1:05.59; 5. Amy Jahrig, Ken, 1:06.15; 6. Jorden Greiner, Hom, 1:08.64.

100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Naomi Franquelin, Kod, 1:10.48; 2. Randi Freestone, Sol, 1:11.54; 3. Jennifer Bitterman, Hom, 1:14.80; 4. Jillian Sanford, Val, 1:15.45; 5. Brandi Day, Pal, 1:17.17; 6. Hannah Grady, Hom, 1:20.88.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Homer (Saanti Steyer, Jorden Greiner, Jaclyn Arndt, Lauren Bell), 3:51.99; 2. Kodiak, 3:57.94; 3. Soldotna, 4:06.61; 4. Colony, 4:13.65; 5. Wasilla, 4:23.27; 6. Cordova, 4:39.45.

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1. Kodiak, 82; 2. Wasilla, 79; 3. Homer, 61; 4. Kenai, 35; 5. Soldotna, 28; 6. Colony, 16; 7. (tie) Seward, Cordova, 11; 9. Palmer, 4; 10. Valdez, 1.

200 YARD MEDLEY RELAY — 1. Wasilla (Fernandez, Merriam, Hightower, Frey), 1:44.68; 2. Homer, 1:46.42; 3. Soldotna, 1:50.02; 4. Kodiak, 1:50.14; 5. Colony, 1:58.46.

200 YARD FREESTYLE — 1. Christopher Hall, Ken, 1:52.12; 2. Brian Ritchie, Hom, 1:52.73; 3. Tommy Hightower, Was, 1:52.99; 4. Austin Reed, Kod, 1:54.02; 5. Clayton, Schauff, Kod, 1:56.81; 6. Kyle Irving, Cord, 1:58.24.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Wil Fernandez, Was, 2:08.35; 2. Chris Paulson, Kod, 2:13.73; 3. Sterling Gillon, Hom, 2:17.25; 4. Hayden Linscheid, Kod, 2:19.39; 5. Forrest Eissler, Sol, 2:19.86; 6. Quinn Langfitt, Kod, 2:26.17.

50 FREESTYLE — 1. Lars Matkin, Hom, 23.13; 2. Eric Friccero, Kod, 23.16; 3. Colin Dudley, Sol, 23.53; 4. Mitch Chapman, Kod, 23.57; 5. Patrick Lane, Hom, 24.21; 6. Rhowe Stefanski, Col, 24.54.

DIVING — 1. Erin Hogan, Was, 410.75; 2. Ryan Hogan, Was, 369.50; 3. Tim Schacle, Col, 350.85; 5. Andrew Bullock, Hom, 318.80; 6. Nate Reichard, Was, 295.75.

100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Christopher Hall, Ken, 54.60; 2. Brian Ritchie, Hom, 55.03; 3. Tommy Hightower, Was, 56.09; 4. Jong Kim, Sew, 56.72; 5. Colin Dudley, Sol, 58.40; 6. Clayton Schauff, Kod, 58.84.

100 FREESTYLE — 1. Eric Friccero, Kod, 51.39; 2. Jong Kim, Sew, 51.55; 3. Charles Frey, Was, 53.34; 4. Sterling Gillon, Hom, 53.83; 5. Max Merriman, Was, 53.89; 6. Kyle Irving, Cor, 54.04.

500 FREESTYLE — 1. Austin Reed, Kod, 5:06.53; 2. Christian Long, Was, 5:21.30; 3. Jeffrey Frey, Col, 5:28.06; 4. Lee Collins, Cor, 5:33.65; 5. John Roedl, Hom, 5:39.39; 6. Alex Sonnichsen, Ken, 5:50.16.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Kodiak (Mitch Chapman, Austin Reed, Chad Chapman, Chris Paulson), 1:35.18; 2. Soldotna, 1:37.54; 3. Kenai, 1:38.16; 4. Homer, 1:38.84; 5. Wasilla, 1:39.28; 6. Cordova, 1:40.01.

100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Wil Fernandez, Was, 55.33; 2. Charles Frey, Was, 1:00.23; 3. Dylan Wannamaker, Ken, 1:00.88; 4. Quinn Langfitt, Kod, 1:04.78; 5. Billy Ritchie, Ken, 1:05.28; 6. Cole Beck, Val, 1:07.52.

100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Lars Matkin, Hom, 1:02.36; 2. Chris Paulson, Kod, 1:05.66; 3. Kyle Johnson, Pal, 1:07.75; 4. Kenny Audette, Sew, 1:07.92; 5. Mitch Chapman, Kod, 1:08.98; 6. Hayden Linscheid, Kod, 1:11.37.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Kodiak (Clayton Schauff, Austin Reed, Hayden Linscheid, Chris Paulson), 3:25.84; 2. Wasilla, 3:27.08; 3. Homer, 3:27.19; 4. Kenai, 3:42.33; 5. Cordova, 3:47.04; 6. Soldotna, 3:51.71.