Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – The 2023 Alaska School Activities Association Swim & Dive State Championships were held at the Dimond Park Aquatic Center in Juneau this year.
It was a two-day event, with preliminaries on Friday, and finals kicking off at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Thunder Mountain High School senior PJ Foy, Juneau Douglas High School Yadaa.at Kalé senior Samantha Schwarting, JDHS junior Emma Fellman, and JDHS sophomore Valerie Peimann exceeded.
“Quite a few wins, we all came together, and it was great. Couldn’t be more proud,” JDHS Swim/Dive coach Seth Cayce remarked.
He added that it will be bittersweet to see some of the girls he’s been coaching over the last decade move on, but he’s excited to see the team grow next year.
Fellman and Peimann both expressed their excitement that they met their team and individual goals. The JDHS girls took 1st with a score of 101 points, followed by TMHS, 90, and Eagle River, 75.
For boys, Service was number 1, at 122 points, followed by Eagle River, 64, and Chugiak, 62.
“This is an amazing experience and getting to win it like this is just great and I feel very accomplished,” Peimann said. She was 1st in the Girls 500-yard Freestyle at 5:17.07.
“I feel so good. We’ve been working towards this all year, and I think for it to come together all perfectly just like we imagined is amazing,” Fellman said.
Her 200 individual medley and 100 breast were the fastest in JDHS history.
While Fellman and Peimann plan to return next season, it was Schwarting’s last year. She was first in the 200-yard Freestyle Individual with a time of 1:55.64. She plans to keep swimming at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She left advice for her younger teammates.
“Have fun. You know, high school season is supposed to be fun,” she said. “It’s really short and you travel with your team the whole season, so you get to get really close with those people and make good relationships. I would say take it all in.”
Schwarting said it was challenging to go from the 200 medley relay into the 200 free.
“That back-to-back is a little challenging, pretty quick from going to one race to the next,” she said. “Our team won the 200 medley relay which was super exciting, so that adrenaline kept you going.”
Foy broke two state records Saturday, one being the record he set just last year. His 100 Butterfly time of 48.46 in 2022 broke a record that stood since 2008. His new 100 Butterfly time was 48.27. His second state record set this year was for the 100 Breaststroke at 54.67.
“A lot of people would say that it was because of my hard work and my pushing myself but it’s not. It’s because of my team that I was able to do this,” Foy said. “They pushed me every single day at practice and especially at this meet they were super supportive of me and made me the best me I could be.”
He’s committed to swimming at the University of Northern California.
TMHS Swim/Dive coach Josiah Loseby shared how it felt to see Foy finish his senior year strong.
“Going in, he had some competition this year both in the 100 Fly and the 100 Breast and, you know, there’s always thoughts of doubt and worry before you’re going into your race,” he said. “Something that we really preach here is believing in yourself, believing in our team…Swimming is so physical, but it’s also extremely mental. And, you know, I think he really was able to get in the right mental state to just try his best.”
He also highlighted the TMHS girls’ efforts.
“There was a ton of records broken this weekend, there was a ton of best times all around,” Loseby said. “We just had really, really, really strong swims. I’m really proud of them. I hope they’re really proud of themselves too. It was tight going into state between who was going to get first, second, third, and fourth overall for girls.”
Loseby said he was proud of both the boys’ and girls’ accomplishments this season.
TMHS senior Olivia Mills said she’ll miss her team. She placed 2nd in the Girls 50 Yard Free with a personal best time, breaking TMHS’s record for that event at 24:73.
“I’ve always loved going to state. It’s always such a welcoming environment even though we’re all from separate teams,” O. Mills said. “We’re all from different backgrounds, we’re all from different places but yet when we come together it’s like one big family that understands that this is what we do.”
“I think it was really good. We were pretty nervous going in, but we knew that we had it and that we could do good and I think we did that,” TMHS senior Gabrielle Anderson added. “It’s really exciting to have three girls on our team that were in the final for the backstroke event.”
The Juneau swimmers and coaches thanked the community for their support. They said it was a benefit to have state held at their home pool this year. Many of the Juneau swimmers said they’ve been swimming in the DPAC pool their whole life, and it gave them an upper hand. But that wasn’t the best part — hearing their family and friends cheer was just the boost they needed.
Girls 200-Yard Medley Relay
1, Juneau Douglas (Schwarting, Samantha SR, Fellman, Emma JR, Chapell, Lucia JR, Peimann, Valerie SO), 1:48.45. 2, Eagle River (Woodward, Lola JR, Solomonson, Maya SR, Woodward, Reese SO, Trembath, Sophia SO), 1:49.71. 3, South Anchorage (Fencil, Zoe JR, Baldessari, Stella JR, McLaughlin, Megan SR, Griffith, Charlotte SO), 1:50.62. 4, TMHS (Anderson, Gabrielle SR, Mills, Olivia SR, Liddle, Amy FR, Sanders, Caitlin JR), 1:51.93. 5, Dimond (Edais, Leena , Kass, Maizy , Waters, Caroline , Sperbeck, Mia ), 1:53.11. 6, Service (Hostetter, Natalie FR, Brooks, Anna FR, Katchen, Hannah SR, Struna-Meyer, Casey FR), 1:56.41. 7, Colony (Cooper, Hannah SO, Anderson, Jasmine SR, Bunch, Aubrey FR, Blackburn, Chloe SO), 1:56.81. 8, West Valley (Bristor, Kendall JR, Schaetzle, Mayumi SR, Arnott, Ayla FR, Wentz, Talia JR), 1:57.47.
Boys 200-Yard Medley Relay
1, Service (Price, Ben JR, Kwon, Preston SR, Balaban, Tomasz JR, Fawcett, Conrad SR), 1:33.83*. 2, Eagle River (Mank, Wes JR, Rumph, Eli JR, Toole, Dean SR, Hasenstab, Owen SR), 1:34.89. 3, Ketchikan (Harold, Gavin SO, Dash, Trevor SR, Dash, Evan SO, Hagan, Parker FR), 1:39.54. 4, Dimond (McKinley, Will , Fosberg, Roman , Randall, Samuel , Szymanski, Jonathan ), 1:40.40. 5, Seward (Ambrosiani, Bengimin SR, Ambrosiani, Nickolas SR, Trobaugh, Oliver JR, Gates, Iver SO), 1:41.23. 6, Kodiak (Robinson, Max SR, Berestoff, James SR, Burnside, Connor SR, Hubert, Cody SO), 1:41.80. 7, West Valley (Repasky, Henry JR, Maio, Ezrah SR, Schaetzle, Zen SO, Marshall, Ryder JR), 1:42.27. 8, Palmer (Neumann, Jackson SR, Neumann, Peyton JR, Charton, Jackson SO, Houser, Aidan SR), 1:54.42.
Girls 200-Yard Freestyle
1, Schwarting, Samantha, JDHS, 1:55.64. 2, Liddle, Amy, TMHS, 1:57.08. 3, Peimann, Valerie, JDHS, 1:57.35. 4, Cooper, Hannah, Colony, 1:59.45. 5, Trembath, Sophia, Eagle River, 1:59.78. 6, Price, Abigail, Kenai, 2:00.64. 7, Reeg, Kaia, South Anchorage, 2:04.06. 8, Snyder, Heidi, Soldotna, 2:05.65.
Boys 200-Yard Freestyle
1, Mank, Wes, Eagle River, 1:41.77. 2, Fawcett, Conrad, Service, 1:43.59. 3, McKinley, Will, Dimond, 1:47.02. 4, Michael, Chris, Chugiak, 1:48.05. 5, Fazio, Blake, Chugiak, 1:49.36. 6, Monyahan, Nikita, Soldotna, 1:50.67. 7, Toole, Dean, Eagle River, 1:51.15. 8, DenBleyker, Kellan, Colony, 1:51.30.
Girls 200-Yard IM
1, Fellman, Emma, JDHS, 2:05.99. 2, Anderson, Jasmine, Colony, 2:08.35. 3, Waters, Caroline, Dimond, 2:10.39. 4, Watkins, Charisma, Soldotna, 2:12.33. 5, Fencil, Zoe, South Anchorage, 2:12.54. 6, Woodward, Reese, Eagle River, 2:13.68. 7, McLaughlin, Megan, South Anchorage, 2:17.19. 8, Creighton, Ada, Craig, 2:20.37.
Boys 200-Yard IM
1, Price, Ben, Service, 1:56.33. 2, Dash, Trevor, Ketchikan, 1:58.28. 3, Robinson, Max, Kodiak, 2:01.27. 4, Maio, Ezrah, West Valley, 2:02.03. 5, Rumph, Eli, Eagle River, 2:04.34. 6, Harold, Gavin, Ketchikan, 2:06.81. 7, Fosberg, Roman, Dimond, 2:08.96. 8, Martens, Zach, Sitka, 2:09.72.
Girls 50-Yard Freestyle
1, Rocheleau, Amaya, Kodiak, 24.35. 2, Mills, Olivia, TMHS, 24.73. 3, Francis, Lily, TMHS, 24.77. 4, Wentz, Talia, West Valley, 24.94. 5, Sperbeck, Mia, Dimond, 25.12. 6, Griffith, Charlotte, South Anchorage, 25.14. 7, Bingham, Elizabeth, South Anchorage, 25.70. 8, Kass, Maizy, Dimond, 25.85.
Boys 50-Yard Freestyle
1, Ambrosiani, Bengimin, Seward, 21.93. 2, Balaban, Tomasz, Service, 22.16. 3, Houser, Aidan, Palmer, 22.38. 4, Morgan, Tyson, Chugiak, 22.39. 5, Schaetzle, Zen, West Valley, 22.59. 6, Dash, Evan, Ketchikan, 22.66. 7, Beltzer, Jack, West Anchorage, 22.79. 8, D’Hondt, Grady, Colony, 22.85.
Girls 1-Mtr Diving
1, Werner, Abriella, Soldotna, 464.80. 2, McManus, Charlize, Colony, 433.35. 3, Wallstrum, Claire, Colony, 399.75. 4, Colman, Faith, Service, 377.90. 5, Hawkins, Aylin, West Valley, 362.35. 6, Grisham, Samantha, Colony, 351.35. 7, Lang, Grace, Chugiak, 338.90. 8, Sidgman, Sophia, Eagle River, 298.35.
Boys 1-Mtr Diving
1, Billings, Roman, Dimond, 445.40. 2, Thornton, Travis, Wasilla, 445.20. 3, Christian, Joshua, South Anchorage, 408.95. 4, Williams, Reubin, Service, 404.40. 5, Light, Jake, Chugiak, 400.85. 6, Altman, Bentley, Service, 400.60. 7, Glover, Theron, Kodiak, 349.30. 8, Musgrave, Calvin, Wasilla, 348.65.
Girls 100-Yard Butterfly
1, Woodward, Reese, Eagle River, 57.14. 2, Waters, Caroline, Dimond, 57.38. 3, Francis, Lily, TMHS, 59.48. 4, Watkins, Charisma, Soldotna, 1:00.17. 5, Mullinax, Zaylee, Dimond, 1:02.22. 6, Fleming, Taryn, Sitka, 1:02.30. 7, Chapell, Lucia, JDHS, 1:03.01. 8, Miller, Kennedy, TMHS, 1:03.02.
Boys 100-Yard Butterfly
1, Foy, PJ, TMHS, 48.27*. 2, Kwon, Preston, Service, 52.03. 3, Schaetzle, Zen, West Valley, 53.31. 4, Balaban, Tomasz, Service, 53.36. 5, Ambrosiani, Bengimin, Seward, 53.40. 6, Dash, Trevor, Ketchikan, 53.51. 7, Hulien, Isaiah, Colony, 53.74. 8, Randall, Samuel, Dimond, 54.90.
Girls 100-Yard Freestyle
1, Rocheleau, Amaya, Kodiak, 53.30. 2, Schwarting, Samantha, JDHS, 53.38. 3, Woodward, Lola, Eagle River, 53.41. 4, Griffith, Charlotte, South Anchorage, 54.67. 5, Wentz, Talia, West Valley, 54.87. 6, Trembath, Sophia, Eagle River, 55.01. 7, Sperbeck, Mia, Dimond, 55.77. 8, Mills, Deedee, TMHS, 56.44.
Boys 100-Yard Freestyle
1, Price, Ben, Service, 47.12. 2, Ambrosiani, Nickolas, Seward, 47.71. 3, Roberts, Jack, Wrangell, 47.95. 4, Houser, Aidan, Palmer, 49.18. 5, Hagan, Parker, Ketchikan, 49.94. 6, Kullander, Caeden, Dimond, 50.07. 7, Hasenstab, Owen, Eagle River, 50.65. 8, Mahmood, Sayeed, West Anchorage, 51.15.
Girls 500-Yard Freestyle
1, Peimann, Valerie, JDHS, 5:17.07. 2, Liddle, Amy, TMHS, 5:17.46. 3, Cooper, Hannah, Colony, 5:18.52. 4, Ricke, Pacific, JDHS, 5:27.70. 5, Trembath, Lelaina, Eagle River, 5:28.42. 6, Price, Abigail, Kenai, 5:31.22. 7, Reeg, Kaia, South Anchorage, 5:32.70. 8, Antrobus, Paige, Dimond, 5:34.05.
Boys 500-Yard Freestyle
1, Fawcett, Conrad, Service, 4:38.40. 2, Beck, Jan, Service, 4:47.08. 3, Hulien, Isaiah, Colony, 4:55.15. 4, Fazio, Blake, Chugiak, 5:00.68. 5, Hubert, Cody, Kodiak, 5:00.99. 6, DenBleyker, Kellan, Colony, 5:02.76. 7, Michael, Chris, Chugiak, 5:03.86. 8, McDonough, Pierce, Colony, 5:04.05.
Girls 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Eagle River (Woodward, Reese SO, Baldwin, Bryn SO, Trembath, Sophia SO, Woodward, Lola JR), 1:39.47. 2, TMHS (Mills, Olivia SR, Miller, Kennedy FR, Mills, Deedee SO, Francis, Lily FR), 1:41.07. 3, Dimond (Waters, Caroline , Kass, Maizy , Mullinax, Zaylee , Sperbeck, Mia ), 1:41.23. 4, South Anchorage (Bingham, Elizabeth SR, McLaughlin, Megan SR, Zipsir, Zoe SO, Griffith, Charlotte SO), 1:41.91. 5, Kodiak (Hagen, Morgan SO, Jones, Lia JR, Neo, Emily JR, Rocheleau, Amaya JR), 1:42.99. 6, Service (Hostetter, Natalie FR, Delara, Destiny SR, Brooks, Anna FR, Struna-Meyer, Casey FR), 1:45.28. 7, West Valley (Arnott, Ayla FR, Bristor, Kendall JR, Schaetzle, Mayumi SR, Wentz, Talia JR), 1:46.25. 8, Juneau Douglas (Chapell, Lucia JR, Morrison, Anita SR, Delgado, Emily SR, Boman, Parker JR), 1:46.36.
Boys 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Eagle River (Mank, Wes JR, Toole, Dean SR, Baker, Matthew FR, Hasenstab, Owen SR), 1:27.79. 2, Chugiak High School ” (Morgan, Tyson SO, Lowell, Packer SO, Fazio, Blake SO, Michael, Chris SR), 1:31.00. 3, West Valley (Maio, Ezrah SR, Marshall, Ryder JR, McCotter, Nathan SR, Schaetzle, Zen SO), 1:31.38. 4, Dimond (Kullander, Caeden , Fosberg, Roman , O’Brien, Dax , Szymanski, Jonathan ), 1:31.81. 5, Colony (D’Hondt, Grady SR, Smith, Thomas JR, DenBleyker, Kellan SO, Hulien, Isaiah SO), 1:32.24. 6, Service (Beck, Jan JR, Altman, Jake JR, Altman, Bentley SR, Kwon, Preston SR), 1:32.29. 7, Soldotna (Monyahan, Nikita SR, Davidson, Michael SO, Jones, Derrick SR, Abel, Benn SR), 1:32.95. 8, Ketchikan (Lundburg, Eli JR, Woods, Ty JR, Robbins, JP SO, Yoder, Easton JR), 1:38.12.
Girls 100-Yard Backstroke
1, Woodward, Lola, Eagle River, 57.41. 2, Fencil, Zoe, South Anchorage, 58.09. 3, Mills, Deedee, TMHS, 1:00.64. 4, Sanders, Caitlin, TMHS, 1:00.78. 5, Chapell, Lucia, JDHS, 1:01.10. 6, Ricke, Pacific, JDHS, 1:03.62. 7, Katchen, Hannah, Service, 1:03.77. 8, Anderson, Gabrielle, TMHS, 1:04.36.
Boys 100-Yard Backstroke
1, Mank, Wes, Eagle River, 49.37*. 2, Ambrosiani, Nickolas, Seward, 53.79. 3, Morgan, Tyson, Chugiak, 53.89. 4, Robinson, Max, Kodiak, 54.04. 5, McKinley, Will, Dimond, 54.22. 6, Lowell, Packer, Chugiak, 55.96. 7, Hagan, Parker, Ketchikan, 56.21. 8, Maygren, Grant, Craig, 58.51.
Girls 100-Yard Breaststroke
1, Fellman, Emma, JDHS, 1:02.82. 2, Anderson, Jasmine, Colony, 1:03.00. 3, McLaughlin, Megan, South Anchorage, 1:08.62. 4, Mills, Olivia, TMHS, 1:09.41. 5, Brooks, Anna, Service, 1:10.52. 6, Baldessari, Stella, South Anchorage, 1:10.56. 7, Kass, Maizy, Dimond, 1:10.67. 8, Burrell, Jaelin, Chugiak, 1:10.74.
Boys 100-Yard Breaststroke
1, Foy, PJ, TMHS, 54.67*. 2, Kwon, Preston, Service, 55.51. 3, Rumph, Eli, Eagle River, 58.31. 4, Beck, Jan, Service, 59.79. 5, Dash, Evan, Ketchikan, 1:00.28. 6, Plang, Matthew, JDHS, 1:00.71. 7, Roberts, Jack, Wrangell, 1:00.83. 8, Fosberg, Roman, Dimond, 1:01.89.
Girls 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Juneau Douglas (Schwarting, Samantha SR, Peimann, Valerie SO, Ricke, Pacific JR, Fellman, Emma JR), 3:37.01. 2, Thunder Mountain (Liddle, Amy FR, Sanders, Caitlin JR, Mills, Deedee SO, Francis, Lily FR), 3:43.24. 3, South Anchorage (Reeg, Kaia SR, Fencil, Zoe JR, Zipsir, Zoe SO, Baldessari, Stella JR), 3:46.45. 4, Kenai (Hershberger, Sierra JR, Price, Abigail SO, Crouse, Isla FR, Anderson, Maria SR), 3:51.19. 5, Colony (Blackburn, Chloe SO, Ligman, Kendyl SO, Cooper, Hannah SO, Anderson, Jasmine SR), 3:51.35. 6, Kodiak (Hagen, Morgan SO, Neo, Emily JR, Jones, Lia JR, Rocheleau, Amaya JR), 3:52.29. 7, Eagle River (Trembath, Lelaina FR, Rumph, Caitlyn FR, Baldwin, Bryn SO, Solomonson, Maya SR), 3:53.89. 8, North Pole ” (Schultze, Sophia SR, Shevchenko, Adelina SO, Robinson, Elizabeth FR, Johnson, Sammy FR), 4:01.02.
Boys 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Service (Price, Ben JR, Beck, Jan JR, Balaban, Tomasz JR, Fawcett, Conrad SR), 3:12.51. 2, Chugiak (Michael, Chris SR, Lowell, Packer SO, Fazio, Blake SO, Morgan, Tyson SO), 3:19.36. 3, Ketchikan (Dash, Trevor SR, Hagan, Parker FR, Harold, Gavin SO, Dash, Evan SO), 3:20.00. 4, Seward (Gates, Iver SO, Trobaugh, Oliver JR, Ambrosiani, Bengimin SR, Ambrosiani, Nickolas SR), 3:20.20. 5, Dimond (Kullander, Caeden , O’Brien, Dax , Erwin, Kieran , McKinley, Will ), 3:20.69. 6, Colony (D’Hondt, Grady SR, Smith, Thomas JR, DenBleyker, Kellan SO, Hulien, Isaiah SO), 3:22.05. 7, Soldotna (Monyahan, Nikita SR, Davidson, Michael SO, Jones, Derrick SR, Abel, Benn SR), 3:25.46. 8, North Pole (Parduhn, Everett SR, Shannon, Inca JR, Oeth, JoJo FR, Brownwood, Michael JR), 3:49.93.
Women – Team Rankings
1, Juneau Douglas, 101. 2, Thunder Mountain, 90. 3, Eagle River, 75. 4, South Anchorage, 70. 5, Colony, 53. 6, Dimond, 47. 7, Kodiak, 32. 8, Service, 23. 9, Soldotna, 20. 10, West Valley, 19. 11, Kenai, 16. 12, Sitka, 3. 12, Chugiak, 3. 14, North Pole, 2. 15, Craig, 1.
Men – Team Rankings
1, Service, 122. 2, Eagle River, 64. 3, Chugiak, 62. 4, Dimond, 54. 5, Ketchikan, 52. 6, Seward, 45. 7, West Valley, 31. 8, Colony, 28. 9, Kodiak, 23. 10, Thunder Mountain, 18. 11, Palmer, 13. 12, Soldotna, 11. 13, Wasilla, 8. 13, Wrangell, 8. 15, South Anchorage, 6. 16, West Anchorage, 3. 16, Juneau Douglas, 3. 18, North Pole, 2. 19, Craig, 1. 19, Sitka, 1.