The state record many anticipated would fall didn't, but two others did Saturday at the state swimming and diving championships at Bartlett High.
Kodiak super sophomores Ila Hughes and Tahna Lindquist powered an impressive performance by the Bears. Each won two individual titles for the second straight season and each set a state record to help the Kodiak girls capture their second straight team title.
"As a team we all just kinda worked together," Hughes said. "We got each other going and this is what we do."
The Dimond boys charged to their fourth straight state title, getting two individual wins from Jackson Ursin and a landslide diving win from Cade Bennett, who fell three points shy of a state record in successfully defending his title.
"I didn't hit my second to last dive," Bennett said. "I was just a little off (this week). It's a little disappointing that I was that close and didn't make it."
Alvin Spencer's 1982 record of 517.25 was good enough to last another year, but Bennett's 514.10 was still more than 100 points better than his nearest competitor. Bennett set a Cook Inlet Conference record of 551.15 last week.
The records set by Hughes and Lindquist came in huge victories, Hughes blowing away the competition in the girls 100-yard freestyle and Lindquist doing the same in the 200 individual medley.
"I knew what the record was and that was always in the back of my head," Lindquist said. "So, when I got that I was like really happy and overwhelmed."
Lindquist finished the 200 individual medley in 2 minutes, 6.63 seconds, winning the event for the second straight year and breaking Sarah Rockwell's record of 2:07.05 set in 2002. Lindquist also successfully defended her title in the 500 freestyle, beating her nearest competitor by more than 20 seconds in 4:57.06.
"I was actually happier about my 500 than my 200 IM, 'cause under five minutes has been my goal for like ever," Lindquist said.
Hughes had already won the girls 50 freestyle for the second straight season when she set about doing the same in the 100 freestyle. Hughes was technically the second seed in the 100, after posting the same time as top-seeded Emmie Jennings in Friday's preliminaries, but the final was not close. Hughes turned on the gas from the get go and torched the field in 50.62 to break Laura Miller's 2006 record of 51.17 and beat Jennings by more than two seconds.
"My goal was to go a little faster, but I'm happy with what I got," Hughes said.
Chugiak senior Kaitlin Friedli battled through early nerves to secure her second straight state diving title. Her 371.65 points outpaced runner-up Sophie Hogen of Kodiak by more than 20 points and produced an emotional celebration.
"My brother started to cry and that made me cry and then everyone was crying around me," Friedli said.
Ursin closed his high school career with wins in the boys 200 and 500 freestyle for the second straight year, and he was also part of Dimond's victories in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. His win in the 500 freestyle was one of the closest races of the day, with Ursin finishing in 4:40.94 to defeat teammate Michael Summers by .04 seconds.
"Going into the 500, I felt like it was gonna be a really close race," Ursin said. "I just raced with all my heart and it turned out really good."
Petersburg sophomore Abel Auelbach and Sitka junior Louis Belley both backed up their top qualifying times from Friday with their first state titles Saturday. Auelbach won the boys 50 and 100 freestyles, and Belley took the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.
"I went into the day really nervous about the 200 IM and just overcame," Belley said. "The 100 back was good. I was going for the state record, didn't get it."
There were a few significant upsets later in the meet, including Juneau's Jonah Swanson picking up a title as the seventh seed in the boys 100 breast stroke and Thunder Mountain sophomore Kenny Fox winning his first state title in the boys 100 butterfly as a fifth seed.
Swanson beat his qualifying time by more than three seconds and Fox swam more than two seconds faster than his preliminary time, finishing in 52.25 and edging third-seeded Erik Wilcox of Dimond by just .03 seconds.
"That was my best time by like a second," Fox said. "I never had the feeling I was gonna win. I just thought it was gonna be close all the way."
The biggest upset on the girls side came in the 100 breast stroke, but was tough to consider a true upset, because the winner was defending champion Kari Wray of Dimond. Still, she won from Lane 1 as a seventh seed, beating her qualifying time by more than three seconds in posting 1:06.80.
Wray didn't expect to have such a great race, but said the breast stroke is her favorite event and swimming in Lane 1 makes it easier to stay within herself, because it feels more isolated than swimming in Lane 4 as the top seed.
"I am so proud of our team," Wray said. "We are so close, it's like when one person wins, everybody is so excited for that person."
Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
State High School Swimming & Diving Championships
At Bartlett High Pool
All distances in yards
Boys
Team scores -- 1, Dimond, 131 points. 2, Sitka, 67. 3, Kodiak, 49. 4, Thunder Mountain, 47. 5, Petersburg, 44. 6, 39.5. 7, West Valley, 37. 8, Soldotna, 32.5. 9, Ketchikan, 20. 10, Service, 16. 11, tie, Craig and Juneau, 13. 13, Colony, 8. 14, North Pole, 7. 15, Homer, 6. 16, Idea, 5. 16, Chugiak, 5. 16, East High, 5. 19, Kenai, 4. 20, Eagle River, 3.
200 medley relay -- 1, Sitka (Belley, Louis, Sundstren-Brenner, Carl, Miller, RJ, Combs, Spencer ), 1:38.91. 2, Kodiak, 1:41.61. 3, South, 1:41.86. 4, Dimond, 1:41.99. 5, Soldotna, 1:42.03. 6, Thunder Mountain, 1:42.19. 7, Service, 1:45.17. 8, West Valley, 1:48.93.
200 freestyle -- 1, Ursin, Jackson, DHS, 1:43.67. 2, Summers, Michael, DHS, 1:44.31. 3, Smith, Michael, KHS, 1:45.73. 4, Corporon, Merek, KAYHI, 1:46.72. 5, Kowalski, Vince, PETER, 1:49.94. 6, Kessler, Alex, COLHS, 1:50.09. 7, Dupree, Marshall, SAHS, 1:50.13. 8, Fox-Icarro, Blaise, ERHS, 1:51.64.
200 individual medley -- 1, Belley, Louis, SITKA, 1:55.30. 2, Wilcox, Erik, DHS, 1:57.21. 3, Marquis, Louis, WVHS, 2:00.68. 4, Lincoln, Nicholas, KHS, 2:03.61. 5, Swanson, Jonah, JDHS, 2:04.55. 6, Hanni, Jacob, DHS, 2:06.25. 7, O'Donoghue, Tommy, WVHS, 2:07.05.
50 freestyle -- 1, Auelbach, Abel, PETER, 21.87. 2, Fox, Kenny, TMHS, 22.00. 3, O'Connor, Brent, CRAIG, 22.06. 4, Lai, Nathan, SAHS, 22.61. 4, Rickman, Sawyer, SOHI, 22.61. 6, McElroy, Daniel, SOHI, 22.90. 7, Emili, Xander, SAHS, 23.00. 8, O'Brien, Thane, TMHS, 23.24.
1-meter diving -- 1, Bennett, Cade, DHS, 514.10. 2, Frazier, Cody, NPHS, 413.95. 3, Rowe, Brian, HOMER, 340.90. 4, Seagren, Matt, TMHS, 338.50. 5, Gross, Cole, KCHS, 325.35. 6, Desatoff, Austin, DHS, 325.25. 7, Knutson, Connor, SAHS, 324.75. 8, Fugere, Shawn, CHS, 269.15.
100 butterfly -- 1, Fox, Kenny, TMHS, 52.25. 2, Wilcox, Erik, DHS, 52.28. 3, Corporon, Merek, KAYHI, 53.01. 4, Emili, Xander, SAHS, 53.68. 5, Chan, Cory, DHS, 53.75. 6, Miller, RJ, SITKA, 54.54. 7, Fox-Icarro, Blaise, ERHS, 55.08. 8, Espe, Ethan, CHS, 55.73.
100 freestyle -- 1, Auelbach, Abel, PETER, 47.74. 2, O'Connor, Brent, CRAIG, 48.89. 3, Sundstren-Brenner, Carl, SITKA, 49.20. 4, Krasnican, Thomas, SHS, 49.46. 5, Combs, Spencer, SITKA, 49.72. 6, Rickman, Sawyer, SOHI, 49.76. 7, Busch, Jimmie, TMHS, 49.94. 8, Schauff, Dyton, KHS, 50.10.
500 freestyle -- 1, Ursin, Jackson, DHS, 4:40.94. 2, Summers, Michael, DHS, 4:40.98. 3, Smith, Michael, KHS, 4:47.61. 4, Davis, Jorden, IDEA, 4:55.48. 5, O'Brien, Jarod, DHS, 4:59.24. 6, Hanni, Jacob, DHS, 4:59.51. 7, Kowalski, Vince, PETER, 5:00.01. 8, Johnson, Matt, KAYHI, 5:12.47.
200 freestyle relay -- 1, Dimond (Wilcox, Erik, Summers, Michael, Monaghan, Thomas, Ursin, Jackson ), 1:29.19. 2, Soldotna, 1:30.54. 3, Thunder Mountain, 1:30.67. 4, West Valley, 1:31.59. 5, Petersburg, 1:32.17. 6, Kodiak, 1:32.26. 7, Sitka, 1:33.35. 8, Ketchikan, 1:34.58.
100 backstroke -- 1, Belley, Louis, SITKA, 52.56. 2, Chan, Cory, DHS, 53.99. 3, Adams, Nathanial, SHS, 55.69. 4, Steger, Eddie, EHS, 56.08. 5, Marsh, Evan, PETER, 56.12. 6, Lincoln, Nicholas, KHS, 57.01. 7, Schauff, Dyton, KHS, 57.48. 8, Jones, Trevor, TMHS, 58.38.
100 breaststroke -- 1, Swanson, Jonah, JDHS, 1:01.50. 2, O'Donoghue, Tommy, WVHS, 1:01.52. 3, O'Brien, Jarod, DHS, 1:02.14. 4, Kessler, Alex, COLHS, 1:02.23. 5, O'Brien, Thane, TMHS, 1:02.53. 6, Espe, Ethan, CHS, 1:03.29. 7, James, Blake, KHS, 1:03.35. 8, Krasnican, Thomas, SHS, 1:05.20.
400 freestyle relay -- 1, Dimond (Ursin, Jackson , Summers, Michael , Chan, Cory, Wilcox, Erik ), 3:14.86. 2, Sitka, 3:17.56. 3, South, 3:18.67. 4, West Valley, 3:19.58. 5, Petersburg, 3:19.85. 6, Ketchikan, 3:28.61. 7, Kodiak, 3:32.30.
Girls
Team scores -- 1, Kodiak, 100. 2, Dimond, 79. 3, Ketchikan, 78. 4, Juneau Douglas, 55. 5, Chugiak, 50. 6, Palmer, 35. 7, West Valley, 27. 8, Soldotna, 23. 9, Service, 19. 9, Eagle River, 19. 11, Idea, 13. 11, West Anchorage, 13. 13, East High, 11. 14, South, 8. 15, Thunder Mountain, 5. 15, Homer, 5. 15, Petersburg, 5. 18, Anchorage Christian School, 4. 19, North Pole, 3. 20, Seward, 1.
200 medley relay -- 1, Juneau Douglas (Mertz, Haley , Isaak, Dakota, Kelly, Ciera, Ramos, Talyn ), 1:49.00. 2, Dimond, 1:49.26. 3, Ketchikan, 1:49.69. 4, Chugiak, 1:55.15. 5, West Valley, 1:58.48. 6, Soldotna, 1:59.03. 7, Service, 1:59.99.
200 freestyle -- 1, Lindquist, Jorie, KHS, 1:53.78. 2, Wilcox, Jenny, DHS, 1:55.72. 3, DeGeorge, Tara, WHS, 1:56.93. 4, Kelly, Ciera, JDHS, 1:57.11. 5, Burke, Sammy, CHS, 1:58.93. 6, Jones, Sammye, KHS, 1:59.41. 7, Stephens, Maddy, KAYHI, 1:59.74. 8, Donnolly, Kaylynn, ACS, 2:00.79.
200 individual medley -- 1, Lindquist, Tahna, KHS, 2:06.63 (state record; previous record, Sarah Rockwell, 2:07.05, 2002). 2, Rohde, Arianna, DHS, 2:11.06. 3, Adams, Victoria, SHS, 2:11.12. 4, Geskey, Julia, ERHS, 2:13.75. 5, Klose, Kassandra, KAYHI, 2:14.13. 6, Brockman, Hannah, TMHS, 2:15.17. 7, Mertz, Haley, JDHS, 2:15.81. 8, Oakley, Madeleine, DHS, 2:17.83.
50 freestyle -- 1, Hughes, Ila, KHS, 23.65. 2, Hood, Martha, IDEA, 24.59. 3, Stephens, Isabel, KAYHI, 24.72. 4, Stark, Katie, PHS, 24.93. 5, Weeks, Alex, SOHI, 24.94. 6, Graham, Naomi, PHS, 24.95. 7, Isaak, Dakota, JDHS, 25.12. 8, Hampton, Alyssa, DHS, 25.39.
1-meter diving -- 1, Friedli, Kaitlin, CHS, 371.65. 2, Hogen, Sophie, KHS, 349.15. 3, Stone, Jami, ERHS, 328.90. 4, Lewis, Jasmine, HOMER, 288.20. 5, Panting, Sierra, SAHS, 282.15. 6, Hess, Abby, NPHS, 273.85. 7, Walker, Aly, KAYHI, 268.50. 8, Navales, Kassandra, KAYHI, 257.45.
100 butterfly -- 1, Wilcox, Jenny, DHS, 57.64. 2, Kelly, Ciera, JDHS, 57.65. 3, Hood, Martha, IDEA, 58.47. 4, Cavanaugh, Jesi, EHS, 59.20. 5, Graham, Noelle, PHS, 59.89. 6, Dahl, Shalie, PETER, 1:01.18. 7, Brockman, Hannah, TMHS, 1:01.82. 8, Wetterhall, Victoria, WVHS, 1:04.80.
100 freestyle -- 1, Hughes, Ila, KHS, 50.62 (state record; previous record, Laura Miller, 51.17, 2006). 2, Jennings, Emmie, CHS, 52.73. 3, Stark, Katie, PHS, 53.53. 4, Weeks, Alex, SOHI, 53.74. 5, Sherrill, Ella, KAYHI, 54.36. 6, Donnolly, Kaylynn, ACS, 54.93. 7, Ramos, Talyn, JDHS, 55.61. 8, Graham, Naomi, PHS, 55.85.
500 freestyle -- 1, Lindquist, Tahna, KHS, 4:57.06. 2, DeGeorge, Tara, WHS, 5:17.63. 3, Stephens, Maddy, KAYHI, 5:21.36. 4, Heaton, Cassidy, WVHS, 5:23.11. 5, O'Brien, Kiera, KAYHI, 5:27.76. 6, Mondl, Kate, ERHS, 5:31.95. 7, Dahlberg, Shania, PETER, 5:32.98. 8, Randall, Angie, WVHS, 5:36.80.
200 freestyle relay -- 1, Kodiak (Lindquist, Jorie , Lindquist, Tahna , Jones, Sammye, Hughes, Ila ), 1:36.58. 2, Ketchikan, 1:40.19. 3, Dimond, 1:41.39. 4, Palmer, 1:43.55. 5, Soldotna, 1:44.52. 6, East, 1:45.50. 7, West Valley, 1:45.97. 8, Juneau Douglas, 1:46.51.
100 backstroke -- 1, Adams, Victoria, SHS, 58.17. 2, Lindquist, Jorie, KHS, 58.44. 3, Burke, Sammy, CHS, 58.50. 4, Rohde, Arianna, DHS, 1:00.12. 5, Schoff, Amber, SAHS, 1:00.36. 6, Stephens, Isabel, KAYHI, 1:00.63. 7, Mertz, Haley, JDHS, 1:00.98. 8, Beckham, Olivia, SEW, 1:03.58.
100 breaststroke -- 1, Wray, Kari, DHS, 1:06.80. 2, Isaak, Dakota, JDHS, 1:07.20. 3, O'Donoghue, Kira, WVHS, 1:07.43. 4, Standley, Kendra, KAYHI, 1:08.11. 5, Jennings, Emmie, CHS, 1:08.92. 6, Klose, Kassandra, KAYHI, 1:09.31. 7, Jones, Sammye, KHS, 1:09.34. 8, Geskey, Julia, ERHS, 1:10.21.
400 freestyle relay -- 1, Kodiak '' (Lindquist, Tahna, Lindquist, Jorie , Jones, Sammye, Hughes, Ila ), 3:31.96. 2, Dimond, 3:41.29. 3, Ketchikan, 3:41.78. 4, Chugiak, 3:42.43. 5, Juneau Douglas, 3:44.11. 6, Palmer, 3:46.59. 7, Eagle River, 3:50.55. 8, West Valley High School, 3:54.87.
By JEREMY PETERS