Anchorage Daily News

Cody Brunette sat with his feet dangling in the Bartlett High pool Saturday, his face blank as he stared across the shallow warm-up pool into nothingness.

What began as a dream day for Brunette's Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears turned nightmarish when the team's 400-yard relay team jumped the gun in the final event of the ASAA/Alaska Swimming and Diving Championships, giving the team title to Dimond.

"It's hard to put into words how much effort we put in," the Juneau senior said. "We couldn't have done anything more."

As expected, the Service girls had no trouble defending their state title, outdistancing second-place Kodiak by 44 points.

The Cougars capped their championship with an all-sister win in the 400 freestyle relay, as Jordan and Hannah Iverson and Margot and Victoria Adams edged East by just more than a second.

But the day's big drama came in the boys 400 relay, in which the Lynx and Crimson Bears were set to go toe-to-toe for the state championship.

After watching his team trail early, Brunette appeared to have won the race -- and the meet -- by pulling off the day's most impressive swim. He used his outboard-like arms and legs to co me from more than a body length behind to catch Dimond's final-leg swimmer.

Juneau was leading Dimond by three points at that point, meaning whichever team touched the wall first would win the team title. But officials ruled Juneau leadoff swimmer Cody Schick started a fraction of a second early.

"I think he was just a little too excited," Juneau coach Kathrin Millhorn said.

The false start ruined what had begun as a big day for the Crimson Bears, who opened the finals by shattering the state record in the 200 medley relay, going .65 seconds faster than Petersburg had in 1998.

Dimond coach Scott O'Brien said he felt bad for Juneau but wasn't about to surrender the title, the team's eighth and first since winning seven out of eight from 1994 to 2001.

"We had to have everything go our way. Unfortunately with that race, everything did," O'Brien said. "We would have liked to have beaten them in the relay, but that's the way it goes."

The odd finish cast a shadow over Dimond's win, but not over the performance of senior Matt Summers, who earned the boys' Swimmer of the Year award after winning the 200 and 500 yard freestyle, his fourth and fifth career state titles.

"He's going to be hard to replace," O'Brien said.

Summers' win in the 500 was expected (he won by nearly 20 seconds), but his win over Seward's top-seeded Ryan O'Leary in the 200 was a bit of a surprise. Summers said he just tried to keep up with O'Leary for the first lap, then used his stamina to come on strong at the end.

"I couldn't have swam that fast if he wasn't there," he said of O'Leary. "I knew I had a chance, but I also knew how fast he was."

The Lynx did everything they needed to over the course of the two-day event, getting a number of swimmers into the finals who helped score crucial team points.

"Everybody who was even borderline got into the finals," Summers said. "It was a really good meet, and a great team win."

Brunette also won two individual events -- the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly -- to finish his high school career with five individual state titles.

East sophomore Sam Wicks was named the girls Swimmer of the Year after capturing her second and third career titles with wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Wicks set a state record in the 100 backstroke in Friday's preliminaries, then went out and won the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle in Saturday's finals.

Three others joined Summer, Brunette and Wicks as double winners -- Wasilla senior Jeff Frey (50 free, 100 free), West Valley senior Anne Goering (100 free, 200 free) and Dimond junior Nikki Wray (200 IM, 500 free).

In diving, East senior Renee Jordan turned what had been a virtual tie with Wasilla's Rachel Kennedy into a 56.6 point victory for her second straight title. Service junior Dalton Haas completed a comeback from a ruptured eardrum suffered before the Cook Inlet Conference meet to hold off Kodiak's Scott Wandersee by 11.65 points. Wandersee was the state's top-ranked diver and was named Diver of the Year, despite a no-dive in the morning session.

Service's Margot Adams nearly pulled off a remarkable double, finishing second in the 100 freestyle less than 10 minutes after winning the 100 butterfly.

"I'm really tired," she said after Goering beat her in the 100 free by three-tenths of a second.

Adams anchored a Service team that piled up the points all afternoon. Led by the Adams and Iverson sisters, with help from Mary Uselmann, Christine Kirk, Chloe Miller and Laura McDuffie, the Cougars won two relays and scored points in every individual event except diving to cruise to their 10th state title.

Senior Hannah Iverson said the team win was memorable because of the way it ended, with the two sets of sisters swimming together in the final relay.

"It was definitely special, because it was my last meet, and it was a sister relay," she said. "It was fun to share that with them."

Find Matt Tunseth online at adn.com/contact/mtunseth or call 257-4335.

ASAA/Alaska First National Bank

Alaska Swimming and Diving Championships

Saturday, Bartlett High

Girls

Team scores -- 1) Service 113; 2) Kodiak 69; 3) East 63; 4) Dimond 60; 5) Ketchikan 57; 6) West Valley 41; 7) South 31; 8) Lathrop 20; 9) Soldotna 18; 10) Monroe 17; 11) Juneau 14; 12) Valdez 10; 13) Wasilla 9; 14) tie, Kenai, Homer and Petersburg, 7; 17) West 6; 18) Bartlett 3; 19) Colony 2, 20) Chugiak 1.

200 medley relay -- 1) Dimond (Hawkins, Wray, Summers, Haley), 1:50.54; 2) Service, 1:51.18; 3) Ketchikan, 1:51.86; 4) Kodiak, 1:52.81; 5) Soldotna, 1:56.53; 6) Lathrop, 1:58.02; 7) East, 2:02.42; 8) South, 2:04.42.

200 freestyle -- 1) Anne Goering, West Valley, 1:55.44; 2) Emilee Johnson, Ketchikan, 1:57.84; 3) Hannah Iverson, Service, 1:58.73; 4) Jori Lindquist, Kodiak, 1:59.07; 5) Katy Dalton, West, 1:59.55; 6) Jordan Iverson, Service, 2:01.65; 7) Chelsea Knigth, South, 2:02.13; 8) Olivia Pfeifer, Kenai, 2:02.49.

200 individual medley -- 1) Nikki Wray, Dimond, 2:08.06; 2) Janelle Stacy, Ketchikan, 2:11.28; 3) Elizabeth Bennett, Monroe, 2:12.56; 4) Victoria Adams, Service, 2:14.49; 5) Auri Clark, Juneau, 2:15.69; 6) Michelle Hawkins, Dimond, 2:16.05; 7) Celeste Beck-Goodell, Kodiak, 2:16.52; 8) Chloe Miller, Service, 2:17.27.

50 freestyle -- 1) Sam Wicks, East, 24.05; 2) Mary Uselmann, Service, 24.18; 3) Ilaura Reeves, Lathrop, 25.05; 4) Hannah Norris, Valdez, 25.25; 5) Haley Bissell, Dimond, 25.27; 6) Tessa Hasbrouck, Petersburg, 25.28; 7) Karina Barria, Wasilla, 25.45; 8) Paulina Yoo, South, 25.54.

1-meter diving -- 1) Renee Jordan, East, 363.40; 2) Rachel Kennedy, Wasilla, 306.80; 3) Savannah Craft, West Valley, 292.35; 4) Joanna Wallace, Monroe, 290.0; 5) Katie Cartee, South, 287.75l 6) Dezi Julo, Bartlett, 282.60; 7) Sophie Hogen, Kodiak, 279.40; 8) Kaitlin Friedli, Chugiak, 266.40.

100 butterfly -- 1) Margot Adams, Service, 57.53; 2) Janelle Stacy, Ketchikan, 58.86; 3) Elizabeth Bennett, Monroe, 59.19; 4) Olivia Bowen, Soldotna, 59.34; 5) Auri Clark, Juneau, 59.41; 6) Mary Uselmann, Service, 59.58; 7) Jesi Cavanaugh, East, 1:00.98; 8) Julie James, West Valley, 1:03.19.

100 freestyle -- 1) Anne Goering, West Valley, 52.47. 2, Margot Adams, Service, 52.74; 3) Emilee Johnson, Ketchikan, 53.67; 4) Hannah Norris, Valdez, 54.93; 5) Tessa Hasbrouck, Petersburg, 55.18; 6) Laura Griffing, Kodiak, 55.47; 7) Katy Dalton, West, 55.51; 8) Kaylen Jones, South, 56.25.

500 freestyle -- 1) Nikki Wray, Dimond, 5:14.26; 2) Celeste Beck-Goodell, Kodiak, 5:19.65; 3) Jordan Iverson, Service, 5:21.15; 4) Hannah Iverson, Service, 5:23.82; 5) Olivia Pfeifer, Kenai, 5:24.55; 6) Marie Schmidt, Homer, 5:29.19; 7) McKinely Wallace, East, 5:30.94; 8) Donna McNulty, Homer, 5:40.92.

200 free relay -- 1) Service (Uselmann, Kirk, V. Adams, H. Iverson), 1:39.72; 2) East, 1:40.96; 3) West Valley, 1:41.74; 4) South, 1:42.01; 5) Kodiak, 1:43.30; 6) Juneau, 1:45.09; 7) Lathrop 1:45.59; 8) Kenai, 1:46.49.

100 backstroke -- 1) Sam Wicks, East, 57.35; 2) Michelle Hawkins, Dimond, 58.65; 3) Victoria Adams, Service, 59.53; 4) Jori Lindquist, Kodiak, 59.89; 5) Haley Bissell, Dimond, 1:01.83; 6) Paulina Yoo, South, 1:03.22; 7) Katelyn Payne, Colony, 1:03.36; 8) Alissa Bezenek, Ketchikan, 1:03.51.

100 breast stroke -- 1) Laura Griffing, Kodiak, 1:06.57; 2) Kendra Standley, Ketchikan, 1:08.02; 3) Myra Scholze, Kodiak, 1:08.40; 4) Christine Kirk, Service, 1:10.64; 5) Ilaura Reeves, Lathrop, 1:11.36; 6) Donna McNulty, Homer, 1:11.72; 7) Michaela Shirnberg, Soldotna, 1:12.37; 8) Randi Freestone, Soldotna, 1:12.96.

400 free relay -- 1) Service (H. Iverson, V. Adams, J. Iverson, M. Adams), 3:39.99; 2) East, 3:41.38; 3) Kodiak, 3:42.38; 4) Ketchikan, 3:42.68; 5) South, 3:45.04; 6) Dimond, 3:45.75; 7) West Valley, 3:48.20; 8) Soldotna 3:50.10.

Boys

Team scores -- 1) Dimond 99, 2) Juneau 84, 3) Lathrop 63, 4) Service 46, 5) Kodiak 44, 6) Wasilla 41, 7) South 37, 8) West Valley 32, 9) Soldotna 24, 10) East 17, 11) Petersburg 16, 12) Seward 14, 13) Sitka 8, 14) Ketchikan 7, 15) Kenai 6, 16) Bartlett 5, 16) Hutchison Career Center 5, 18) Colony 4, 19) West 1.

200 medley relay -- 1) Juneau (Cody Brunette, Seth Caycee, Tyler Mickelson, Nick Rutecki), 1:36.33 (New state record; old record 1:36.98, Petersburg, 1998); 2) Lathrop, 1:38.38; 3) Dimond, 1:38.59; 4) South, 1:40.03; 5) Wasilla, 1:42.19; 6) Service, 1:44.04; 7) West Valley, 1:44.61; 8) Soldotna, 1:47.22.

200 freestyle -- 1) Matt Summers, Dimond, 1:42.40; 2) Ryan O'Leary, Seward, 1:44.05; 3) Logan Hanneman, Lathrop, 1:45.83; 4) David Wilcox, Dimond, 1:47.50; 5) Austin Reed, Kodiak, 1:49.84; 6) Josh Anderson, Juneau, 1:48.79; 7) Jackson Ursin, Dimond, 1:49.59; 8) Simon Ross, Dimond, 1:50.71.

200 individual medley -- 1) Cody Brunette, Juneau, 1:54.79; 2) Jay Schulte, South, 1:57.33; 3) Keegan Severns, Lathrop, 1:57.70; 4) Gregory Evershed, Hutchison, 2:01.57; 5) Gordon Reeder, Sitka, 2:04.43; 6) Case Kuikhoven, Ketchikan, 2:06.21; 7) Erik Wilcox, Dimond, 2:07.01; 8) Forrest Scofield, Service, 2:09.85.

50 freestyle -- 1) Jeff Frey, Wasilla, 21.42; 2) Wyatt Adams, Service, 21.67; 3) Nick Rutecki, Juneau, 21.74; 4) Shawn Wooten, East, 22.12; 5) Nando Macinko, Kodiak, 22.23; 6) Ben Rockwell, South, 22.36; 7) Jordan Reid, Petersburg, 22.42; 8) Preston Marsh, Petersburg, 22.76.

1-meter diving -- 1) Dalton Haas, Service, 444.55; 2) Scott Wandersee, Kodiak, 432.90; 3) Cade Bennett, Dimond, 371.85; 4) Bryan Haley, Bartlett, 368.40; 5) Alexander Deedy, Colony, 342.45; 6) Rafe Hembree, West Valley, 326.85; 7) Josh Oldham, South, 321.80; 8) Evan Tyler, West, 284.90.

100 butterfly -- 1) Cody Brunette, Juneau, 50.42; 2) Winter Heaven, Soldotna, 50.78; 3) Wyatt Adams, Service, 51.97; 4) Tyler Mickelson, Juneau, 52.12; 5) Seth Cayce, Juneau, 53.72; 6) Phillip Martinez, Lathrop, 54.30; 7) David Wilcox, Dimond, 54.44; 8) Clayton Schauff, Kodiak, 54.72.

100 free -- 1, Jeff Frey, Wasilla, 46.63; 2) Ryan O'Leary, Seward, 46.70; 3) Drew Vandermeer, West Valley, 47.01; 4) Nick Rutecki, Juneau, 47.26; Logan Hanneman, Lathrop, 48.37; Ben Rockwell, South, 48.56; 7) Jordan Reid, Petersburg, 48.72; 8) Adam Kowalewski, Dimond, 49.01.

500 free -- 1) Matthew Summers, Dimond, 4:38.99; 2) Christian Long, Wasilla, 4:54.34; 3) Jackson Ursin, Dimond, 4:57.82; 4) Simon Ross, Dimond, 4:58.78; 5) Case Kuikhoven, Ketchikan, 5:02.07; 6) Adam Miller, Service, 5:02.09; 7) Jeff Danielson, Lathrop, 5:04.75; 8) Ian McCallum, Petersburg, 5:14.43.

200 free relay -- 1) Juneau (Mickelson, Cayce, Anderson, Rutecki), 1:27.93; 2) Lathrop, 1:30.58; 3) Dimond, 1:30.97; 4) Kodiak, 1:31.14; 5) Wasilla, 1:31.55; 6) West Valley, 1:31.99; 7) Petersburg, 1:32.10; 8) East, 1:35.13.

100 backstroke -- 1) Drew Vandermeer, West Valley, 54.09; 2) Winter Heaven, Soldotna, 54.89; 3) Nando Macinko, Kodiak, 55.94; 4) Zach Rockwell, South, 56.64; 5) Cory Chan, Dimond, 56.69; 6) Luke Carson, West Valley, 56.75; 7) Cody Schick, Juneau, 57.51; 8) Phillip Martinez, Lathrop, 58.64.

100 breast stroke -- 1) Keegan Severns, Lathrop, 58.33; Jay Schulte, South, 59.01; 3) Preston Marsh, Petersburg, 1:00.22; 4) Seth Cayce, Juneau, 1:01.10; 5) Gordon Reeder, Sitka, 1:02.34; 6) Joseph Sandstrom, Dimond, 1:03.29; 7) Adam Kowalewski, Dimond, 1:03.53; 8) Ben Vandermeer, West Valley, 1:04.96.

400 free relay -- 1) Dimond (Summers, Chan, Ursin, Wilcox), 3:15.61; 2) Service, 3:18.55; 3) Kodiak, 3:19.76; 4) East, 3:26.54; 5) Soldotna, 3:30.14; 6) Kenai, 3:31.88; 7) Lathrop, 3:33.94; 8) Juneau, DQ.

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