Homer Mariners swam with a stronger stroke than ever during the competitive Kenai Invite against Palmer, Soldotna, Kenai, Seward, Wasilla and Colony on Sept. 21. Several times others were left behind in the wake of new records and the team celebrated several individual and team victories.

“The meet was very successful,” said Head Coach Rebecca Hardy.

“There were a lot of best times for our swimmers. … We got faster times than we were expecting.” 

The Homer boys ranked first in the meet with a total of 99 points and won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:45.76. The Palmer girls scored 105 points to secure first place for the meet, with Homer girls finishing fifth with 36 points. 

Other highlights included a second and third place in the girls 200 yard IM by Cheyanne Smith and Lauren Kuhns. First place was taken by Remi Nagle in the boys 200 yard IM, and older brother James Nagle in the boys 100 yard butterfly. Mark Nagle took first in the 500 yard freestyle. In her second year as head coach, Hardy was pleased with Saturday’s results.

“The kids did really well and it was a wonderful meet,” she said.

The Kenai Invite was a two-day affair, with dive competition on Friday. Homer’s Jasmine Lewis aced an individual win in diving competition and Katherine Dolma secured second place. In the boys meet, Brian Rowe took second, Kaec Brinster took fourth and Ian Hall placed eighth.

“We had a pretty good weekend,” summed up Dive Coach Harmon Hall.

The Homer divers were on the road again early Saturday morning, heading to the Bartlett-Chugiak Invitational, with dive competition held all day at Chugiak.

“On the boys’ side, (Rowe) took first and (Brinster) took third,” said Hall. “(Hall) made it out of the first round and moved up five spots to take seventh.”

Struggling with a case of nerves in the Chugiak girls’ competition, Lewis placed seventh and Dolma ninth.

“My girls were nervous for some reason,” said Hall, adding, “The venue was totally different than anywhere else. It’s one of the biggest dive meets of the year.”

The Mariner swimmers are preparing for the upcoming pentathlon in Soldotna on Friday, and have their sights on the Oct. 11-12 meet in Seward.

The divers have some time off to use their Kenai and Chugiak experience to help prepare for the Seward meet. 

“We know exactly what to correct and that’s what we’ll work on,” said Hall.

Shannon Reid is a freelance writer who lives in Homer. McKibben Jackinsky also contributed to this story and can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.

Kenai Invitational Swim and Dive
at Kenai Central High School

Sept. 20-21

Results for teams and Homer swimmers and divers

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Palmer, 105; 2. Soldotna, 77; 3. Kenai, 59; 4. Seward, 41; 5. Homer, 36; 6. Wasilla, 11; 7. Colony, 1.

200-yard medley relay: 1. Soldotna, 2:00.81; 2. Palmer, 2:09.04; 3. Kenai, 2:09.42; 4. Homer, 2:13.05; 5. Kenai, 2:18.92; 6. Palmer, 2:21.03.

200 IM: 2. Cheyanne Smith, 2:36.94; 3. Lauren Kuhns, 2:38.48.

Diving: 1. Jasmine Lewis, 171.95; 2. Katherine Dolma, 149.65.

500 freestyle: 3. Lauren Kuhns, 6:18.18.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Palmer, 1:46.36; 2. Soldotna, 1:47.80; 3. Seward, 1:53.55; 4. Palmer, 1:56.43; 5. Kenai, 1:58.84; 6. Homer, 2:02.59.

100 breaststroke: 4. Cheyanne Smith, 1:20.60.

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Homer, 99; 2. Soldotna, 82; 3. Kenai, 69; 4. Palmer, 46; 5. Wasilla, 15; 6. Seward, 2.

200 medley relay: 1. Soldotna (Corona-Cain, Creglow, Hunter, McElroy), 1:46.79; 2. Homer, 1:53.20; 3. Palmer, 2:00.09; 4. Homer, 2:03.63; 5. Wasilla, 2:11.40; 6. Kenai, 2:16.64.

200 freestyle: 2. Cyrus Cowan,  2:09.35; 5. Leo Castellani, 2:14.09.

200 IM: 1. Remi Nagle, 2:19.86; 3. Gregory Smith, 2:20.87.

50 freestyle: 3. Mark Nagle, 25.09; 4. James Nagle, 25.19; 5. Zane Wilkinson, 25.54.

Diving: 3. Brian Rowe, 169.15; 4. Kaec Brinster, 158.10.

100 butterfly: 1. James Nagle, 56.58; 3. Remi Nagle, 1:02.07; 4. Zane Wilkinson, 1:04.35.

500 freestyle: 1. Mark Nagle, 5:28.54.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Soldotna, 1:34.90; 2. Kenai, 1:41.38; 3. Palmer, 1:43.92; 4. Homer, 1:48.09; 5. Un, 1:49.42; 6. Palmer, 1:51.70.

100 backstroke: 2. Gregory Smith, 1:03.65; 4. Leo Castellani, 1:11.10..

400 freestyle relay: 1. Homer, 3:45.76; 2. Kenai, 3:50.37; 3. Soldotna, 4:01.16; 4. Wasilla, 4:24.85; 5. Kenai, 4:31.90; 6. Soldotna, 4:42.66.

Bartlett-Chugiak Invitational Dive Meet at Chugiak

Sept. 21 

Only individual scores for top three finishers were available; no team scores were kept

Boys 1-meter diving:
1. Brian Rowe, 358.45.
3. Kaec Brinster, 307.90.