The Kachemak Kings Swim Club sent 19 competitors to the 2003 Alaska Junior Olympics Swim Meet at Bartlett Pool in Anchorage over the weekend. More than 400 athletes from across Alaska competed in the meet. The Kings had one of the smaller teams competing in the meet, but still walked away with a ninth-place finish out of 22 teams. They scored a total of 716 points.

Anthony Augusto finaled in all seven of his events and walked away with a fifth-place overall finish in the boys 13-14 division. His strong finishes in the 1,000 and 1,650-yard distance events earned the team 100 points toward the team's total score.

Twelve-year-old Dakota Zellin finaled in six events and placed as high as third in the 400 individual medley. His efforts picked up another 87 points for the team.

On the girls side of the action, Kristen Faulkner placed seventh overall in the girls 10-and-under division. Faulkner finaled in all seven events and picked up 93 points for the team. Barb Scott finished just behind Faulkner with a ninth-place performance, while 12-year-old Grace Harrison finaled in five of her events.

In one of the more exciting races for the meet, Lauren Bell out-touched teammate Deannie Andree in the 50 freestyle by less than one-half second to take the first-place win. Bell finished in 25.93 seconds, with Andree right on her heels in 26.13. The Kachemak Swim Club swimmers finished first and second in a field of more than 35 swimmers.

The swimmers head up to Soldotna for their next competition during the first week of May.

Horse gear sale coming

An equine tack swap will be held in the Homer High Commons on May 3 from noon to 4 p.m. A $5 vendor fee will benefit Community School and a 5 percent donation from sales will benefit the Kachemak Equine Center's indoor riding arena project. For more information, contact Kristen at 235-9106 or Evelyn at 235-4239.