The girls won outright, scoring 94 points to defeat runner-up North Pole by 28. The boys team tied Wasilla for first place with 66 points.
The wins set up the last warm-up meet before regions in Soldotna on Friday. Regions will be held in Homer on Oct. 27-28.
Relays were the key for both teams as the girls and boys each won two of the three relays. The Homer girls did not win any individual events, but their deep team tallied enough second- through sixth-place finishes to dominate the meet.
On the boys side, Lars Matkin won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle for Homer, while Brian Ritchie took the 100-yard butterfly.
Homer Swimming Coach Thad Gunther said the meet showed the promise of the Homer team.
“We really had some quality swims, some personal best times,” he said.
And hosting the region meet will be good for the underclassmen, he said.
“It’s a great thing for our sophomores and freshmen,” he said. “It’s a more comfortable place to be instead of being on a bus to (the Valley,)” he said. “The region meet will be great.”
From now until then the team will work primarily on technique and rest up for regions, he said.
Some Mariner swimmers, like senior Sterling Gillon, have been battling illness, he said. But on Saturday, Gillon swam his best meet of the season finishing fifth in the 200-yard individual medley and sixth in the 100-yard butterfly while swimming the second leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay.
“He was just phenomenal, was a senior leader,” Gunther said. “He was a great example for the younger guys.”
Gunther is still tinkering with the lineup, trying to find everyone’s best events for regions and he said he’ll use the Soldotna meet to iron things out.
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homer news.com.
For complete results, visit www.homernews.com.
Valley Invitational
Friday, Saturday at Palmer High School
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Homer, 94; 2. North Pole, 66; 3. Kodiak, 54; 4. Soldotna, 30; 5. Colony, 25; 6. Valdez, 22; 7. Wasilla, 17; 8 (tie). Seward, Palmer, 9; 10. Kenai Central, 4. 200-yard medley relay — 1. Homer (Bell, Bitterman, Arndt, Steyer), 2 minutes, 0.97 seconds; 2. Kodiak, 2:02.29; 3. North Pole, 2:03.10; 4. Valdez, 2:03.11; 5. Soldotna, 2:06.56; 6. Homer, 2:07.69. 200 freestyle — 1. Katelyn Payne, Col, 2:02.45; 2. Sophie May, NP, 2:03.78; 3. Karen Philpot, 2:06.44; 4. Naomi Beck-Goodell, 2:09.84; 5. Saanti Steyer, Hom, 2:09.94; 6. Miranda Claveau, NP, 2:13.44. 200 individual medley — 1. Naomi Franquelin, Kod, 2:17.85; 2. Courtney Rawlins, NP, 2:21.87; 3. Jaclyn Arndt, Hom, 2:27.36; 4. Michaela Shirnberg, Sol, 2:35.94; 5. Amy Jahrig, Ken, 2:37.19; 6. Patricia Polsey, NP, 2:37.72. 50 freestyle — 1. Caity Stigen, Was, 25.66; 2. Lauren Bell, Hom, 26.07; 3. Grace Harrison, Hom, 26.78; 4. Melody Mileur, Pal, 27.03; 5. Nichole Thomas, Val, 27.91; 6. Tessa Johnson, Val, 28.09. Diving — 1. Shereen Whitford, Col, 373.65; 2. Sasha Smith, Kod, 349.55; 3. Suzannah Whitford, Col, 278.25; 4. Sonja Beck, Hom, 272.10; 5. Emmy Olsen, Hom, 242.15; 6. Leesha Cook, NP, 221.20. 100 butterfly — 1. Courtney Rawlins, NP, 1:03.64; 2. Lauren Bell, Hom, 1:05.31; 3. Jaclyn Arndt, Hom, 1:05.92; 4. Naomi Beck-Goodell, Kod, 1:06.14; 5. Nichole Thomas, Val, 1:09.28; 6. Jorden Greiner, Hom, 1:09.69. 100 freestyle — 1. Caity Stigen, Was, 56.63; 2. Lyla Marey, Sol, 56.85; 3. Megan O’Leary, Sew, 58.39; 4. Saanti Steyer, Hom, 58.91; 5. Grace Harrison, Hom, 59.33; 6. Katrina Nore, NP, 1:01.20. 500 freestyle — 1. Sophie May, NP, 5:40.43; 2. Megan O’Leary, Sew, 5:56.20; 3. Denise Howard, NP, 5:59.94; 4. Sara Bitterman, Hom, 6:16.91; 5. Michaela Shirnberg, Sol, 6:17.47; 6. Maddie Merriam, Was, 6:26.87. 200 freestyle relay — 1. North Pole (Rawlins, Claveau, Howard, May), 1:48.37; 2. Homer, 1:50.76; 3. Valdez, 1:52.77; 4. North Pole, 1:55.53; 5. Palmer, 1:58.05; 6. Homer, 1:58.61. 100 backstroke — 1. Katelyn Payne, Col, 1:01.81; 2. Karen Philpot, Kod, 1:05.56; 3. Lyla Marey, Sol, 1:06.86; 4. Jorden Greiner, Hom, 1:09.00; 5. Amy Jahrig, Ken, 1:09.99; 6. Shelby Burgess, Hom, 1:12.04. 100 breaststroke — 1. Naomi Franquelin, Kod, 1:12.68; 2. Jennifer Bitterman, Hom, 1:13.88; 3. Randi Freestone, Sol, 1:15.00; 4. Jullian Sanford, Val, 1:17.86; 5. Brandi Day, Pal, 1:19.40; 6. Hannah Grady, Hom, 1:21.68. 400 freestyle relay — 1. Homer (Bell, Greiner, Baechler, Steyer), 4:00.56; 2. Kodiak, 4:04.63; 3. Soldotna, 4:08.91; 4. North Pole, 4:09.43; 5. Homer, 4:21.69; 6. Wasilla, 4:30.28.
BOYS
Team scores: 1 (tie). Wasilla, Homer, 66; 3. North Pole, 55; 4. Kodiak, 48; 5. Soldotna, 28; 6. Kenai Central, 23; 7. Colony, 16; 8. Cordova, 13; 9. Palmer, 8; 10. Seward, 7. 200-yard medley relay — 1. Homer (Roedl, Matkin, Ritchie, Lane), 1:48.85; 2. Wasilla, 1:49.09; 3. North Pole, 1:51.36; 4. Soldotna, 1:52.23; 5. Kodiak, 1:54.68; 6. Kenai, 1:58.51. 200 freestyle — 1. Austin Reed, Kod, 1:55.10; 2. Tommy Hightower, Was, 1:57.15; 3. Christian Long, Was, 2:00.14; 4. Clayton Schauff, Kod, 2:00.91; 5. Jeff Frey, Col, 2:01.04; 6. Kyle Irving, Cor, 2:01.49. 200 individual medley — 1. Joseph Spann, NP, 2:07.05; 2. Wil Fernandez, Was, 2:09.58; 3. Brian Ritchie, Hom, 2:12.37; 4. Adam Boatman, NP, 2:18.59; 5. Sterling Gillon, Hom, 2:19.78; 6. Chris Paulson, Kod, 2:22.71. 50 freestyle — 1. Lars Matkin, Hom, 23.22; 2. Colin Dudley, Sol, 23.65; 3. Ryan Marso, NP, 24.05; 4. Patrick Lane, Hom, 24.11; 5. Chad Chapman, Kod, 25.11; 6. Rhowe Stefanski, Col, 25.12. Diving — 1. Sam White, NP, 523.35; 2. Ryan Hogan, Was, 398.55; 3. Tim Schachle, Col, 375.20; 4. Mike Provo, Pal, 339.15; 5. Cody Vetter, Col, 338.05; 6. Andrew Bullock, Hom, 313.85. 100 butterfly — 1. Brian Ritchie, Hom, 56.64; 2. Tommy Hightower, Was, 57.85; 3. Colin Dudley, Sol, 58.86; 4. Clayton Schauff, Kod, 59.81; 5. Bryce Peck, NP, 1:01.54; 6. Sterling Gillon, Hom, 1:02.58. 100 freestyle — 1. Lars Matkin, Hom, 51.99; 2. Charles Frey, Was, 54.22; 3. Kyle Irving, Cor, 54.42; 4. Patrick Lane, Hom, 55.63; 5. Anders Nyquist, Ken, 55.78; 6. Daniel SpeegleEvans, Sol, 56.31. 500 freestyle — 1. Joseph Spann, NP, 5:06.69; 2. Austin Reed, Kod, 5:09.59; 3. Christian Long, Was, 5:24.39; 4. Jeff Frey, Col, 5:34.06; 5. Lee Collins, Cor, 5:43.95; 6. John Roedl, Hom, 5:54.85. 200 freestyle relay — 1. North Pole (Marso, Boatman, Peck, Spann), 1:36.69; 2. Soldotna, 1:39.83; 3. Kodiak, 1:41.31; 4. Cordova, 1:42.03; 5. Kenai Central, 1:43.36; 6. Homer, 1:45.02. 100 backstroke — 1. Wil Fernandez, Was, 54.94; 2. Christopher Hall, Ken, 57.23; 3. Dylan Wannamaker, Ken, 1:00.74; 4. Charles Frey, Was, 1:01.74; 5. Bryce Peck, NP, 1:02.09; 6. Adam Boatman, NP, 1:03.50. 100 breaststroke — 1. Kenny Audette, Sew, 1:07.85; 2. Kyle Johnson, Pal, 1:09.42; 3. Chris Paulson, Kod, 1:10.09; 4. Max Merriam, Was, 1:11.43; 5. Forrest Eissler, Sol, 1:11.79; 6. Hayden Linscheid, Kod, 1:12.50. 400 freestyle relay — 1. Homer (Lane, Gillon, Ritchie, Matkin), 3:30.12; 2. Wasilla, 3:33.56; 3. Kodiak, 3:36.49; 4. Kenai Central, 3:52.09; 5. Colony, 3:56.80; 6. Kodiak, 3:59.89.
We encourage you to add your comments. To prevent spam, comments with links are manually approved during the normal business day. Please be respectful of others with your comments, bear in mind anyone in the community may be reading your comments.
