Kodiak Swimmers Tops at Regional Meet

     Swimmers from Kodiak High School blew away the competition at last weekend’s Region Three Swimming and Diving Championships, held in Homer Friday and Saturday. Both the Kodiak boys’ and girls’ teams took first place by large margins.

    The Peninsula Clarion reports that the Kodiak girls won every race except the 100-yard butterfly, in which Palmer’s Noelle Graham triumphed over the duo of Kaitlyn Groleske and Megan English of Soldotna. Groleske also swam to a second-place result in the 200-yard freestyle.

     Chelsea Chess finished third in the girls 100-yard breaststroke – tops for Kenai’s girls team – while Homer’s Jasmine Lewis notched a second-place result in the diving competition, one spot ahead of Sabrina Gibbs of Soldotna.

     On the boys side, Soldotna nabbed a win in the 200-yard medley relay, beating out Kodiak’s team by three-tenths of a second. The same team also took home the 200-yard freestyle relay. Homer’s Brian Rowe took first place in the one-meter dive. The Mariners’ other boys victory came in the 100-yard butterfly, which saw James Nagle take the top step, narrowly defeating Dustin Hunter of Soldotna.

     The 2012 Swimming and Diving State Championship meet will be held this weekend at the Bartlett High School Pool in Anchorage.