Last weekend’s Region V swim meet in Ketchikan set the stage for the prep swim and dive state championships, with 27 Juneau athletes qualifying for state after closing their regular season with strong performances at regions.
Seventeen athletes from Juneau-Douglas High School and 10 athletes from Thunder Mountain are set to compete in the season’s final act, which this year takes place at home: Juneau will host the state championship meet at Dimond Park Aquatic Center on Nov. 4-5.
Athletes qualify for the state meet by either winning an event at regions (Alaska has four swimming regions), or posting one of the 16-best times in the state during the course of the season.
JDHS won Region V last weekend with 283 combined team points, besting Sitka High School (2nd, 222 points) and Thunder Mountain (3rd, 212).
The Crimson Bears women carried the team to the podium with a 163-point performance good for a Region V women’s championship, their fourth in a row. The Crimson Bears men placed second with 119 points.
“We performed really well, pretty much everybody smashed their personal bests,” JDHS coach Seth Cayce said in a phone interview after the meet.
Senior Crimson Bears standout Mia Ruffin led the team at regions with wins in the women’s 200-yard individual medley, the 100 breaststroke and the 200 medley relay. She also qualified for state as part of two other women’s relay teams who, although not region-winners, posted one of the state’s top-16 times.
“The biggest challenge for me was to stay positive going into my races and I think that really benefitted me in how I performed; the hard work paid off,” Ruffin said, adding that she’s excited to see what her team can do at the state meet. “… I think we are going to do really well. Everyone has been working so hard this year to help each other out.”
Her 2 minutes, 7.49 seconds time in the 200 individual medley set a new Region V record, besting a record Ruffin set last year by nearly two seconds. Her time stands at seven seconds faster than the state’s next best time in that event this year.
JDHS also took home region trophies in the men’s 50-yard freestyle (Eric Schumacher, 0:22.68), the women’s 500 freestyle (Gabi Kito, 5:29.86) and the men’s 100 backstroke (Aidan Seid, 0:55.40).
Though placing lower than JDHS overall, Thunder Mountain finished with more individual medals, winning seven events.
Thunder Mountain’s boys team did the heavy lifting for the Falcons by winning all seven of the team’s first place trophies. Sophomores Spencer Holt and Bergen Davis led the team, with Holt taking home two individual medals, one in the 200 freestyle (1:46.97) and another in the 100 butterfly (0:52.26).
Holt also helped the team to three relay medals in the 200 individual medley relay (1:42.47), the 200 freestyle relay (1:33.24) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:23.46).
Davis contributed with wins in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke while pitching in on the 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley first place relay teams.
“They’ve met and exceeded all of the expectations they have set for themselves this year,” Falcons coach Josiah Loseby said of his team’s performance.
The Falcons’ Chris Ray, of the men’s team, pitched in with a win in the longest event, the 500 freestyle, while also contributing to the Falcons’ three relay wins.
Other Falcons first place relay team members were: Noatak Post (200 freestyle relay, 200 individual medley relay), Micah Grigg (200 IM relay, 200 freestyle relay) and Raymie Matiashowski (Men’s 400 freestyle relay).
Full results for the region meet, as well as a list of Juneau’s state meet qualifiers, can be found with this story online.
Juneau-Douglas swimmer Gabi Kito swims the 100-yard butterfly Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, during the Region V Swim and Dive Meet in the Ketchikan Gateway Borugh Aquatic Center.
