Eagle River girls, Service boys take Region IV swimming and diving titles

At the beginning of the season, Eagle River swimmer Lelaina Trembath set goal times for each of her major events, benchmarks she’d hope to pass by season’s end.

So far so good for the sophomore — and her Eagle River teammates.

Trembath won a pair of individual events and was part of two winning relay teams as the Wolves won the Region IV girls swimming and diving championship on Saturday at the Bartlett pool.

Eagle River’s 488 points were 90 better than runner-up South (498).

Trembath won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1 minute, 57.24 seconds and took the 500 freestyle in 5:17.39. Both of those figures were faster than her benchmark times, a good measure of her progress and what she can reach in the future.

“I set goals for myself and definitely got both of those today,” she said. “I want to feel good (with my swims), but it’s about the times.”

The Wolves finished third in the state last year, a position they hope to improve on in next weekend’s state meet.

“We’re all just such a big family and we all support each other and cheer for each other,” Trembath said. “We have such an awesome coach leading us and it’s really just the best.”

Her win in the 500 was more than 12 seconds faster than her closest competitor. At this point she’s used to racing from ahead in that particular event.

“I just keep an eye on my coach and he tells me how fast I’m going and if I need to pick it up,” she said.

Trembath wasn’t alone on the Eagle River team with podium finishes. Reese Woodward won the 200 IM and 100 butterfly and also swam on a pair of winning relay teams.

South’s Charlotte Griffith (50 free) and Emma Marsh (1-meter diving) were champions as well as Service’s Anna Brooks (100 breaststroke). The rest of the events were won by Eagle River swimmers or teams.

Lola Woodward won the 100 Freestyle, Keira Gust took the 100 Backstroke and the Wolves swept the relay events.

On the boys side, Service edged out Dimond to take the title. The Cougars finished with 412 points while the Lynx were right behind with 404 points.

Tomasz Balaban led the way for the Cougars, winning a pair of individual events and swimming the first leg of Service’s winning 400 freestyle relay team.

His wins came in the 50 free and 100 butterly. While his specialty is the butterfly, he said the sprint freestyle is a more technical race.

“It’s actually more (technique-driven),” he said. “It’s so short there’s no room for error.”

Balaban’s Service teammates Jan Beck took the 500 freestyle and Ben Price won the 100 freestyle.

The Cougars ran away with the state title last year and should be among the favorites this year as well after an admittedly slow start.

“We’re really positive about how state is going to turn out,” he said. “In the beginning, it was a bit of a struggle. But I think over the season, we’ve like come together and worked as a team. So we’re really optimistic about going into state. We think we can do really well.”

Eagle River’s Wes Mank joined Balaban as a double winner on the boys side. Mank won the 200 IM, the 100 backstroke and led off the Wolves’ winning 200 medley relay. Mank’s Eagle River teammate Eli Rumph was the winner of the 100 breaststroke.

Chugiak’s Blake Fazio was the winner of the 200 freestyle and the boys diving champ was Dimond’s Roman Billings.

The Alaska State Swimming and Diving Meet runs Friday and Saturday at Bartlett.

Region IV Swimming & Diving Championships

Team totals

Girls

1. Eagle River, 488; 2. South, 398; 3. Service, 325; 4. Dimond, 254

Boys

1. Service, 412; 2. Dimond, 404; 3. Eagle River, 360; 4. Chugiak, 229

Individual

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay

1. Eagle River (Lola Woodward, Bryn Baldwin, Reese Woodward, Keira Gust), 1:48.93; 2. Service, 1:55.32; 3. South, 1:56.60; 4. Dimond, 1:56.71

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay

1. Eagle River (Wes Mank, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Matthew Baker), 1:35.33; 2. Service, 1:39.60; 3. Dimond, 1:40.69; 4. Chugiak, 1:46.19

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle

1. Lelaina Trembath, Eagle River, 1:57.24; 2. Sophia Trembath, Eagle River, 1:57.58; 3. Caitlyn Rumph, Eagle River, 2:01.13; 4. Alexa Kotter, South, 2:02.82

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle

1. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 1:45.24; 2. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 1:47.71; 3. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 1:49.57; 4. Dax O’Brien, Dimond, 1:52.08

Girls 200 Yard IM

1. Reese Woodward, Eagle River, 2:10.03; 2. Keira Gust, Eagle River, 2:13.27; 3. Zoe Fencil, South, 2:14.29; 4. Zaylee Mullinax, Dimond, 2:17.70

Boys 200 Yard IM

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 1:55.11; 2. Ben Price, Service, 1:57.42; 3. Eli Rumph, Eagle River, 2:05.25; 4. Roman Fosberg, Dimond, 2:06.95

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Charlotte Griffith, South Anchorage, 24.94; 2. Natalie Hostetter, Service, 25.34; 3. Varya Bodrova, Dimond, 25.76; 4. Lilly Anderson, Service, 26.07

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 21.33; 2. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 21.85; 3. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 22.13; 4. Creed Cvancara, Dimond, 23.18

Girls 1 mtr Diving

1. Emma Marsh, South, 431.25; 2. Kensley Denmon, Service, 405.90; 3. Iona Snyder, West, 347.85; 4. Sophia Sidgman, Eagle River, 326.10

Boys 1 mtr Diving

1. Roman Billings, Dimond, 437.15; 2. Reubin Williams, Service, 338.35

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly

1. Reese Woodward, Eagle River, 57.45; 2. Zaylee Mullinax, Dimond, 1:00.87; 3. Kalea Davis, Chugiak, 1:01.85; 4. Catherine Heaphy, Eagle River, 1:05.11

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly

1. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 51.07; 2. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 52.25; 3. Andy Zhang, Dimond, 55.45; 4. Paradorn Connolly, Service, 57.33

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle

1. Lola Woodward, Eagle River, 53.67; 2. Sophia Trembath, Eagle River, 54.37; 3. Molly Wirschem, East, 54.94; 4. Charlotte Griffith, South, 55.13

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle

1. Ben Price, Service, 46.54; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak HS, 47.67; 3. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 49.24; 4. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 49.55.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle

1. Lelaina Trembath, Eagle River, 5:17.39; 2. Caitlyn Rumph, Eagle River, 5:29.67; 3. Zoe Zipsir, South, 5:31.35; 4. Alexa Kotter, South, 5:38.24.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle

1. Jan Beck, Service, 4:49.60; 2. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 4:55.64; 3. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 4:57.54; 4. Amadrion Reynier-Wilson, Eagle River, 5:05.84

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Eagle River (Reese Woodward, Sophia Trembath, Lelaina Trembath, Lola Woodward), 1:39.46; 2. South, 1:43.07; 3. Dimond, 1:44.12; 4. Service, 1:44.20

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay:

1. Eagle River (Matthew Baker, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Wes Mank), 1:27.99; 2. Dimond, 1:29.79; 3. Service, 1:32.11; 4. West, 1:37.94.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke

1. Keira Gust, Eagle River, 57.25; 2. Lola Woodward, Eagle River, 57.64; 3. Zoe Fencil, South, 59.96; 4. Payton Curtis, West, 1:04.06

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 49.50; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak, 52.46; 3. Dominic Brunelle, Dimond, 58.44; 4. Amadrion Reynier-Wilson, Eagle River, 58.98

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke

1. Anna Brooks, Service, 1:08.37; 2. Bryn Baldwin, Eagle River, 1:11.20; 3. Stella Baldessari, South Anchorage, 1:11.22; 4. Kalea Davis, Chugiak, 1:11.28

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke

1. Eli Rumph, Eagle River, 57.98; 2. Jan Beck, Service, 58.62; 3. Roman Fosberg, Dimond,1:00.19; 4. Sigge Mellerstig, West Anchorage, 1:04.93

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Eagle River (Lelaina Trembath, Sophia Trembath, Keira Gust, Caitlyn Rumph), 3:39.75; 2. South, 3:48.18; 3. Chugiak, 4:15.81; 4. Service, 4:18.28.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Service (Tomasz Balaban, Braeden Schoppert, Jan Beck, Ben Price), 3:19.95; 2. Dimond, 3:21.62; 3. Chugiak, 3:28.02; 4. West, 3:36.21.