Colony boys claim first-ever title and Eagle River swimmer makes history at 2024 state meet

The highest the Colony boys swimming team had ever finished at a state meet prior to Saturday’s slate of final events was fourth, and they didn’t even crack the top five at last year’s championship meet, finishing eighth with just 28 points.

This year, the Knights were able to pull away from reigning state champion Service in the final standings with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay race with a time of 3:11.26. Thanks to the quartet of Kellan DenBleyker, Pierce McDonough, Iver Gates and Isaiah Hulien, they were able to capture the first team title in program history by finishing with 98 points to the runner-up Cougars’ 88.

“It’s insane and surreal,” Colony swim coach Kaitlin Dault said. “It was something that we weren’t really sure could happen until we looked at regions and how well the kids did at regions. Just being able to see them get out of regions and then come into state ready to go and supporting each other all along the way has been really amazing to see.”

It was a tight race to reach first place between Colony, Eagle River and Service, as they headed into the final few events with several swimmers from each team claiming individual titles and reaching their respective podiums.

“It was super close the whole day and that last relay was the solidifier,” Dault said. “It was pretty intense.”

To claim the program’s first state title on the boys side by beating the reigning state champion Cougars made it even more special.

“We broke every relay record, and a couple seniors are leaving us unfortunately, but this will definitely live on,” Dault said.

While the Knights were making program history, Eagle River senior Wes Mank was busy making state history both as an individual as well as part of a relay team.

He already held the fastest state meet time on record in the 100 backstroke after coming in first place last year. Mank broke it on Friday in the prelims with a top-qualifying mark. On Saturday, he outdid himself once more and rewrote history for the second time in less than 24 hours with a first-place time of 48.65 in his principal event, successfully defending his title.

“I was hoping to go a little bit faster tonight but it is what it is,” Mank said.

As good as it felt to surpass his previous best times and repeat as an individual state champion while making history, he was more ecstatic about the state record he helped secure. The Wolves’ 200-yard medley relay team set a new mark at 1:33.57 in the first event of the boys finals.

“We were kind of surprised and weren’t really sure going in if we could break it, and it happened,” Mank said.

Mank capped off his senior season with two more titles after coming in first in the boys 200-yard IM with a time of 1:51.53 and helped lead the Eagle River 200-yard freestyle relay team to a victory as well with a time of 1:38.58. He will continue competing at the next level at the University of Nevada Las Vegas after already committing to swim for the Rebels three months ago.

“Our goal was to come in here and win those relays, and we went out champions,” he said. “Breaking records with the boys was really cool.”

On the diving side, Wasilla’s Travis Thornton is also going out on top as a senior after coming up just 0.2 points shy of claiming his first state title last year. That shortcoming motivated him throughout the offseason and regular season.

“I ended up in second last year and I came back for redemption,” he said. “I worked hard for this and I feel like I really deserve it. ... I got second last year and it was a disappointment, but to come back and win it this year was something I was ready for.”

Thornton’s first-place winning point total wasn’t even the best mark of his senior season, but it was more than enough for him to claim his first state title.

“I (set a new personal record) at regions last week with a score of 502, and today I ended on 485.25,” he said. “That 0.2 away really pushed me to work throughout the offseason and through this year so I could come back and win it.”

Thornton is happy to leave his high school career on a “good note” and is looking forward to taking his talents to the next level, where he will be competing at Northern Michigan University.

“I’m excited to continue my diving career and am glad this is not my last year,” he said.

Alaska State Swimming and Diving Championships

Boy

Team Rankings

1. Colony High School, 97; 2. Robert Service High School, 88; 3. Eagle River High School, 82

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay

1. Eagle River High School (Wes Mank, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Matthew Baker), 1:33.57 (**State Record) ; 2. Robert Service High School, 1:35.73; 3. Colony High School, 1:37.40; 4. Juneau Douglas High School, 1:40.01

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle

1. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 1:44.26; 2. Evan Dash, Ketchikan, 1:46.73; 3. Logan Tow, Petersburg, 1:46.78; 4. Cody Hubert, Kodiak, 1:46.93; 5. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 1:47.37; 6. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 1:47.90; 7. Pierce McDonough, Colony, 1:48.00; 8. Kellan DenBleyker, Colony, 1:48.83

Boys 200 Yard IM

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 1:51.53; 2. Ben Price, Service, 1:51.77; 3. Eli Rumph, Eagle River, 2:01.50; 4. Reven Settle, Colony, 2:03.36; 5. Gavin Harold, Ketchikan, 2:04.20; 6. Zach Martens, Sitka, 2:04.96; 7. David Price, Kenai, 2:06.18; 8. Roman Fosberg, Dimond, 2:06.48

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 21.03; 2. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 21.57; 3. Iver Gates, Colony, 21.70; 4. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 21.77; 5. Zen Schaetzle, West Valley, 21.89; 6. Michael Brownwood, North Pole, 22.30; 7. Thomas Smith, Colony, 22.46; 8. Matthew Plang, Juneau Douglas, 22.68

Boys 1 meter Diving

1. Travis Thornton, Wasilla, 486.25; 2. Roman Billings, Dimond, 435.95; 3. Reubin Williams, Service, 374.60; 4. Colter Gose, Wasilla, 367.55; 5. Liam Woodward, Ketchikan, 337.95; 6. Micah Wodrich, Lathrop, 335.55; 7. Clayton Huff, Ketchikan, 320.30; 8. Eli West, West Valley, 313.20

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly

1. Isaiah Hulien, Colony, 50.15; 2. Tomasz Balaban, Service, 50.45; 3. Zen Schaetzle, West Valley, 51.68; 4. Evan Dash, Ketchikan, 51.97; 5. Clint Kopp, Dimond, 52.98; 6. Thomas Smith, Colony, 53.08; 7. Jackson Charton, Palmer, 54.39; 8. Landeyn Halstead, Colony, 55.60

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle

1. Ben Price, Service, 45.22; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak, 47.28; 3. Matthew Baker, Eagle River, 47.95; 4. Iver Gates, Colony, 48.29; 5. Kellan DenBleyker, Colony, 48.50; 6. Caeden Kullander, Dimond, 48.72; 7. Parker Hagan, Ketchikan, 48.80; 8. Dax O’Brien, Dimond, 50.04

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle

1. Jan Beck, Service, 4:44.02; 2. Cody Hubert, Kodiak, 4:49.05; 3. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, 4:50.30; 4. Blake Fazio, Chugiak, 4:55.80; 5. Zach Martens, Sitka, 4:55.82; 6. Logan Tow, Petersburg, 4:59.27; 7. Isaiah Hulien, Colony, 4:59.60; 8. Amadrion Reynier-Wilson, Eagle River, 5:19.62

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Eagle River High School (Matthew Baker, Eli Rumph, Nate Shockley, Wes Mank), 1:26.84; 2. Colony High School, 1:27.09; 3. Dimond High School, 1:29.21; 4. West Valley High School, 1:31.24

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke

1. Wes Mank, Eagle River, 48.65 (**State Record) ; 2. Tyson Morgan, Chugiak, 51.97; 3. Pierce McDonough, Colony, 53.38; 4. Grant Maygren, Craig, 54.80; 5. Parker Hagan, Ketchikan, 56.00; 6. Reven Settle, Colony, 56.17; 7. Michael Davidson, Soldotna, 56.94; 8. Liam Kiessling, Juneau Douglas, 57.40

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke

1. Jan Beck, Service, 58.72; 2. Matthew Plang, Juneau Douglas, 59.77; 3. Roman Fosberg, Dimond, 1:01.33; 4. Gavin Harold, Ketchikan, 1:01.75; 5. Hudson Duguid, Colony, 1:01.77; 6. Max Meredith, Ketchikan, 1:02.03; 7. David Price, Kenai, 1:02.64; 8. Sigge Mellerstig, West Anchorage, 1:03.51

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Colony High School (Kellan DenBleyker, Pierce McDonough, Iver Gates, Isaiah Hulien), 3:11.26; 2. Robert Service High School, 3:15.89; 3. Dimond High School, 3:16.91; 4. Ketchikan High School, 3:19.07