Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Swimmers Shed Tears of Joy, Anguish

    Sentinel Sports Editor Klas Stolpe was in Anchorage Saturday to cover the state high school swim meet for the Sentinel.

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By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    ANCHORAGE ––There were Sitka tears of joy, and of anguish, and of sorrow during Saturday’s ASAA State Swim & Dive Championships at Anchorage’s Bartlett High School pool.
    The Wolves won the first event of the meet and they finished last in the final swim. In between, their favorite fell.
    “I am proud of the work our team has put in throughout the season and at state,” senior Jessica Davis said. “I am also very proud of my 200 medley relay team.”
    Just one minute 49.80 seconds into the day’s competition the Wolves relay gave Sitka a state championship, leading from start to finish.
    Davis’ backstroke started the medley lead and sophomore Grace Harang followed in the breast stroke.
    “I was really excited as soon as I saw Jessica get ahead,” Harang said. “I got the start beautiful and everything was going perfectly. My stroke was going great. I nailed the turn and didn’t look around me. I didn’t know if I was ahead or behind. I was just swimming my heart out. I felt really good in the water, every stroke was powerful and I was focusing on catching the water with my hands.”
    Wall touched, Harang crawled out of the pool and stood screaming behind the timers.
    “I was screaming and crying and yelling and jumping,” she said. “I was so excited just seeing them keep our spot and the announcer saying we were keeping ahead. It was the best thing ever.”
    Sophomore Sophia Schwantes nailed the fly leg.
    “Jessica obviously had the lead and Grace kept the lead,” Schwantes said. “I was just like ‘I’ve got to keep the lead.’ I just tried to dolphin kick out and I couldn’t see anyone at first so it kind of stressed me out, then I just had to breathe. I touched the wall and knew that Kyleigh would bring it home.”
    Senior captain Kyleigh McArthur had given up an individual event to swim the anchor leg.
    “I got to watch the whole thing unfold because I was the last to go,” McArthur said. “It started with Jessica going out in the lead and the announcer saying it was our lane 6. I was like ‘yes!’ By the time it got to me we were still ahead and I was like ‘OK, I just have to swim fast, I have to keep up and win.’ I was so excited.”
    Then McArthur touched the wall.
    “It was like shock,” she said. “I couldn’t tell if I was going to cry or laugh, I was just so happy.”

From left, Sitka High School’s Jessica Davis, Sophia Schwantes, Kyleigh McArthur, and Grace Harang hold up their medals earned in the girls 200 medley relay at the state championship Saturday at Anchorage’s Bartlett Pool. The Sitka girls also placed second overall in team scoring with 72 points, Dimond High placed first with 96. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)

   Other top swims included Harang placing 2nd in the 500 free, setting a school record of 5:17.13, and 3rd in the 200 IM; freshman Tytan Frawley placing 3rd in the 500 free for the boys; Davis 4th in the 100 fly; McArthur 6th in the 50 free; the girls 200 free relay of senior Molly Blackmon, senior Kai Frawley, Schwantes and McArthur 5th; Blackmon 6th in the 200 free and 6th in the 100 back.
    It was in the 100 back that favorite Davis fell.
    She was seeking her fourth straight state title in the event.
    Seeded second with a preliminary time of 59.89, just behind the 59.15 by Ellie Mercer of Eagle River, Davis was still peaking and expected to drop another second at least.
    Exploding out of the water Davis slowly built an advantage.
    The meet announcer enticed the fans watching with a stroke-by-stroke accounting, with Davis the most often named.
    “For the first 75 of the 100 I was feeling really strong,” Davis said.
    Then came the unthinkable. For the first time her body faltered.
    “On the kickoff of the last 25 my legs cramped up really bad,” Davis said. “So I tried to speed up my arms to make up for the lack of my kick. This caused my arms to tire sooner than usual and by the end I was just exhausted.”
    Within 10 feet of the finish her opponent was alongside and a reach at the wall stopped a historic pursuit. Mercer won in 58.40 to Davis’ 58.88.
    Davis crawled from the pool, physically and emotionally drained.
    “It was disappointing and hard for me to lose my senior year,” she said. “I felt like I was letting everyone down.”
    She would be needed in the girls final event, the 400 free relay, and was visibly thrashed.
    Two events passed.
    “I could tell she was upset,” team captain McArthur said. “I told her that she tried her best and I was proud of her regardless. We had one more swim before the meet was over and we needed Jessica to be at her best, and that’s what I told her.”
    With tears in her eyes Davis looked to the stands for support, the pool deck for her coaches, and her relay mates at her side, willing her body back.
    Walking to the starting blocks, carrying a lucky stuffed animal, Davis and the Wolves gelled.
    Harang left the block first, Blackmon followed for leg two, and Davis punished the water for leg three, giving the last hopes to McArthur.
    At the end the Wolves had a new school record of 3:39.25, but placed 2nd to Dimond’s 3:38.19.
    Now just the boys 400 free relay remained.
    Sitka senior Jacob Gagner had spent his entire swimming career thinking about a state podium finish.
    Hundreds of hours in the Blatchley pool as a member of the Baranof Barracudas and the Wolves led to this opportunity.
    Countless carpools, illnesses and the prevalent odor of chlorine were all part of his drive for his next personal best time with his friends and schoolmates.
    As the season progressed Gagner felt the 400 free relay team could do something special at state. Those hopes were higher than ever with the team’s strong showing at the Southeast Region V championships, only to be dashed a few hours afterward when three swimmers on the team were suspended.
    But at state, Gagner said, “I decided I still wanted to race the relay to my fullest potential.”
    Now Gagner, joined by Frawley, freshman Wesley Urias and junior Thomas Bailey was attempting to will a new team of Sitka freestylers to the podium
    The race would have been a struggle even with the original cast in a field as thick and deep with swimmers that have colleges drooling.
    But it was Gagner’s dream.
    He led off the relay and stayed with the top swimmer, hitting a personal best split from a flat start. Frawley followed and kept the team in the top three hunt.
    Urias and Bailey swam PR’s, yet a pool length remained for the Wolves when the competition had all touched the wall.
    The race over, Gagner shook his teammates hands.
    He walked to coach Ben Adams and the tears fell.
    “When you care a lot about swimming, the moments after your last race can be overwhelming and there may be not words, just emotion,” Adams said. “Having gone through that myself after my own last race in high school, there was nothing left to be said between us on deck after his.”
    The two embraced.
    “I was crying,” Gagner said. “It marked the end of an extremely memorable and fun four years. Part of the emotion came from the realization that it was my last time racing as a Sitka Wolf alongside my teammates whom I’m extremely proud of. Ultimately, I think the tears showed an appreciation for my coaches and my teammates.”
    Dreams are never meant to be the cure-all for success.
    They are meant to allow athletes to strive to become better teammates, opponents, and people.
    Gagner has already earned gold medals in those categories.