By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Baranof Barracudas dropped time and performed beyond expectations for their small squad in the Age Group Championship swim meet in Anchorage over the weekend.
Baranof Barracudas swimmers pose for a shot at the Age Group Championship swim meet over the weekend in Anchorage. The 14-member travel team took fourth place out of 21 teams. (Photo provided by Kevin Knox)
The 14-swimmer Sitka team earned fourth place overall out of 21 teams and about 320 swimmers present, and the BBSC boys took second place in the boys competition.
In their age groups, both Zach Martens and Sawyer Bastian won the high point award, and Olivia Jarvill and Jake Peterson were third-place high scorers.
The swim meet went especially well for Olivia, 10.
“I really had a good time at this meet. I feel (in) a lot of my swims I dropped a massive amount of time, and I’m really happy with those. One of them is my 500 free – I dropped 24 seconds,” Olivia told the Sentinel after practice Tuesday. She took first place in that long distance event in 7:02.
BBSC coach Kevin Knox described her time drop in the 500 free as “amazing.”
In the 50- and 100-yard backstroke events, she also was first to touch the wall. In addition to her wins in the water, Olivia enjoyed her time out of the pool catching up with her friends from Juneau.
“I’m happy with my backstroke… I had a really good meet, hanging out with friends and a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while from Juneau because I actually just moved, and it was really nice to see them again.”
In the 200 individual medley race, Olivia took second, and was third in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 free.
She plans to work on her flip turns, and is looking forward to competing again at the Southeast Championship meet in the spring.
In the 100 backstroke, James Nellis, 14, finished fifth in 1:15, and placed fifth again in the 100 breaststroke in 1:21. But it was in his freestyle race that he made a sizable improvement.
“I’m the most happy with my 100 free I think, just the time. I dropped two seconds,” Nellis said. He took 12th place in 1:00.
Looking forward, he’d like to work on his short distance freestyle.
“My 50 free, my time is OK but I haven’t dropped time in it for a year… It’s my breathing I think, and just my tempo and my pulling,” he said.
Also at the meet was Tommy McCarthy, 13, a newer swimmer with only a year and a half in the water.
“I wasn’t really sure how I was going to place because of how long I’ve been swimming… The people were pretty fast and the events were fun,” McCarthy said.
In the 50 free he finished second in 26.41 seconds, and in the 100 fly he took third in 1:06.
“One of my favorite things was probably doing the relays,” he said. He teamed with Nellis, Zach Martens and Corin Colliver in three relay events, winning the 200 free in 1:44; placing second in the 200 medley in 2:01, and second in the 400 free in 3:52.
The Barracudas’ boys team punched above their weight at the meet and took second place overall. Sitka’s athletes earned the second most points per swimmer at the meet.
“The top three teams had better than twice our numbers,” Knox said. “Point wise, we were very close to getting the most points per swimmer. The team that got the most points per swimmer was, like, two points ahead of us.”
Sawyer Bastian swept the first place spot in each of his events, including the 50 free, 500 free, 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. Corin Colliver won the 100 backstroke race in 1:07, and Ella Colliver took 13th in the 50 back.
Wim Edwards was first to the wall in the 50 and 100 butterfly in 36.59 seconds and 1:28 respectively.
Taryn Fleming finished third in the 100 fly in 1:06, and Wyatt Kirkness took second in the 100 IM.
Ben Lihou won the 50 and 100 breaststroke races in 38.09 seconds and 1:28 respectively. Jake Peterson took second place in the 100 free in 1:07 and in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:27. He again finished second in the 100 back.
In the 200 fly, Evi Rice came in second in 3:48.
Zach Martens surged ahead of the competition and won all of his races, including the 500 free in 5:20, the 200 breaststroke in 2:28 and the 400 IM in 4:42.
“Zach way outperformed where I thought he would be,” the coach said. “He dropped (time) in everything, and he got 100 percent best times. He was dropping in events that he just swam at Senior Champs three weeks ago – and big, big drops. So that was really fun to watch… His training is just coming together.”
Overall, nine-tenths of BBSC times over the weekend were personal records.
“Three weeks before this meet, we only had four kids committed and then we had a time trial and a bunch more got times and everybody started getting really excited,” Knox said. “And we ended up taking 14, so it was just a really exciting meet for us.”
