By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
Times are important in the swimming world, but even more important are the times your swim mates remember about you.
“Erin has swallowed just as much swimming pool water as one can when they wake up every morning at ungodly hours to practice,” sophomore Grace Harang said about Sitka High School senior Erin Blankenship on Saturday at the Blatchley Pool.
Blankenship and classmates J.D. Gagner, Jessica Davis, Kyleigh McArthur, Mac Janik and Molly Blackmon had such memories recounted in honor of their final home meet representing Sitka.
Standing on the Blatchley Pool’s six starting blocks, the six Wolves upper class were presented with a backpack by staff, flowers from parents, applause from fans, and a fond story farewell by teammates.
Above - Sitka seniors and coaches, from left, Jessica
Davis, Erin Blankenship, Kyleigh McArthur,
coach Ben Adams, Molly Blackmon, Mac Janick, J.D. Gagner, and assistant coach Alex Dailey
during appreciation ceremonies on Saturday.
(Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Harang continued, saying Blankenship was good at slaying salmon on her family’s seiner in the summers.
“She has seen our team grow and evolve and has contributed to us winning regions for the first time ever last year,” Harang said. “Erin’s biggest accomplishment throughout her three seasons was dropping almost a minute in the longest possible individual event … this season she will shatter her best 500-free time and the team will be cheering her on the whole time. Erin, I am going to miss the heck out of you next year but I am so excited to watch you dominate the pool this season.”
On Saturday Blankenship (parents are Jenny and Eric) posted a 500-free time of 6:53.44, one of her best “in-season” times ever. In-season times are without rest or tapering. Swimmers taper more toward the end of the season so they can hit faster championship times.
Freshman Razie Guillroy spoke about senior Jessica Davis bringing the team together in and out of the pool, like everyone’s older and younger sister at the same time.
“Whenever I think about Jess I think about a happy, bubbly, confidant and always a little bit late girl who I have always looked up to,” she said. “She is so brutally grounded that every thing she does is exactly what you know you want to do but feel like it might not be right to… It is one extreme or the other but with her I wouldn’t want to ask for anything in-between. I always dreamt that I might get to compete with or against Jessica, and now here I am. I remember when I was little, swimming for BBSC, Jessica would come to practice once in a while and I would feel so special just to swim in the same pool as her. Now I get to swim in a lane with her every day and I could not feel more lucky…”
During the weekend Davis (parents are Jennifer and Jack) posted one of her fastest in-season 100 fly times, and started at backstroke to give the Wolves’ their fastest in-season 200-medley relay ever, along with Harang (breast), sophomore Sophia Schwantes (fly) and McArthur (free).
Junior Sid Fleming spoke about senior J.D. Gagner, saying he began writing his speech at about 12:50, 10 minutes before the 1 p.m. celebration because the prior writer got fired.
“J.D. Gagner will graduate high school, go to college and then become a teacher and fish during the summers,” he said. “J.D. was elected team captain this year, not by majority, but because Ben (head coach Ben Adams) knew he was the most responsible guy on the team.”
He said Gagner’s favorite event is the 100 fly, and least favorite the 100 back. He recounted a story about Gagner and Janik sneaking out of their hotel room at the regional tourney in Juneau for a snack and having Juneau coaches buy them six meals.
“J.D. is one of, if not, the hardest worker on the team,” Fleming said. “And is very inspiring to all, every where he goes. You will be greatly missed when you graduate this year.”
This weekend Gagner (parents are Roxann and Darin) had a lifetime best 1:00.31 in the 100 back and a fastest in-season time of 58.43 in the 100 fly.
Junior Chloe Cagle spoke about senior Kyleigh McArthur being an amazing person with the ability to cheer teammates up, no matter if they had a bad race or just a off day.
“She’ll make you laugh with her weird dinosaur noises or terribly cheeky hugs,” she said. “Kyleigh has been my mat buddy the past two years and she is the only person who can make the painfully slow stretching go by as we talk about the workout we just did or make puns using the stretches names. Just like the ‘bent knee hamstring’ is now, and always will be, the ‘Ben knee hamstring.’
“Kyleigh has always been a big part of this team and we will miss her greatly next year when she goes off to UAF. But we know she will thrive there just as she has here.”
McArthur (parents are Nicki and Scott) had good races all weekend, including a lifetime best 26.56 leading off the girls 200-free relay. – an impressive feat as she swims the 50 free in championship meets at the end of the year when rested and at her peak, so this in-season time bodes well for the Wolves.
Fleming next spoke about Mac Janik, saying the senior wanted to pursue a career as a volunteer firefighter, amateur tattoo artist, and a semi-professional race car driver.
“Because, after all, the only race that matters is NASCAR,” Fleming said. “Mac has spent the last three summers as a dude rancher, or as we like to call him, a goat wrangler, down in Montana. He has grown from a small boy to a bigger boy throughout the last four years on this team.”
Fleming’s favorite memory of Mac was when the team was waiting for practice to start and Mac had put on some Xtratuffs he found. Fleming convinced J.D. Gagner to push Mac in the pool while wearing them. As Mac was falling into the pool he yelled “They’re Ben’s (coach Adams).…”
“Which I had known but J.D. didn’t,” Fleming said. “His favorite event, which God only knows why, is the 500 free, and his least favorite is the 100 breaststroke which he swam yesterday and got a 1:16. Mac has been a very influential person to me and this team whether in the pool, during school, or even out on a boat. Mac will be very greatly missed as he goes on to pursue whatever career he decides.”
During the meet Janik (parents are Brenda and Rob) had a lifetime best 59.32 in the 100 fly, an event he just started focusing on.
Sophomore Sophia Schwantes spoke last about senior Molly Blackmon, who moved from Sitka to Kodiak before her freshman year, and back to Sitka this season. Schwantes noted that whenever she saw Blackmon in a pool or at a meet Blackmon always cheered for her as both teammate and opponent but always without animosity.
“I know it must have been hard moving from Kodiak to Sitka on your senior year,” she said. “Molly never showed any disappointment on being on our swim team this year. Instead she makes us do the hokey-pokey behind the blocks before our relays.”
Schwantes then read a letter from former Kodiak coach John Lindquist who noted what a fantastic teammate she was, even as a shy freshman.
“From that time forward as a coach I watched a special young lady become a central part of our swim team,” Lindquist’s note stated. “Our two sentence conversations became three and by her junior year we conversed at length about swimming, school, family and her life goals. It was hard knowing we were both leaving Kodiak but that did not stop us from forming a close relationship because that is the type of person she is. Molly’s sweet, unassuming nature might lead you to believe that she would not be competitive in the water. It is the exact opposite. Once the race started she was a fierce competitor. Her times dropped and her confidence grew. By the time we parted ways Molly taught me that a person can be sweet out of water but tougher than nails in the water. Sitka is fortunate to get such a great senior.”
Blackmon (parents are Amber and Chris) was consistent all weekend. She provided solid support in the relays, including a 26.96 split swimming third in the 200-free relay and a 59.01 as third leg of the 400-free relay.
In the final swimming event of the meet, a senior brought home the win.
J.D. Gagner hit a lifetime best split of 51.25 as the anchor leg of the boys 400-free relay, with Janik, Fleming, and freshman Tytan Frawley, to defeat Juneau-Douglas High School. (Meet results will run in a later edition).
