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Crimson Bears girls win state swimming team title
Liddle, Foy win individual titles as JDHS topples Eagle River for championship
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
There were a number of lofty wins during Saturday’s ASAA Swim and Dive State Championships in Anchorage’s Bartlett High School pool, but Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé took home one of the biggest as the Crimson Bears’ entire roster contributed to winning the girls’ team title, earning 108.5 points to Eagle River High School’s 98.
“I am feeling incredibly proud of this team,” JDHS assistant coach Dakota Hubert said. “They worked so hard the last 13 weeks, and seeing their work pay off this weekend is so special. I have loved every minute of getting to coach these athletes this season. They truly amaze me every meet. Every swimmer contributed to this achievement, whether it was through encouraging teammates at practices, scoring points at meets, swimming personal bests, cheering teammates on or bringing energy to the team.”
Eagle River started the day with some big wins. Wolves sophomore Audrey Townley, senior Lelaina Trembath, sophomore Anna Heaphy and freshman Khalyse Rollins hit 1:50.33 in the 200-yard medley relay, topping second-place Service High School’s team of freshman Tricia Wu, senior Anna Brooks, senior Natalie Hostetter and sophomore Nora Fawcett with 1:50.82 and JDHS’ sophomore Katya Foy, senior Kennedy Miller, senior Amy Liddle and senior Kaelyn Szefler in third with 1:51.04.
Eagle River’s Trembath next won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.14 and senior teammate Caitlyn Rumph was fourth. JDHS sophomore Cora Soboleff picked up points for sixth.
Service’s Brooks outtouched JDHS’ Liddle in the girls 200-yard individual medley, 2:10.78 to 2:10.81, with ERHS’ Heaphy third and JDHS senior Avery Smith fourth.
Colony junior Jersey Lane won the girls 50-yard free over ERHS’ Rollins, 24.88 to 25.33. JDHS senior Bailey Fisher grabbed points for sixth.
Neither JDHS nor ERHS had divers in the finals, and the Crimson Bears began their point surge in the second half of the day.
The JDHS girls earned major points with Liddle winning the 100-yard butterfly in 58.74 — ERHS sophomore Anna Heaphy was second in 58.87 — and sophomore Katya Foy winning the 100-yard freestyle in 54.25 in a field with no Wolves and senior teammates Szefler and Fisher sixth and seventh.
“It came as such a surprise to me,” Foy said of her win. “I was so happy about it. After I was, like, really tired, but I couldn’t have done it without my team and my family and my coaches. I am super proud of how we all did and how I did and, I don’t know, this meet was such a huge success and I am super happy.”
Foy tried to keep track of her opponents during the swim.
“One of my goggles did fall and fill up with water,” she said. “So I was just going for the wall. So I wasn’t sure where they were.”
This race has been on Foy’s mind for some time and she thought advice from brother P.J. Foy (2023 Thunder Mountain graduate, current University of North Carolina swimmer), who still holds the state meet record in the 100 fly (48.27) and 100 breast (54.67), won six state titles and was selected the outstanding competitor in 2023 along with JDHS senior Emma Fellman.
“I have been talking with my brother, he always tells me to visualize,” Foy said. “So for the past month, like, I have been visualizing this race. And I was visualizing my walk-up song as well, it was really exciting. My walk-up song was ‘Pocket Full of Sunshine,’ I always do that one. It is the only one I have ever done.”
Foy noted the water-filled goggles were not part of the visualization.
“No, that came as a surprise to me,” she said. “But I am getting better goggles. I am really excited. My brother was texting me after, telling me ‘good job.’ I will call him.”
Kenai junior Emma Castimore won the girls 500-yard freestyle in 5:25.96, but JDHS sophomore Cora Soboleff went all out to place fourth in 5:32.74, ahead of ERHS senior Caitlyn Rumph in fifth.
“The 500 is always a challenging race, but as soon as you find a rhythm to a song you can just go stroke by stroke until you see the counter turn red,” Soboleff said. “The song I had in my head was ‘Mistletoe’ by Justin Bieber to just bring happiness as I did the best that I could today. To be completely honest my strategy was to try my best, and my coach Dakota reminded me beforehand to try and go all out for the last 100 of the 500 and leave it in the pool. Whenever I am swimming the 500, I am always worried to go out too fast leading me to burn out, so I was focused on that. I am glad I was able to gain from this state experience to improve in the future. Winning the team title is incredible! I truly was shocked hearing our team worked through each race to earn the state title. This year’s state was a cool team to be part of. State will always have a deep meaning to it as it is an end to a chapter with our seniors from the jokes Maddox brings to the team to the inspiration Amy brings to us all.”
Service’s Brooks won her second individual event hitting 1:04.51 in the girls 100-yard breaststroke, toppling Trembath in 1:05.72, but also topping JDHS’ Miller in 1:08.71. JDHS senior Riley Soboleff scored in seventh place.
Brooks was awarded the girls’ outstanding competitor in the state meet for her two individual wins and relay contributions, helping Service earn third place in the overall team standings with 75 points.
“It feels really awesome,” Brooks said. “My freshman year I never would have thought that I would someday get this. I really just wanted to focus on myself, not let anything get in my head and just, like, put my head down and do the best I could do. For my school this definitely means a lot. Service girls haven’t done this well at state in 15 years so I think it is definitely really special.”
Brooks noted her career is not over and hopes to swim collegiately.
“I am going to get back in the pool and try my best in every other race that I can,” she said. “And hopefully work on the little details that I could have done better today.”
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé seniors Riley Soboleff and Kennedy Miller swim the girls 100-yard breaststroke final during the 2026 ASAA Swim and Dive State Championships at Anchorage's Bartlett High School pool, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)
ERHS’ Rollins, junior Teodora Curcin, Rumph and Trembath out-touched JDHS sophomore Annabelle Woodruff, sophomore Maddie Manlulu, Miller and Fisher 1:42.27 to 1:42.28 in the girls 200-yard freestyle.
And in another non-Eagle River race, Sitka Wolves senior Taryn Fleming won the girls 100-yard back in 59.54 over West Valley junior Addylyn Gore-Hall in 59.66, with JDHS’ Foy grabbling third in 1:02.30.
“It was pretty fun,” Fleming said. “I don’t know, it is the backstroke. I was just having fun. When I came here I want to have fun, not put stress on it, senior year no stress was the goal. I saw West Valley on my last flip and was like, ‘ah, got to go.’ I don’t know, it was just fun. I feel like not many people in our town follow swim that closely, it is more basketball. I feel like people think swimming is a lot easier than it is, even though we can’t breathe. We had some new swimmers this year and they were like, oh my god, swimming is actually not that easy. And I was like, we know. We have been doing it for years. But, yeah, it was fun.”
The final event of the day was key. JDHS needed to get first or second in the girls 400-yard freestyle to win the overall title. If they placed third in the event the title would have rested in Eagle River’s trophy case.
“My favorite part of the meet was when we got to the last relay for both the girls and boys,” JDHS coach Hubert said. “The majority of the team was done competing, so they all came together to cheer. The camaraderie, excitement and team spirit were unmatched. And we ended with a bang with the girls 400 free relay win, and the boys moving up four places to take 2nd. This weekend was one that I will cherish forever.”
Crimson Bears Liddle, Woodruff, Szefler and Foy put in a textbook relay win of 3:41.27, with Service’s Hostetter, sophomore Alethia Schoppert, Fawcett and Brooks second in 3:42.40, and ERHS’s Heaphy, Rumph, junior Lizzie Russian and Townley third in 3:45.22.
“Going first you just have to sprint that first 50 and try and get a head of everybody else,” Liddle said. “And I think I gave it my all that first 50 and then the second one I was just trying not to die. It ended up well in the end though.”
Liddle was aware of the other racers around her.
“Yeah, I could see Eagle River next to me and that definitely kept me going,” she said. “I would say I probably did die a little bit, but I really focused on my wall that last 25. Just keeping my head down, trying not to breathe every stroke.”
Woodruff was next off the blocks.
“I usually just try to get as far ahead as I can in front of everyone else,” Woodruff said. “Or else I just try to stay with the pack. Me and this girl from Eagle River were neck and neck the whole time. It is very stressful but it worked out.”
Szefler had the third leg.
“I am just trying to keep the lead going,” Szelfer said. “And trying to push further so I can give the last leg a good push to the end. I was exhausted by the end of it. I felt kind of stuck, but I was surprised when I saw where I was. I just felt accomplished.”
Foy had the anchor leg.
“Well Amy did a really good job of getting us out in front,” Foy said. “Annabelle and Kaelyn really kept the lead. I think for the anchor my main goal is to keep the lead, get out in front, and touch the wall first to be successful. I did not see the girl in lane two (Service’s Brooks). She was in my blindsight so I didn’t know she was there, but I out-touched her. I am giving it my all the whole time. The main goal I think for our team is to get best times. It is just us against us, but yes, if there are people I am working out for then I will try and get in front of them as well.”
The girls meet was competitive from start to finish, with ERHS and JDHS trading places throughout and ultimately being decided in the final swim.
“Going into that relay, we knew that if our girls finished second, Eagle River would win the team title,” JDHS head coach Amber Kelly said. “The girls knew exactly what was at stake, and they went into that race determined to give it everything they had. Watching them come together, win that relay, and secure the state championship was an unforgettable moment. I couldn’t have imagined a better way for them to finish their season, especially for our senior girls. For many of them, this was their first state championship, which made the victory even more meaningful.”
This was Kelly’s first year as head coach, assisted by former JDHS swimmers Dakota (Isaak) Hubert and Mesa Moran. JDHS brought 16 senior to state and 15 competed.
JDHS senior divers Moira Bahn and Adeline Williams had outstanding performances in the preliminaries but did not make the finals. The podium finished with Colony senior Claire Wallstrum in first place with 467.85 points, Colony senior Lyza Krozel second (393.50), Service senior Lexie Bond third (339.05) and Kodiak junior Dannica Sharratt fourth (338.35).
“This weekend was bittersweet for me because I’ve had the opportunity to coach most of these athletes over the past several years,” coach Kelly said. “Realizing that this was the last time I would watch many of them compete as Crimson Bears was emotional. They’re an amazing group of young adults, and I’ve had the privilege of watching them grow both in and out of the pool. I know they have bright futures ahead of them, and I’m excited to see what they accomplish next. For our senior girls, getting to finish their high school swimming careers as state champions was especially meaningful. One of the things that made me proudest this weekend had nothing to do with times, placements, or trophies. It was watching how our athletes supported each other and even athletes from other teams.”
The Team Sportsmanship Award went to Eagle River High School and the Team Academic Award earned by Colony High School.
2026 GIRLS STATE SWIM AWARDS/RESULTS
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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