Swimmers show strong strokes at Sitka Invitational

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Crimson Bears win 12 events on Friday, 11 on Saturday

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore Saana Amundson and other swimmers get set to compete in the 400-yard freestyle relay final at the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Aquatic Center Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé swim team won 12 of 24 events on Friday at the Sitka Invitational and 11 on Saturday, as they continue to swim into the approaching Region V championships Oct. 30-31 at the Dimond Park Aquatic Center.

"I am incredibly happy with how our athletes performed this weekend," JDHS coach Amber Kelly said. "They did an amazing job, especially considering how tired and worn down they are from the hard work they have been putting in at practice day after day."

JDHS seniors Avery Smith, Amy Liddle, Kennedy Miller and Bailey Fisher opened Friday’s meet in Sitka winning the girls 200-yard medley relay (MR) in one minute 58.6 seconds (4. sr Kaelyn Szefler, so Maddie Manlulu, sr Maddox Rasmussen, sr Adeline Williams 2:06.62; 6. so Natalie MacKinnon, so Elinore Higgins, fr Nyah Harris, sr Moira Bahn 2:22.40; 7. So Hannah Plang, so Ila Mannino, so Augustine Kvasnikoff, so Brook Taintor 2:27.95).

JDHS’ junior Liam Kiessling and seniors Kaden Aldrich, Josh Edwards and Sam Pallenberg won the boys 200 MR in 1:41.34 (5. fr Josh Ely, sr Ben Pallenberg, so Levi Phelps, so Henry Thatcher 2:01.05).

Liddle won the girls 200 individual medley (IM) in 2:14.21 (2. Miller 2:29.40; 5. Harris 2:57.41) and the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.82 (4. Manlulu 1:16.51; 5. Janz 1:25.04; 6. Van Kirk 1:25.32; 7. Crocker 1:25.40; 11. Mannino 1:45.22).

Fisher won the girls 50 freestyle in 25.98 (4. Szefler 26.71; 5. Woodruff 26.84; 6. Manlulu 27.32; 8. Smith 27.89; 10. Taintor 28.28; 12. so Clara Van Kirk 29.04; 14. Higgins 29.20; 15. jr Mae Crocker 29.31; 15. Plang 29.31; 18. Mackinnon 30.01; 19. fr Kaylin Janz 30.33; 23. so Saana Amundson 31.88; 24. Kvasnikoff 32.29; 24. fr Genevieve Coleman 32.29) and Miller the girls 100 butterfly in 1:05.20 (2. Szefler 1:05.52; 3. Rasmussen 1:10.73; 6. Harris 1:19.70).

"Meets are not always about the times on the scoreboard," coach Kelly said. "Sometimes, they are about focusing on the little things that make a big difference on technique, strong turns, solid finishes, breath control, and all the details we have been working on in practice. Those were the things we were looking for from our athletes this weekend, and they absolutely delivered. They showed us that even when they are tired, they can stay focused, execute the skills we have been practicing, and race with purpose."

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Kaelyn Szefler competes in the 100-yard backstroke final at the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Aquatic Center Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Edwards won the boys 100 fly in 53.04 (5. Boily 1:05.54) and 100 breast in 1:04.06 (2. Aldrich 1:04.65; 4. Thatcher 1:15.61; 5. B. Pallenberg 1:15.98).

Kiessling won the 100 free in 49.73 (6. Andrews 56.13; 8. Giron 1:00.47) and 100 back in 56.98 (3. S. Pallenberg 1:00.55; 6. Ely 1:08.26).

JDHS sophomores Maddie Manlulu, Brook Taintor, Annabelle Woodruff and senior Fisher won the girls 200 free relay (2. Liddle, Smith, Rasmussen, Miller 1:48.95; 4. Szefler, Janz, Kvasnikoff, Plang 1:55.84; 6. Amundson, Van Kirk, Coleman, Harris 2:11.72).

JDHS senior Easton Berger won the boys diving Friday with 178.45 points (2. Davis 156.40; 3. Newport 156.20; 7. Aldrich 97.50). Ketchikan’s Lina Merrill won the girls with 143.60 (2. Bahn 143.25; 5. Williams 121.85).

“They did well,” JDHS dive coach Savona Kiessling said. “They generally performed their region lineups split across both days in order to evaluate which dives need the most attention these next two weeks.”

Petersburg’s Lexie Tow won the girls 200 free in 2:02.88 (4. Woodruff 2:13.34; 5. Rasmussen 2:13.92; 6. so Sarah Anderson 2:27.57; 9. Mannino 3:15.87) and Sitka’s Zach Martens the boys 200 free in 1:49.14 (3. S. Pallenberg 2:02.89; 4. Thatcher 2:04.70; 6. Ely 2:08.71; 9. sr Chedi Giron 2:19.52).

Petersburg’s Cyrus Hulebak the boys 200 IM in 2:04.84 (jr Axel Boily DQ).

Sitka’s Corin Colliver won the boys 50 free in 22.38 (6. so Keagan Andrews 24.64; 7. Phelps 24.99; 10. B. Pallenberg 26.26).

Petersburg’s Tori Miller won the girls 100 free in 59.41 (2. Taintor 1:02.54; 3. Plang 1:04.23; 4. Anderson 1:05.53; 5. Higgins 1:05.83; 7. Amundson 1:12.60; 8. Kvasnikoff 1:13.87).

Sitka’s Colliver won the boys 500 free in 5:25.63 and Sitka’s Taryn Fleming the girls 500 free in 5:37.42 (3. Fisher 6:16.74).

Sitka’s Olivia Jarvill won the girls 100 back in 1:05.92 (2. Smith 1:06.55; 3. Mackinnon 1:18.20; 5. Coleman 1:29.43).

Sitka’s Tommy McCarthy, Ben Lihou, Zach Martens and Colliver won the boys 200 free relay in 1:30.37 (3. Kiessling, S. Pallenberg, Thatcher, Berger 1:43.75; 5. Edwards, Phelps, Giron, Davis 1:45.63; 6. Aldrich, Andrews, Boily, Newport 1:45.79). Lihou, James Nellis, Sawyer Bastian and Cedar Powers won the boys 400 free relay in 3:32.20.

The JDHS girls did not race a 400 relay on Friday.

"I have been foregoing the 400 free relay on Friday nights as the kids are exhausted," coach Kelly said. "And I want to get them out to get food and get to bed in a timely manner."

On Saturday, Bahn won the girls diving with 156.35 (6. Williams 107.80). Berger won the boys with 171.60 (2. Newport 140.25; 6. Davis 117).

“Easton looked very strong and nailed his difficult dives, which I was happy to see,” coach Kiessling said. “Moira also performed well despite having to perform the reverse category, which has been giving her some concern since she performed it a bit too close to the board a month ago. When that happened, it can be difficult to perform the dive with the same confidence. Brady continues to up his difficulty, Alex is busy refining his lineup and is still working on adding one additional high DD (degree difficulty) dive. Addie continues to polish up her dives by adding height. Kaden dove Friday and performed well despite how new he is to the sport. Alex in particular had a very strong performance Friday, which was great to see.”

JDHS’ Szefler, Manlulu, Liddle and Woodruff won the girls 200 MR in 1:57.97 (5. Mackinnon, Crocker, Rasmussen, Higgins) and Kiessling, Edwards, Phelps and Aldrich the boys in 1:43.03 (3. S. Pallenberg, Andrews, Boily, Thatcher 1:55.31).

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Kennedy Miller swims in the 100-yard breaststroke finals at the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Aquatic Center Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

Liddle won the 200 free in 2:01.30 (2. Fisher 2:10.49; 3. Smith 2:11.31; 5. Taintor 2:17.83; 6. Manlulu 2:26.78; 7. Plang 2:28.30; 8. Kvasnikoff 2:33.45) and Sitka’s Colliver the boys in 1:50.54 (3. Aldrich 1:53.33; 4. Edwards 1:55.57; 6. Phelps 2:05.33).

Sitka’s Fleming won the girls 200 IM in 2:22.43 (3. Szefler 2:31.07; 4. Rasmussen 2:34.93; 5. Mackinnon 2:48.38; 6. Crocker 2:49.18; 8. Van Kirk 3:01.41) and Sitka’s Martens the boys in 2:03.69 (3. Ely 2:31.45; 5. Giron 2:56.51).

JDHS’ Woodruff won the girls 50 free in 26.90 (2. Miller 27.16; 6. Anderson 29.02; 7. Harris 30.62; 8. Coleman 32.29; 9. Mannino 40.26) and Sitka’s McCarthy the boys in 22.82 (8. S. Pallenberg 24.50; 10. Thatcher 25.75; 12. Boily 26.33).

JDHS’ Woodruff won the 100 fly in 1:03.32 (2. Liddle 1:03.83; 5. Fisher 1:16.51) and Kiessling the boys in 54.44 (2. Aldrich 54.64).

Petersburg’s Tow won the girls 100 free in 57.62 (5. Manlulu 1:00.83; 6. Taintor 1:01.67; 8. Higgins 1:05.41; 9. Van Kirk 1:06.63; 10. Mackinnon 1:06.70; 12. Crocker 1:07.66; 13. Janz 1:07.83; 14. Anderson 1:07.89; 15. Harris 1:08.20; 17. Amundson 1:10.86; 18. Coleman 1:11.48) and Sitka’s Colliver the boys in 49.28 (3. Edwards 50.77; 7. Phelps 54.08; 9. S. Pallenberg 54.63; 11. Ely 57.88; 12. B. Pallenberg 58.52).

JDHS’ Rasmussen won the girls 500 free in 6:01.91 (5. Mannino 8:29.29) and Sitka’s Elliott Galanin the boys in 5:31.45 (2. Thatcher 5:39.85; 7. Andrews 6:52.12).

JDHS’ Fisher, Woodruff, Taintor and Smith won the girls 200 FR in 1:49.24 (5. Plang, Janz, Harris, Van Kirk 2:03.40; 6. Kvasnikoff, Coleman, Mannino, Amundson 2:19.72). Sitka’s McCarthy, Lihou, Martens and Colliver won the boys in 1:29.93 (2. Kiessling, Aldrich, Phelps, Edwards 1:32.24; 5. B. Pallenberg, Ely, Boily, Giron 1:46.14).

Petersburg’s Bella Miller won the girls 100 back in 1:07.46 (2. Szefler 1:08.95; 6. Plang 1:18.60; 8. Janz 1:20.68; 9. Amundson 1:26.76) and Sitka’s Martens the boys in 58.56.

Petersburg’s Tow won the girls 100 breast in 1:12.13 (2. Miller 1:13.82; 4. Smith 1:20.88; 5. Higgins 1:27.16; 6. Kvasnikoff 1:28.47) and Petersburg’s Hulebak the boys in 1:04.63 (3. Kiessling 1:06.90; 4. Andrews 1:11.42; 6. Boily 1:14.72).

JDHS’ Fisher, Liddle Szefler and Miller ended the girls meet winning the 400 free relay in 3:54.72 (3. Manlulu, Smith, Janz, Rasmussen 4:16.09; 4. Crocker, Taintor, Higgins, Mackinnon 4:26.90; 6. Amundson, Kvasnikoff, Harris Coleman 4:55.60). Sitka won the boys in 3:19.38 (2. S. Pallenberg, Andrews, Thatcher, B. Pallenberg 3:47.53)

"I am proud of their effort, their progress, and the way they continue to push themselves," coach Kelly said. "The times will come, but right now, we are building for strong performances when it matters most, at regions and at state."