2020 Alaska State High School Invitational
- November 21-22, 2020
- Bartlett High School Pool, Anchorage, Alaska
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 AK State High School Invite”
Despite Alaska canceling all official state championship competitions in October, schools gathered in Anchorage to compete in the Alaska State High School Invitational last weekend. While the meet wasn’t sponsored by the Alaska School’s Activities Association, it was sanctioned through USA swimming. Instead of listing teams on the heat sheet, schools were only represented by their team mascot. The meet was held with two prelims sessions on Friday, one for girls and one for boys, and a finals session on Saturday.
Top 5 Girls Teams
- Lynx (Dimond) – 103
- Wolfpack (West Valley) – 63
- Mariners (Homer) – 57
- Malemutes (Lathrop) – 56
- Silver Wolves (Eagle River) – 48
Dimond started the meet off strong, finishing with the top time in the 200 medley relay. The team of Hannah Boyce, Isabelle Borke, Brooke Dittlinger, and Dreamer Kowatch combined to finish in 1:50.00, just .71 ahead of runner up Homer. The school would later add a second relay title in the 200 free relay, with Mia Sperbeck joining Borke, Dittlinger, and Kowatch to finish with the top time of 1:38.59
Last year’s state champion in the 200 and 500 free, McKenzie Fazio posted the top time in both the 100 and 200 free at this year’s state invite meet. She won the 200 by a large margin, finishing in 1:52.42. Later in the meet, she added a second win in the 100 free (51.11).
In the 200 IM, Madison Story finished with the top time of 2:06.03. She finished over a second faster this year than she did at last year’s state championship meet.
Later in the meet, Story added a second win, this time in the 100 breast. The runner-up in the event at the 2019 State Championships, she won the event this year with a time of 1:04.22. She was slightly faster in prelims, touching the wall in 1:03.96.
After finishing in 6th at the state championship meet last year, Dimond’s Isabelle Borke touched out defending state champion Katy McCarter to win the 50 free. Borke won the event in 24.12, only .02 ahead of McCarter.
Eagle River’s Kiara Borchardt, the defending champion in the event, won the 100 fly with a time of 56.31.
With last year’s state champion in the 500, McKenzie Fazio, electing not to contest the event this year, last year’s third-place finisher Emma Gassman swam the fastest time. A junior at Sitka, Gassman won the event in 5:19.33, over four seconds ahead of runner up Ryann Dorris.
Heidi Billings won the 100 back, finishing in a time of 58.25.
West Valley finished the meet with a win in the 400 free relay. The team of Heidi Billings, Evelyn Rupp, Juliette Benson, and Samantha Bristor combined to finish in 3:38.64.
Top 5 Boys Teams
- Cougars (Service) – 96
- Lynx (Dimond) – 86
- Silverwolves (Eagle River) – 62
- Knights (Colony) – 60
- Wolfpack (West Valley) – 49
Service started the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. The team of Gavin Kitchen, Tavner Wisdom, Nicholas Price, and Conrad Fawcett finished in a time of 1:36.49. The quartett would later combine again to win the 400 free relay in a time of 3:14.53.
Adding to his two relay wins, Tavner Wisdom also added a pair of individual titles at the meet. In the 200 free he led the field with a time of 1:42.60, winning the event by almost three seconds. He also added a win in the 100 breast later in the meet. He finished the race in 56.97.
Service continued their winning streak in the 200 IM, with Nicholas Price taking the top spot. Price led the field by three seconds, finishing with a time of 1:54.72. He also added a runner-up finish in the 100 back (51.17).
In the 50 free West Valley’s Ezra Billings led the field by over a second. After finishing as the runner-up in the event at last year’s state meet, Billings won the event in 20.59 this year. Later in the meet he added a second title, winning the 100 free in 45.77. Billings is committed to join Northern Michigan University, along with his sister, next fall.
Dimond’s Kenneth Octuk posted the fastest time in the 500 free, winning in 4:46.84.
West Valley held off the field to win the 200 free relay in a time of 1:27.39. The team of Logan Fox, Ashton Banks, Kyan Harnum, and Ezra Billings won the event by over a second.
Jonathan Cowin posted the top time in two events at the meet, the 100 fly and 100 back. In the fly he held off Ashton Banks to win in 51.24. Later in the meet he was the only swimmer under 51.0 in the 100 back. He finished with a time of 49.96.
