The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé boys are coming off their first Region V swimming championship in eight years. Coach Seth Cayce hopes it doesn’t take that long to win their next one.
“Even though we graduated a lot of seniors last year, our boys team is still looking really strong and at the first meet I was really happy with where we were at,” Cayce said.
Crimson Bear freshman Chaz VanSlyke took first or second in all his events at the Sitka Invitational at Sitka High School earlier this month, including the 100-yard butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle.
VanSlyke and other standout Juneau underclassmen — including Nancy Liddle, Riley Traxler and Mikayla Neal — will be in action today and Saturday for the Juneau Invite at Dimond Park Aquatic Center.
“I hope to be pretty competitive,” said Neal, one the Crimson Bears’ top finishers in Sitka. “Last meet was kind of hard because I didn’t have any (high school) times yet, so I was in the lowest heats.”
The meet, which begins at 6 p.m. tonight and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, is bringing teams from around Southeast — Petersburg, Ketchikan, Sitka, Wrangell and Craig — to Juneau.
The Thunder Mountain girls won the Sept. 7 meet in Sitka with 384 points, while the JDHS girls nabbed silver with 353 points. The Thunder Mountain and JDHS boys finished second and third, respectively. Team scores from the Sept. 6 meet in Sitka were not available.
Neal enjoys the competition from Thunder Mountain.
“It’s pretty fun because I’m friends with most of them,” she said. “It’s kind of nice because I know what speed they are already.”
Thunder Mountain High School coach Josiah Loseby was not immediately available for comment.
The high school season officially kicked off Aug. 7.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
