LAHS senior diver Brayden won the event for the boy’s team. Courtesy photo
Anna Wetteland, a sophomore, nicked a meet record in the 100 fly by .01 second and also touched first in the 50 free. Courtesy photo
Senior Co-Captain Caleb Kerstiens picked up his first state qualifying mark of the season in the 200 free (1:56.08). Courtesy photo
BY STU CORLISS
Coach
Los Alamos Swim Team
The Los Alamos High school swimming and diving teams took first in the boys competition and placed second in the girls competition at the 14th Annual Tom Casey Memorial Challenge at Albuquerque Academy Saturday January 29.
The Topper girls lost their first meet of the season when 5-time state champ Academy narrowly outpointed them, 400-366, in a 10-team field.
The boys won easily with 373 points, defeating Eldorado (281) and Academy (277).
Kelly Wetteland broke two meet records in her specialties, the 200 IM and the 100 breast. The Topper senior has signed a letter of intent with the US Naval Academy.
Anna Wetteland, a sophomore, nicked a meet record in the 100 fly by .01 second and also touched first in the 50 free.
Senior co-captain Sylvia Holesinger picked up a new state qualifying time with a personal best in the 100 free (57.02).
Frosh Lena Ronning picked up a second state standard in finishing 4th in the 200 free (2:07.42).
The Toppers just missed pulling out a win in the girls 400 free relay, the last event. Senior Ada Tripp posted her best ever split, then the Wetteland sisters overtook last year’s state runnerup team, Eldorado, from 9 seconds behind en route to a close second to Academy.
Senior All-America Orion Henderson claimed two wins for the Topper boys (200 free, 100 fly). Henderson will compete for the University of Arizona Wildcats next season.
Senior co-captain Caleb Kerstiens picked up his first state qualifying mark of the season in the 200 free (1:56.08).
Brayden Stidham won the boys diving for the Toppers, while Anne Beus got third for the girls. Junior Marian Stradling finished fourth in a state-meet-qualifying performance.
The Toppers will travel to Farmington on Saturday, February 5 for the District 2 championships. In addition to defending 8-year streaks as district champions, the teams will seek to qualify a few more entries into the state swimming and diving championships. The state meet will be held on Wednesday, February 16 (boys) and Saturday, February 19 (girls) at Albuquerque Academy.
At state, the boys team will attempt to defend its first-place team titles from 2020 and 2021, while the girls team will seek to improve upon its third place finish from last season.
Results:
Tom Casey Memorial
1/29/22 Alb Academy Albuquerque, NM SQ= new/improved State Qualifying for LAHS
Girls
200 medley relay: Academy 1:51.84, Los Alamos 1:53.81 (Sylvia Holesinger, Kelly Wetteland, Kamaya Ronning, Sophia Pieck), Eldorado 1:59.15
200 free: Cindy Fan ACAD 2:01.66, Robin Abrams LACV 2:04.96, Melia Correa ACAD 2:05.45; also: 4) Lena Ronning LAHS 2:07.42, 10) Emily McLaughlin LAHS 2:11.12
200 individual medley: Kelly Wetteland LAHS 2:09.10 (meet record, old 2:09.43 Madison Bridges 2011), Asiana Lee ACAD 2:13.99, Sophia Corder CARL 2:18.18; also: 7) Kamaya Ronning LAHS 2:28.95
50: Anna Wetteland LAHS 24.51, Maya Van Atta ACAD 25.17, Aderyn Gibson ELDO 26.18; also: 5) Savannah Kimball LAHS 26.47
1m dive: Nadine Coulie ALBQ 274.20 (meet record), Reed Moyer LACV 192.45, Annie Beus LAHS 187.55; also: 6) Marian Stradling LAHS 114.30 (SQ)
100 fly: Anna Wetteland LAHS 58.34 (meet record, old 58.35 Sara Vianco 2018), Sophia Corder CARL59.98, Cindy Fan ACAD 1:02.37; also: 7) Lena Ronning LAHS 1:06.34
100 free: Maya Van Atta ACAD 55.20, Coralie Norenberg ACAD 55.26, Sylvia Holesinger LAHS 57.02 (SQ); also: 8) Kamaya Ronning LAHS 58.79
500: Annabella Marthaler LACV 5:28.78, Sophia Pieck LAHS 5:33.46, Bella Schulz STPI 5:42.87; also: 8) Emily McLaughlin LAHS 6:10.99
200 free relay: Los Alamos 1:43.22 (Savannah Kimball, Sylvia Holesinger, Sophia Pieck, Anna Wetteland), Academy 1:44.89, Eldorado 1:45.08
100 back: Coralie Norenberg ACAD 1:01,64, Ana Duran ACAD 1:03.29, Sylvia Holesinger LAHS 1:04.65; also: 8) Savannah Kimball LAHS 1:10.43
100 breast: Kelly Wetteland LAHS 1:05.56 (meet record, old 1:06.59 Emma Gehlert 2020), Karen Zhang ACAD 1:09.01, Ula Parill ALBQ 1:09.93; also: 10) Sophia Pieck LAHS 1:16.34
400 free relay: Academy 3:47.37, Los Alamos 3:49.32 (Kamaya Ronning, Ada Tripp, Anna Wetteland, Kelly Wetteland), Eldorado 3:50.22
Girls Team Scores: Albuquerque Academy 400, Los Alamos 366, La Cueva 241, Eldorado 206, St Pius X 185, Cibola 156, Albuquerque 148, Carlsbad 136, Las Cruces 134, Clovis 126
Boys
200 medley relay: Los Alamos 1:39.46 (SQ) (Duncan Henderson, Andy Corliss, Ming Lo, Wayne Williams), Eldorado 1:40.10, Academy 1:43.34
200 free: Orion Henderson LAHS 1:43.89, Nye Hanan LCHS 1:48.41, Emerson Parish LCHS 1:49.89; also: 7) Caleb Kerstiens LAHS 1:56.08 (SQ)
200 individual medley: Jamin Harlan CIBL 1:59.22, Krishna Clarke ELDO 2:00.92, Duncan Henderson LAHS 2:06.76; also: 5) Nikolai Nelson LAHS 2:15.92
50: Leo Kim STPI 22.50, Ming Lo LAHS 22.67, Owen Sinkus ACAD 23.64; also: 4) Wayne Williams LAHS 23.87
1m dive: Brayden Stidham LAHS 241.45, Mateo Boucher ALBQ 143.55
100 fly: Orion Henderson LAHS 51.30, Andy Corliss LAHS (SQ) 53.53, Cole Bettis ELDO 54.96
100 free: Connor Dalton ACAD 50.20, Owen Sinkus ACAD 51.62, Henry Guetersloh LACV 51.74; also: 4) Hayden Sutton LAHS 51.91, 6) Caleb Kerstiens LAHS 52.56
500: Nolan Arnholt ELDO 4:47.38 (meet record, old 4:48.35 Jack Feely 2011), Grady Whitson STPI 5:08.38, Emerson Parish LCHS 5:09.08; also: 4) Duncan Henderson LAHS 5:12.73, 9) Nikolai Nelson LAHS 5:31.86
200 free relay: Eldorado 1:30.06,Los Alamos 1:30.52 (Hayden Sutton, Ming Lo, Wayne Williams, Orion Henderson), La Cueva 1:33.61
100 back: Jamin Harlan CIBL 53.49, Ming Lo LAHS 55.37, Nye Hanan LCHS 55.85; also: 5) Hayden Sutton LAHS 59.39
100 breast: Leo Kim STPI 1:00.88,Andy Corliss LAHS 1:01.36 (SQ), David Fu ACAD 1:01.49; also: 4) Wayne Williams LAHS 1:08.46
400 free relay: Eldorado 3:15.90,Los Alamos 3:23.00 (Hayden Sutton, Duncan Henderson, Andy Corliss, Orion Henderson), La Cueva 3:25.70
Boys Team scores: Los Alamos 373, Eldorado 281, Albuquerque Academy 277, Albuquerque 205, La Cueva 191.5, Cibola 167.5, St Pius X 166, Las Cruces 142, Clovis 134, Carlsbad 93