Sylvia Holesinger, top left, Kelly Wetteland, bottom right, Anna Wetteland, top right, and Sophia Pieck, bottom left, streaked to a school record in the 200 medley relay at 2022 state. Photo by Ada Tripp
Topper seniors, from left, Kylie Burns, Ada Tripp, Sylvia Holesinger, Kamaya Ronning and Kelly Wetteland celebrate their third place team finish at 2022 state meet. Courtesy photo
Ninth-grader Sophia Pieck scored in the 100 and 200 free for the Hilltoppers, and anchored the school-record setting 200 medley relay. Photo by Ada Tripp
Kelly Wetteland, right, embraces sister Anna after her 50 free win. The Wettelands combined for 4 individual victories at the 2022 state meet. Photo by Ada Tripp
BY STU CORLISS
Swim Coach
Los Alamos High School
The Los Alamos Hilltoppers girls swimming and diving team took 3rd place at the NMAA girls Swimming and Diving Championships held at Albuquerque Academy’s Barney Natatorium on Saturday, February 19.
Academy won their 6th straight state title with 308.5 points, followed by Eldorado with 246, and the Toppers with 238 in a field of 29 scoring teams.
Los Alamos won five of the twelve events, but the Academy girls used their depth to win.
The Wetteland sisters, Kelly and Anna, led the Toppers with two individual wins each and provided key legs in the winning 400 freestyle relay.
Senior Kelly Wetteland broke her own team records in the 200 IM (2:03.99) and 100 breast (1:02.42). Her 100 breast was an automatic All-America performance, while her 200 IM swim is a consideration All-America swim.
(The High School All-America team consists of the quickest 100 performances in each girls and boys event from the more than 300,000 swimmers who compete in the high school league across the country. The only All-America submissions in New Mexico in the past two seasons have been Hilltoppers.)
In the opening 200 medley relay, Los Alamos broke a school record with a 1:49.23, but still trailed Academy. The foursome of Sylvia Holesinger, Kelly Wetteland, Anna Wetteland, and Sophia Pieck snapped the old Hilltopper mark of 1:50.33 set in 2016.
Soph Anna Wetteland whittled down her own LAHS school records in the 50 free (23.74) and 100 fly (57.62) in back-to-back swimming events.
(Mercifully in the small 23-heat, timed-finals meet, the diving break separated these events long enough to enable maximum efforts.)
Sophia Pieck, a freshman, raced to sixth in the 100 free (55.03) and seventh in the 200 free (2:01.22).
Senior diving captain Annie Beus took 5th in the one-meter diving competition, with rookie teammates Marian Stradling and Lacy Albright also scoring for the Toppers.
Senior co-captain Kamaya Ronning sped to a personal best in the 100 fly (1:02.60), good for a 5th place medal, leapfrogging ahead of higher-seeded Academy and Eldorado competitors.
Ninth-grader Lena Ronning scored in both the 200 and 500 free in her debut at the state high school meet.
The race for the team title was over, but the Toppers closed out the meet by winning the 400 free relay convincingly over Eldorado and Academy. Anna Wetteland led off the relay in her best 100 of the season (52.87) and sister Kelly blitzed a 51.43 anchor leg. Either of these swims would have won the individual 100 free event at state this year.
Other members of the winning 400 free relay were senior co-captain Sylvia Holesinger and Sophia Pieck. The relay was the second fastest in Topper history.
The meet start had to be delayed half an hour to accommodate several teams that were slowed by traffic congestion due to ill-timed construction on Interstate 25.
The Topper swimmers wore their spirit on their waists with colorful tutus.
Results:
May 19, 2022 Albuquerque, NM (top three plus Los Alamos finishers)
200 medley relay: Academy 1:48.21, Los Alamos 1:49.23 (Sylvia Holesinger 29.94, Kelly Wetteland 28.71, Anna Wetteland 25.49, Sophia Pieck 25.09) (LAHS school record, old 1:50.33 2016), La Cueva 1:51.40
200 free: Reese Hinnerichs HOPE 1:52.18, Francesca Benavidez ELDO 1:57.67, Sienna Nordquist HOPE 1:58.84; also: 7) Sophia Pieck LAHS 2:01.22, 16) Lena Ronning LAHS 2:08.03
200 individual medley: Kelly Wetteland LAHS 2:03.99 (LAHS school record, old 2:05.09 K Wetteland 2022) (HS All-America consideration), Asiana Lee ACAD 2:10.14, Aili Talcott FARM 2:11.27
50: Anna Wetteland LAHS 23.74 (LAHS school record, old 24.02 A Wetteland LAHS 2022), Sophia Gossum SFPR 24.45, Maya Van Atta ACAD 24.62
1m dive: Nadine Coulie ALBQ 467.35, Chloe Ashe LACV 394.90, Tarra Adamson RIOR 390.90; also: 5) Annie Beus LAHS 342.95, 12) Marian Stradling LAHS 228.20, 13) Lacy Albright LAHS 221.25
100 fly: Anna Wetteland LAHS 57.62 (LAHS school record, old 57.93 A Wetteland 2022), Sophia Corder CARL 58.47, Cindy Fan ACAD 1:01.02; also: 5) Kamaya Ronning LAHS 1:02.60
100 free: Coralie Norenberg ACAD 53.06, Makaela Perea ELDO 53.46, Sophia Gossum SFRP 53.75; also: 6) Sophia Pieck LAHS 55.03, 17) Sylvia Holesinger LAHS 57.55, 24) Emily McLaughlin LAHS 1:01.48
500: Reese Hinnerichs HOPE 5:09.73, Francesca Benavidez ELDO 5:11.47, Chloe Shaw ELDO 5:11.63; also: 15) Lena Ronning LAHS 5:44.24
200 free relay: Hope Christian 1:41.74, Academy 1:41.90, La Cueva 1:45.70; also: 10) Los Alamos 1:48.01 (Savannah Kimball 26.86, Emily McLaughlin 27.84, Lena Ronning 27.04, Kamaya Ronning 26.27)
100 back: Makaela Perea ELDO 56.96, Emma Kelley SPRP 58.43, Coralie Norenberg ACAD 59.56; also: 12) Sylvia Holesinger LAHS 1:04.35
100 breast: Kelly Wetteland LAHS 1:02.42 (LAHS school record, old 1:03.69 K Wetteland 2022) (automatic HS All-America), Aili Talcott FARM 1:05.62, Anna Kartushyn SAND 1:07.44
400 free relay: Los Alamos 3:37.48 (Anna Wetteland 52.87, Sylvia Holesinger 58.19, Sophia Pieck 54.99, Kelly Wetteland 51.43), El Dorado 3:40.18, Academy 3:44.91
Girls Team Scores: Albuquerque Academy 308.5, Eldorado 246, Los Alamos 238, La Cueva 211, Albuquerque 140, Hope Christian 135, Artesia 133, Farmington 128, Santa Fe 97.5, St Pius X 86, Santa Fe Prep 81, Cibola 71, Sandia 68, Cleveland 63, Carlsbad 53, Clovis 42, Las Cruces 32, Sandia Prep 31, Rio Rancho 24, Bosque School 24, St Michael’s 24, Volcano Vista 15, West Mesa 14, Cottonwood Classical 12, Taos 9, Piedra Vista 7, Rio Grande 6, NMMI 5, Hobbs 1.