Blue Ponies swim fast in their pool

Havre High swimmer Courtlan Vukasin races in a freestyle relay during the 2011 Havre Invitational Saturday afternoon at the Havre Community Pool.

The Havre High boys and girls swim teams have but one home meet this season. And that meet featured some of the top swimming competition in all of Montana.

Saturday at the Havre Community Pool, the Blue Ponies played host to the 2011 Havre Invitational. The meet was a dual meet with Class AA powerhouse Great Falls High and CMR in the pool with the Ponies. And while the team scores may not have reflected it, the Ponies found plenty of success in their own waters.

On the boys side, the Ponies took down CMR 122-70 head-to-head, while the Bison outscored the HHS boys 179-87. GFH also outscored CMR 188-65. In the girls meet, the Bison outscored the Ponies 192-59, while four-time Class AA state champion CMR took down Havre 183-67 in team points. CMR also edged the Bison, 150-144.

But team scores aside, Havre swimmers fared extremely well in the individual races.

On the boys side, senior Evan Flathers led a strong Pony contingent in the super-fast 50-meter freestyle. Flathers won the race with a final time of 27.85, but his teammates weren't far behind. Taylor Riphenburg finished third with a time of 29.16, Nick Rhines was fourth at 29.26 and Courtlan Vukasin finished fifth with a time of 29.36.

It was an excellent day for Havre's freestyle swimmers on both sides. Riphenburg took second in the 100 free with a time of 1:08.09 and Rhines was fourth at 1:09.37. Derek Van Dessel also shined in the distances, finishing fifth in the 200 free with a time of 3:09.99 and fourth in the 400 free at 6:49.26. The Blue Pony relay teams got a huge boost as the Havre 'A' Team finished first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:56.30. The squad was made up of Flathers, who swam the anchor leg, as well as Riphenburg, Rhines and senior Jimmy Cox. The Havre team of Ben Siegel, Desmond Fialkosky, Cole Milligan and Vukasin took fourth in the same event, while the team of Bryant O'Leary, Van Dessel, Carlos Tovar and Paul Jeffery took sixth.

The Havre 'A' Team of Flathers, Vukasin, Riphenburg and Cox swam a time of 2:18.91 to earn a second-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay, while the Ponies placed fourth in the 400 free relay.

The HHS girls added some standout performances in the pool as well.

As expected, senior Megan Obrecht dominated the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:25.49. The win was her second in the event this young season. Obrecht just missed out in placing in the 200 IM as well, finishing seventh.

The Pony girls were also exceptional in the freestyle events. Katie Johnson placed fourth in the 50 free with a time of 34.63 and Lieza Reighard finished fifth with a time of 33.51. Reighard added a sixth-place finish in the 100 free with a final time of 1:17.39 and Jordyn Eastlick placed sixth in the 200 free at 2:58.34. Johnson also earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:24.58.

In the relays, Havre girls teams finished fifth and sixth, respectively in the 200 free and the Ponies placed fifth in the grueling 400 free relay.

Havre High swimmers will back in the pool this weekend with a pair of meets in Great Falls. Havre will join Hardin to dual the Bison and Rustlers on Friday, then the Ponies will compete in the Great Falls Invitational on Saturday.

GIRLS

Team scores

Great Falls High 192, Havre 59; C.M. Russell High 183, Havre 67; C.M. Russell High 150, Great Falls High 144.

200 Medley Relay — 1, GFH 'B' (Ryan, Julie; Bjorsness, Katie; Conrad, Bri; Williams, Chandler), 2:20.82. 2, GFH 'A' 2:22.94. 3, CMR A' (2:34.80. 4, CMR B 2:54.20.

200 Freestyle — 1, Fowler, Alicia, CMR, 2:32.64. 2, Mosher, Amy, GFH, 2:44.83. 3, Harding, Molly, CMR, 2:46.99. 4, Evans, Vicky, CMR, 2:49.35. 5, Whitt, Kate, GFH, 2:54.29. 6, Eastlick, Jordyn, HAV, 2:58.34.

200 IM — 1 Sechena, Shelby, CMR, 2:34.26. 2, Massey, Kim, CMR, 2:42.35. 3, Thompson, Nicole, CMR, 2:45.07. 4, Houck, Hayley, GFH, 2:52.71. 5, Ryan, Julie, GFH, 2:55.25. 6, Varner, Taylor, CMR, 3:04.76.

50 Freestyle — 1. Shaw, Morgan, CMR, 30.16. 2, Stewart, Rachel, GFH, 30.54. 3, Conrad, Bri, GFH, 30.99. 4, Johnson, Katie, HAV, 31.63. 5, Reighard, Lieza, HAV, 33.51. 6, ltesz, Caitlin, CMR, 33.62.

100 Butterfly — 1. Sechena, Shelby, CMR, 1:13.17. 2, Thompn, Nicole, CMR, 1:13.29.; 3, Shaw, Morgan, CMR, 1:18.57. 4, Johnson, Katie, HAV, 1:24.58. 5, Harris, Jessica, CMR, 1:30.14. 6, Moltzan, Jessica, GFH, 1:30.49.

100 Freestyle — 1. Conrad, Bri, GFH, 1:07.63. 2, Stewart, Rachel, GFH, 1:07.98. 3, Cherewatenko, Lane, GFH, 1:09.66. 4, Fowler, Alicia, CMR, 1:10.28. 5, Williams, Chandler, GFH, 1:16.15. 6, Reighard, Lieza, HAV, 1:17.39.

400 Freestyle — 1. Whitt, Kate, GFH, 6:00.75. 2, Weatherwax, Hannah, CMR, 6:28.11. 3, Harris, Aubrey, CMR, 7:01.22.

200 Feestyle Relay — 1. CMR 'A' (Sechena, Shelby; Evans, Vicky, ltesz Caitlin, Thompn, Nicole), 2:07.85. 2, CMR 'B' 2:07.95. 3, GFH 'A' 2:10.20. 4, Havre 'A' 2:16.43. 5, GFH 'B' 2:25.62. 6, Havre 'B' 2:33.72.

100 Backstroke — 1. Bjorsness, Katie, GFH, 1:15.96. 2, Ryan, Julie, GFH, 1:17.22. 3, Cherewatenko, Lane, GFH, 1:19.05. 4, ltesz, Caitlin, CMR, 1:21.11. 5, Moltzan, Jessica, GFH, 1:25.93. 6, Mosher, Amy, GFH, 1:26.46.

100 Breaststroke — 1. Obrecht, Megan, HAV, 1:25.49. 2, Massey, Kim, CMR, 1:26.50. 3, Houck, Hayley, GFH, 1:26.89. 4, Bjorsness, Katie, GFH, 1:30.86. 5, Harding, Molly, CMR, 1:37.29. 6, Pospisil, Emily, GFH, 1:38.10.

400 Feestyle Relay — 1. CMR 'A' (Thompn, Nicole; ltesz, Caitlin; Massey, Kim; Sechena, Shelby ) 4:33.28. 2, GFH 'A' 4:49.98. 3, CMR '5:32.21. 4, GFH B 5:39.79. 5, Havre 'A' 5:49.65. 6, GFH C 6:31.10.

BOYS

Team Scores

Great Falls High 192, Havre 59; C.M. Russell High 183, Havre 67; C.M. Russell High 150, Great Falls High 144.

200 Medley Relay — 1. GFH 'A' (Dennis, Donnvan; Bower, Jesse; Magruder; Jacob; Gudatis, Jourdon), 2:09.16. 2, Havre 'A' 2:18.91.; 3, GFH 'B' 2:22.33.

200 Freestyle — 1. Miller, Brandon, CMR, 2:20.82. 2, Kellogg, Clay, GFH, 2:32.84. 3, Gillis, Kyle, GFH, 2:47.12. 4, McGary, James, GFH, 2:54.98. 5, Van Dessel, Derek, HAV, 3:09.99.

200 IM — 1. Magruder, Jacob, GFH, 2:23.17. 2, Dennis, Donnvan, GFH, 2:40.02. 3, Gudatis, Jourdon, GFH, 2:51.24. 4, Wanke, Brandon, GFH, 2:56.87. 5, Stingley, Beau, GFH, 3:26.81.

50 Freestyle — 1. Flathers, Evan, HAV, 27.85. 2, Bower, Jesse, GFH, 27.91. 3, Riphenburg, Taylor, HAV, 29.16. 4, Rhines, Nick, HAV, 29.26. 5, Vukasin, Courtlan, HAV, 29.36. 6, Altringer, Adam, GFH, 29.93.

100 Butterfly — 1. Miller, Brandon, CMR, 1:09.98. 2, Gudatis, Jourdon, GFH, 1:16.43. 3, Wanke, Brandon, GFH, 1:16.80.

100 Freestyle — 1. Kellogg, Clay, GFH, 1:04.43. 2, Riphenburg, Taylor, HAV, 1:08.09. 3, Whiteman, Jesse, CMR, 1:08.88. 4, Rhines, Nick, HAV, 1:09.37. 5, Johnn, Austin, GFH, 1:09.40. 6, Beckner, Justice, GFH, 1:11.77.

400 Freestyle — 1. Parker, Elijah, CMR, 5:16.04. 2, Gillis, Kyle, GFH, 6:09.21. 3, McGary, James, GFH, 6:27.10. 4, Van Dessel, Derek, HAV, 6:49.26.

200 Freestyle Relay — 1. Havre 'A' (Cox, Jimmy; Riphenburg, Taylor; Rhines, Nick; Flathers, Evan) 1:56.80. 2, CMR 'A' 2:04.54.; 3, GFH 'A' 2:05.84. 4, Havre 'B' 2:07.53. 5, GFH 'B' 2:24.12. 6, Havre 'C' 2:32.11.

100 Backstroke — 1. Beckner, Justice, GFH, 1:22.16. 2, Whiteman, Jesse, CMR, 1:27.53. 3, Michelotti, Joe, CMR, 1:29.73. 4, Helgen, Mark, GFH, 1:47.54. 5, Cortez, Chris, GFH, 2:05.03.

100 Breaststroke — 1. Magruder, Jacob, GFH, 1:15.72. 2, Bower, Jesse, GFH, 1:21.59. 3, Dennis, Donnvan, GFH, 1:22.02. 4, Parker, Elijah, CMR, 1:26.55. 5, Vukasin, Courtlan, HAV, 1:27.28. 6, Bjorsness, Logan, GFH, 1:30.20.

400 SC Meter eestyle Relay — 1, GFH 'A' (Bower, Jesse; Gudatis, Jourdon; Dennis, Donnvan; Magruder, Jacob ), 4:17.81. 2, CMR 4:37.48. 3, GFH 'B' 5:05.60. 4, Havre 'A' 5:17.88. 5, Havre 'B' 5:41.86. 6, GFH 'C' 5:52.05.

More Individual Havre Results

Girls

200 IM — Megan Obrecht, 7th, 3:10.62

50 Free — Larissa Price, 9th, 35.83; Corona Sprinkle 10th, 35.98; McKenna Barkus 15th , 39.18; Jaden Korb, 16th, 39.18; Anna Kaercher, 17th, 39.68; Natalie Hill, 26th, 47.32.

100 Free — Carona Sprinkle, 8th, 1:19.41; Jordyn Eastlick, 9th, 1:20.58; Larissa Price, 10th, 1:20.66; Jaden Kordb, 15th, 1:30.05; McKenna Barkus, 17th, 1:32.61; Anna Kaercher, 19th, 1:34.40.

100 Breaststroke — Morgan Jappe, 8th, 1:40.89.

Boys

50 Free — Jimmy Cox, 7th, 30.32; Ben Siegel, 10th, 33.69; Cole Milligan, 12th, 34.89; Paul Jeffery, 14th 35.97; Carlos Tovar, 16th, 37.75; Bryant O'Leary, 17th, 39.77.

100 Free — Jimmy Cox, 7th, 1:11.79; Desmond Fialkosky, 8th, 1:12.66.

100 Breaststroke — Desmond Fialkosky, 7th, 1:31.84; Paul Jeffery, 9th, 1:40.97; Cole Milligan, 10th, 1:41.80; Ben Siegel, 11th, 1:50.40.