Blue Ponies swim to the finish line

GREAT FALLS — The Montana State Swimming Championships is the toughest test of swimming many young swimmers will ever face. But it’s also the most exciting.

Thus, it was a tough, and exciting two days for the Havre Blue Ponies as they competed at the state meet Friday and Saturday at the Swarthout Pool in Great Falls.

The Havre girls came to the meet as the defending Class A state champions, and the Ponies left Great Falls with a solid 31 points, and a third-place finish. In only their second year of swimming, the Whitefish Bulldogs won the Class A girls teams title 74 points, while Billings Central was second with 58 points. Overall, Havre finished ninth among all schools in the meet.

On the boys side, the Havre boys were fifth in the Class A race with four points, while Billings Central ran away with its seventh straight trophy, scoring 80 points. Columbia Falls was second with 27 points. Havre finished 17th overall.

“Getting as many people to finals, especially the top six championship final which score the most, is key to team success,” HHS head coach Bill Kilgore said. “I offer a big hat tip to Whitefish as their coaches and swimmers performed incredibly well, swam a perfect meet, and were able to do that. They should be very proud.”

Kilgore meanwhile, was still plenty proud of his Blue Ponies.

On the girls side, Amelia Miller and Hannah Lunak advanced to the second day in three races. Miller won the consolation final of the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:03.55, placing her seventh overall. Miller, who placed in the 500 free a year ago, would go on to finish 10th in the 200 free, finishing the consolation final with a time of 57.14. Lunak also made the final of the 100 backstroke, where should would finish 12th with a time of 1:08.95.

The Pony girls also scored points in the grueling 400 free relay. Havre won the consolation final of the event, with a time of 4:09.89. That team was composed of Lunak, Aria Pratt, Ally Padgett and Miller. The Ponies also placed 10th in the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:13.24. Lunak, Laura Vance, Jessica Otto and Padgett swam that relay.

“We had a couple of hiccups during prelims on Friday that kept us from realizing our full potential in the finals, but we turned around and maximized what potential we had in the finals with some fantastic swims,” Kilgore said. “The first of which was our 200-yard medley relay of Hannah Lunak, Laura Vance, Jess Otto and Ally Padgett placing in the top 10. That was followed by Amelia Miller in the 200 yard Freestyle who swam a top six time in the finals. That’s not just top six out of single A schools, but all the schools in the state. That is a great accomplishment.”

The Havre boys didn’t find the success the Pony girls did, but it was a strong meet nonetheless. The Ponies’ points came from an 11th-place finish in the 400 free relay. That team, composed of Shane Friede, Ethan Lines, Jacob Miller and Mason Sandstrom, dropped four seconds and moved ahead of Hardin.

Friede also had some good swims in the prelims, including missing the finals of the 50 free but just two spots. Barrett Kilgore dropped two seconds in the 100 free, Aylan Pratt dropped two second in the 100 breaststroke and Clayton Twombly dropped five seconds in the 100 butterfly.

And while the Ponies didn’t stand atop the podium during the state meet, which, overall, was dominated by Class AA powerhouse Missoula Hellgate, who shattered multiple records, Kilgore was still extremely proud of all of his swimmers and said the future of HHS swimming remains very bright.

“All season I’ve preached to these kids that swimming is “between the ears,” Kilgore said. “That the mental aspect of the sport is so very important. I think on Friday we had some examples of lack of focus, and that is my fault as a coach. However, to the credit of our tenacious kids, we turned around on Saturday, focused and demonstrated the ability this team has and the potential for the future.  I’m excited, looking toward the future of Havre High School swimming.”

State AA-A Swim Meet

at Bill Swarthout Fieldhouse Pool, Great Falls

Saturday

CLASS A

Girls

Team scores: 1. Whitefish 74; 2. Billings Central 58; 3. Havre 31.

Boys

Team scores: 1. Billings Central 80; 2. Columbia Falls 68; 3. Whitefish 27; 4. Hardin 6; 5. Havre 4.

CLASS AA

Girls

Team scores: 1. Missoula Hellgate 404; 2. Bozeman 226; 3. C.M. Russell 131.5; 4. Missoula Sentinel 83; 5. Butte 75; 6. Billings Senior 72.5; 8. Missoula Big Sky/Loyola 30; 9. Helena Capital 28; 10 Billings West 27; 11. Kalispell Flathead 18; 12. Great Falls 12; 13. Helena 6; 14. Kalispell Glacier 4.

Boys

Team scores: 1. Missoula Hellgate 299; 2. Bozeman 225.5; 3. Billings West 118; 4. Billings Senior 99; 5. C.M. Russell 95; 6. Kalispell Glacier 68; 7. Helena 60.5; 8. Missoula Big Sky/Loyola 48; 9. Great Falls 38; 10. Butte 24; 11. Missoula Sentinel 22; 12. Helena Capital 13.

Combined Individual Results

(Distances measured in yards; A Final – championship; B Final – consolation)

Girls 200 Medley Relay: (A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate (Katharine Berkoff SO, Avery Vernon SR, Mari Aoki JR, Lydia Amon JR), 1:45.70R. 2, Bozeman, 1:56.61. 3, CMR, 1:59.21. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 1:59.73. 5, Billings Senior, 2:02.51. 6, Butte, 2:03.03. (B - Final) 7, Whitefish, 2:01.27. 8, Billings Central, 2:01.52. 9, Flathead, 2:09.36. 10, Havre-Chinook, 2:13.24. 11, Glacier, 2:15.30.

Boys 200 Medley Relay: (A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate (Cale Berkoff SR, Brendon Campbell SR, Matthew Fritz JR, Darragh Mahns JR), 1:34.91R. 2, Bozeman, 1:39.98. 3, Billings Senior, 1:44.94. 4, Helena, 1:47.17. 5, Billings West, 1:47.45. 6, Glacier, 1:49.97. (B - Final) 7, Great Falls, 1:51.65. 8, Billings Central, 1:51.79. 9, Whitefish, 1:52.12. 10, Missoula Sentinel, 1:55.20.

Girls 200 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Katharine Berkoff, MHG, 1:50.62R. 2, Julia Peterson, BCH, 1:57.20. 3, Jesse Ecklund, MHG, 1:57.30. 4, Claire Becker, MHG, 2:01.01. 5, Caroline McCormick, MSN, 2:03.19. 6, Laina Hall, BOZ, 2:05.21. (B - Final) 7, Amelia Miller, HAV, 2:03.55. 8, Annie Sullivan, WHS, 2:04.36. 9, Althea Schliske, BOZ, 2:08.93. 10, Katie Fagg, MBS, 2:09.64. 11, Alexis Cichon, BOZ, 2:10.17. 12, Callan Garner, CMR, 2:11.65.

Boys 200 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Ethan Harder, BSR, 1:42.46. 2, Dylan Faust, MHG, 1:46.54. 3, Matthew Hoffman, BOZ, 1:50.51. 4, Alex Ackerlund, HHS, 1:51.52. 4, Wade Spoerl, BOZ, 1:51.52. 6, Noah Brennan, CMR, 1:55.12. (B - Final) 7, Tanner Baldry, MHG, 1:52.67. 8, Brayden Arnold, BWH, 1:52.73. 9, Zayne Friar, CFH, 1:56.33. 10, Quinn Powell, BOZ, 1:57.42. 11, Brandon Hanlon, GFH, 1:57.50. 12, Zach Kelsch, BOZ, 2:00.77.

Girls 200 IM: (A - Final) 1, Mari Aoki, MHG, 2:05.99R. 2, Cailin Fiddler, BWH, 2:15.29. 3, Caroline Dye, WHS, 2:16.94. 4, Ellee Becker, MHG, 2:18.00. 5, Darlene Westie, CMR, 2:19.48. 5, Julian Fee, MHG, 2:19.48. (B - Final) 7, Darya Peters, BOZ, 2:16.39. 8, Bella Seagrave, MHG, 2:16.50. 9, Sierra Monastiere, BOZ, 2:21.01. 10, Olivia Bauman, CMR, 2:21.30. 11, Avree Klungland, CHS, 2:22.68. 12, Tessa Sobek, BOZ, 2:23.57.

Boys 200 IM: (A - Final) 1, Adam Zimmer, MBS, 1:51.62R. 2, Matthew Fritz, MHG, 1:59.15. 3, Hung Hunyh, BWH, 2:04.98. 4, Nathan Peters, BOZ, 2:07.02. 5, Mason Johnson, BWH, 2:07.58. 6, Simon McMahon, MHG, 2:08.20. (B - Final) 7, Lyndon Amon, MHG, 2:09.16. 8, Joseph Guter, GFH, 2:09.79. 9, Cody Carlson, MSN, 2:10.68. 10, Alex Bertrand, GHS, 2:11.65. 11, Parker Keller, HHS, 2:14.84. 12, Bennett Apostol, BCH, 2:16.71.

Girls 50 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Catherine Russo, BHS, 23.69. 2, Hannah Stevens, BSR, 25.28. 2, Lydia Amon, MHG, 25.28. 4, Ayana Gray, CMR, 25.76. 5, Avery Vernon, MHG, 25.84. 6, Kelsey Ammons, MHG, 26.03. (B - Final) 7, Althea Schliske, BOZ, 27.25. 8, Amber Nabity, BOZ, 27.51. 9, Brynn Dart, GFH, 27.56. 10, Haddy Slade, BSR, 27.71. 11, Addy Mohorcich, MHG, 27.74. 12, Jalen Wagner, BSR, 28.44.

Boys 50 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Darragh Mahns, MHG, 21.71. 2, Nate Burnham, GHS, 21.99. 3, Jack Leuthold, BCH, 22.25. 4, Finnian Westenfelder, MHG, 22.60. 5, Phoenix Black, BOZ, 22.62. 6, Andrew Spragg, CMR, 22.65. (B - Final) 7, Kade Berger, BOZ, 23.05. 8, Ben Huotari, CMR, 23.41. 9, Zach Johnson, BHS, 23.79. 10, Joseph Szekely, MBS, 24.03. 11, Michael Neeser, HAR, 24.10. 12, Paul Field, CHS, 24.65.

Girls 100 Butterfly: (A - Final) 1, Catherine Russo, BHS, 56.98. 2, Gabby Smart, MHG, 58.96. 3, Olivia Bauman, CMR, 1:02.56. 4, Mari Rizzuto, MHG, 1:02.59. 5, Darya Peters, BOZ, 1:03.60. 6, Caroline Dye, WHS, 1:04.66. (B - Final) 7, Lydia Amon, MHG, 1:03.38. 8, Keidon Reynolds, MSN, 1:04.80. 9, Hannah Flosi, CMR, 1:04.84. 10, Ellie D'Amico, MBS, 1:05.14. 11, Megan Carroll, CMR, 1:06.40. 12, Amber Nabity, BOZ, 1:07.74.

Boys 100 Butterfly: (A - Final) 1, Cale Berkoff, MHG, 51.88. 2, Brendon Campbell, MHG, 52.62. 3, Dylan Faust, MHG, 53.19. 4, Michael Van Kueren, BWH, 55.90. 5, Hung Hunyh, BWH, 56.10. 6, Eli Ducuennois, BOZ, 57.17. (B - Final) 7, Lyndon Amon, MHG, 57.19. 8, Nels Mork, BCH, 57.65. 9, Kyle Schiller, BOZ, 57.75. 10, Jacob Malaski, HHS, 58.07. 11, Andrew Houston, CMR, 58.21. 12, Zayne Friar, CFH, 58.74.

Girls 100 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Kilee Rohlf, BOZ, 52.96. 2, Julia Peterson, BCH, 52.99. 3, Hannah Stevens, BSR, 55.43. 4, Madison Klundt, BOZ, 55.95. 5, Sydney Archibald-Wilson, MHG, 55.98. 6, Kelsey Ammons, MHG, 56.05. (B - Final) 7, Aidan Condit, MHG, 55.15. 8, Avree Klungland, CHS, 56.42. 9, Erin McKinney, BOZ, 56.97. 10, Amelia Miller, HAV, 57.14. 11, Hayley Ma, BCH, 57.49. 12, Darby Seth, BOZ, 57.90.

Boys 100 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Colton Babcock, CFH, 46.31R. 2, Darragh Mahns, MHG, 46.93. 3, Nate Burnham, GHS, 48.07. 4, Phoenix Black, BOZ, 48.98. 5, Andrew Spragg, CMR, 49.46. 6, Connor Maas, BSR, 49.91. (B - Final) 7, Finnian Westenfelder, MHG, 50.16. 8, Scott Smith, BOZ, 50.79. 9, Kade Berger, BOZ, 51.12. 10, Ben Huotari, CMR, 51.75. 11, Zach Johnson, BHS, 51.98. 12, Denver Dicks, WHS, 52.71.

Girls 500 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Mari Aoki, MHG, 5:07.53. 2, Jesse Ecklund, MHG, 5:17.32. 3, Claire Becker, MHG, 5:28.12. 4, Laina Hall, BOZ, 5:29.89. 5, Annie Sullivan, WHS, 5:31.09. 6, Caroline McCormick, MSN, 5:33.28. (B - Final) 7, Tessa Sobek, BOZ, 5:38.92. 8, Maddy Butler, MHG, 5:43.56. 9, Alexis Cichon, BOZ, 5:49.74. 10, Jess Byrne, CMR, 5:57.17. 11, Sonja Ring, WHS, 5:59.17. 12, Elsie Dickerson, BHS, 6:05.94.

Boys 500 Freestyle: (A - Final) 1, Jack Leuthold, BCH, 4:43.74. 2, Colton Babcock, CFH, 4:44.04. 3, Sawyer Keyes, MHG, 4:53.07. 4, Brayden Arnold, BWH, 5:00.15. 5, Michael Van Kueren, BWH, 5:03.88. 6, Jacob Malaski, HHS, 5:11.73. (B - Final) 7, Wade Spoerl, BOZ, 5:08.12. 8, Tanner Baldry, MHG, 5:09.82. 9, Alex Ackerlund, HHS, 5:17.22. 10, Quinn Powell, BOZ, 5:18.19. 11, Alex Massey, CMR, 5:30.97. 12, Jack Wolgamot, MSN, 5:37.33.

Girls 200 Freestyle Relay: (A - Final) 1, Bozeman (Kilee Rohlf SR, Madison Klundt JR, Laina Hall JR, Darya Peters SR), 1:41.32. 2, Missoula Hellgate, 1:42.35. 3, CMR, 1:46.84. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 1:47.61. 5, Billings Senior, 1:47.64. 6, Missoula-Big Sky Loyola, 1:50.53. (B - Final) 7, Billings Central, 1:48.95. 8, Helena Capital, 1:50.17. 9, Great Falls 1:51.48. 10, Helena, 1:56.53. 11, Butte, 1:57.39.

Boys 200 Freestyle Relay: (A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate (Matthew Fritz JR, Finnian Westenfelder SO, Simon McMahon SO, Brendon Campbell SR), 1:29.92R. 2, Bozeman, 1:30.28. 3, Billings Senior, 1:35.07. 4, CMR, 1:35.58. 5, Columbia Falls, 1:35.89. 6, Glacier, 1:36.89. (B -Final) 7, Billings Central, 1:37.52. 8, Missoula Big Sky-Loyola, 1:37.96. 9, Butte, 1:39.12. 10, Helena Capital, 1:40.65. 11, Missoula Sentinel, 1:41.09. 12, Hardin, 1:41.46.

Girls 100 Backstroke: (A - Final) 1, Katharine Berkoff, MHG, 53.89. 2, Aidan Condit, MHG, 59.60. 3, Cailin Fiddler, BWH, 1:01.12. 4, Sydney Archibald-Wilson, MHG, 1:01.39. 5, Sierra Monastiere, BOZ, 1:01.92. 6, Ellee Becker, MHG, 1:02.32. (B - Final) 7, Darby Seth, BOZ, 1:01.58. 8, Molly DeMarco, CMR, 1:02.75. 9, Hayley Ma, BCH, 1:03.24. 10, Maija Geier, CHS, 1:04.91. 11, Audrey Fero, MSN, 1:05.60. 12, Hannah Lunak, HAV, 1:08.18.

Boys 100 Backstroke: (A - Final) 1, Ethan Harder, BSR, 49.88. 2, Cale Berkoff, MHG, 50.18. 3, Matthew Hoffman, BOZ, 54.09. 4, Simon McMahon, MHG, 55.91. 5, Connor Maas, BSR, 56.73. 6, Noah Brennan, CMR, 56.93. (B - Final) 7, Eli Ducuennois, BOZ, 58.37. 8, Sawyer Keyes, MHG, 59.75. 9, Joseph Guter, GFH, 59.94. 10, Jorgen Midboe, MBS, 1:00.51. 11, Miguel Generoso, GHS, 1:00.72. 12, Mark Herzog, MHG, 1:00.95.

Girls 100 Breaststroke: (A - Final) 1, Avery Vernon, MHG, 1:08.28. 2, Gabby Smart, MHG, 1:09.73. 3, Bella Seagrave, MHG, 1:11.27. 4, Madison Klundt, BOZ, 1:13.25. 5, Erin McKinney, BOZ, 1:13.36. 6, Keidon Reynolds, MSN, 1:15.05. (B - Final) 7, Ingrid Shannon, MHG, 1:12.99. 8, Darlene Westie, CMR, 1:15.64. 9, Haddy Slade, BSR, 1:17.46. 10, Molly DeMarco, CMR, 1:18.02. 11, Danielle Forsyth, BWH, 1:19.25. 12, Maddie Carroll, CMR, 1:19.82.

Boys 100 Breaststroke: (A - Final) 1, Adam Zimmer, MBS, 55.97R. 2, Nathan Peters, BOZ, 1:01.46. 3, Matthew Fritz, MHG, 1:01.50. 4, Scott Smith, BOZ, 1:02.60. 5, Parker Keller, HHS, 1:03.86. 6, Mason Johnson, BWH, 1:06.12. (B - Final) 7, Cody Carlson, MSN, 1:06.33. 8, Brandon Hanlon, GFH, 1:07.66. 9, Zach Kelsch, BOZ, 1:08.04. 10, Keaton Newkirk, BOZ, 1:08.05. 11, Alex Bertrand, GHS, 1:08.25. --, Denver Dicks, WHS, DQ.

Girls 400 Freestyle Relay: (A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate (Mari Aoki JR, Kelsey Ammons JR, Jesse Ecklund JR, Katharine Berkoff SO), 3:33.44. 2, Bozeman, 3:42.48. 3, CMR, 3:57.04. 4, Whitefish 3:57.37. 5, Butte 4:01.58. (B - Final) 7, Havre-Chinook 4:09.89. 8, Flathead 4:13.15. 9, Helena Capital 4:14.64. 10, Missoula Big Sky-Loyola 4:16.81. 11, Missoula Sentinel 4:21.36. 12, Billings Central 4:37.93.

Boys 400 Freestyle Relay: (A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate (Cale Berkoff SR, Matthew Fritz JR, Dylan Faust SO, Darragh Mahns JR), 3:10.34R. 2, Bozeman 3:18.13. 3, CMR 3:25.45. 4, Billings Central 3:30.92. 5, Billings West 3:32.31. 6, Whitefish 3:32.78. (B - Final) 7, Columbia Falls 3:32.00. 8, Butte 3:35.14. 9, Great Falls 3:40.51. 10, Helena Capital 3:45.97. 11, Havre-Chinook 3:46.10. 12, Hardin 3:49.44.

Friday's Havre Preliminary Results

Girls 200 Medley Relay: 10th, 2:12.66

Girls 200 Free: Amelia Miller, 8th, 2:06.95

Boys 200 Free: Barrett Kilgore, 28th, 2:14.71

Girtls 50 Free: Aria Pratt, 37, 30.92; Lacey Huseby, 42nd, 31.62; Laura Vance, 56th, 33.66

Boys 50 Free: Shane Friede, 14th, 24.38; Ethan Lines, 22nd, 25.61; Mason Sandstrom, 25th, 25.92

Girls 100 Butterfly: Ally Padgett, 21st, 1:18.71

Boys 100 Butterfly: Ethan Lines, 27th, 1:10.03; Shandon Oberquell, 30th, 1:14.95; Clayton Twombly, 31st, 1:18.66; Paxtin McCann, 53rd, 1:25.58.

Girls 100 Free: Amelia Miller, 10th, 57.21

Boys 100 Free: Mason Sandstrom, 28th, 58.26; Aylan Pratt, 35th, 59.77; Barrett Kilgore, 36th, 59.64; Paxtin McCann, 51st, 1:06.37

Girls 100 Backstroke: Hannah Lunak, 12th, 1:08.62

Boys 200 Free Relay: 14th, 1:43.70.

Girls 100 Breaststroke: Laura Vance, 30th, 1:28.09

Boys 100 Breaststroke: Aylan Pratt, 17th, 1:11.95; Shandon Oberquell, 25th, 1:16.77

Girls 400 Free Relay: 7th, 4:14.76.