By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
You might as well keep a permanent spot in the Havre High school trophy case for the Class A girls state swimming championship trophy because it doesn't appear to be going anywhere for a long time.
The Pony girls, spurred on by a strong performance in the relays, brought home their sixth straight Class A state team title, scoring 14 team points to defeat Hardin, which finished with 2 points.
"I'm just so proud of these girls," said Havre High head coach Chris Inman. "Every one of them swam hard and did their very best."
The 200 medley relay team of Megan Reinke, Jessica Obrecht, Morgan Zimmer and Rachel Hansen got Havre rolling early in Saturday's finals at the Great Falls High pool.
The squad scored six team points with a 10th place finish and a season best time of 2:07.47. It was almost 15 seconds faster than Hardin's A relay squad, which finished 12th.
The Ponies added four more team points in the 200 freestyle relay as Zimmer, Kyra Kaercher, Emily Kostelecky and Hansen teamed up to finish 11th with a time of 1:54.41.
Just for good measure, the Ponies added a little breathing room in the final event of the day, adding another 11th in the 400 free relay as Gen Geda, Kaercher, Kristin Evanson and Kostelecky put together a solid time of 4:30.72.
"Every one of our relays was a total team effort," Inman said. "I think just about every one of our swimmers had personal bests in their legs of the relay. We knew coming in that the team title would probably be decided in the relays. The girls really stepped it up."
Havre didn't have any individual placers for the girls. Hansen, who placed last year individually, just missed out in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
"The whole meet was so tough this year with so many talented swimmers," Inman said. "It's one of the deepest meets in years."
Still, Inman couldn't fault the effort of Hansen during her stellar career with the team.
"Rachel came to us from Chinook and she's been a big part of this success," she said. "She just works so hard in practice and really sets a good example for other girls. Her attitude is just great and she's a real leader. I really wanted to see her place individually because she's meant so much to the team."
Instead, Hansen and Inman will have to settle for yet another title.
"You know it never gets old," Inman said. "This one is as special as the very first one. The girls that are coming back are already talking about next year and winning a seventh which would tie a record set by Bozeman for most consecutive titles. We have a lot of very good young swimmers and I think we might to keeping this for awhile."
Unfortunately, the Havre High boys couldn't match their counterparts as Billings Central captured its second straight boys team title scoring 58 points, while Havre was second with 26.5 and Hardin was third with 8.5.
The foursome of Justin Peterson, Andrew Pearson, Ryan Huppert and Andrew Miron basically scored all 58 of the Rams points. The quartet teamed up for a solid sixth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay and a ninth in the 200 medley relay.
Pearson, Huppert, Peterson and Scott Bruschwein added a 10th in the 400 freestyle relay. Miron also scored 26 points for his team with a second in the 200 IM and a second in the 100 breastroke.
"In Class A when you have one outstanding individual swimmer, you can win a team title," Inman said. "But Central really has four outstanding swimmers and it was just too much depth for our team."
Still, the Ponies put together a solid performance in the relays with two ninth-place finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
The team of Sam Simpson, Jordan Croft, D.J. Stuker and Scott Robinson swam a solid time of 1:40.72 and just missed out on finishing eighth by a tenth of a second. In the long relay, the same foursome swam a 3:47.75 and was just 22 hundredths of a second from finishing eighth. In the 200 medley relay, the team of Kevin Friede, Stuker, Croft and Simpson finished 11th with a time of 2:01.36.
Individually, Robinson put on a gutsy performance in the final meet of his stellar high school swimming career. The senior standout finished in a tie for ninth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.11. He also added a 10th in the 100 breaststroke with at time of 1:09.95.
The times were not necessarily Robinson's best, but outstanding considering he hadn't been in the water in over a month after having wrist surgery. Robinson had his protective cast cut off just days before the meet.
"Scott just gave everything he had at state," Inman said. "He just got the cast off and he was in a lot of pain when he swam, but he just gutted and did what he could to help the team. I can't say enough about his performance, just watching him to do that was inspiring to our boys. They just have a whole different attitude when he's there."
After anchoring the team the past four seasons, Inman has a tough time imagining next season without him.
"I started coaching Scott when he was 7-year-old," she said. "He's really grown into a tremendous swimmer and a tremendous leader. He is just such a good kid. I doubt that you could find anybody who would say something bad about him."
But that pretty much sums up Inman's entire team.
"You know that's the best part and what makes it so special are these kids," she said. "They are just so much fun to be around. They work hard in practice, get a long with each other and represent the community so well. It really is a lot of fun coaching them."
The Pony girls will take their victory parade through town on Thursday at 5 p.m. A banquet to honor their championship will follow at the high school at 6 p.m.
STATE SWIM MEET RESULTS
Team scores
Class AA
Billings West 229. Kalispell 229. Bozeman 174. Missoula Hellgate 134. Great Falls High 122. Billings Senior 105. Helena Capital 87. Butte High 56. Helena High 51. C.M. Russell High 37. Billings Skyview 34. Missoula Big Sky 14. Missoula Sentinel 13
Class A
Havre/Chinook 14. Hardin 2
200 Medley Relay
Finals - 1. Kalispell (Justin Scaccia, Jenna Newgard, Megan Lavin, Jenna Thiel), 1:52.01; 2. Bozeman 1:55.71. 3. West 1:58.43. 4. Hellgate 1:58.67. 5. Senior 2:01.15. 6. Capital 2:03.80.
Consolation
7. GFH 2:05.80. 8. Butte 2:06.03. 9. Skyview 2:06.36. 10. Havre/Chinnook 2:07.47. 11. Sentinel 2:07.65; 12. Hardin 2:23.76.
200 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Colleen Miller, HGT, 1:55.45 (state record, old record Kathryn Kafentzis, HGT, 1998). 2. Kelsey Henan, SNR, 2:00.60. 3. Taylor Cook, WST, 2:02.46. 4. Laurel Goins, BOZ, 2:03.00. 5. Erica Hickey, GFH, 2:03.43. 6. Hilary Turner, CAP, 2:04.84.
Consolation - 7. Erin Bell, BOZ, 2:04.83. 8. Inga Koellman, GFH, 2:05.61. 9. Leslie Taylor, CMR, 2:06.04. 10. Steph Hammer, WST, 2:09.47. 11. Kaitlin McLane, CAP, 2:10.45. 12. Chelsea Burfeind, KAL, 2:12.52.
200 Individual Medley
Finals
1. Hannah Chura, BOZ, 2:06.90 (state record, old record 1:07.54. Amber Walter, KAL, 2002). 2. Emily Munday, Butte, 2:17.35. 3. Cara Duberstein, SNR, 2:18.94. 4. Daniell Blow, GFH, 2:19.07. 5. Mallory Ewer-Speck, HEL, 2:20.17. 6. Lindsay Robb, WST, 2:23.62.
Consolation - 7. Jessica Knote, SNR, 2:25.29. 8. Kristen Lambers, BOZ, 2:26.20. 9. Michael Eustance, Big Sky, 2:26.82. 10. Anna Golding, HGT, 2:26.96. 11. Maggie Pesanti, HGT, 2:32.39. 12. Alyssa Tallent, Helena High, 2:35.86.
50 Freestyle
Finals - 1. JayDee Huppert, WST, 24.60. 2. Morgan Denny, WST, 24.83. 3. Megan Lavin, KAL, 24.98. 4. Jacey Stahlberg, KAL, 25.28. 5. Jenna Thiel, KAL, 25.60; 6. Hailee Barnes, HGT, 25.62.
Consolation - 7. Jessa Thiel, KAL, 26.09. 8. Kelsey Lane, CAP, 26.45. 9. Skye McMaster, GFH, 26.61. 10. Ashley Loyning, WST, 26.67. 11. Jenilee Crellin, WST, 26.94. 12. Amanda Kyllo, GFH, 27.18.
100 Butterfly
Finals - 1. Justin Scaccia, KAL, 58.85 (state record, old record 58.91. Amber Walter, KAL, 200). 2. Emily Munday, Butte, 1:01.88. 3. Jenna Newgard, KAL, 1:02.75. 4. Erica Hickey, GFH, 1:02.77. 5. Hannah Halstrom, BOZ, 1:02.87. 6. Christy O'Connor, HGT, 1:03.94.
Consolation - 7. Hailee Barnes, HGT, 1:03.83. 8. Lauren Formaz, HEL, 1:05.49. 9. Lindsay Robb, WST, 1:05.56. 10. Jessica Knote, SNR, 1:05.86. 11. Ashley Loyning, WST, 1:07.82. 12. Kailyn Rowe, SKY, 1:08.22.
100 Freestyle
Finals - 1. JayDee Huppert, WST, 52.88. 2. Megan Lavin, KAL, 54.94. 3. Jacey Stahlberg, KAL, 55.00. 4. Denby Gardiner, WST, 56.08. 5. Jessa Thiel, KAL, 57.75. 6. Jordann Lankford, CMR, 59:15
Consolation - 7. Jenilee Crellin, WST, 58.90. 8. Amy Gaudielle, WST, WST, 58.91. 9. Skye McMaster, GFH, 59.07. 10. Amanda Kyllo, GFH, 59.72. 11. Shelly Abbott, GFH, 59.92. 12. Oliva Swartz, GFH, 1:00.73.
500 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Colleen Miller, HGT, 5:11.80. 2. Kelsey Henan, SNR, 5:23.74. 3. Hannah Halstrom, BOZ, 5:27.81. 4. Hilary Turner, CAP, 5:30.55. 5. Mallory Ewer-Speck, HEL, 5:35.57. 6. Leslie Taylor, CMR, 5:37.09.
Consolation - 7. Meagan Stavnitski, BOZ, 5:27.56. 8. Molly Ezell, SNR, 5:29.96. 9. Steph Hammer, WST, WST, 5:37.50. 10. Lauren Formaz, HEL, 5:38.60. 11. Kailyn Rowe, SKY, 5:43.82. 12. Kaitlin McLane, CAP, 5:49.88.
200 Freestyle Relay
Finals - 1. West (Morgan Denny, Jenilee Crellin, Taylor Cook, JayDee Huppert), 1:40.12. 2. Kalispell 1:41.59. 3. GFH 1:44.92. 4. Bozeman 1:45.81. 5. Hellgate 1:46.21. 6. Skyview 1:51.18.
Consolation - 7. Senior 1:50.94. 8. Capital 1:51.96. 9. Helena 1:53.16. 10. CMR 1:53.81. 11. Havre/Chinnook 1:54.41. 12. Sentinel 1:54.95.
100 Backstroke
Finals - 1. Justine Scaccia, KAL, 1:00.17. 2. Morgan Denny, WST, 1:01.92. 3. Erin Bell, BOZ, 1:03.39. 4. Anna Golding, HGT, 1:03.51. 5. Michael Eustance, Big Sky, 1:04.09. 6. Christy O'Connor, HGT, 1:05.36.
Consolation - 7. Taylor Cook, WST, 1:04.26. 8. Emily Ingham, SKY, 1:04.69. 9. Katie King, WST, 1:06.08. 10. Chelsea Burfeind, KAL, 1:07.92. 11. Megan Podolinsky, CAP, 1:07.96. 12. Jordann Lankford, CMR, 1:08.30.
100 Breaststroke
Finals - 1. Hannah Chura, BOZ, 1:07.47. 2. Jenna Newgard, KAL, 1:08.40. 3. Cara Duberstein, SNR, 1:13.62. 4. Danielle Sandrock, CAP, 1:14.68. 5. Danielle Blow, GFH, 1:15.28. 6. Jenna Thiel, KAL, 1:15.53.
Consolation - 7. Denby Gardiner, WST, 1:14.23. 8. Ellen Judd, Sentinel, 1:14.84. 9. Kristen Lambers, BOZ, 1:16.56. 10. Katie King, WST, 1:17.33. 11. Jeni Floener, BOZ, 1:19.30; 12. Heather Wallis, Heather, DQ.
400 Freestyle Relay
Finals - 1. West (Morgan Denny, Taylor Cook, Denby Gardiner, JayDee Huppert) 3:37.68 (state record, old record 3:40.82. BOZ, 2001). 2. Kalispell 3:38.34. 3. Bozeman 3:45.98. 4. GFH 3:52.90. 5. Buttte 4:01.07. 6. Capital 4:04.54.
Consolation - 7. Helena 4:07.58. 8. Hellgate 4:09.14. 9. CMR 4:14.49. 10. Senior 4:26.16. 11. Havre/Chinook 4:30.72. 12. Sentinel 4:35.48.
BOYS
Team scores
Class AA
Bozeman 227. Missoula Hellgate 183. Helena 168. Billings West 131. Helena Capital 117. Kalispell 86. Great Falls High 77. Missoula Sentinel 71. Billings Skyview 53. C.M. Russell High 30. Billings Senior 28. Missoula Big Sky 11
Class A
Billings Central 58. Havre/Chinook 26.5. Hardin 8.5
200 Medley Relay
Finals - 1. Bozeman (Michael Hulme, Matt Strauss, Scott Larson, Matt Skuntz) 1:43.48. 2. Helena 1:47.30. 3.
GFH 1:47.60. 4. Hellgate 1:48.30; 5. West 1:48.52. 6. Kalispell 1:49.86.
Consolation - 7. Capital 1:49.98. 8. Sentinel 1:51.59. 9. Central 1:52.29. 10. CMR 1:54.60. 11. Havre/Chinook High School 2:01.36. 12. Hardin 2:06.81.
200 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Karl Kingery, HEL, 1:45.45. 2. Nick Logan, HGT, 1:45.77. 3. Nate Wittnam, SNR, 1:48.24. 4. Matt Strauss, BOZ, 1:52.97. 5. Amos Kuck, WST, 1:53.42. 6. Joel Bischoff, HEL, 1:59.07.
Consolation - 7. Sean McCleary, BOZ, 1:57.54. 8. Tommy Ross, Big Sky, 1:58.87. 9. Colin Harwell, HEL, 2:01.37. 10. Jon Chrzanowski, CMR, 2:02.84. 11. Kevin Brazier, CAP, 2:04.25. 12. Andrew Moore, Bozeman,m 2:04.45.
200 Individual Medley
Finals - 1. Cascade Tuholske, HGT, 2:00.45. 2. Andrew Miron, Central, 2:00.98. 3. Justin Whaley, HEL, 2:02.83. 4. Major Robinson, Sentinel, 2:02.93. 5. Matthew McCallum, BOZ, 2:07.77. 6. Brandon Mourich, WST, 2:16.63.
Consolation - 7. Cody Koffman, CAP, 2:13.49. 8. Brad Floener, BOZ, 2:15.98. 9. Dylan Larson, HEL, 2:16.82. 10. Dean Broadbrooks, BOZ, 2:19.88. 11. Jeff Marty, HEL, 2:19.99. 12. Bryce Fischer, KAL, 2:26.00.
50 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Brian Brady, KAL, 22.67. 2. Carson Yahvah, CAP, 22.73. 3. Scott Larson, BOZ, 23.01. 4. Billy Kump, HGT, 23.32. 5. Michael Luterbach, SKY, 23.33. 6. Kyle Gray, HGT, 23.43.
Consolation - 7. Brian Haseman, HEL, 23.39. 8. Josh Dusek, Josh, GFH, 24.03. 9. Jamie Morton, HAR, 24.11. 9. Scott Robinson, Havre, 24.11. 11. Doug Wandke, GFH, 24.17. 12. Robbie Steinbauer, WST, 24.30.
100 Butterfly
Finals - 1. Nate Wittnam, SNR, 54.48. 2. Justin Whaley, HEL, 54.58. 3. Cascade Tuholske, HGT, 55.06. 4. Scott Larson, BOZ, 57.28. 5. Michael Luterbach, SKY, 57.34. 6. Sean Wevers, HGT, 57.73.
Consolation - 7. Matthew McCallum, BOZ, 57.52. 8. Jeff Marty, HEL, 59.13. 9. Justin Fox, BOZ, 1:01.99. 10. Jake Jourdonnais, CAP, 1:02.98. 11. Andrew Unterreiner, KAL, 1:05.20. 12. Jamie Morton, HAR, 1:05.21.
100 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Nick Logan, HGT, 48.46. 2. Matt Skuntz, BOZ, 50.32. 3. Kyle Gray, HGT, 51.29. 4. Brian Brady, KAL, 52.35. 5. Robbie Steinbauer, WST, 52.47; 6. Brian Haseman, HEL, DQ.
Consolation - 7. Zack Griffith, CMR, 52.99. 8. John Halvorson, , WST, 53.00. 9. Tommy Rosse, Big Sky, 53.67. 10. Cody Koffman, CAP, 54.10. 11. Mark Stelling, GFH, 54.40. 12. Jeff Magart, GFH, 54.60.
500 Freestyle
Finals - 1. Karl Kingery, HEL, 4:49.68. 2. Michael Hulme, BOZ, 4:58.13. 3. Billy Kump, HGT, 5:04.64. 4. Phillip Ehrlich, Sentinel, 5:08.38. 5. Mike Turner, CAP, 5:11.19. 6. Bryce Cagle, SKY, 5:18.05.
Consolation - 7. Sean Wevers, HGT, 5:17.47. 8. Sean McCleary, BOZ, 5:20.97. 9. Joel Bischoff, HEL, 5:22.36. 10. Colin Harwell, HEL, 5:27.79. 11. Trevor Lane, CAP, 5:29.24. 12. Thomas Feiden, BOZ, 5:37.30.
200 Freestyle Relay
Finals - 1. Hellgate (Kyle Gray, Billy Kump, Sean Wevers, Nick Logan) 1:32.59. 2. GFH 1:33.29. 3. Bozeman 1:34.31. 4. West 1:36.32. 5. Helena 1:38.88. 6. Central 1:39.20.
Consolation - 7. Sentinel 1:38.80. 8. Skyview 1:39.72. 9. Havre/Chinook 1:40.90. 10. Kalispell 1:41.12. 11. Capital 1:44.21. 12. Big Sky 1:47.79.
100 Backstroke
Finals - 1. Major Robinson, Sentinel, 54.97. 2. Michael Hulme, BOZ, 55.39. 3. Paul McCauley, HGT, HGT, 59.77. 4. John Halvorson, WST, 59.99. 5. Mike Turner, CAP, 1:00.51. 6. Amos Kuck, WST, 1:00.58.
Consolation - 7. Brandon Mourich, WST, 1:02.13. 8. Trevor Lane, CAP, 1:02.64. 9. Windom Tilton, CMR, 1:02.87. 10. Mark Stelling, GFH, 1:03.38. 11. Thomas Feiden, BOZ, 1:03.88. 12. Dylan Larson, HEL, 1:04.74.
100 Breaststroke
Finals - 1. Matt Strauss, BOZ, 1:02.33. 2. Andrew Miron, Central, 1:03.30. 3. Josh Dusek, GFH, 1:03.37. 4. Carson Yahvah, CAP, 1:03.40. 5. Taylor Streit, KAL, 1:07.08. 6. Jake Jourdonnais, CAP, 1:07.36.
Consolation - 7. David Model, WST, 1:07.45. 8. Phillip Eherlich, Sentinel, 1:07.71. 9. Andrew Moore, BOZ, 1:09.14. 10. Scott Robinson, Havre, 1:09.95. 11. Doug Wandke, GFH, 1:10.90. 12. Brad Floener, BOZ, 1:14.10.
400 Freestyle Relay
Finals - 1. Bozeman (Scott Larson, Matt Skuntz, Matthew McCallum, Michael Hulme), 3:21.91. 2. Helena
3:26.67. 3. Capital 3:35.62. 4. Kalispell 3:38.57. 5. West 3:40.49. 6. Hellgate DQ.
Consolation - 7. Skyview 3:40.57. 8. CMR 3:47.75. 9. Havre/Chinook 3:47.97. 10. Central 3:48.64. 11. Sentinel 3:56.00. 12. Hardin 4:01.54.
