Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Another year and another state championship for the Havre High girls swimming team. Saturday' state title was the Ponies' seventh consecutive state championship. It is almost becoming a rite of passage every February.
Unfortunately, the HHS boys swim team fell just shy of winning the title and giving the Ponies a sweep at the all-class state swim meet in Hardin on Saturday afternoon.
In addition to winning another state championship, the HHS girls also made history and tied the state record for most consecutive state titles.
“It was a really amazing weekend,” HHS head coach Chris Inman said. “It was a lot of fun and it's just an outstanding feeling. The kids worked so hard and it was really nice to see how happy they were when they won.”
The Ponies' closest competitor was Hardin, which scored 10 points. Havre had 21.
In the all-state swimming tournament, all the teams compete against each other and Class A, B and C are combined and turned into one division. In order to score points, teams' individual swimmers have to place against Class AA competition.
The Ponies got a big chunk of their points in the girls competition from the relays as they placed 10th in the 400 freestyle, 11th in the 200 freestyle and 11th in the 200 medley.
The Ponies' individual point earners were led by freshman Kenzie Johnson, who had a spectacular weekend and earned points in two different events. Johnson finished 12th in the 100 freestyle and 11th in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Jessie Obrecht also earned points with her ninth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Both Johnson and Obrecht had tremendous overall seasons for Havre High.
“Jessica Obrecht and Kenzie Johnson both swam really well this weekend,” Inman said. “They each earned points for the team, and all of our relay teams really did a nice job.”
The Havre boys earned points in just two events as the Ponies finished an impressive fifth in the 200 freestyle relay and in eighth place in the 200 medley relay. Unfortunately for the Ponies, they were unable to place in any of the individual events after doing very well in the relays. That inevitably cost the Ponies the state title as they finished 16 points behind Class A champ Billings Central.
“All of the boys really swam well and I can't single out individuals because they all did well,” Inman said. “They worked so hard. And even though they didn't win the state championship, it doesn't mean that they aren't champions. They did their best and that is all that you can ask of them.”
Although some may downplay the championship because a relatively small number of teams compete, none of that matters to the Ponies and Inman.
“A lot of people just don't understand swimming,” Inman said. “That state tournament is an all-class event. So that means that in order to score points our kids have to compete against kids at the Class AA level. The caliber of swimming is very high at the state tournament and our kids always seem to rise up and swim at a very high level.”
The HHS girls once again showed why they are the top swim program at the Class A level. With their seventh straight title, the Ponies have now etched their name in history.
“It's just an absolutely amazing feeling and we just hope that we can keep bringing state titles back to Havre,” Inman said. “The kids just improved so much as the year went on. They worked hard and it was nice to see them win because they deserved it.”
State Swimming at Hardin
Girls
Class A-B-C
Havre 21, Hardin 10, Billings Central 0, Harlem 0, Great Falls Central 0
Championship finals
200 Medley Relay-1. Kalispell A (Jessa Thiel. Jenna Thiel. Jacey Stahlberg. Liz Myers). 1 minute, 55.17 seconds. 2. Great Falls A 1:55.33. 3. Billings West A 1:56.00. 4. Bozeman A 1:56.24. 5. Billings Senior A. 2:00.94. 6. Missoula Big Sky A. 2:01.98.
200 Freestyle -1. Dannica Brennan. Great Falls. 1:56.30. 2. Hannah Halstrom. Bozeman. 1:56.90. 3. Meagan Stavnitski. Bozeman. 2:00.78. 4. Kelsey Henan. Billings Senior. 2:00.85. 5. Lauren Formaz. Helena. 2:03.94. 6. Megan Jones. Missoula Big Sky. 2:04.10.
200 Individual Medley-1. Hannah Chura. Bozeman. 2:08.73. 2. Emily Munday. Butte. 2:18.75. 3. Lindsey Robb. Billings West. 2:21.11. 4. Cara Duberstein. Billings Senior. 2:22.75. 5. Kristin Lambers. Bozeman. 2:25.52. 6. Mallory Ewer-Speck. Helena. 2:25.98.
50 Freestyle - 1. Jennifer Nowatzke. Missoula Big Sky. 24.91. 2. Morgan Denny. Billings West. 25.00. 3. Jenna Thiel. Kalispell. 25.22. 4. Christi O'Connor. Great Falls. 25.26. 5. Jacey Stahlberg. Kalispell. 25.29. 6. Liz Myers. Kalispell. 26.06.
100 Butterfly - 1. Hannah Halstrom. Bozeman. 1:00.58. 2. Christi O'Connor. Great Falls. 1:01.16. 3. Emily Munday. Butte. 1:01.63. 4. Lindsey Robb. Billings West. 1:03.61. 5. Marion Cory. Great Falls. 1:03.70. 6. Lauren Formaz. Helena. 1:04.81.
100 Freestyle-1. Jennifer Nowatzke. Missoula Big Sky. 54.12. 2. Jacey Stahlberg. Kalispell. 55.06. 3. Denby Gardiner. Billings West. 56.09. 4. Laurel Goins. Bozeman. 56.65. 5. Taylor Cook. Billings West. 56.73. 6. Shelly Abbott. Great Falls. 56.88.
500 Freestyle-1. Hannah Chura. Bozeman. 5:09.47. 2. Kelsey Henan. Billings Senior. 5:23.28. 3. Meagan Stavnitski. Bozeman. 5:28.45. 4. Hilary Turner. Helena Capital. 5:31.06. 5. Katy Lucas. Great Falls. 5:38.04. 6. Mallory Ewer-Speck. Helena. 5:44.38.
200 Freestyle Relay-1. Kalispell A (Jenna Thiel. Jacey Stahlberg. Jessa Thiel. Liz Myers). 1:40.38. 2. Great Falls A. 1:42.61. 3. Missoula Big Sky A. 1:45.89. 4. Bozeman A. 1:47.84. 5. Billings West A. 1:48.20. 6. Billings Senior A. 1:51.46.
100 Backstroke-1. Dannica Brennan. Great Falls. 59.02 (state record). 2. Morgan Denny. Billings West. 1:00.35. 3. Anna Golding. Missoula Hellgate. 1:02.81. 4. Michael Eustance. Missoula Big Sky. 1:05.49. 5. Katie King. Billings West. 1:06.83. 6. Sammie Hammett. Kalispell. 1:07.87.
100 Breaststroke-1. Jenna Thiel. Kalispell. 1:11.13. 2. Hannah Ingham. Billings Skyview. 1:13.05. 3. Amanda Hunter. Billings Senior. 1:13.44. 4. Sarah McCauley. Missoula Hellgate. 1:13.85. 5. Denby Gardiner. Billings West. 1:14.89. 6. Danielle Blow. Great Falls. 1:15.04.
400 Freestyle Relay-1. Bozeman A (Meagan Stavnitski. Laurel Goins. Hannah Halstrom. Hannah Chura). 3:41.13. 2. Billings West A. 3:44.49. 3. Great Falls A. 3:53.55. 4. Kalispell A. 4:01.62. 5. Missoula Sentinel A. 4:11.55. 6. Butte A. 4:16.33.
Consolation finals
200 Medley Relay- 7. Hellgate A 2:02.44. 8. Billings Skyview A 2:04.56. 9. Butte High A 2:07.48. 10. Capital High School A 2:07.76. 11. Havre A 2:08.21. 12. Missoula Sentinel 2:10.63.
200 Freestyle- 7. Goins. Laurel. BOZ. 2:01.96. 8. Cook. Taylor. WEST. 2:04.21. 9. Turner. Hilary. CHS. 2:06.54. 10. Selleck. Carly. WEST. 2:07.45. 11. Belden. Jessy. MSH. 2:07.53. 12. Mosher. Carley. GFH. 2:09.22.
200 IM - 7. King. Katie. WEST. 2:23.95. 8. Golding. Anna. MHG. 2:24.05. 9. Knote. Jessica. SEN. 2:24.14. 10. Ingham. Hannah. SKY. 2:25.34. 11. Podolinsky. Megan A. CHS. 2:28.15. 12. Judd. Ellen. MSH. 2:35.78.
50 Freestyle- 7. Thiel. Jessa. FHS. 25.74. 8. Abbott. Shelly. GFH. 26.32. 9. Jones. Megan. MBS. 26.90. 10. Birkenbuel. Britt. GFH. 27.16. 11. Johnson. Kenzie. HAV. 27.47. 12. McCauley. Sarah. MHG. 27.52.
100 Butterfly - 7. Bell. Belinda. BOZ. 1:03.98. 8. Podolinsky. Megan A. CHS. 1:05.67. 9. Knote. Jessica. SEN. 1:06.62. 10. Eustance. Michael. MBS. 1:06.97. 11. Rowe. Kailyn. SKY. 1:07.59. 12. Mosher. Carley. GFH. 1:10.08.
100 Freestyle - 7. Cory. Marion. GFH. 57.90. 8. Hammett. Sammie. FHS. 58.44. 9. West. Kacie. FHS. 58.68. 10. Birkenbuel. Britt. GFH. 59.04. 11. Thiel. Jessa. FHS. 59.38. 12. Johnson. Kenzie. HAV. 1:00.15.
500 Freestyle - 7. Belden. Jessy. MSH. 5:41.42. 8. Hunter. Amanda. SEN. 5:41.64. 9. Rowe. Kailyn. SKY. 5:44.05. 10. Selleck. Carly. WEST. 5:50.19. 11. Neilson. Loni. MBS. 6:02.66. 12. Cherry. Tara. MHG. 6:07.18.
200 Freestyle Relay - 7. Capital A 1:51.84. 8. Billings Skyview A 1:52.57. 9. Hellgate A1:53.12. 10. Helena A 1:53.29. 11. Havre A 1:54.70. 12. Hardin A 1:59.28.
100 Backstroke - 7. West. Kacie. FHS. 1:05.70. 8. Davidson. Alex. MBS. 1:06.95. 9. Lucas. Katy. GFH. 1:07.78. 10. Cervoski. Sydney. WEST. 1:10.81. 11. Kruger. Krista. BHS. 1:11.80. 12. Hill. Jackie. SKY. 1:12.05.
100 Breaststroke - 7. Lambers. Kristin. BOZ. 1:15.10. 8. Judd. Ellen. MSH. 1:15.43. 9. Obrecht. Jessica. HAV. 1:16.92. 10. Wallace. Heather. FHS. 1:17.70. 11. Duberstein. Cara. SEN. 1:18.32. 12. Sandrock. Dani D. CHS. 1:19.59.
400 Freestyle Relay - 7. Missoula Big Sky A 4:14.50. 8. C.M.Russell A 4:19.07. 9. Hardin A 4:24.72. 10. Havre A 4:27.24. 11. Helena 4:38.37. 12. Hellgate A 4:42.04.
Boys
Class A
Billings Central 46. Havre 30. Hardin 4. Great Falls Central 0
Championship finals
200 Medley Relay - 1. Missoula Hellgate A (Paul McCauley. Sean Niccolucci. Gabe Callahan. Billy Kump). 1:45.64. 2. Billings West A. 1:45.73. 3. Kalispell A. 1:47.02. 4. Helena Capital A. 1:47.63. 5. Missoula Sentinel A. 1:48.26. 6. Helena A. 1:51.39.
200 Freestyle - 1. Karl Kingery. Helena. 1:44.37. 2. Matthew Skuntz. Bozeman. 1:48.54. 3. Amos Kuck. Billings West. 1:51.45. 4. Sean Niccolucci. Missoula Hellgate. 1:52.69. 5. Bryce Cagle. Billings Skyview. 1:54.75. 6. Joel Bischoff. Helena. 1:56.28.
200 Individual Medley - 1. Andrew Miron. Billings Central. 1:59.36. 2. Billy Kump. Missoula Hellgate. 2:02.91. 3. Philip Ehrlich. Missoula Sentinel. 2:06.82. 4. Matthew McCallum. Bozeman. 2:07.55. 5. Mike Turner. Helena Capital. 2:09.25. 6. Brad Floener. Bozeman. 2:09.28.
50 Freestyle - 1. Keith Miller. Missoula Big Sky. 22.19. 2. Scott Larson. Bozeman. 22.47. 3. Brian Brady. Kalispell. 22.53. 4. Chad Smith. Bozeman. 22.54. 5. Carson Yahvah. Helena Capital. 22.99. 6. Brian Haseman. Helena. 23.49.
100 Butterfly - 1. Scott Larson. Bozeman. 54.87. 2. Gabe Callahan. Missoula Hellgate. 55.65. 3. Jake Wilkinson. Great Falls Russell. 55.80. 4. Jeff Marty. Helena. 55.85. 5. Brandon Mourich. Billings West. 56.93. 6. Matthew McCallum. Bozeman. 58.16.
100 Freestyle - 1. Keith Miller. Missoula Big Sky. 48.05. 2. Matthew Skuntz. Bozeman. 48.93. 3. Brian Brady. Kalispell. 49.70. 4. John Halverson. Billings West. 51.38. 5. David Model. Billings West. 51.47. 6. Brian Haseman. Helena. 52.95.
500 Freestyle - 1. Karl Kingery. Helena. 4:41.89. 2. Major Robinson. Missoula Sentinel. 4:45.27. 3. Billy Kump. Missoula Hellgate. 5:00.88. 4. Amos Kuck. Billings West. 5:03.13. 5. Bryce Cagle. Billings Skyview. 5:10.79. 6. Sean McCleary. Bozeman. 5:16.62.
200 Freestyle Relay -1. Bozeman A (Scott Larson. Matthew Skuntz. Matthew McCallum. Chad Smith). 1:30.49. 2. Helena A. 1:33.42. 3. Kalispell A. 1:34.25. 4. Helena Capital A. 1:37.03. 5. Havre A. 1:39.90. 6. Billings West A. 1:40.04.
100 Backstroke - 1. Major Robinson. Missoula Sentinel. 54.63. 2. Gabe Callahan. Missoula Hellgate. 56.85. 3. John Halverson. Billings West. 57.61. 4. Chad Smith. Bozeman. 58.58. 5. Paul McCauley. Missoula Hellgate. 59.05. 6. Mike Turner. Helena Capital. 1:00.22.
100 Breaststroke - 1. Carson Yahvah. Helena Capital. 1:02.15. 2. Andrew Miron. Billings Central. 1:02.49. 3. Kenton Smith. Billings West. 1:05.50. 4. David Model. Billings West. 1:05.88. 5. Philip Ehrlich. Missoula Sentinel. 1:06.75. 6. Brad Floener. Bozeman. 1:06.79.
400 Freestyle Relay - 1. Bozeman A (Matthew Skuntz. Matthew McCallum. Chad Smith. Scott Larson). 3:19.95. 2. Helena A. 3:24.08. 3. Billings West A. 3:25.26. 4. Missoula Hellgate A. 3:30.37. 5. Missoula Sentinel A. 3:30.65. 6. Missoula Big Sky A. 3:34.55.
Consolation finals
200 Medley Relay - 7. Bozeman A 1:49.90. 8. Havre A 1:55.39. 9. Billings Central A 1:55.70. 10. Billings Skyview A 1:55.77. 11. Great Falls High A 1:56.68. 12. Hardin A 2:07.09.
200 Yard Freestyle - 7. McCleary. Sean. BOZ. 1:53.71. 8. Laughnen. Alex. MSH. 1:58.92. 9. DeLuca. Vince. MHG. 1:59.37. 10. Koffman. Cody. CHS. 1:59.45. 11. Chrzanowski. Jonathon. CMR. 2:00.57. 12. Scariano. Dominic. MHG. 2:01.44.
200 IM - 7. Smith. Kenton. WEST. 2:11.70. 8. Larson. Dylan J. HHS. 2:12.37. 9. Belden. Martin. MSH. 2:14.54. 10. Jensen. Clayton. CMR. 2:17.61. 11. Peery. Bryce. WEST. 2:19.98. 12. Untenreiner. Andrew. FHS. 2:23.56.
50 Freestyle - 7. Raw. Cameron. SKY. 23.89. 8. Stelling. Mark. GFH. 23.92. 9. Griffith. Zach. CMR. 23.94. 10. Ross. Tommy. MBS. 24.06. 11. Fischer. Bryce. FHS. 24.50. 12. Huppert. Ryan. BCH. 24.51.
100 Butterfly - 7. Fischer. Bryce. FHS. 1:00.45. 8. Fox. Justin. BOZ. 1:01.03. 9. Broadbrooks. Dean. BOZ. 1:01.83. 10. Sanders. Casey. WEST. 1:01.94. 11. Garrett. Mike. MSH. 1:01.99. 12. Untenreiner. Andrew. FHS. 1:02.90.
100 Freestyle - 7. Raw. Cameron. SKY. 52.31. 8. Griffith. Zach. CMR. 53.14. 9. McCauley. Paul. MHG. 53.32. 10. Fox. Justin. BOZ. 53.68. 11. Huppert. Ryan. BCH. 54.71. Ross. Tommy. MBS. DQ.
500 Freestyle - 7. Podolinsky. Matt. CHS. 5:14.52. 8. Laughnen. Alex. MSH. 5:19.66. 9. Hahn. Matthew. GFH. 5:24.25. 10. Jensen. Clayton. CMR. 5:29.83. 11. Feiden. Thomas. BOZ. 5:38.50. -. Bischoff. Joel R. HHS. DQ.
200 Freestyle Relay - 7. Billings Skyview A 1:39.97. 8. C.M.Russell A 1:40.77. 9. Hellgate A 1:44.45. 10. Missoula Sentinel A 1:47.83. 11. Great Falls High A 1:48.25. 12. Hardin 1:48.74.
100 Backstroke - 7. Mourich. Brandon. WEST. 59.30. 8. Stelling. Mark. GFH. 1:00.67. 9. DeLuca. Vince. MHG. 1:00.72. 10. Tilton. Windom. CMR. 1:01.49. 11. Brown. Dan. FHS. 1:01.52. 12. Podolinsky. Matt. CHS. 1:02.11.
100 Breaststroke - 7. Streit. Taylor. FHS. 1:07.39. 8. Niccolucci. Sean. MHG. 1:08.49. 9. Kerry. Matthew. CMR. 1:08.65. 10. Belden. Martin. MSH. 1:09.38. 11. Peery. Bryce. WEST. 1:10.58. 12. Broden. Adam. BOZ. 1:12.73.
400 Freestyle Relay - 7. C.M.Russell A 3:35.58. 8. Flathead A 3:41.86. 9. Great Falls High A' 3:47.52. 10. Billings Central A 3:48.24. 11. Capital 3:54.76. 12. Billings Skyview A 4:04.27.
