George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
For years now the Havre High boys and girls swim teams have competed against the best Class AA competition Montana has to offer. Needless to say, the Ponies have held their own.
On Saturday in Missoula, the story was no different as both HHS teams competed well at the Missoula Invitational held at the Missoula Aquatic Center. As the only Class A school in attendance at Saturday's meet, the HHS boys earned a third-place finish, scoring 287 points. Class AA powerhouse Bozeman won the boys team title with 390 points, easily outdistancing second-place CMR. The Rustlers scored 306 points.
The Havre High girls also looked strong in Missoula on Saturday, finishing in fourth place with 259 points. The Bozeman girls made it a clean sweep as they captured the team title with 429.5 points. Great Falls High was second and Kalispell was third. Combined team scores were also kept, and the Ponies finished fourth out of nine schools with 546 team points.
Individually, the HHS boys had a strong showing in the ultra-competitive sprints, as well as the freestyle events. Junior Scott Vigliotti placed sixth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:08.52 to pace the HHS sprinters. Vigliotti was also strong in the 50 free, where he finished in ninth place. Teammate Michael Hauser placed seventh in the same event, and also finished in eighth place in the 100 freestyle.
HHS senior Jordan Croft had the Ponies' highest individual finish of the day. Croft swam to a fifth-place finish in the 200 individual medley. Croft finished the race with a time of 2:35.04.
Sophomore DJ Stuker also scored well for the Ponies. Stuker earned a sixth-place finish in the grueling 500 freestyle and came back to finish seventh in the 100 breaststroke.
The Havre High girls didn't have many swimmers reach the medal stand on Saturday, but collectively the Ponies swam well. Jessie Obrecht had the best finish of any HHS girl, as she earned a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke. Obrecht's third-place finish came with a time of 1:19.14.
Havre's best scoring event on the girls' side of the meet came in the 200 individual medley, in which the Ponies got a fifth-place finish from Morgan Zimmer and a sixth-place finish from Mary-Beth Blankenship. Zimmer finished the race with a time of 2:44.31 and Blankenship came in at 2:45.13. Freshman Jamaica Kaercher finished eighth in that race.
Zimmer and Obrecht also came back to finish a solid 10th and 11th in the 100 butterfly race. Kenzie Johnson helped the Ponies' cause with a solid seventh- place finish in the girls 50 free.
Havre has one final tuneup before the Class A state meet. The Ponies will be back among Class AA competition on Saturday when they travel to Helena for the Helena Invitational.
Missoula Invitational
Boys Results
Team Scores: Bozeman 390, Great Falls Russell 306, Havre 287, Kalispell 252.5, Missoula Hellgate 245.5, Missoula Sentinel 208, Great Falls High 183.5, Missoula Big Sky 117, Butte 66.5.
200 medley relay - 1, Great Falls Russell, 1:50.65; 2, Kalispell, 1:51.22; 3, Sentinel, 1:53.53; 4, Bozeman, 1:54.98; 5, Great Falls High, 2:00.14; 6, Havre, 2:00.67.
200 freestyle - 1, Sean Nicolucci, Hgt, 1:53.28; 2, John Chizanowski, CMR, 2:01.59; 3, Dominic Scariano, Hgt, 2:03.94; 4, Thomas Everett, Hgt, 2:07.66; 5, Dean Broadbrooks, Boz, 2:08.21; 6, Scott Vigliotti, Hav, 2:08.52.
200 IM - 1, Major Robinson, Sent, 2:06.09; 2, Brad Floener, Boz, 2:14.11; 3, Clayton Jensen, CMR, 2:24.47; 4, Nick Shull, Sent, 2:24.49; 5, Jordan Croft, Hav, 2:35.04; 6, Kellin Clark, Kal, 2:35.10.
50 freestyle - 1, Keith Miller, BS, 22.72; 2, Brian Brady, Kal, 23.28; 3, Kyle Gray, Hgt, 23.28; 4, Chad Smith, Boz, 23.50; 5, Zach Griffith, CMR, 24.53; 6, Boyce Fischer, Kal, 24.77.
100 butterfly - 1, Jake Wilkinson, CMR, 55.95; 2, Gabe Callahan, Hgt, 56.76; 3, Matt McCallum, Boz, 59.42; 4, Mike Garrett, Sent, 62.32; 5, Boyce Fischer, Kal, 63.82; 6, Justin Fox, Boz, 65.30.
100 freestyle - 1, Keith Miller, BS, 50.78; 2, Kyle Gray, Hgt, 51.65; 3, Brian Brady, Kal, 52.73; 4, Chad Smith, Boz, 53.05; 5, Zach Griffith, CMR, 54.07; 6, Windom Tilton, CMR, 55.67.
500 freestyle - 1, Phillip Ehrlich, Sent, 5:06.96; 2, Sean McCleary, Boz, 5:16.13; 3, Vince DeLuca, Hgt, 5:29.97; 4, Clayton Jensen, CMR, 5:38.23; 5, Matthew Hahn, GFH, 5:45.91; 6, D.J. Stuker, Hav, 5:46.72.
200 freestyle relay - 1, Kalispell, 1:37.65; 2, Bozeman, 1:38.38; 3, Hellgate, 1:39.80; 4, Havre, 1:40.47; 5, Great Falls Russell, 1:45.32; 6, Big Sky, 1:48.11.
100 backstroke - 1, Major Robinson, Sent, 57.07; 2, Gabe Callahan, HGT, 58.25; 3, Mark Stelling, GFH, 62.81; 4, Windom Tilton, CMR, 63.06; 5, Vince DeLuca, Hgt, 63.54; 6, Dan Browne, Kal, 63.91.
100 breaststroke - 1, Sean Nicolucci, Hgt, 1:06.20; 2, Phillip Ehrlich, Sent, 1:06.46; 3, Brad Floener, Boz, 1:07.76; 4, Taylor Streit, Kal, 1:10.68; 5, Matthew Kerry, CMR, 1:10.80; 6, Mark Stelling, GFH, 1:12.14.
400 freestyle relay - 1, Bozeman, 3:32.72; 2, Great Falls Russell, 3:38.27; 3, Havre, 3:52. 55; 4, Kalispell, 3:53.00; 5, Hellgate, 3:54.64; 6, Sentinel, 3:55.59.
Girls Results
Team Scores: Bozeman 429.5, Grat Falls High 420.5, 3, Kalispell, 363, Havre 259, Missoula Big Sky 217, Butte 181, Missoula Hellgate 110, Missoula Sentinel 88, Great Falls Russell 71.
200 medley relay - 1, Bozeman, 1:58.85; 2, Kalispell, 1:59.89; 3, Great Falls HIgh, 2:04.14; 4, Butte, 2:09.59; 5, Havre, 2:10.34; 6, Sentinel, 2:15.65.
200 freestyle - 1, Danrica Brennan, GFH, 1:57.71; 2, Hannah Halstrom, Boz, 1:57.89; 3, Olivia Schwartz, GFH, 2:06.84; 4, Debbie Woods, Boz, 2:06.89; 5, Laurel Goins, Boz, 2:09.73; 6, Hannah Lumpry, BS, 2:20.18.
200 IM - 1, Hannah Chura, Boz, 2:12.37; 2, Kristin Lambers, Boz, 2:30.90; 3, Sammie Hammett, Kal, 2:33.97; 4, Caitlin Gray, GFH, 2:40.34; 5, Morgan Zimmer, Hav, 2:44.31; 6, Mary Blankenship, Hav, 2:45.13.
50 freestyle - 1, Jenny Nowatzke, BS, 25.18; 2, Jacey Stahlberg, Kal, 25.79; 3, Jenna Thiel, Kal, 26.02; 4, Jessa Thiel, Kal, 26.20; 5, Shelly Abbott, GFH, 27.17; 6, Olivia Schwartz, GFH, 27.23.
100 butterfly - 1, Hannah Halstrom, Boz, 1:01.36; 2, Christy O'Connor, GFH, 1:02.68; 3, Belinda Bell, Boz, 1:06.42; 4, Michael Eustance, BS, 1:06.60; 5, Marion Cory, GFH, 1:06.96; 6, Maggie Pesanti, Hgt, 1:08.81.
100 freestyle - 1,Jenny Nowatzke, BS, 55.14; 2, Jacey Stahlberg, Kal, 56.52; 3, Jessa Thiel, Kal, 58.26; 4, Megan Stavnitski, Boz, 59.28; 5, Debbie Wood, Boz, 59.42; 6, Marion Cory, GFH, 59.80.
500 freestyle - 1, Hanna Chura, Boz, 5:14.89; 2, Kaly Lucas, GFH, 5:49.07; 3, Alex Davidson, BS, 6:07.55; 4, Tara Cherry, Hgt, 6:09.63; 5, Maggie Pesanti, Hgt, 6:14.84; 6, Hannah Lumpry, BS, 6:15.29.
200 freestyle relay - 1, Kalispell A, 1:42.92; 2, Great Falls High A, 1:48.55; 3, Great Falls High B, 1:48.71; 4, Big Sky, 1:50.36; 5, Bozeman, 1:52.34; 6, Kalispell B, 1:53.20.
100 backstroke - 1, Danrica Brennan, GFH, 1:00.69; 2, Christy O'Connor, GFH, 1:03.16; 3, Anna Golding, Hgt, 1:03.40; 4, Emily Munday, Butte, 1:03.71; 5, Michael Eustance, BS, 1:04.45; 6, Megan Stavnitski, Boz, 1:09.02.
100 breaststroke - 1, Emily Munday, Butte, 1:14.53; 2, Jenna THiel, Kal, 1:15.20; 3, Jessica Obrecht, Hav, 1:19.14; 4, Kristin Lambers, Boz, 1:19.49; 5, Sara Feilzer, BS, 1:21.67; 6, Anna Golding, Hgt, 1:22.07.
400 freestyle relay - 1, Bozeman, 2:48.40; 2, Great Falls High A, 4:01.16; 3, Kalispell, 4:02.73; 4, Big Sky, 4:05.77; 5, Great Falls High B, 4:07.36; 6, Havre, 4:20.02.
