By Tiffany L. Rehbein
Both the boys' and girls' swim teams notched second-place finishes at the Havre Invitational Saturday held at the MSU-Northern pool.
"I thought we swam really well," first-year head coach Chris O'Donnell said. "I was really happy with how our kids swam."
The girls' team more than doubled their score from last season and finished two places higher at second with 81 points.
Individually for the girls, Maureen Porter placed second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 58.78, and third in the 50 free, clocking in at 26.53.
Elizabeth Stuker, the only Chinook swimmer, finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:36.49, and fourth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:09.00.
Cara Holmquist finished second in the 100 breast stroke in 1:18.93, and Erin Lynch placed third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:18.91.
"Some of the newer kids that I've never seen swim before, they swam really good times," O'Donnell said.
The boys, who finished second with 86 points, placed two racers in first-place positions.
Tyler Croft placed first in the 50 free, with a finals time of 24.22 and second in the 100 breaststroke with a finals time of 1:06.94.
Ryan Bennett finished first in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.00, and second in the 200 free in 2:04.69.
Nick Porter finished third in the 100 butterfly with a finals time of 1:04.50, and fourth in the 100 breaststroke with a finals time of 1:11.87.
The boys' 200 yard freestyle relay, under command of Bennett, Croft, Porter, and J.J. Albertson, finished first with a finals time of 1:40.97. The team placed second in the 400 yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:42.28. Bennett, Croft, Porter, and Nick Ewing swam in the relay.
The girls' 200 yard freestyle team, with Maria Gilleece, Holmquist, Kathy McShane, and Porter, finished second with a time of 1:59.18.
Kalispell won both the boys' and girls' titles with both teams scoring 121 points. CMR finished third for the girls with 80 points, and fourth for the boys with 29 points. Great Falls High finished fourth for the girls with 32 points, and third for the boys with 61 points.
"I think overall our kids swam really well," O'Donnell said. "I was really happy with how they swam."
