Making waves: HHS looks for more success

The years change, the athletes change from season to season, but one thing that just doesn't seem to change is how dominant the Havre High swimming program is.

And the 2010-11 season looks to be another big one for the Blue Pony boys and girls.

HHS won't open its season for another week, but the Pony swimmers have been hard at work. Coming into the season, the Havre High boys are the defending Class A champions, while the HHS girls will strive to get their thrown back after they didn't win the state championship for the first time in a decade a year ago.

"Winning state is always the goal," Havre High veteran head coach Chris Inman said. "We don't really look that far ahead at the start of the season, but that's ultimately always the goal, and that's what the kids strive for."

Although both Pony teams will be striving for state championship glory when the state swim meet convenes in Butte in February, right now in the pool, the Ponies are focused more on fundamentals and conditioning. Like always, they'll use practice and early-season meets to build towards the state meet.

"We have a lot of new faces and a lot of younger kids out this season," Inman said. "So far this year, we've been spending a lot more time on techniques, starts and turns. Then we'll get into conditioning. But we have a lot of younger kids and a lot of new kids so that's what we've been focusing on so far."

And while new swimmers have an impact on every HHS team, the Ponies do have plenty of veterans in the pool too.

On the boys side, HHS returns Evan Flathers, Greg Rhines, Jimmy Cox, Sawyer Zugel and Courtland Vukasin, all of whom helped HHS to its first boys state title in three years last season. Inman also anticipates newcomers like Chinook's Taylor Rippenberg, as well as Derek Van Dessel, Nick Rhines and Payton Robertson among the young swimmers who should help the Ponies out this season.

On the girls side, Havre has a host of quality swimmers, including two-time returning state placer Megan Obrecht. Obrecht has finished third and sixth in the breast stroke in each of her first two years in the pool, respectively and enters her junior year as one of the top swimmers in that discipline in all of Montana. Kacie Johnson, Kaitlyn McKnight, Katie Johnson and Brooke Jappe are also back to give the Ponies plenty of firepower in their quest to reclaim the girls state title.

Inman also sees newcomers like Alexandria Seigel, Morgan Jappe and McKenna Barkus adding to the HHS girls depth in the pool.

As for the competition this season, the Ponies only compete against Billings Central and Hardin in Class A, but all season long, and including in individual races at the state meet, the Ponies go up against all of Class AA. At almost every meet, Havre is the lone Class A school in the pool, unless the Rams and Bulldogs are there too.

And everything leads up to the state swim meet which will be held at the Butte YMCA for the first time Feb. 11-12.

"Butte has a state of the art pool, with eight lanes, it's a really nice facility," Inman said. "So it will be exciting to go there for state.

"As always we have goals and expectations," she added. "And this season is no different. We're working hard and getting ready for what should be another year in which our kids do very well."

Havre was to open its season on Saturday in Kalispell, but the Ponies would be shorthanded due to Senior Ball, as well as many swimmer not having the 10 required practices to start the season. Instead, HHS will open its season next Saturday with the Havre Invitational at the Havre Community Pool.