Pony swimmers hang with the best

The Havre High swim teams have already seen plenty of stiff competition in the water this season. But this weekend, the Blue Ponies got a good look at what they will be up against next month at the state meet in Butte.

The HHS boys and girls swim teams were in the Swarthout Pool in Great Falls Saturday for the Great Falls Invitational. The nine-team meet featured some of the top Class AA swimmers, as well as Class A rivals Billings Central and Hardin. And since all swimmers race together at the state meet, Saturday's invitational gave the Pony swimmers a good idea of the times they'll need to be successful next month.

On the boys side, HHS finished seventh overall with 85 points. Helena High took first with 265 points.

Individually, the Blue Ponies got a great finish from Evan Flathers in the always-fast 50-yard freestyle. Flathers came in fourth with a time of 25.13. Havre also scored with its relay teams. The Ponies got a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay and a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

The HHS girls finished eighth in Great Falls on Saturday with 78 points. Class AA powerhouse CMR captured the meet with a whopping 299 points.

The Ponies got an outstanding day from Kacie Johnson, who placed in two events. Johnson finished fifth in the 100 free with a blazing time of 59.44, and she also took sixth in the challenging 200 IM. Megan Obrecht also placed in her specialty, the 100 breaststroke. Obrecht placed fourth with a time of 1:13.21.

Like the boys team, the Pony girls got two places in the relays to add to their team total. Havre finished fourth in the 200 medley relay and sixth in the 200 free relay.

The Ponies will be back in the pool this weekend at the Missoula Invitational.

Great Falls Invitational

BOYS

Team scores - Helena High 265, Bozeman 230, Great Falls High 189, Hardin 183, C.M. Russell High 123, Billings Central 113, Havre 85, Helena Capital 49, Butte High 44

200 medley relay - 1. CMR A 1:51.71. 2, Helena A 1:54.32. 3, Bozeman A 1:54.94. 4, GFH A 1:55.90. 5, Hardin A 2:01.58. 6, Havre A 2:07.59.

200 freestyle - 1. Shrader, Ethan, Butte, 1:50.41. 2, Smith, Brandon, Bozeman, 1:53.94. 3, Ronish, Joel, Helena, 1:54.07. 4, Vargas, Joaquin, Bozeman, 2:02.74. 5, Burns, Austin, Helena 2:02.91. 6, Robinson, Chance, Billings Central, 2:07.20.

200 IM - 1. Wehr, Matt, Billings Central, 2:14.95. 2, Gibson, Gage, Helena, 2:16.89. 3, Kotson, Peter, Helena, 2:18.50. 4, Osborn, Jon, CMR, 2:20.79. 5, Dennis, Donovan, GFH, 2:21.51. 6, Zins, Chandler, Billings Central, 2:21.82.

50 freestyle - 1. Higgins, Shafer, GFH, 24.14. 2, Kubat, Orion, Bozeman, 24.39. 3, Kingery, Hugh, Helena, 24.76. 4, Flathers, Evan, Havre, 25.13. 5, Burshia, Rusty, Hardin, 25.70. 6, Bower, Jesse, GFH, 25.78.

100 butterfly - 1. Kingery, Hugh, Helena High, 59.42. 2, Wehr, Matt, Billings Central, 59.87. 3, Osborn, Jon, CMR, 1:01.66. 4, Miller, Brandon, CMR, 1:02.64. 5, Fischer, Sam, Capital, 1:07.02. 6, Sharpe, Chris, Hardin, 1:08.76.

100 freestyle - 1. Higgins, Shafer, GFH, 52.15. 2, Strauss, Neil, Bozeman, 53.06. 3, Ronish, Joel, Helena High, 53.21. 4, Thompson, Austin, CMRl, 54.03. 5, Kubat, Orion, Bozeman, 54.07. 6, Burns, Austin, Helena, 55.91.

500 freestyle - 1. Smith, Brandon, Bozeman, 5:04.99. 2, Bauer, Nolan, Helena High, 5:05.10. 3, Kotson, Peter, Helena, 5:13.64. 4, Vargas, Joaquin, Bozeman, 5:27.13. 5, Gibson, Gage, Helena, 5:33.37. 6, Mostefa, Habib, Bozeman, 5:36.41.

200 freestyle relay - 1. Bozeman A 1:39.35. 2, Helena A 1:40.36. 3, Hardin A 1:42.50. 4, Havre A 1:46.38. 5, Hardin B 1:47.64. 6, Billings Central A 1:50.22.

100 backstroke - 1. Shrader, Ethan, Butte, 54.85. 2, Bauer, Nolan, Helena High, 1:03.40. 3, Robinson, Chance, Billings Central, 1:06.02. 4, Murphy, Stephen, Helena 1:11.05. 5, Schreiner, Tucker, Hardin, 1:11.89. 6, Thomas, Mason, GFH, 1:12.77.

100 breaststroke - 1. Strauss, Neil, Bozeman, 1:06.16. 2, Thompson, Austin, CMR, 1:10.72. 3, Broden, Tanner, Bozeman, 1:12.37. 4, Mostefa, Habib, Bozeman, 1:13.61. 5, Bower, Jesse, GFH, 1:14.09. 6, Johnson, Carl, Hardin, 1:14.14.

400 freestyle relay - 1. Bozeman A 3:37.73. 2, Helena A 3:38.55. 3, GFH A 3:46.69. 4, Hardin A 3:51.26. 5, CMR A 3:54.28. 6, Billings Central A 4:07.13.

GIRLS

Team scores - C.M. Russel High 299, Helena High 194, Great Falls High 172, Billings Central 152, Butte High 134, Bozeman 127, Helena Capital 104, Havre 78, Hardin 41

200 medley relay - 1, CMR A 1:57.78. 2, Billings Central A 1:59.12. 3, Butte A 1:59.13. 4, Havre 'A' 2:06.59; 5, Capital A 2:10.81. 6, Helena A 2:11.87.

200 freestyle - 1. Sechena, Shelby, CMR, 2:00.12. 2, Upshaw, Julia, CMR, 2:06.65. 3, Keith, Katie, Bozeman, 2:07.12. 4, Sato, Erika, Bozeman, 2:11.11; 5, Cherewatenko, Lane, GFH, 2:14.62. 6, Peterson, Lana, Billings Central, 2:15.15.

200 IM - 1. Brenden, Caitlyn, Bozeman, 2:17.68. 2, Sechena, Dakota, CMR, 2:18.88. 3, Massey, Kim, CMRl, 2:22.02. 4, Demarinis, Gabbi, Capital, 2:28.57. 5, Malin, Sophie, Billings Central, 2:29.10. 6, Johnson, Kacie, Havre, 2:30.51.

50 freestyle - 1. Marsh, Jenna, Billings Central, 24.54. 2, Sechena, Madisen, CMR, 25.24. 3, Thompson, Nicole, CMR, 27.00. 4, Foster, Emma, Helena, 27.28. 5, Riley, Jamie, Hardin, 27.51. 5, Stewart, Rachel, GFH, 27.51.

100 butterfly - 1. Gerbrandt, Lew Yong, Butte, 56.38. 2, Marsh, Jenna, Billings Central, 58.50. 3, Bauer, Emilyn, Helena, 1:07.68. 4, Conrad, Bri, GFH, High, 1:08.62. 5, Engebrecht, Kayly, Capital, 1:13.32. 6, Moltzan, Jessica, GFH, 1:17.59.

100 freestyle - 1. Kleppelid, Kaitlyn, Helena, 57.09. 2, Thompson, Nicole, CMR, 58.06. 3, Massey, Kim, CMRl, 58.80. 4, Keith, Katie, Bozeman, 58.86. 5, Johnson, Kacie, Havre, 58.94. 6, Stewart, Rachel, GFH, 59.91.

500 freestyle - 1. Gerbrandt, Lew Yong, Butte, 5:08.78. 2, Sechena, Shelby, CMRl, 5:09.04. 3, Foster, Emma, Helena, 5:33.11. 4, Upshaw, Julia, CMR, 5:41.30. 5, Malin, Sophie, Billings Central, 5:45.54. 6, Bentley, Adria, Butte, 5:48.33.

200 freestyle relay - 1. CMRA 1:46.31. 2, Billings Central A 1:49.64. 3, Helena A 1:50.48. 4, Bozeman A 1:52.32. 5, Capital A 1:55.52. 6, Havre A 1:56.02.

100 backstroke - 1. Sechena, Dakota, CMR, 1:04.67. 2, Bentley, Adria, Butte, 1:06.36. 3, Engebrecht, Kayly, Capital, 1:06.55. 4, Bjorsness, Katie, GFH, 1:07.51. 5, Bauer, Emilyn, Helena, 1:11.69. 6, Ryan, Julie, GFH, 1:11.71.

100 breaststroke - 1. Kleppelid, Kaitlyn, Helena, 1:09.47. 2, Sechena, Madisen, CMR, 1:09.89. 3, Brenden, Caitlyn, Bozeman, 1:10.00. 4, Obrecht, Megan, Havre, 1:13.21. 5, Bjorsness, Katie, GFH, 1:16.83. 6, Houck, Hayley, GFH, 1:17.45.

400 freestyle relay - 1. CMR A 3:54.61. 2, Butte A 3:54.64. 3, Helena A 3:58.57. 4, Bozeman A 4:04.82. 5, GFH A 4:06.72. 6, Hardin A 4:25.49.