Blue Pony swimmers tune up in Helena

After missing a week of competition due to unexpectedly bad travel conditions, this weekend's Helena Invitational becomes even more important to the Havre High boys and girls swim teams.

The Blue Ponies will be in Helena on Saturday for the final regular season meet of the year. After the Helena meet, HHS will have exactly two weeks to prepare for the all-class state swim meet. But Saturday will be the final time Havre swimmers race against live competition. And the Ponies will certainly get good competition in Helena. Both Helena High teams are outstanding this season, the Great Falls schools will also be in attendance, and HHS should see the Missoula schools in the pool as well.

And Havre needs the races because the Ponies did not compete in last Saturday's Missoula Invitational. Havre didn't make the trip to Missoula because of several days of rain which turned Montana highways into skating rinks, and made driving conditions beyond hazardous. It's the second scheduled meet the Ponies did not attend this season. HHS also didn't make the trip to the season-opening Kalispell Invitational due to the Senior Ball and factors which led to a low number of kids being able to compete in that meet.

Still, the Ponies are an experienced group led by an veteran head coach, and no matter how many races they have or haven't competed in, they'll be ready for the state meet. But the Helena meet should provide them with one last excellent tune-up for next month's championships in Butte.