Ponies race fast in Great Falls, Missoula

The Havre High boys and girls swim teams headed to Missoula Saturday for yet another big meet.

And against all Class AA competition, the Blue Ponies put on a strong showing, especially the HHS boys.

At Saturday's Missoula Invitational, the Pony boys finished an outstanding fourth with 184 points. Great Falls High won the 12-team meet with 334 points, while Bozeman was second and Missoula Hellgate was third.

On the girls side, HHS finished eighth out of 12 teams with 75 points. Hellgate was first with 402 points, followed by CMR and Great Falls High.

Individually, the Pony boys stood up well to the AA competition Saturday.

Havre High senior Evan Flathers grabbed a pair of fourth-place finish in freestyle races. Flathers finished fourth with an outstanding time of 55.00 in the 100-meter freestyle, and he also swam fourth in the fast-paced 50 free with a time of 24.77. Flathers has now placed in at least one freestyle race in every meet this season.

Blue Pony sophomore Taylor Riphenburg was good as well. He finished fourth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:12.99, while Courtlan Vukasin placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:14.45.

As expected, the HHS relay teams were also strong. The Ponies finished fourth in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:49.24, fourth in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:53.38 and they came to the wall fifth in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:59.96.

On the girls side, HHS saw a blazing fast performance from senior Megan Obrecht in her specialty, the 100 breaststroke. Obrecht placed second with a time of 1:13.69.

The Blue Pony swimmers were also in action Friday when they were at the Bison Pool for a dual meet with GFH and CMR.

On the boys side, the Ponies won the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:00.82, as well as the 200 free relay with a time of 1:45.49. A second HHS team finished third in the same relay, while Havre teams finished second and fifth, respectively in the 400 free relay.

Individually for the HHS boys, Nick Rhines placed second in the 200 free with a time of 2:14.15 and Jimmy Cox was fourth. Havre swept the 200 IM with Flathers placing first at 2:43.30, while Desmond Fialkosky and Derek Van Dessel finished second and third, respectively. Riphenburg placed third in the 50 free at 25.45, while Ben Siegel finished 11th. Vukasin finished fifth and Riphenburg sixth in the 100 butterfly.

In the 100 free, HHS's Paul Jeffery and Josh Emge finished eighth and ninth, respectively, while HHS was great in the 500 free. In the long race, Flathers took second with a time of 6:08.20, Fialkosky was third with a time of 6:34.53 and Vukasin was fourth at 6:36.41. Van Dessel also placed seventh in that race. Cox also scored for the Ponies with a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, while Jeffery was fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

In the girls meet against the Bison and Rustlers, HHS teams finished third and sixth, respectively in the 200 medley, third and fifth in the 200 free relay and fourth and sixth in the 400 free relay.

In the individual races, Obrecht shined with a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke at 1:15.51, while Morgan Jappe placed a solid fourth.

Jordyn Eastlick placed seventh in the 200 free, Larissa Price was sixth in the 200 IM and Lieza Reighard placed seventh in the 50 free.

Katie Johnson had a strong fourth-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:14.87, while Reighard placed sixth in the 100 free. Obrecht also swam sixth in the grueling 500 free and Johnson was fifth in the 100 backstroke.

The Havre boys and girls swim teams wrap up the regular season at Saturday's Helena Invitational.

Missoula Invitational

BOYS

Team scores – Great Falls High 334, Bozeman 285, Missoula Hellgate 229, Havre 184, Kalispell Glacier 131, Great Falls Russell 120, Butte 101, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola Sacred Heart 76, Sentinel 58, Flathead 53.

200 medley relay – Bozeman, 1:47.27; Great Falls, 1:57.20; Hellgate, 1:58.79; Glacier, 1:59.30; Havre, 1:59.96; CMR, 2:04.45.

200 freestyle – Habib Mostefa, Boz, 1:57.67; Jacob Williams, Gla, 1:59.46; Joaquin Vargas, Boz, 1:59.55; Ben Mason, Fla, 2:04.73; Benjamin Klempay, Hgt, 2:05.27; Brandon Miller, CMR, 2:05.41.

200 individual medley – Jacob Magruder, GFH, 2:06.65; Donovan Dennis, GFH, 2:16.07; Ryan Mason, Sen, 2:17.86; Uriah Kreilick, Hgt, 2:18.85; Zach Ammons, Hgt, 2:31.32; Jesse Whiteman, CMR, 2:35.55.

50 free – Logan Streit, Gla, 23.50; John Szekely, Hgt, 23.93; Jesse Bower, GFH, 24.63; Evan Flathers, Hav, 24.77; Reed Bachman, Hgt, 24.87; Max Simpson, BS/L, 25.29.

100 butterfly – Jacob Magruder, GFH, 57.63; John Szekely, Hgt, 59.85; Ben Mason, Fla, 1:00.91; Gavin Sison, Butte, 1:01.27; Jourdon Gudatis, GFH, 1:01.49; Joaquin Vargas, Boz, 1:02.66.

100 freestyle – Orion Kubat, Boz, 51.36; Logan Streit, Gla, 51.61; Reed Bachman, Hgt, 54.07; Evan Flathers, Hav, 55.00; Clay Kellogg, GFH, 55.87; Matt McKay, BS/L, 56.85.

500 freestyle – Brandon Smith, Boz, 4:58.03; Jacob Williams, Gla, 5:21.80; Nicholas Giammona, Hgt, 5:33.07; Michael Scaccia, Fla, 5:43.19; Demian Dlakic, Boz, 5:49.39; Elijah Parker, CMR, 5:51.75.

200 freestyle relay – Bozeman A, 1:36.09; Hellgate, 1:39.34; Great Falls, 1:42.80; Havre, 1:49.24; Bozeman B, 1:49.77; Butte, 1:51.62.

100 backstroke – Ryan Mason, Sen, 1:01.15; Zach Ammons, Hgt, 1:08.02; Justice Beckner, GFH, 1:09.33; Taylor Riphenburg, Hav, 1:12.99; Jesse Whiteman, CMR, 1:13.83; Joe Michelotti, CMR, 1:16.67.

100 breaststroke – Neil Strauss, Boz, 1:05.92; Donovan Dennis, GFH, 1:07.65; Jesse Bower, GFH, 1:08.66; Michael Scaccia, Fla, 1:10.61; Benjamin Klempa, Hgt, 1:12.03; Courtlan Vukasin, Hav, 1:14.45.

400 freestyle relay – Bozeman, 3:29.28; Great Falls, 3:40.43; Glacier, 3:45.76; Havre, 3:53.38; Hellgate, 3:54.96; CMR, 4:05.85.

GIRLS

Team scores - Missoula Hellgate 402, Great Falls Russell 308, Great Falls High 256, Missoula Sentinel 183, Butte 170, Bozeman 130, Kalispell Glacier 117, Havre 75, Kalispell Flathead 59, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola Sacred Heart 6.

200 medley relay – Hellgate 1:56.18; Butte 2:00.11; Bozeman 2:02.06; Sentinel 2:02.21; Great Falls 2:04.55; CMR 2:05.16.

200 Freestyle – Lew Yong Gerbrandt, Butte, 1:56.94; Shelby Sechena, CMR, 1:59.03; Hanni Leach, Hgt, 2:02.24; Makenna Siebenaler, Gla, 2:05.03; Andrea Schmidt, Sen, 2:07.82; Alicia Fowler, CMR 2:12.08.

200 individual medley - Abigail Wheeler, Butte, 2:15.76; Kim Massey, CMR, 2:23.47; Maxie Scroggs, Gla, 2:27.16; Hayley Houck, GFH, 2:29.70; Katie Bjorsness, GFH, 2:31.94; Ana Grigsby, Hgt, 2:33.26.

50 freestyle – Nicole Thompson, CMR, 26.84; Morgan Shaw, CMR, 27.12; Baylee Everett, Hgt, 28.19; Rachel Stewart, GFH, 27.22; Maddi Reynolds, Hgt, 27.34; Emilie Thane, Sen, 27.55.

100 butterfly – Lew Yong Gerbrand, Butte, 58.07; Brenna Saffel, Hgt, 1:02.21; Emilie Thane, Sen, 1:02.75; Nicole Thompson, CMR, 1:07.02; Bri Conrad, GFH, 1:07.14; Maddi Reynolds, Hgt, 1:09.03.

100 freestyle – Kate Michell, Hgt, 58.02; Kim Massey, CMR, 58.18; Rachel Stewart, GFH, 58.92; Morgan Shaw, CMR, 59.66; Baylee Everett, Hgt, 59.96; Bri Conrad, GFH, 1:00.63.

500 freestyle – Shelby Sechena, CMR, 5:22.95; Andrea Schmidt, Sen, 5:43.00; Maxie Scroggs, Gla, 5:54.06; Ana Grigsby, Hgt, 5:55.17; Kessa Juda-Nelson, Hgt, 5:56.87; Alicia Fowler, CMR, 5:56.91.

200 yard freestyle relay – CMR, 1:48.03; Sentinel, 1:49.03; Bozeman, 1:49.95; Great Falls, 1:51.59; Hellgate A, 1:52.85; Hellgate B, 1:55.37.

100 backstroke – Hanni Leach, Hgt, 57.51; Abigail Wheeler, Butte, 1:01.71; Molly Hamilton, Boz, 1:03.47; Julia Upshaw, CMR, 1:06.80; Julie Ryan, GFH, 1:09.38; Katie Bjorsness, GFH, 1:09.47.

100 breaststroke – Caitlyn Brenden, Boz, 1:10.32; Megan Obrecht, Hav, 1:13.69; Hayley Houck, GFH, 1:14.45; Brenna Saffel, Hgt, 1:14.89; Megan Tree, Sen, 1:17.39; Katie Tabaracci, Sen, 1:19.43.

400 freestyle relay – Hellgate A, 3:43.04; Butte, 3:56.11; CMR, 3:56.50; Bozeman, 4:04.34; Glacier, 4:13.51; Hellgate B, 4:18.36.