Blue Pony swim teams head to Class A Invite

The layoff was a long one for the Havre High boys and girls swim teams. Now however, the Blue Ponies will finally get to dive back into competition.

Friday afternoon, HHS will compete in one of the most important meets of the regular season when the Ponies take part in the Class A Invite at Hardin. The meet is a prelude to what Havre will be up against next month at the State Swimming Championships, and it gives the Ponies an idea of what the rest of Class A looks like.

This year's Class A Invite will once again feature the three premier swim teams in Class A in the Ponies, the host Hardin Bulldogs and the powerful Billings Central Rams. Whitefish and Bigfork also participate in Class A swimming now, but neither team will make the long trek to Hardin this weekend.

As for the Ponies, Friday's races will be just the fourth event of the year. HHS hosted the Havre Invite to open the season, then raced in two separate meets in Great Falls. All three of those events came before Christmas break, so there's no doubt the Ponies will be eager to get in the pool.

And when they do get in the pool Friday, they'll be against some quality competition in the triangular meet. HHS raced against Hardin in Great Falls, but hasn't seen Billings Central's full team yet. And Friday's meet will give the Ponies a chance to see exactly where they stack up with the state meet now just a month away.

On the girls side, Havre is once again excelling in the freestyle races, led by junior Lita Cammon and Lieza Reighard, as well as Hannah Pepprock and Aubri McCann. But the Ponies are balanced throughout, as Jackie Martin stands out in the butterfly and junior Alara Vogel is strong in the breaststroke. Freshmen Amelia Miller and Jillian Reighard have sparked the Ponies in several key events that should help them keep pace with the Rams, who are the four-time defending Class A champions. Havre's young boys team is led by senior Ben Seigel, who is off to a great start this season. Sophomore Shandon Oberquell is also coming on strong in the breaststroke. And both the HHS boys and girls should do well in all of the relay races this weekend.

The 2015 Class A Invite is set to begin at 1 p.m. Friday in Hardin. Havre will then travel to Great Falls for the Great Falls Duals Jan. 17.