Ponies swim for the finish line

The last two months have been a great learning experience for the Havre High boys and girls swim teams. It was the first regular season that legendary coach Chris Inman wasn’t at the helm of the Blue Pony program, and HHS had a lot of new faces in the pool to boot.

Now, the training, learning and growing is over, and first-year head coach Jill Cammon will take her Blue Pony teams to the Montana State Swimming Championships in Butte. The meet, which features all of Class AA, as well as Havre, Billings Central, Hardin and Bigfork, will begin this afternoon with the prelims. The finals and consolation finals are scheduled for Saturday, and all the action takes place at the Butte YMCA.

For Cammon, her first state meet as head coach of the illustrious HHS swimming program will be an exciting one. Havre won’t be heavily favored in the Class A team competition, as once again, Billings Central will be the team to beat on the girls’ and boys’ sides. However, she’s extremely excited and is looking forward to seeing her teams compete at a high level this weekend.

“Central is still the favorite, but we're gaining on them,” Cammon said. “Our teams are excited for state, and the parents have been extremely supportive this year. We’re really excited.”

Havre’s swimmers are excited, and they should be after completing a very successful regular season. The Blue Ponies will enter 12 girls and six boys in this weekend’s state meet. The HHS girls should be very strong and very well could give the Rams a strong push for the team title.

The Havre girls have been stellar in individual freestyle races and in the relays this season, and that’s where the Ponies will hope to score their points this weekend. As always, for Class A schools, points are hard to come by at the state meet, as all AA and A swimmers compete in the same races, and most races are dominated by AA swimmers.

Still, Havre has hopefuls in plenty of events. Sophomore Lita Cammon is a threat to score in the 50 free, while Lieza Reighard will swim the 100 and 200 free and Jackie Martin will compete in the 200 free and 100 butterfly. Junior Hannah Pepprock will swim the 100 breaststroke and 500 free, while sophomore Aubri McCann will join her in the 100 breaststroke. Senior Morgan Jappe, a state meet veteran, will swim the 200 individual medley and the 100 free, while fellow senior Mckenna Barkus will compete in the 200 free and the 50 free, and senior Megan Malone will race in the 50 free and 100 fly. Sophomore Megan Smith will compete in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke, fellow sophomore Alara Vogel will swim the 50 free and 100 breaststroke, sophomore Hailee Kilgore will swim the 100 backstroke and junior Carly Rennick will compete in the 100 free and 100 backstroke.

The HHS girls have plenty of talent in the individual races, but where HHS can make up some serious ground is in the relays. Havre has been very dangerous in the relays all season, and the three teams entered this weekend in Butte could score crucial points. In the 200 medley. Smith, Cammon, Pepprock and McCann will go for the Ponies, while the team of Cammon, McCann, Reighard and Smith will swim the 200 free and Cammon, McCann, Reighard and Malone will race the 400 free for the Ponies.

“I hope to see all three girls’ relays in finals,” coach Cammon said. “It looks close right now on the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay, but I think they'll pull it together for state. Aubri McCann and Hannah Pepprock are currently ranked 17th and 19th in the state in the 100 breast, and they certainly have a strong chance of moving up. Lita Cammon is ranked 11th in the 50 free, and we hope to see her in finals. Seniors McKenna Barkus and Morgan Jappe are swimming fairly new events, and have been training to perform well at state. Megan Malone is also a senior and looks great for her 100 fly. Lieza Reighard, Jackie Martin and Megan Smith are all looking strong for this weekend as well.”

Havre is looking strong but catching the Rams will be tough. At the 2013 state meet, the Rams scored 121 points to finish first in Class A and a remarkable fourth among all teams in the meet. Havre scored seven points last year, while the Rams have won the last four Class A state championships.

The Billings Central boys have been on an even more remarkable run. In 2013, not only did Central win the Class A state championship, but the Rams scored 189 points, which was more than any Class AA team in the meet. It was the first time an A school has out-scored the AA field in the history of the meet.

And Billings Central is back to try and do it again this season. Havre finished second, scoring 26 points a year ago, but graduation hit the Ponies hard, and coach Cammon’s young team will be learning on the go this weekend in Butte.

“The boys team has really improved,” coach Cammon noted. “Most are first-year swimmers and they’ve shown a lot of promise if they stick together for the next four years.”

HHS has a small contingent at this weekend’s state meet, with junior Ben Seigel leading the way. He’ll swim the 100 free and 50 free in Butte, while senior Tomaso Parrone will compete in the 100 backstroke. The Ponies will also send four freshmen into the pool. Jimmy May will swim the 50 free, Shandon Oberquell will compete in the 50 free and 100 breaststroke, Clayton Twombly will race the 50 free and 100 breast as well and Zach Barnes will compete in the 100 breast.

Havre’s relay teams will be composed of Parrone, Barnes, Oberquell and May in the 200 medley, Barnes, Seigel, May and Parrone in the 200 free, and the same four will swim the 400 free.

“Ben Seigel should go under a minute in his 100 free, we’re looking forward to that,” Coach Cammon said.  “Tomaso Parrone, a first-year senior and exchange student from Italy, he's been a great addition. The rest are freshman that will use this experience to fuel the future.”

Central will have little trouble in claiming its fourth straight Class A boys title this weekend, while Havre will try and battle it out with Hardin for second place. The Pony boys last won a state title in 2010 when they shared it with the Rams. The HHS girls streak of 10 straight state titles ended in 2010.

Still, state titles and individual medals aren’t the only thing Havre is swimming for this weekend in Butte. The Ponies swim for the competition and love of the sport, and they’ll give everything they have in every race at the state meet. It’s all about competing, and both the boys and girls teams have competed hard all season long. Now, that season is down to just two days in the pool.

“Both teams have really improved,” Cammon said. “Our girls team has really come together, and I think they'll perform well at state with many personal records. Both teams are really excited for this meet.”

The 2014 Montana State Swimming Championships begin today with prelims at the Butte YMCA. Saturday’s finals are slated to 11 a.m.