Ponies swim their best at the end

For some, the Montana State Swimming Championships are a last chance to shine. For others, it’s a chance to shine on the biggest stage in high school swimming. And the Havre High swim teams took advantage of both opportunities this past weekend.

At the 2015 MHSA State Swim Meet, held at the University of Montana’s Grizzly Pool in Missoula Friday and Saturday, the Blue Ponies had some outstanding performances. Included in that was the HHS girls scoring 34 points to finish second behind state champion Billings Central in the Class A title race. The HHS boys didn’t score in the meet, which is combined with the Class AA’s, but has separate trophies awarded for the Class A schools in attendance.

Billings Central swept the boys and girls Class A titles, while Missoula Hellgate took both Class AA titles and finished first in the overall team standings for both boys and girls.

And though the Blue Ponies didn’t win any state titles in the Grizzly Pool this weekend, they did have a number of exciting finishes, including a sixth-place showing in the finals of 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Lieza Reighard, Jackie Martin, Amelia Miller and Aubri McCann swam a 4:12.85 in the finals to give Havre its only top-six finish of the meet, and it was one of the few top-six finishes by a Class A school all weekend long.

The 100-yard breaststroke was also an outstanding event for the Blue Pony girls as both McCann and senior Hannah Pepprock swam personal bests in Friday’s prelims to advance to the finals. In the final, McCann finished in 1:14.59, which won her heat and put her in seventh place for the state meet. Pepprock swam a 1:17.15, which was another great team, and gave her a 12th-place finish in her final state meet of her strong career.

“I’m so proud of both of them,” HHS head coach Jill Cammon said of her duo in the 100 breaststroke. “They have worked so hard, they come and work hard every single day. At the beginning of the season, both of them were worried about being fast enough. But they have taken off time in their races throughout the season, and when they got to state, they continued to take time off their swims. So it’s really exciting for them to see that all that hard work pays off.

“Our relays were great, too,” she continued. “To get in the final like that, it’s a really special accomplishment. I thought Jackie Martin did a great job of stepping up in that relay, and all of our girls who swam the relays did an amazing job. Carleigh Rennick and Alara Vogel both took off time in the prelims and were our alternates for our relays, and they both did a fantastic job this weekend.”

Overall, Cammon was excited about how all the Ponies swam. Havre was without junior Lita Cammon, who was out for the state meet with an injury, and would have certainly given the Ponies even more firepower. Still, HHS swam some outstanding times, including the 200 freestyle relay team, which also made Saturday’s finals, and finished with a time of 1:53.40 to finish ninth overall.

And overall, Coach Cammon was more than pleased with how the girls team, which was composed of McCann, Pepprock, Lieza Reighard, Martin, Miller, Rennick, Vogel, Jillian Rieghard, Jayden Korb and Hailee Kilgore did in the state meet.

“I am very proud of all of them,” coach Cammon said. “Jayden Korb, who is a senior, took time off in her swim, so did Jillian Reighard. Amelia (Miller) wasn’t able to swim the 500 free because she was sick, still did an outstanding job for us this weekend. I just thought all the girls did a great job in this meet, and when they all go down there and swim personal best times, there’s nothing more you can ask for, and there’s nothing more rewarding than to swim PRs against the best competition.”

And of course, the competition at the state meet is always fierce, because Havre swims against all of the AA schools in each individual race. And for an HHS boys team, that meant things were really tough. Havre didn’t advance any swimmers or relay teams to Saturday’s finals, but Cammon noted that many of her swimmers still had some of the best times of the season.

“Ben Siegel swam really good times,” Cammon said. “And Jimmy May is someone who went there and did a great job. He took two seconds off his best time ever, so that was exciting to see. And it was exciting to see Jamie Lieberg do so well. Jamie is a senior who was only out for swimming for one year, and that’s what it’s all about, to see him, who is so coachable and so much fun to work with, get better and better and do so well at a meet like this. It was really exciting. Clayton Twombly is another one who really stepped up this weekend. He filled a spot on one of our relay teams and did an amazing job with that.”

Sophomore Shandon Oberquell also turned in one of his best times in the 100 breastsroke prelims, while Mason Sandstrom and Zach Barnes rounded out the HHS boys lineup in Missoula.

“This was a great experience for our boys team,” Cammon said. “They have been getting stronger and stronger all season long, and for so many of them to go down there and swim personal best’s, it’s a great way for them to go into next season.”

And at the end of the day, the state meet was a success for all of the Blue Ponies who jumped into the pool. For the seniors, like Pepprock, Siegel, Lieberg, Korb and others, it was a great way to end their prep swimming careers, and for all of the Ponies coming back next season, the state meet was a great motivator going forward.

“I’m proud of all of our kids,” Cammon said. “To have two girls in the finals, that’s really exciting, and to place in the relays, that was very special. But all of our kids did a great job. We had the whole team cheering for our girls in the finals. It was really amazing and this meet was a lot of fun.”

State Swimming Championships

At University of Montana Pool

in Missoula

GIRLS

1, Missoula Hellgate 314; 2, Bozeman 192.5; 3, Billings Skyview 141; 4, Great Falls CMR 127.5; 5, Billings Central 101; 6, Kalispell Glacier 86; 7, Helena 74; 8, Helena Capital 68; 9, Missoula Sentinel 64; 10, Billings Senior 39.

BOYS

1, Missoula Hellgate 271; 2, Bozeman 189; 3, Great Falls CMR 106; 4, Billings Central 101; 5, Helena 96; 6, Billings Senior 86; 7, Butte 79; 8, Missoula Sentinel 72; 9, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola 67; 10, Columbia Falls 66.

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 1:45.90. 2, Billings Skyview High School 'A' 1:52.23. 3, Bozeman High School 'A' 1:55.14. 4, C M Russell High School 'A' 1:56.61. 5, Billings Central High School 'A' 1:56.97. 6, Missoula Sentinel High School 'A' 1:59.38. (B - Final) 7, Helena Capital High School 'A' 2:01.49. 8, Helena High School 'A' 2:04.94. 9, Billings Senior High School 'A' 2:05.20. 10, Great Falls High School 'A' 2:05.98. 11, Butte High School 'A' 2:08.56. 12, Glacier High School 'A' 2:09.68.

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 1:38.84. 2, Billings Central High School 'A' 1:48.82. 3, Bozeman High School 'A' 1:49.84. 4, Missoula Big Sky Loyola HS 'A' 1:50.77. 5, Billings Skyview High School 'A' 1:51.36. 6, Billings Senior High School 'A' 1:52.52. (B - Final) 7, Missoula Sentinel High School 'A' 1:52.22. 8, Butte High School 'A' 1:56.73. 9, Helena High School 'A' 1:57.24. 10, Glacier High School 'A' 1:58.09. 11, Helena Capital High School 'A' 1:59.11. 12, Great Falls High School 'A' 2:03.33.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Hanni Leach, MHG, 1:51.39. 2, Avree Klungland, CHS, 2:01.38. 3, Kate Murphy, HHS, 2:03.34. 4, Madison Klundt, BOZ, 2:07.60. 5, Lania Hall, BOZ, 2:07.71. 6, Grace Walkuski, BOZ, 2:10.21. (B - Final) 7, Mari Rizzuto, MHG, 2:05.45. 8, Kelsey Ammons, MHG, 2:05.47. 9, Emma Martin, HHS, 2:06.50. 10, Melissa Patterson, CHS, 2:07.67. 11, Darby Seth, BOZ, 2:07.98. 12, Calin Fiddler, BCH, 2:08.84.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Cale Berkoff, MHG, 1:45.24. 2, Colton Babcock, CFH, 1:48.40. 3, Jacob Butler, MHG, 1:48.65. 4, Keegan Whelan, BHS, 1:50.80. 5, Nick Angeli, HHS, 1:53.37. 6, Wade Spoerl, BOZ, 1:53.53. (B - Final) 7, Jake Bentley, BHS, 1:52.42. 8, Nate Burnham, GHS, 1:52.79. 9, Alex Ackerlund, HHS, 1:57.29. 10, Jessee Whiteman, CMR, 1:57.88. 11, Tate May, BOZ, 2:00.33. 12, Jared Biddle, GFH, 2:02.23.

Girls 200 Yard IM

(A - Final) 1, Mari Aoki, MHG, 2:07.40. 2, Alyssa Boese, BSV, 2:15.57. 3, Samantha Duval, BCH, 2:15.70. 4, Ellee Becker, MHG, 2:17.07. 5, Amilla Dlakic, BOZ, 2:17.55. 6, Kate Heryla, CMR, 2:22.92. (B - Final) 7, Addy Shull, CHS, 2:24.49. 8, Shayna Albright, MHG, 2:25.95. 9, Molly Demarco, CMR, 2:27.77. 10, Ellen Sears, MHG, 2:28.86. 11, Carlee Johnson, BHS, 2:30.21. 12, Hope Wellhaven, BCH, 2:33.77.

Boys 200 Yard IM

(A - Final) 1, Adam Zimmer, MBS, 1:52.98. 2, Connor Funke, BSR, 2:03.41. 3, Patrick Brennan, CMR, 2:04.57. 4, Matthew Fritz, MHG, 2:05.56. 5, Magnus Johnson, BSV, 2:11.47. 6, Nate Jourdonnais, MBS, 2:16.67. (B - Final) 7, Phoenix Black, BOZ, 2:13.51. 8, Uriah Kreilick, MHG, 2:14.37. 9, Jacob Fleury, CHS, 2:18.05. 10, Colter Broden, BOZ, 2:23.44. 11, Danny McKay, MHG, 2:25.08. 12, Kyler Gappa, BSR, 2:26.08.

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Andrea Schmidt, MSN, 23.63. 2, Avery Vernon, MHG, 24.95. 3, Linnaya Luoma, BSV, 25.15. 4, Hannah Stevens, BSR, 25.75. 5, Jessica Loyda, GHS, 25.87. 6, Ellen Sears, MHG, 26.10. (B - Final) 7, Baylee Everett, MHG, 26.38. 8, Erin Carroll, BSV, 26.60. 9, Morgan Shaw, CMR, 26.65. 10, Olivia Bauman, CMR, 26.82. 11, Shailee Luoma, BSV, 26.92. 12, Amber Nabity, BOZ, 27.36.

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Pierce Oja, BCH, 21.29. 2, James Bouda, GHS, 22.86. 3, Ryan Mason, MSN, 23.00. 4, Darragh Mahns, MHG, 23.12. 5, Nick Giammona, MHG, 23.66. 6, Sami Mostefa, BOZ, 24.07. (B - Final) 7, Andrew Spragg, CMR, 24.14. 8, Thomas Fallon, MSN, 24.71. 9, Kennan Hooker, HAR, 24.72. 10, Nick Pearson, GFH, 24.80. 11, Chris Harper, MSN, 25.78. 12, Hung Huynh, BWH, 25.95.

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly

(A - Final) 1, Andrea Schmidt, MSN, 57.14. 2, Hailey Hamlin, BOZ, 59.59. 3, Jadyn Stroh, MHG, 59.90. 4, Samantha Duval, BCH, 59.92. 5, Olivia Bauman, CMR, 1:03.71. 6, Julian Fee, MHG, 1:04.66. (B - Final) 7, Olivia Gibson, GHS, 1:04.19. 8, Madi Smith, CMR, 1:04.69. 8, Amber Nabity, BOZ, 1:04.69. 10, Alexys Lyle, BSR, 1:05.49. 11, Shayna Albright, MHG, 1:05.88. 12, Megan Beggar, BSV, 1:06.44.

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly

(A - Final) 1, Brendan Campbell, MHG, 51.95. 2, Colter Christan, MHG, 55.31. 3, Patrick Brennan, CMR, 55.97. 4, Zayne Friar, CFH, 56.71. 5, Connor Maas, BSR, 58.07. 6, Thomas Fallon, MSN, 58.27. (B - Final) 7, Colton Bauer, HHS, 59.95. 8, Granger Eichorn, MHG, 1:00.21. 9, Eli Ducennois, BOZ, 1:03.39. 10, Hung Huynh, BWH, 1:05.23. 11, Nels Mork, BCH, 1:06.52. 12, Levin Mullaney, BHS, 1:06.88.

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Hailey Hamlin, BOZ, 53.76. 2, Sophia Layton, MHG, 53.83. 3, Avree Klungland, CHS, 55.37. 4, Kilee Rohlf, CMR, 55.95. 5, Jessica Loyda, GHS, 56.97. 6, Madison Klundt, BOZ, 58.08. (B - Final) 7, Hannah Stevens, BSR, 56.86. 8, Hayley MA, BCH, 57.50. 9, Morgan Shaw, CMR, 58.05. 10, Kelsey Ammons, MHG, 58.11. 11, Baylee Everett, MHG, 58.39. 12, Emma Hornby, GHS, 1:00.00.

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Pierce Oja, BCH, 46.87. 2, Brendan Campbell, MHG, 49.84. 3, Matthew Hoffman, BOZ, 52.40. 4, John Healey, BCH, 53.00. 5, Nick Pearson, GFH, 54.14. 6, Karl Spoerl, BOZ, 54.49. (B - Final) 7, Jessee Whiteman, CMR, 53.46. 8, Alex Ackerlund, HHS, 53.53. 9, Andrew Spragg, CMR, 54.13. 10, Tate May, BOZ, 54.92. 11, Quinn Powell, BOZ, 55.91. 12, Jacob Hohman, CFH, 55.98.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Jesse Ecklund, HHS, 5:24.25. 2, Julian Fee, MHG, 5:29.70. 3, Ellee Becker, MHG, 5:30.09. 4, Kate Murphy, HHS, 5:34.27. 5, Olivia Gibson, GHS, 5:36.67. 6, Grace Walkuski, BOZ, 5:45.50. (B - Final) 7, Mari Rizzuto, MHG, 5:35.56. 8, Lania Hall, BOZ, 5:35.68. 9, Emma Martin, HHS, 5:36.30. 10, Calin Fiddler, BCH, 5:49.36. 11, Ashley Schuett, BCH, 5:55.73.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle

(A - Final) 1, Connor Funke, BSR, 4:54.98. 2, Jacob Butler, MHG, 4:55.21. 3, Colton Babcock, CFH, 4:57.14. 4, Jake Bentley, BHS, 5:03.34. 5, Colter Christan, MHG, 5:07.12. 6, Colton Bauer, HHS, 5:10.44. (B - Final) 7, Nate Burnham, GHS, 5:02.91. 8, Wade Spoerl, BOZ, 5:03.03. 9, Nick Angeli, HHS, 5:08.81. 10, Elijah Parker, CMR, 5:09.02. 11, Demian Dlakic, BOZ, 5:25.14. 12, Cameron Dole, HHS, 5:31.61.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 1:40.64. 2, Bozeman High School 'A' 1:44.67. 3, Glacier High School 'A' 1:45.13. 4, Billings Central High School 'A' 1:45.52. 5, C M Russell High School 'A' 1:46.45. 6, Billings Skyview High School 'A' 1:47.79. (B - Final) 7, Missoula Sentinel High School 'A' 1:48.69. 8, Helena Capital High School 'A' 1:49.43. 9, Havre Chinook High School 'A' 1:53.40. 10, Helena High School 'A' 1:54.67. 11, Great Falls High School 'A' 1:54.98. 12, Hardin High School 'A' 1:57.50.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 1:32.76. 2, Bozeman High School 'A' 1:34.84. 3, C M Russell High School 'A' 1:35.70. 4, Billings Central High School 'A' 1:35.83. 5, Helena High School 'A' 1:36.86. 6, Missoula Sentinel High School 'A' 1:40.38. (B - Final) 7, Columbia Falls High School 'A' 1:40.34. 8, Great Falls High School 'A' 1:42.10. 9, Billings Skyview High School 'A' 1:42.13. 10, Butte High School 'A' 1:43.77. 11, Hardin High School 'A' 1:44.08. 12, Helena Capital High School 'A' 1:46.80.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke

(A - Final) 1, Hanni Leach, MHG, 53.36. 2, Sophia Layton, MHG, 59.49. 3, Alyssa Boese, BSV, 1:00.82. 4, Jesse Ecklund, HHS, 1:02.38. 5, Alexys Lyle, BSR, 1:03.63. 6, Erin Carroll, BSV, 1:03.92. (B - Final) 7, Darby Seth, BOZ, 1:03.53. 8, Ashley Schuett, BCH, 1:04.68. 9, Hayley MA, BCH, 1:04.77. 10, Karyssa Nelson, CFH, 1:05.02. 11, Molly Demarco, CMR, 1:05.36. 12, Megan Beggar, BSV, 1:05.88.

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke

(A - Final) 1, Cale Berkoff, MHG, 51.20. 2, James Bouda, GHS, 55.70. 3, Ryan Mason, MSN, 56.40. 4, Magnus Johnson, BSV, 56.65. 5, Connor Maas, BSR, 57.62. 6, Matthew Hoffman, BOZ, 57.76. (B - Final) 7, Nick Giammona, MHG, 59.18. 8, Karl Spoerl, BOZ, 1:01.36. 9, Granger Eichorn, MHG, 1:01.69. 10, Eli Ducennois, BOZ, 1:02.39. 11, Cameron Dole, HHS, 1:03.51. 12, Zayne Friar, CFH, 1:03.91.

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke

(A - Final) 1, Linnaya Luoma, BSV, 1:07.40. 2, Mari Aoki, MHG, 1:07.64. 3, Amilla Dlakic, BOZ, 1:07.78. 4, Avery Vernon, MHG, 1:08.63. 5, Kilee Rohlf, CMR, 1:10.97. 6, Addy Shull, CHS, 1:14.49. (B - Final) 7, Aubri McCann, HAV, 1:14.59. 8, Hope Wellhaven, BCH, 1:14.72. 9, Kate Heryla, CMR, 1:16.03. 10, Carlee Johnson, BHS, 1:16.12. 11, Kayla Rowton, GFH, 1:16.95. 12, Hannah Pepprock, HAV, 1:17.15.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke

(A - Final) 1, Adam Zimmer, MBS, 56.42. 2, Keegan Whelan, BHS, 1:01.61. 3, Elijah Parker, CMR, 1:01.87. 4, Matthew Fritz, MHG, 1:06.93. 5, Phoenix Black, BOZ, 1:07.02. 6, Sami Mostefa, BOZ, 1:08.04. (B - Final) 7, Demian Dlakic, BOZ, 1:08.38. 8, Colter Broden, BOZ, 1:08.49. 9, Nate Jourdonnais, MBS, 1:10.14. 10, Ethan Timm, FHS, 1:10.75. 11, Jacob Fleury, CHS, 1:10.83. 12, Paul Cronin, CHS, 1:12.40.

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 3:33.29. 2, Billings Skyview High School 'A' 3:46.40. 3, Bozeman High School 'A' 3:49.18. 4, Glacier High School 'A' 3:52.01. 5, C M Russell High School 'A' 3:59.12. 6, Havre Chinook High School 'A' 4:12.85. (B - Final) 7, Great Falls High School 'A' 4:09.75. 8, Billings Central High School 'A' 4:11.17. 9, Butte High School 'A' 4:16.64. 10, Flathead High School 'A' 4:18.39. 11, Hardin High School 'A' 4:34.27.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

(A - Final) 1, Missoula Hellgate High School 'A' 3:16.93. 2, Helena High ; School 'A' 3:32.38. 3, Bozeman High School 'A' 3:32.76. 4, C M Russell High; School 'A' 3:33.56. 5, Butte High School 'A' 3:33.91. 6, Billings Senior High; School 'A' 3:43.13. (B - Final) 7, Columbia Falls High School 'A' 3:41.60. 8, Great Falls High School 'A' 3:45.45. 9, Billings Central High School 'A' 3:49.59. 10, Glacier High School 'A' 3:55.00. 11, Hardin High School 'A' 3:59.25. 12, Flathead High School 'A' 4:04.40.

Havre High Prelim Results Not Available