Ponies dive into a new season

Every winter, the Havre High swim teams jump into the deep end of the pool. And every winter, that first dive into the water comes inside their very own Havre Community Pool.

And the start of the 2018-19 swim season will be no different. Saturday, Havre begins its new season with the annual Havre Invitational.

The Blue Ponies are once again led by head coach Bill Kilgore, and the veteran swim coach says his boys and girls teams are training hard and are ready for another season in the lanes.

"We have had a very strong preseason with lots of kids volunteering to come in for extra work. I think this team understands the level of dedication it is going to take to accomplish some lofty goals," Kilgore said. "This allowed me to start the season with workouts with more meters than I have ever given any of our teams at any point in the season. Our first week of practice the top lanes were averaging over 5,000 meters a practice. They have bought in to the quality of practice needed, as well. Our team motto this year is that the chain is only as strong as the weakest link. So I had a long talk with the kids on the first day and I explained to them that they were each a link in the chain of the Havre High Swim Team, and as such owed it, not only to themselves to put in hard, good quality work, but they owed it to the chain to be a better, stronger link. That's exactly what they have been doing, and I am proud of their work to this point."

And the chain should be strong on the boys and girls sides.

The Blue Pony girls are expected to be led by seniors Lacey Huesby, Hannah Lunak, Aria Pratt and Natalie Verploegen, as well as talented sophomores Kobi Burchard, Blakelee Lines, and Megan Miller. Kilgore added that newcomers Katelyn Maloughney, Nina Flores and Aliviah Pratt will also be contributors, as will Hannah Pratt and Angela Rhines.

On the boys side, a big senior class will also lead the way.

Noah Gjesdal, John Klein, Ammon Lines, Paxtin McCann, and Logan Twombly are all four-year swimmers with a ton of experience. But the Pony boys also have some depth, too, as Kilgore said 15 boys are out to compete on the team this season. Jacob Miller, Christian Mathis and Riley Kilgore also return and should provide big points for the Ponies this season, while exchange student Sergio Tamayo is an outstanding swimmer, and newcomers Troy Powell and Hiram Cammon could also provide the Ponies with depth and talent, too.

With so many strong swimmers, from all classes, and in many different events, coach Kilgore said his team is ready to take the steps toward achieving their season-long goals, which will include competing for trophies at the Montana State Swimming Championship, which will take place in February in Bozeman.

Havre's schedule, which starts with the annual Havre Invitational, will also lend itself to helping the Blue Ponies reach those goals. The Ponies swim twice in Great Falls before Christmas Break, then host the Class A Meet in Havre, before going to meets in Great Falls, Missoula and Butte.

"I don't think our Blue Pony swim teams ever have a goal that falls short of a state championship, but I want this team's goals to be to get better at every practice, both physically and mentally so we can strengthen each and every link of the chain," coach Kilgore said. "State championships are nice to talk about and the ultimate benchmark goal every year for the Havre Blue Ponies, but you can't get there without taking the smaller steps of daily improvement and striving for excellence in every aspect of your life."

The Blue Ponies begin their pursuit of all of their goals Saturday when they host the Great Falls High Bison and CMR Rustlers in the 2018 Havre Invitational. The meet starts at noon inside the Havre Community Pool.

"The kids are always excited to swim in front of the hometown fans and in our pool," coach Kilgore said. "I'd love to have the pool packed and rocking for our meets, especially for our Class A meet in January. We have a unique pool in that it is the only metric pool any of the other teams will swim in, so it gives us a bit of a home pool advantage because the other teams aren't expecting the added length of the pool."