Havre High swimmers look to make strides in Great Falls

It's only just begun for the Havre High swim teams, but this weekend will already mark the end of the 2018 portion of the Blue Ponies' season.

After hosting the season-opening Havre Invitational last Saturday, a triangular meet with Great Falls High and CMR, the Ponies will travel to Great Falls Friday for another triangular with the Bison and Rustlers. Saturday, Havre will close out 2018 with the Great Falls Relays.

With the Class A Meet looming Jan. 5 in Havre, this weekend will be key for Havre as they prepare for the second half of the season.

"Moving forward, we have another meet with (Great Falls) and then the Great Falls Relays are kind of a fun meet for everybody," Havre head coach Bill Kilgore said. "So those meets will help us get better. That's what we want to do right now, just keep getting a little better every day, and with every meet."

The Ponies did that last weekend at home. While stalwart swimmers like Kobi Burchard, Blakelee Lines, Lacey Huseby and Hannah Lunak led the way, the Pony girls saw some more talent rising up. Junior Angela Rhines had a breakout performance at the Havre Invite, while Morgan Flammond, Aria Pratt and Natalie Verploegen also made plenty of noise.

On the boys side, exchange student Sergio Tomayo made a big splash with a pair of Top-6 finishes, and Havre's large contingent of seniors made their presence known, too. However, the HHS boys also have some young swimmers to watch, and it showed at the Havre Invite, with the likes of Christian Mathis, Hiram Cammon and Sawyer Manuel swimming well.

Of course, Havre will look to continue those strides this weekend in Great Falls, especially considering that the Ponies don't swim competitively again until Jan. 5. The Ponies' schedule after Christmas break includes the Class A Meet at home, two more meets in Great Falls, including the Great Falls Invitational and the Butte Invitational. All of those meets will be against mainly Class AA competition, so the Ponies will get plenty of good races to swim in prior to the 2019 State Swimming Championships in February in Bozeman.

"Overall, it's a really good start to the season," Kilgore said. "I'm excited about where we're at. The kids are training hard and it's paying off."

Havre will compete against GFH/CMR Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Blue Ponies will take part in the Great Falls Relays Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. All of the action takes place in the Swarthout Fieldhouse Pool.