HHS swimmers wrap up the regular season

The end of January is already here and some of the winter sports are wrapping up the season. One of those sports is swimming, and the Havre High swim team will travel to the state meet Feb. 14-15 in Great Falls.

The Blue Pony swimmers have had a lot of time in the Great Falls High School Pool this season, and their time in the Electric City is not over, as Havre will head to Great Falls once more before state. Saturday, the Ponies will be doing things a bit different, though.

HHS head coach Bill Kilgore will be resting his top swimmers at the meet to help them get ready for the championship, this will give the younger squad a chance to show off their hard work from the season.

"We plan to rest our top swimmers that meet to help get them ready for the championship," Kilgore said. "This will allow some of our less experienced kids to be able to showcase their talent, and possibly earn a spot on our state roster."

With the more experienced swimmers out of the water for this meet, the less-experienced squad will aim to impress Saturday. The opportunity to earn a spot on the state roster means a lot and each swimmer will work to make a big splash to be a part of it.

And the Blue Ponies have quite a few swimmers from that part of the team that have been making waves throughout the season.

For the boys team, Carson Sandstrom has been a force in the water, consistently improving every meet he has attended. The young man is full of determination and a passion to do better with every chance he gets. Wyatt Hagstrom has been pushing himself in his first season with Havre in the pool, too. Hagstrom has been working hard to make his team proud since the start of the season.

On the girls team, Willow Riggin has been swimming tough in her first year with the Havre swim team, especially last week in Great Falls, where Riggin dropped seven seconds off her time in the girls 200 yard freestyle. Others like senior newcomer Abby Niedert and sophomore Navelle Rameles have been making strides throughout the year for the Ponies, too, while Aliviah Pratt and Emme Lines have placed fairly well in recent meet to contribute, as well.

Great Falls has been a hotspot for HHS over many seasons and a lot of great results have come out of the Electric City, but Kilgore has seen something consistent from his team that he hopes to see reflect with the less-experienced swimmers Saturday.

"We swim in Great Falls more than anywhere and we are comfortable there," Kilgore said. "It truly feels like a home meet to us when we swim there, and it shows in our kids' times. The consistent result for us in meet after meet in Great Falls is personal best times and quality swims."

With the top swimmers taking some time to get ready for the state meet in February, the less-experienced swimmers will be in the spotlight to get a chance at earning a spot on Havre's state roster. The meet in Great Falls this weekend will be the last before state and the swimmers will look to make a big splash in the Greats Falls High School Pool Saturday once again.