Blue Pony swim teams finish regular season in Great Falls

With one last meet this season, the Havre High swim teams will be looking to record their best times of the year. Only the top 16 times in the state for each event will qualify for the state tournament, so each Blue Pony will need to give everything they got in Great Falls this Saturday when they swim in a double dual against Great Falls High School and CM Russell High School.

"I'm looking to get some faster times," HHS head coach Bill Kilgore said. "(We're trying to get) different times in different events for some of our swimmers."

It will be the second time where the Ponies have swam in a meet against Great Falls and CMR this season. The three teams competed in a meet at the Havre Community Pool earlier this month. The HHS boys team took second in that meet while the HHS girls team finished third. The Great Falls High School boys team won its meet while CM Russell High School won the girls meet.

It is also the second weekend in a row where the Ponies will swim in Great Falls for a meet. With both familiar competition and a familiar venue, Kilgore believes his swimmers will be comfortable.

"Great Falls has always been a good pool for us. We've always swam really well there. We're comfortable there because we spent so much time there," Kilgore said. "They're not nervous with Great Falls and CMR because we know them and we see them so often."

Several Ponies will look to swim well after their performances in their meet against Great Falls and CM Russell earlier this year. Hiram Cammon swam well in that meet as he placed first in the boys 100-meter breaststroke and he took third in the boys 100-meter freestyle. Ezra Goldhaun also did well in that meet as he took third in the boys 100-meter backstroke. Nate Gregoire will look to repeat his performance where he took third in the boys 200-meter freestyle.

Carson Sandstrom will look to swim well again as he took third in both the boys 50-meter freestyle and the boys 400-meter freestyle. Kilgore also expects Sandstrom to swim well in the 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter freestyle. Wyatt Hagstrom swam well in the last meet against Great Falls and CM Russell as he took fourth in the boys 50-meter freestyle. Chase Mariani took fourth in the boys 400-meter freestyle the last time he swam against Great Falls and CM Russell.

The HHS girls swim team has some swimmers looking to repeat their performances from their home meet. Mackenzie Dean took fourth in the girls 100-meter butterfly and sixth in the girls 200-meter IM. Aliviah Pratt took fourth in the girls 100-meter breaststroke and Ada Pratt took sixth in the girls 200-meter freestyle. Kilgore also believes Kyla Burchard can swim well this weekend when she swims in the 200-meter IM.

After their meet on Saturday, the Ponies will swim in a timed trial at Havre Community Pool on Monday. The trial makes up for the Class A Invite that was canceled a couple weeks ago. The meet was set to be held at the Ponies' pool and it would have been their senior night. The Ponies will try to get a referee to officiate and they hope Hardin and Billings Central will hold their own timed trials for a virtual meet. Regardless of what happens, Monday's time trial will serve as the Ponies' senior night.

But their meet this weekend in Great Falls will be more important as they try to qualify swimmers for state. As the Ponies try to end the regular season on a strong note, Kilgore also hopes that his swimmers use this last meet to have fun.

"I want the kids to do well but I also want them to enjoy it," Kilgore said. "Just have a good time, especially being in Great Falls with our friends."

The Ponies will compete in a meet in Great Falls this Saturday. The Ponies will then hold a timed meet at Havre Community Pool for their senior night on Monday.