Blue Pony swimming to host meet this weekend

In their first meet of 2023, the Havre High swimming teams will host a meet at the Havre Community Pool this Saturday. In their meet, the Blue Ponies will compete against tough schools in Great Falls and CMR. While the competition will be tough, HHS head coach Bill Kilgore also hopes to see his swimmers have some fun.

"I expect the kids to enjoy the meet and have a great time," Kilgore said. "But at the same time, I expect them to realize that this is the beginning of the final push of the season. It's time to raise our competitive level each and every week."

With this being the Ponies' lone home meet of the season, this Saturday will also serve as their senior day. From their boy's team, the Ponies will honor Chase Mariani, Carson Sandstrom, Conner McKay and Nate Gregoire. From the girl's team, Kate Hemmer, Allie Messinger, Chloe Shennum, Hannah Gingery, Willow Riggin, Courtney Burchard and Ali Maloughney will be honored. As they leave, Kilgore knows what they meant to the Ponies over the years.

"Seniors are always an important part of our team," Kilgore said. "They bring experience and confidence to our program and that serves as a calming force for the younger swimmers."

Even with the tough competition this weekend, Kilgore believes the Ponies can do well in several events. On the girl's side, Kilgore expects them to do well in the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle, the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. He also expects the boys to perform well in the medley relay, the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke.

While this is their first meet of the new year, the Ponies will only have three more meets after this before state next month. With just a month left in the season, Kilgore wants to see his swimmers start to ramp things up and put themselves in position to compete in the postseason.

"I want to see 100 percent effort and attention to details like tight turns, good streamline off the starts and off the walls, finishing arm strokes and not breathing into and out of turns," Kilgore said. "The beginning of the season is behind us and it's time to start minimizing mistakes and maximizing talent."

The HHS swim teams will begin the Havre meet this Saturday at 1 p.m.