Glacier, Flathead swimmers battle at state; Valley teams earn A/B trophies

The numbers maybe weren’t great for Kalispell’s AA schools at the State Swim Meet in Great Falls over the weekend, but first-year coach Tori Homer saw nothing but positives. 

“Every swimmer on both squads went at least their personal best time at State, which is an amazing win as a coach,” Homer said. “It was a privilege to see all the hard work they have been doing all year pay off and see all that come to fruition.” 

The Bozeman Hawks won the boys AA title with 307 points; Great Falls High was second at 213 and Gallatin edged Helena Capital 158-154 for third. 

Glacier was 11th with 16 points and Flathead scored eight. 

Billings West narrowly won the AA girls crown with 208 points, with Gallatin scoring 207. Great Falls High was third at 170. 

Glacier’s girls scored 34 points and tied Billings Senior for 10th. Flathead did not score. 

Individual finalists were Ainsley McGuaghy and Ella Hummer, both of them Glacier juniors. 

“Ainsley has been batting shoulder injury all season long and finally had a breakout meet,” Homer said. “She was able to be a finalist for not only both Glacier relays but two personal events, the 100 fly and 100 breaststroke. She is the foundation of the Glacier women’s team. 

“Ella is an amazing dual sport athlete. She is an incredible volleyball player and swimmer. She made finals in the 100 backstroke, swimming a personal best. Ella was also a great asset to both the 200 free and medley relays.” 

Glacier’s 200 medley relay was seventh – the AA meet scored to 12 places – and ninth in the 200 freestyle relay. McGuaghy was 10th in the 100 butterfly and ninth in the 100 breaststroke, while Hummer placed eighth in the 100 backstroke. 

Glacier’s boys 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays were both ninth. 

Flathead was 12th in the boys’ 200 medley relay and 10th in the 200 freestyle relay. 

Nicholas Taylor finished 13th in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke for the Braves. 

“We had a fantastic meet,” Homer said. “We had all our Glacier relays make it back to the finals. Flathead men’s relays made it to the finals as well. 

“The Flathead ladies dropped a total of 12 seconds on their relays – 8 seconds on the 200 medley and 4 seconds on the 200 free.” 

Homer was thankful for her three departing seniors: Marian Tuck, Claire Bell and Ed McNeil.  

“It was a privilege,” she said. “(Their) leadership and love for this team shined bright rought even with a brand new coaching staff.” 

Polson, C-Falls boys  

second and third

When the meet ended, Polson and Columbia Falls were second and third among Class A/B boys programs, behind Billings Central. The Rams had 117 points, the Pirates 58 and the Wildcats, 40. Whitefish scored 27 points. 

Leading Polson was Teague McElwee, who won boys 100 butterfly and the 50 freestyle, the latter race dominated by Flathead Valley swimmers: Columbia Falls’ Tristan Victor was third and teammate Javen Kuntz was sixth; Polson’s Isaac Kinnick was fourth and Logan Hyland of Whitefish, fifth. 

Polson’s Hayden Ricks was fourth in the 100 butterfly; Squid Moore and Ricks provided a 2-3 Pirate finish in the 500 freestyle.  

Moore was fourth in the 100 breaststroke and Kinnick added a fifth in the 100 backstroke.  

Polson second in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. 

Truman Sawyer was third in the 100 free and fifth in the 200 IM for Polson. Columbia Falls’ Victor was second in the 100 free, while Gavin Sibson of Whitefish was third.  

Sibson was also second in the boys 200 free; Nathan Sibson was fourth in the 200 free and sixth in the 100 backstroke for Whitefish as well. 

Jackson Schubert was third in the 100 breaststroke for C-Falls, and Teagan Bates was fifth in the 200 free. The Cats were third in three relays: the 200 free, 400 free and 200 medley. 

Whitefish girls second

The Whitefish girls finished second among A/B teams with 56 points; Billings Central completed the sweep with 91. Columbia Falls was fourth out of nine A/B programs with 28 points; Polson scored 10 and Bigfork 6. 

Liesel Klein won the 200 freestyle for Whitefish; she was also third in the 500 free with teammate Sophie McDermott taking fifth. McDermott was also fifth in the 100 backstroke.  Also placing for the Bulldogs: Avery Theis, second in both the 100 free and 100 backstroke; Kate Sullivan, fifth in the 100 backstroke; Ginger Bergland, fifth in the 50 free; and Emma Browning, sixth in the 100 fly. 

The Bulldogs were second in the girls 200 medley relay, second in the 400 freestyle relay and fourth in the 200 free relay. 

Columbia Falls has a two-time state champion in Catherine Opalka, who won both the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.  

Her teammate Kensley Cheff was sixth in backstroke, and the Wildkats were fourth in the 200 medley relay,  

Polson’s Amelia Stene was second in the girls 50 free and the 100 butterfly, with teammate Kensley Cheff taking sixth. 

Bigfork picked up its points in the 400 free relay (fifth) and 200 free relay (sixth). Columbia Falls was fourth in the 400 freestyle relay. 

Full results can be found at mhsa.org under the archives portion of the swimming page.