Whitefish swim team excels at state meet

KELSEY EVANS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 weeks, 5 days AGO

The Whitefish girls swim team placed second at state. (Photo provided)

Whitefish seniors after their last meet together in Great Falls. (Photo provided)

Liesel Klein is the Class A state champion in the 200-yard freestyle. (Photo provided)

Gavin Sibson took second in the 200-yard freestyle at the state meet in Great Falls last weekend. (Photo provided)

Avery Theis placed second in every event she swam. (Photo provided)

Whitefish swim coaches Ashley McDermott and Rachel Meyer. (Photo provided)

The Whitefish swim team capped off an exceptional season with a girls second place finish and a boys fifth place finish at the All-Class State Meet in Great Falls Feb. 12-14.

The girls touched second in the 200-yard medley relay, with the quad of Sophie McDermott, Ginger Bergland, Liesel Klein and Avery Theis clocking 2:02.72 to finish behind Billings Central.

The 400 freestyle relay also stole silver, with McDermott, Theis, Klein and Kate Sullivan clocking 4:04.54.

The 200-freestyle relay took fourth.

Klein, a senior, is an individual state champion, taking first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:05.84. Klein also finished third in the 500 freestyle.

Also leading the pack was Theis, a senior, who had two silvers. She swam 56.60 in the 100 freestyle and 1:03.15 in the 100 backstroke.

McDermott, a junior, finished fifth in the 500 freestyle and fifth in the 100 backstroke. Bergland was fifth in the 50 freestyle, Sullivan was fifth in the 100 freestyle, and Emma Brown was sixth in the 100 butterfly.

All together the girls squad of 13 swimmers amassed 56 points. Billings Central took the Class A title with 91 points. Havre was close behind the Bulldogs with 52 points.

The Whitefish boys also had strong swims. With a team of just seven individuals, they gathered 27 points, good for fifth place in Class A behind Billings Central (117), Polson (58), Columbia Falls (40) and Hardin (32).

The boys 200-yard freestyle relay took fourth and the 200-yard medley relay took fifth.

Senior Gavin Sibson had stand-out performances, shedding over five seconds from his previous time to take second in the 200 freestyle, plus third in the 100 freestyle.

Senior Logan Hyland also qualified for finals twice, taking fourth in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 breaststroke. Freshman Nathan Sibson had solid finishes in the 200 I.M. and 100 backstroke, taking fourth and fifth, respectively.