Splashy start for swimmers
<p>Glacier's Nate Burnham takes a breath during the 200-yard freestyle at the Kalispell Invitational at The Summit on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Flathead's Emily Cephers does the butterfly during the 200-yard individual medley at the Kalispell Invitational at The Summit on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
When it comes to swimming, it’s all about having a good time and encouraging others as far as Columbia Falls senior standout Colton Babcock is concerned.
“I want to enjoy my senior year, have fun and see if I can help my teammates to get their state cut (times),” he said during Saturday’s season-opening event at The Summit.
“Swimming is 95 percent mental. The biggest part for me today was to relax and have fun doing it and don’t stress.”
Babcock, a two-time defending Class A-B state champion in the 50 and 100 freestyle, did just that while having a sensational start with a personal best time of 2:00.30 in winning the 200 individual medley. That bettered his old mark by four seconds.
Anthony Clason of Glacier was second in 2:06.19, which matches his best time in that event.
Babcock matched his best time in the 100 butterfly with a first-place clocking of 53.11. Lyndon Amon of Missoula Hellgate was second in 58.22
“It’s all about times,” Babcock said.
“I only did a couple events today so I could go all out.
“It felt fast for sure,” he said of the 200 IM.
“My breaststroke was a little weak, but everything else felt great.”
This was just a tune-up for Babcock, who will compete in Junior Nationals in College Station, Texas. That event runs Thursday through Saturday. He will swim the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle.
Nine other schools were in the pool for the season-opening Kalispell Invitational. Missoula Hellgate dominated the action, easily sweeping the boys and girls team titles.
Glacier’s season started with a big splash as Nate Burnham set school records in winning the 100 (48.77) and 200 (1:48.05) freestyle. He held the old record in the 200, while Jordan Loyda had the 100 mark.
Clason also set a school record while winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.97.
“It was a good start,” Flathead/Glacier coach David Lillard said.
“The main goal for the returning swimmers was to see what shape they were in. For the new swimmers, it was a chance to get a feel for a first meet and what the ins and outs of racing are. We did that well.”
Lillard said Glacier’s Tessa Howe broke the 30-second barrier in the 50 freestyle and had a “great race.” She was 11th in 29.81.
“Olivia Gibson had some fast swims,” he continued for Glacier swimmers. “Bailey Smith was pretty close to her best times.”
For Flathead, Lillard said Nathan Moon “matched his best time in the 100 fly, which is awesome for this time of the season.”
Moon was ninth in 1:04.32.
“Maddie Huestis was close to her best time in the freestyle,” he said.
He said Delanie Eliason and Gage Magone also swam exceptionally well.
“Hailey Fennell is new to the swim team and she looked real strong,” Lillard continued.
“She shows a lot of promise for Flathead.”
Next on the swim schedule is the Butte Invitational on Saturday.
Kalispell Invitational
Saturday at The Summit
All Distances — Yards
Team Totals
Girls
1. Missoula Hellgate, 648; 2. C.M. Russell, 419 1/2; 3. Missoula Sentinel, 243 1/2; 4. Glacier, 237 1/2; 5. Whitefish, 191; 6. Missoula Big Sky/Loyola, 184 1/2; 7. Flathead, 131; 8. Great Falls High, 83; 9. Bigfork, 10. Columbia Falls 9.
Boys
1. Missoula Hellgate, 527; 2. C.M. Russell, 304; Great Falls High, 280; Columbia Falls, 248; 5. Missoula Sentinel, 210; 6. Whitefish, 150; 7. Glacier, 129; 8. Missoula Big Sky/Loyola, 97; 9. Flathead, 69.
Events
Girls 200 Medley Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 1:55.20. 2, Glacier , 2:03.63. 3, C.M. Russell B, 2:05.81. 4, Whitefish, 2:05.86. 5, Missoula Sentinel, 2:06.05. 6, Missoula Hellgate B’ 2:07.86.
Boys 200 Medley Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 1:44.29. 2, C.M. Russell, 1:56.62. 3, Great Falls High, 1:56.97. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 1:57.31. 5, Whitefish, 1:57.86. 6, Columbia Falls, 2:09.95.
Girls 200 Freestyle — 1, Ecklund, Jesse, Hellgate, 2:01.92. 2, Dye, Caroline, Whitefish, 2:03.14. 3, Amon, Lydia, Hellgate, 2:05.95. 4, Rizzuto, Mari, Hellgate, 2:07.64. 5, Fagg, Katie, Big Sky/Loyola, 2:12.56. 6, Ring, Sonja, Whitefish, 2:14.51.
Boys 200 Freestyle — 1, Burnham, Nate, Glacier, 1:48.05. 2, Keyes, Sawyer , Hellgate, 1:53.57. 3, Baldry, Tanner, Hellgate, 1:55.54. 4, Hanlon, Brandon, Great Falls,
1:59.47. 5, McMahon, Simon, Hellgate, 2:04.61. 6, Massey, Alex, CMR, 2:08.87.
Girls 200 IM — 1, Smart, Gabby, Hellgate, 2:15.69. 2, Archibald-Wilson, Sydney, Hellgate, 2:24.14. 3, D’Amico, Ellie, Big Sky/Loyola, 2:24.31. 4, Westie, Darlene, CMR, 2:25.27. 5, DeMarco, Molly, CMR, 2:29.63. 6, Sullivan, Annie, Whitefis, 2:31.67.
Boys 200 IM — 1, Babcock, Colton, CFalls, 2:00.30. 2, Clason, Anthony, Glacier,
2:06.19. 3, Amon, Lyndon, Hellgate, 2:09.80. 4, Carlson, Cody, Sentinel, 2:11.99. 5, Guter, Joseph, Great Falls, 2:13.60. 6, Ring, Preston, Whitefish, 2:17.56.
Girls 50 Freestyle — 1, Berkoff, Katharin, Hellgate 24.92. 2, Gibson, Olivia, Glacier,
25.64. 3, Seagrave, Bella, Hellgate, 26.07. 4, Harmon, Lauren, Glacier, 28.73. 5, Anderson, Maiti, Hellgate, 29.23. 6, Young, Jessica, Whitefish, 29.34.
Boys 50 Freestyle — 1, Mahns, Darragh, Hellgate, 22.37. 2, Westenfelder, Finnian, Hellgate, 23.05. 3, Campbell, Brendon, Hellgate, 23.44. 4, Spragg, Andrew, CMR, 24.20. 5, Huotari, Ben, CMR, 24.40. 6, Harris, Jase, Great Falls, 24.74.
Girls 100 Butterfly — 1, Rizzuto, Mari G, Hellgate, 1:03.79. 2, Dye, Caroline, Whitefish, 1:05.13. 3, Bauman, Olivia, CMR, 1:05.14. 4, Becker, Claire, Hellgate, 1:06.43. 5, Reynolds, Keidon, Sentinel, 1:07.29. 6, Westie, Darlene, CMR, 1:08.40.
Boys 100 Butterfly — 1, Babcock, Colton, CFalls, 53.11. 2, Amon, Lyndon, Hellgate, 58.22. 3, Becker, Dan, Hellgate, 1:00.61. 4, Houston, Andrew, CMR, 1:01.39. 5, Ring, Preston, Whitefish, 1:01.63. 6, Vatoussis, Alex, Sentinel, 1:01.68.
Girls 100 Freestyle — 1, Amon, Lydia, Hellgate, 56.67. 2, Seagrave, Bella, Hellgate, 56.87. 3, Ammons, Kelsey, Hellgate, 57.01. 4, Eliason, Delanie, Flathead, 1:02.62. 5, Harmon, Lauren, Glacier, 1:03.36. 5, Byrne, Jess, CMR, 1:03.36.
Boys 100 Freestyle — 1, Burnham, Nate, Glacier, 48.77. 2, Westenfelder, Finnian, Hellgate, 50.76. 3, Spragg, Andrew, CMR, 54.21. 4, Harris, Jase, Great Falls, 55.05. 5, Huotari, Ben, CMR, 56.30. 6, Vatoussis, Alex, Sentinel, 56.75.
Girls 500 Freestyle — 1, Ecklund, Jesse, Hellgate, 5:33.91. 2, Sullivan, Annie, Whitefish, 5:46.90. 3, McCormick, Caroline, Sentinel, 5:47.97. 4, Fagg, Katie, Big Sky/Loyola, 5:51.95. 5, Bauman, Olivia, CMR, 6:00.60. 6, Porch, Andrea, Sentinel, 6:12.92.
Boys 500 Freestyle — 1, Mahns, Darragh, Hellgate, 5:01.02. 2, Keyes, Sawyer, Hellgate, 5:01.32. 3, Hanlon, Brandon, Great Falls, 5:27.76. 4, Perez, Matthew, Whitefish, 5:41.92. 5, Houston, Alex, CMR, 5:44.05. 6, Wanner, Ryan, Great Falls, 6:17.20.
Girls 200 Freestyle Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 1:44.64. 2, Missoula Hellgate B, 1:51.10. 3, Missoula Hellgate C, 1:58.89. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 2:00.49. 5, C.M.
Russell, 2:00.56. 6, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola, 2:02.47.
Boys 200 Freestyle Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 1:35.04. 2, Columbia Falls, 1:39.75. 3, Missoula Hellgate B, 1:41.33. 4, C.M. Russell, 1:43.18. 5, Great Falls High, 1:53.34. 6, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola, 1:53.89.
Girls 100 Backstroke — 1, Berkoff, Katharine, Hellgate, 58.25. 2, Gibson, Olivia, Glacier, 1:06.57. 3, Ammons, Kelsey, Hellgate, 1:07.19. 4, D’Amico, Ellie, Big Sky/Loyola, 1:08.90. 4, Fero, Audrey, Sentinel, 1:08.90. 6, Smith, Bailey, Glacier, 1:09.53.
Boys 100 Backstroke — 1, McMahon, Simon, Hellgate, 57.52. 2, Midboe, Jorgen, Big Sky/Loyola, 1:02.14. 3, Herzog, Mark, Hellga, 1:04.25. 4, De Souza, Gustavo, Flathead, 1:05.31. 5, Perez, Matthew, Whitefish, 1:05.74. 6, Friar, Zayne, CFalls, 1:05.77.
Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, Reynolds, Keidon, Sentinel, 1:16.50. 2, DeMarco, Molly, CMR, 1:17.48. 3, McCormick, Caroline, Sentinel, 1:17.79. 4, Butler, Maddy, Hellgate, 1:19.01. 5, Jourdonnais, Hannah, Big Sky/Loyola, 1:21.28. 6, Howe, Tessa, Glacier, 1:21.76.
Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke — 1, Clason, Anthony, Glacier, 1:02.97. 2, Carlson, Cody, Sentinel, 1:07.01. 3, Baldry, Tanner, Hellgate, 1:08.85. 4, Guter, Joseph, Great Falls, 1:10.21. 5, Macrow, Ben, Hellgate, 1:11.61. 6, Dicks, Denver, Whitefish, 1:13.19.
Girls 400 Freestyle Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 3:48.11. 2, Missoula Hellgate B, 3:55.89. 3, Glacier, 4:07.27. 4, C.M. Russell, 4:08.35. 5, Whitefish, 4:09.54. 6, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola, 4:10.49.
Boys 400 Freestyle Relay — 1, Missoula Hellgate, 3:27.84. 2, Columbia Falls, 3:43.34. 3, C.M. Russell , 3:43.62. 4, Missoula Hellgate B, 3:44.14. 5, Great Falls High, 3:55.23. 6, Missoula Sentinel, 3:55.88.