SWIMMING: Columbia Falls' Colton Babcock stars in Great Falls
GREAT FALLS — Columbia Falls’ Colton Babcock won a pair of races and Glacier freshman A.J. Popp collected two second-place finishes as part of a packed field at Saturday’s Bohn Moerer meet in Great Falls, the final swimming tuneup before the state finals.
Babcock, a junior, bested a field that included nearly every team in the state, and did so in decisive fashion.
He won the 100-yard freestyle by more than 1 1/2 seconds in 47.23 and was more than six seconds faster than the rest of the 100 breaststroke field with a time of 1:00.06. Both times were personal bests and school records.
“I’ve had him since he was 8-years old and this year he’s done a great job,” Columbia Falls coach Mike Nelson said of Babcock.
“He has worked extremely hard at every practice. I’m hoping he gets two firsts (at the state finals).”
Wildcats swimmers broke a total of five school records at the meet.
Karyssa Nelson set one in the 100 backstroke at 1:03.45, finishing second. Nelson also set a record in the 200 freestyle (2:09.49), and the girls 400 freestyle relay team notched the other record time (4:31.87).
Popp led the Wolfpack girls to a fifth place team finish with 94 points. The freshman was second in the 50 freestyle (25.67) and 500 freestyle (5:22.94).
Glacier recorded five other top-five placements, with Nate Burnham finishing third in both the 100 and 200 freestyle.
Olivia Gibson was fourth in the 100 butterfly, Anthony Clason was fifth in the 50 freestyle and the Wolfpack girls 200 freestyle relay team finished second in 1:45.06, less than a second off the lead.
Missoula Hellgate’s girls and boys teams won the event.
The Columbia Falls girls came in 11th with 34 points, and Flathead (16th) and Whitefish (17th) rounded out the scoring teams.
On the boys side, the Wildcats were sixth with 92 points, ahead of Glacier (10th) and Whitefish (12th).
The state finals, also in Great Falls, will be contested Feb. 12-13.
2016 Great Falls Billings Bohn Moerer Invite
Great Falls High School Pool
Girls team scores
1 Missoula Hellgate 325; 2 Bozeman 183; 3 CM Russell 125; 4 Missoula Sentinel 109; 5 Glacier 94; 6 Billings Senior 89; 7 Helena High 77; 8 Helena Capital 67; 9 Missoula Big Sky/Loyola 64; 10 Billings West 51; 11 Columbia Falls 34; 12 Butte High 23; 12 Great Falls High 23; 14 Hardin 16; 15 Billings Skyview 14; 16 Flathead 6; 17 Whitefish 2.
Boys team scores
1 Missoula Hellgate 280; 2 Bozeman 147; 3 CM Russell 123; 4 Great Falls High 98; 5 Billings Senior 94; 6 Columbia Falls 92; 7 Missoula Big Sky/Loyola 91; 8 Butte High 80; 9 Billings West 78; 10 Glacier 67; 11 Helena High 59; 12 Whitefish 22; 13 Missoula Sentinel 20; 14 Hardin 19; 15 Billings Skyview 14; 16 Havre 10; 17 Helena Capital 6.
Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 1:51.38. 2, Bozeman High School ‘A’ 1:58.88. 3, Billings Senior ‘A’ 2:03.10. 4, CM Russell High School ‘A’ 2:03.31. 5, Missoula Sentinel ‘A’ 2:04.85. 6, Capital High School ‘A’ 2:06.30.
Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 1:43.04. 2, CM Russell High School ‘A’ 1:51.49. 3, Billings Senior ‘A’ 1:51.80. 4, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola ‘A’ 1:52.44. 5, Billings West HS ‘A’ 1:53.81. 6, Great Falls High School ‘A’ 1:54.82.
Girls 200 Yard Freestyle
1, Hamlin, Hailey, Bozeman, 1:59.35. 2, Ecklund, Jesse, Helena, 2:02.87. 3, Rohlf, Kilee, Bozeman, 2:06.48. 4, Becker, Ellee, Hellgate, 2:06.85. 5, Fiddler, Cailin, West, 2:07.13. 6, Fee, Julian, Hellgate, 2:07.62.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle
1, Harder, Ethan, Senior, 1:48.30. 2, Mahns, Darragh, Hellgate, 1:50.69. 3, Burnham, Nate, Glacier, 1:51.60. 4, Biddle, Jared, Bison, 1:57.30. 5, May, Tate, Bozeman, 1:58.57. 6, Friar, Zayne, C Falls, 1:59.14.
Girls 200 Yard IM
1, Aoki, Mari, Hellgate, 2:11.56. 2, Klungland, Avree, Capital, 2:22.67. 3, Ammons, Kelsey, Hellgate, 2:25.39. 4, Fee, Julian, Hellgate, 2:26.86. 5, Fero, Audrey, Sentinel, 2:27.43. 6, Klundt, Madison, Bozeman, 2:27.73.
Boys 200 Yard IM
1, Zimmer, Adam, Big Sky/Loyola, 1:58.91. 2, Faust, Dylan, Hellgate, 2:02.76. 3, Mahns, Darragh, Hellgate, 2:06.02. 4, Bentley, Jake, Butte Bulldogs, 2:06.08. 5, Maas, Connor, Senior, 2:09.01. 6, Brennan, Patrick, Rustlers, 2:11.50.
Girls 50 Yard Freestyle
1, Stroh, Jadyn, Hellgate, 25.38. 2, Popp, AJ, Glacier, 25.67. 3, Stevens, Hannah, Senior, 25.69. 4, Murphy, Kate, Helena, 26.07. 5, Adams, Jessica, Capital, 26.45. 6, Williams, Cassie, Capital, 26.46.
Boys 50 Yard Freestyle
1, Campbell, Brendon, Hellgate, 22.62. 2, Spragg, Andrew, Rustlers, 23.69. 3, Westenfelder, Finnian, Hellgate, 23.73. 4, Hooker, Kennan, Hardin, 23.90. 5, Clason, Anthony, Glacier, 24.36. 6, Harris, Jase, Bison, 24.72.
Girls 100 Yard Butterfly
1, Hamlin, Hailey, Bozeman, 1:01.75. 2, Smart, Gabby, Hellgate, 1:02.95. 3, Rizzuto, Mari, Hellgate, 1:03.65. 4, Gibson, Olivia, Glacier, 1:04.45. 5, Summers, Katie, Helena, 1:04.54. 6, Bauman, Olivia, Rustlers, 1:04.62.
Boys 100 Yard Butterfly
1, Zimmer, Adam, Big Sky/Loyola, 54.09. 2, Berkoff, Cale, Hellgate, 55.33. 3, Bentley, Jake, Butte Bulldogs, 56.84. 4, Friar, Zayne, C Falls, 59.31. 5, Angeli, Nick, Helena, 59.95. 6, Vankeuren, Michael, West, 1:01.66.
Girls 100 Yard Freestyle
1, Berkoff, Katharine, Hellgate, 54.08. 2, Leiby, Brooklyn, Sentinel, 56.41. 3, Klungland, Avree, Capital, 56.75. 4, Stevens, Hannah, Senior, 56.86. 5, Murphy, Kate, Helena, 57.07. 6, Condit, Aidan, Big Sky/Loyola, 57.90.
Boys 100 Yard Freestyle
1, Babcock, Colton, C Falls, 47.23. 2, Berkoff, Cale, Hellgate, 48.91. 3, Burnham, Nate, Glacier, 50.71. 4, Maas, Connor, Senior, 51.45. 5, Butler, Jacob, Hellgate, 52.32. 6, Spoerl, Wade, Bozeman, 53.33.
Girls 500 Yard Freestyle
1, Berkoff, Katharine, Hellgate, 5:18.29. 2, Popp, AJ, Glacier, 5:22.94. 3, Ecklund, Jesse, Helena, 5:26.42. 4, Hall, Laina, Bozeman, 5:39.70. 5, Stroh, Jadyn, Hellgate, 5:50.38. 6, Archibald-Wilson, Sydney, Hellgate, 5:51.54.
Boys 500 Yard Freestyle
1, Hoffman, Matthew, Bozeman, 5:10.75. 2, Smith, Conrad, West, 5:15.00. 3, Hanlon, Brandon, Bison, 5:21.05. 4, Ducuennois, Eli, Bozeman, 5:25.59. 5, Arnold, Brayden, West, 5:26.94. 6, Westenfelder, Finnian, Hellgate, 5:27.51.
Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 1:44.40. 2, Glacier High School ‘A’ 1:45.04. 3, Bozeman High School ‘A’ 1:50.09. 4, Billings Senior ‘A’ 1:50.38. 5, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola ‘A’ 1:51.67. 6, Missoula Sentinel ‘A’ 1:52.56.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 1:32.39. 2, Butte High School ‘A’ 1:37.16. 3, CM Russell High School ‘A’ 1:37.27. 4, Missoula Big Sky/Loyola ‘A’ 1:40.04. 5, Bozeman High School ‘A’ 1:40.32. 6, Columbia Falls High ‘A’ 1:40.73.
Girls 100 Yard Backstroke
1, Summers, Katie, Helena, 1:02.54. 2, Nelson, Karyssa, C Falls, 1:03.45. 3, Hall, Mckinley, Bozeman, 1:03.76. 4, Becker, Ellee, Hellgate, 1:04.52. 5, Rizzuto, Mari, Hellgate, 1:06.32. 6, Lyle, Alexys, Senior, 1:06.38.
Boys 100 Yard Backstroke
1, Harder, Ethan, Senior, 52.33. 2, Fritz, Matthew, Hellgate, 55.47. 3, Hoffman, Matthew, Bozeman, 57.45. 4, Christian, Colter, Hellgate, 58.96. 5, McMahon, Simon, Hellgate, 1:00.18. 6, Ducuennois, Eli, Bozeman, 1:00.20.
Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke
1, Smart, Gabby, Hellgate, 1:10.93. 2, Vernon, Avery, Hellgate, 1:12.42. 3, Rohlf, Kilee, Bozeman, 1:15.34. 4, Condit, Aidan, Big Sky/Loyola, 1:15.45. 5, Klundt, Madison, Bozeman, 1:16.91. 6, Shannon, Ingrid, Hellgate, 1:17.78.
Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke
1, Babcock, Colton, C Falls, 1:00.06. 2, Fritz, Matthew, Hellgate, 1:06.31. 3, Brennan, Patrick, Rustlers, 1:08.50. 4, Smith, Conrad, West, 1:08.69. 5, Johnson, Mason, West, 1:09.08. 6, Butler, Jacob, Hellgate, 1:09.11.
Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 3:42.12. 2, CM Russell High School ‘A’ 4:00.90. 3, Bozeman High School ‘A’ 4:05.06. 4, Missoula Sentinel ‘A’ 4:05.90. 5, Billings West HS ‘A’ 4:15.93. 6, Butte High School ‘A’ 4:27.53.
Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Missoula Hellgate ‘A’ 3:18.90. 2, Bozeman High School ‘A’ 3:37.19. 3, Butte High School ‘A’ 3:37.52. 4, Great Falls High School ‘A’ 3:43.09. 5, CM Russell High School ‘A’ 3:49.08. 6, Helena High School ‘A’ 4:01.61.