Glacier boys second, C-Falls swimmers finish high up in A-B ranks

GREAT FALLS — Isaac Keim headlined for the Glacier boys last weekend at the All-Class State Swim meet, where the Pack finished second overall.

Glacier scored 148 points to champion Missoula Hellgate’s 220.

Keim swam to two state titles, one in the 50-yard freestyle and the other in the 100 free. He was seeded third in the 50 free final and clocked 22.21 seconds to win the event.

“It was thrilling to watch: his perfect start, breath control, solid turn, and strong finish and mental toughness were all spot on to secure the win,” said coach Karen Bouda. “He followed up with a win in the 100 freestyle, dropping almost a full second from prelims with a slick 48.70 swim.”

The Glacier girls were fourth overall with 141 points. Great Falls scored 177 to win the girls title. C.M. Russell was next with 162, and Missoula Big Sky had 160.

Glacier sprinter Olivia Gibbons was state champion in the 100 free with a time of 53.83 seconds, and was second to Missoula Big Sky’s Ella Stack in the 200 free, a difference of 1/10th of a second.

“She went into finals as a 2nd place seed and crushed it,” Bouda said. “Livy’s so solid as a sprinter. She's already broken two GHS records as a sophomore and with two years left, it will be exciting to see what she tackles next."

The last event of the day was the best, according to Bouda: the boys 400 free relay, where the Glacier boys finished a full second ahead of Billings West with a time of 3:26.24.

Seniors Jakob Sonderegger and Xander Stout were the first two legs of the relay, followed up by sophomore Jack Melnick with Kiem as the anchor leg.

"It was the last event of the day, athletes are tired at that point, but each of the four boys swam a personal best, and our entire team went nuts,” Bouda said. “Those splits were incredible and with relays scoring so much higher than individual events, it's the race that secured the 2nd place team trophy.”

The Glacier girls also had strong performances in the relays, finishing second to CMR in the 200 free relay. Gibbons, Hanna Vornbrock, Maggie Dean and Madeleine McGaughy combined for a time of 1:40.75, which shattered the Glacier program record by two seconds.

“These four have been so close to breaking it in the regular season, and it all came together for them on Saturday,” Bouda said.

The Wolfpack girls were also third in the 400 free relay and seventh in the 200 medley relay.

Flathead sent four girls and four boys to the state meet, and Bouda (who coaches both Glacier and Flathead) said recruiting more swimmers is a priority for the next season. Seven of the eight Flathead swimmers that went to state will return.

The Bravettes finished 10th in the 400 free relay (Bristol Lenz, Bethany Armstrong, Keegan Williams and Kennadi Iten).

“They had a 10-second time drop from prelims to finals, and it was so much fun to watch them go for it,” Bouda said.

The Flathead boys (Garrison Burger, Harley Osiecki, Fin Reed, and Maverick Huestis) were eighth in the 400 free relay, dropping five seconds from prelims.

"All four boys had great splits, so we'll build on this next season,” Bouda said.

Class A-B

While the Columbia Falls MatCats were busy winning their first state wrestling title in 33 years, the Wildcat swimmers in Great Falls nabbed third place among Class A-B teams.

The Billings Central boys scored 96 points for first. Polson was second with 62 points and Columbia Falls scored 52.

Billings Central’s girls also claimed the team title, blowing away the field with 132 points. Hardin was a distant second with 40 points, just edging the Wildkats’ 38.

Sadie Cheff placed second in the girls 100 breaststroke and third in 100 free, and Eloise McKeon also took second in the girls 200 free and 500 free.

For the boys, Adam Schrader was state champion in the 50 free and third in the 100 free, Connor Keith won the 100 breast and was second in the 200 individual medley and Thane Borgen was fourth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 100 free.

Bigfork’s Danika Bucklin was fifth in the girls 200 free.

Whitefish had a state champion in Jack McDaniel, who won the 100 butterfly, Gavin Sibson was second in the boys 200 free, edged by Polson’s Gus Hertz. Sibson was also second in the 500 free. Linnea McCrady earned sixth in the girls 500 free and Emi Qunell took sixth in the 100 backstroke.

The Bulldog boys were third in the 200 medley relay.