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The Bison and Rustlers get to compete in familiar territory this weekend, hosting the Great Falls Invite on Friday and Saturday.(Photo: TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO)Buy Photo

The Great Falls High and C.M. Russell boys’ and girls’ swim teams have started the season with solid performances on the road in Kalispell and Havre.

The Bison and Rustlers get to compete in familiar territory this weekend, hosting the Great Falls Invite on Friday and Saturday.

CMR and GFH welcome Hardin, Havre, Whitefish, and Columbia Falls on Friday starting at 4:30 p.m. at the GFH pool for individual competition before the relay meet Saturday.

The relay meet includes all Class AA schools aside from the three Missoula programs, as well as several A-B teams including Billings Central, which has won five straight girls’ and boys’ A-B titles.

Bison and Rustlers head coach Ed McNamee said the Invite is a good test for his squads because it’s the first two-day meet of the year.

“It’s good always a good opportunity to swim at home,” McNamee said. “And at the same time, it’s important to have back-to-back days of swimming, because when it comes to the state meet, you have to put two days together.”

The relay meet Saturday will provide GFH and CMR with opportunity to see where certain athletes fit in, McNamee said.

“I told the team,” he said, “that this week, particularly for the relays, we’re going to focus on ourselves. We’ve got to have more candidates moving forward for our ‘A’ relays and see who we can expect and who we can move around.

“Those relay spots are pretty coveted. We’ve had some good competition in practice, so hopefully it will translate to this weekend.”

McNamee said he expects some stiff competition in Bozeman and all four Billings teams.

“Bozeman is probably going to be our main competition,” McNamee said. “Coach Will McCallum does a great job with that program. The (AA) Billings schools (West, Senior and Skyview) have come a long way. They had some down years but are rebuilding fast. And Billings Central, with as long as they’ve been around, is a team that you always have to pay attention to.

“It’s a competitive meet but we’ll get a chance to get some kids turns in a big-meet environment and we’ll put our best foot forward and hopefully come out on top.”

The meet is the teams’ last for almost a month, as they pick action back up in mid-January.

“It’s kind of a unique season,” McNamee said. “At the break, you kind of go into ‘fall-camp/two-a-days’ mode, where you kind of go back to the drawing board and see what you really need to work on. So, if we come out and have a good showing and swim hard, that’s the important thing.

“We can set a good tone for the next two weeks heading into the break.”

The CMR girls posted impressive outings in the first two contests of the season, winning the Kalispell and Havre meets.

The Rustlers saw several top-swimmers last weekend in Havre, with junior Olivia Bauman winning both the 100 freestyle and butterfly and seniors Kate Heryla and Tianna Stevens took the 100 backstroke and 200 free, respectively.

The CMR girls also boast some talented underclassmen in freshmen Ayana Gray and Darlene Westie, who both took home victories.

The Rustler boys also took first in Havre, with senior Patrick Brennan earning top times in the 50 free and 100 back. Fellow seniors Andrew Houston and Noah Brennan also swam to first-place finishes for CMR.

The Great Falls High boys came in second in Havre, just 17 points behind the Rustlers.

Freshman Joseph Guter followed up an impressive debut in Kalispell for the Bison, taking the 200 IM and finishing second in the 100 breaststroke.

Brandon Hanlon and Jaydan Elpel also both put up top times for GFH.

The Bison girls are a fairly inexperienced squad but are led by seniors Mackenzie Downard and Stevie McNamee.

Freshman Isabelle Earl highlighted the GFH girls squad in Havre, finishing second in the 50 free.