Saturday, February 6, 2021

Pirate swimmers mine medal finishes at Mining City meet

by John Heglie
 
In the fourth meet of the Polson inaugural swim season, Pirate swimmers matched up well in their virtual participation at the Butte Invitational against eight other schools. Mason Sloan took medalist honors in the 500 freestyle, the fourth event in which he has taken first place this season. Sloan took bronze in the 100 backstroke, while teammate Trey Wyman captured fifth. Both placed among the top three when AA competitors were factored out.
For the Lady Pirate girls, Isabel Seeley and Aspen McKee placed among the top five in the 100 Butterfly. Both McKee and Hope Morrison clocked in at under three minutes in the 200 Individual Medley. Though their times were further back of the pack ahead of them, they would have taken silver and bronze among Class A-B swimmmers when AA competition was factored out.

The small size of the Pirate squads limit how many team points they can notch, further impacted by the number of AA competitors they often face. But the Pirates have fared well in their inaugural season despite these factors, even better when they are measured exclusively against Class A-B peers.

At this juncture of the season, Mason Sloan owns the best times in five events among Class A-B competition: three freestyle events (100, 200, 500), 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.

Seasonal bests can be viewed online at < mhsa.org >, compiled courtesy of Merle Gunderson
 
Mason Sloan season finishes thus far – 100Free (1); 200Free (1,1); 100Butterfly (1); 500Free (1); 100Breast (2); 200IM (2); 100Back (3)
 
2021 Butte Invitational Meet (virtual)

Girls

Team scores

1, Hellgate 115; 2, Sentinel 113; 3, BigSky/Loyola 96; 4, Billings Central 52; 5, Butte High 51; 6, Bigfork 44; 7, Helena High 17; 8, Helena Capital 12; 9, Polson (P) 9.
 
Events (abridged)

200yd Freestyle – 9, Isabel Seeley (P) 2:37.02 (2nd vs A-B)
200yd Indiv Medley – 10, Aspen McKee (P) 2:55.81; 11, Hope Morrison (P) 2:58.83 (2-3 vs A-B)

100yd Butterfly – 4, Isabel Seeley (P) 1:23.75; 5, Aspen McKee (P) 1:39.85 (2-3 vs A-B)

50yd Freestyle – 13, Hope Morrison (P) 31.81 (2nd vs A-B)
 
Boys

Team scores

1, Hellgate 110; 2, Sentinel 96; 3, Billings Central 70; 4, BigSky/Loyola 62; 5, Butte High 45; 6, Helena High 23; 7, Polson (P) 21; 8, Helena Capital 6.
 
Events (abridged)

100yd Butterfly – 7, Trey Wyman (P) 1:37.46 (2nd vs A-B)

500yd Freestyle – 1, Mason Sloan (P) 5:27.81

100yd Backstroke – 3, Mason Sloan (P) 1:02.43; 5, Trey Wyman (P) 1:12.33 (1,3 vs A-B)