Huffman-LaBrie, Messerly medal at State

The 2018 season for Montana Federation of Swimmers came to a conclusion at the state meet in Conrad on Sunday, August 6.

The two-day event was host to 10 Malta Swim Participants, as well as over 500 swimmers in the state.

Malta took third in the Class C bracket, scoring a total of 82.50. Choteau won the Class C bracket with a total of 99, Roundup took second with 84.50, Plains took fourth with 55, and Sunburst took fifth with 15 points.

Fairfield took home Class B's gold with a total of 189 points. Fort Benton was second with 183.50, Harlem took third with 171, Plentywood took fourth with 131, Cut Bank took fifth with 106, and Chester took sixth with 80.

"The kids were nervous because some of our kids had not experienced this before," Coach Shay Garfield said. "Some kids were nervous and some kids rose to the occasion and I was proud of every single one of them. They all swam as hard as they could and it was really awesome watching how far they have come from the beginning of the season until now."

Jahmiah Huffman-LaBrie led Malta, taking second in the Boys 9-10 50 Backstroke with a time of 43.04 seconds. Huffman-LaBrie also took sixth place in the 50 Flystroke with a time of 49.07 and eighth place in the 100 IM with a time of 1:45.03.

"His backstroke was an awesome race," Coach Garfield said. "He started off fifth and he did everything that he needed to do and took off the time and came in second. It was awesome."

Darrow Messerly took third in the Boys 13-14 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:25.53. Messerly also took ninth in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 3:37.76.

"That was a really close race," Coach Garfield said of Messerly's 100 Breaststroke final. "There were three boys and any given day either one of them could've gotten first. It was such a close, awesome race."

Connor Tuss took fifth in the Boys 13-14 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:26.72. Tuss also took seventh in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 3:01.76 and tenth in the 50 Flystroke with a time of 35.31.

"Connor comes to practice and he works really hard and though all off his events were swam well, his backstroke really stuck out to me," Coach Garfield said. "We tweaked his backstroke a little bit and just watching him roll with it, it was great."

Denvyr Tuss took sixth place in the Girls 9-10 50 Backstroke with a time of 45.53.

Jillian O'Brien took seventh place in the Women's 15-19 100 Flystroke with a time of 1:31.74 and eighth in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:34.94.

"I am really going to miss Erika, Reba (Doucette) and Jillian because this was their last year," Coach Garfield said. "I am going to miss having them as leaders on the team and having the younger kids look up to them. They were all definitely good leaders and showed kids what they needed to do. It's sad that they are going to be gone."

Danika Wilke placed tenth in the Girls 9-10 50 Backstroke with a time of 49.27.