Anderson leads CFST to seventh at state meet

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

Erik Anderson broke not one, but two Federation records in the butterfly, leading the Columbia Falls Swim Team to seventh place at the Montana Federation State Swim Meet held last weekend at Fort Benton.

The CFST finished seventh in the final boys team scores with 204.5 points and 10th in girls with 121.5, giving the overall team a total of 326 points. Malta was second in both the boys and girls divisions, but had enough total points to win the overall championship with 713 points. That edged the runner-up Sidney Tiger Sharks by just two points. Lewiston was third with 676.5, followed by Chinook with 534, Bitterroot 476, Glasgow 398, Columbia Falls 326, Shelby 298, Fort Benton 288.5, Plentywood 276, Conrad 272, Scobey 208, Glendive 186, Harlem 175, Roundup 150.5, Chester 146, Cut Bank 139.5, Choteau 62, Fairfield 58, Sunburst 44, Plains 34 and Harlowton 18.

Anderson set a new Montana Federation record in the 50-meter butterfly in 15-19-year-old boys with a state championship mark of 27.94 — the first time he has been under the 28-second mark. The previous Federation record of 28.16 was set by Anderson in July of 2007. Anderson also won the state title in the 100 butterfly with a Federation-record time of 1:03.98. His former mark was 1:05.09, set just last weekend at the divisional meet.

In addition, Anderson earned third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.70. He also swam a leg of the CFST's second-place 200 medley relay. Other relay members were Scott Boyd, Alan Newton and Michael Baiar. Their time was 2:05.67. The same quartet finished fourth in the 200 free relay (1:52.49).

CFST head coach Mike Nelson singled out Colton Babcock, who swam to third place in the 100 individual medley in the 8 & under division. His time was 1:59.34.

Another outstanding effort was turned in by Ashley Palmer, who was fourth in the 50 backstroke in 11-12 girls. Palmer did not qualify for state last season.

"The kids did great," Nelson said. "The swim team tapered for this meet to make their best times and many of them did, some by many seconds."

Nelson had words of praise for everyone who came to practice at 6 a.m. every day of workouts.

"They were very dedicated," Nelson said. "It took up a lot of their summer."

By age, Anderson and Newton have completed their careers with the CFST. Nelson and assistant coach Michelle Cronquist could have all the other swimmers back for next season, plus some new youngsters in the program.

CFST results at state

F — Federation record

Boys 8 & Under 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

8, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Norick, Colin 8, Gargasz, Sam 8, Role, James 5, Caffrey, Garrett 7), 2:03.63.

Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

7, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Norick, Colter 10, Webber, Billy 10, Ronish, Nic 9, Babcock, Colton 8), 1:22.82.

Girls 9-10 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

10, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Merrell, Gabrielle 8, Norick, Cassidy 7, Gimbel, Allyson 10, Nelson, Karyssa 9), 1:30.41.

Boys 11-12 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

6, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Ronish, Zac 11, Role, Garett 12, Gargasz, Max 12, Nelson, Dalton 12), 2:38.90.

Boys 13-14 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

10, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Erickson, Vincent 14, Newton, Hunter 13, Webber, RJ 13, Gimbel, Kodiak 14), 2:25.41.

Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

4, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Potter, Elena 14, Baiar, Jessica 13, Donner, Katie 13, Ward, Bria 14), 2:17.27.

Boys 15-19 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

4, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' 1:52.49.

Girls 15-19 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay

8, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Newton, Katie 15, Newton, Kristi 15, Potter, Keri 15, Piper, Katelynn 15), 2:26.28.

Boys 8 & Under 100 SC Meter IM

3, Babcock, Colton, 1:59.34.

Girls 8 & Under 100 SC Meter IM

11, Merrell, Gabrielle, 3:14.08.

Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter IM

9, Norick, Colter, 1:59.00.

Girls 9-10 100 SC Meter IM

10, Nelson, Karyssa, 1:43.85.

Boys 11-12 200 SC Meter IM

13, Role, Garett, 3:48.04.

Boys 13-14 200 SC Meter IM

12, Newton, Hunter, 3:52.52.

Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter IM

8, Potter, Elena, 3:10.23; 10, Ward, Bria, 3:12.87; 14, Donner, Katie, 3:22.14.

Boys 15-19 200 SC Meter IM

4, Newton, Alan, 2:46.99; 9, Riffey, Jon, 3:04.44; 10, Boyd, Scott, 3:08.31.

Girls 15-19 200 SC Meter IM

13, Newton, Katie, 3:28.43; 14, Newton, Kristi, 3:31.30.

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Freestyle

7, Nelson, Dalton, 33.56.

Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle

9, Gimbel, Kodiak, 31.33.

Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle

9, Bartkoski, Lexie, 32.47.

Boys 15-19 50 SC Meter Freestyle

3, Anderson, Erik, 26.70; 10, Baiar, Michael, 28.54.

Girls 15-19 50 SC Meter Freestyle

7, Piper, Katelynn, 33.57.

Boys 8 & Under 25 SC Meter Breaststroke

7, Babcock, Colton, 26.04.

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Breaststroke

12, Role, Garett, 50.22.

Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter Breaststroke

4, Erickson, Vincent, 1:28.44.

Girls 13-14 100 SC Meter Breaststroke

13, Donner, Katie, 1:43.14.

Boys 15-19 100 SC Meter Breaststroke

9, Newton, Alan, 1:27.54.

Girls 15-19 100 SC Meter Breaststroke

12, Newton, Katie, 1:38.44.

Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter Freestyle

9, Norick, Colter, 1:41.29.

Girls 9-10 100 SC Meter Freestyle

9, Nelson, Karyssa, 1:30.48.

Boys 11-12 100 SC Meter Freestyle

6, Nelson, Dalton, 1:14.50.

Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter Freestyle

11, Gimbel, Kodiak, 1:12.17.

Girls 13-14 100 SC Meter Freestyle

5, Ward, Bria, 1:12.00.

Boys 15-19 100 SC Meter Freestyle

10, Baiar, Michael, 1:06.69.

Girls 15-19 100 SC Meter Freestyle

8, Piper, Katelynn, 1:13.74; 10, Ronish, Hanna, 1:14.84.

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Backstroke

10, Nelson, Dalton, 42.40.

Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Backstroke

4, Palmer, Ashley, 42.89.

Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter Backstroke

6, Erickson, Vincent, 1:27.03; 13, Gimbel, Kodiak, 1:37.68; 14, Newton, Hunter, 1:41.83.

Girls 13-14 100 SC Meter Backstroke

5, Ward, Bria, 1:25.89; 6, Potter, Elena, 1:31.03.

Boys 15-19 100 SC Meter Backstroke

4, Boyd, Scott, 1:17.43.

Girls 15-19 100 SC Meter Backstroke

10, Newton, Kristi, 1:37.13.

Boys 8 & Under 25 SC Meter Butterfly

3, Babcock, Colton, 22.88; 11, Norick, Colin, 5:00.00.

Boys 9-10 50 SC Meter Butterfly

5, Norick, Colter, 51.46.

Girls 9-10 50 SC Meter Butterfly

5, Nelson, Karyssa, 48.57.

Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Butterfly

10, Bartkoski, Lexie, 38.87.

Boys 15-19 50 SC Meter Butterfly

1, Anderson, Erik, 28.22; 7, Baiar, Michael, 32.01; 11, Riffey, Jon, 33.30.

Girls 15-19 50 SC Meter Butterfly

13, Ronish, Hanna, 37.99.

Boys 15-19 400 SC Meter Freestyle

5, Newton, Alan, 5:28.45; 14, Donner, Benjamin, 5:57.02.

Girls 15-19 400 SC Meter Freestyle

7, Piper, Katelynn, 6:01.11; 12, Newton, Katie, 6:15.17.

Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter Medley Relay

7, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Ronish, Nic 9, Babcock, Colton 8, Norick, Colter 10, Webber, Billy 10), 1:38.74.

Girls 9-10 100 SC Meter Medley Relay

10, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Merrell, Gabrielle 8, Gimbel, Allyson 10, Nelson, Karyssa 9, Norick, Cassidy 7), 1:50.02.

Boys 11-12 200 SC Meter Medley Relay

5, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Ronish, Zac 11, Role, Garett 12, Nelson, Dalton 12, Gargasz, Max 12), 3:15.61.

Boys 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay

11, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Gimbel, Kodiak 14, Erickson, Vincent 14, Newton, Hunter 13, Webber, RJ 13), 2:58.23.

Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay

4, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Ward, Bria 14, Donner, Katie 13, Potter, Elena 14, Baiar, Jessica 13), 2:40.39.

Boys 15-19 200 SC Meter Medley Relay

2, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Boyd, Scott 15, Newton, Alan 18, Anderson, Erik 18, Baiar, Michael 15), 2:05.67.

Girls 15-19 200 SC Meter Medley Relay

6, Columbia Falls Swim Team 'A' (Newton, Kristi 15, Newton, Katie 15, Ronish, Hanna 15, Piper, Katelynn 15), 2:41.66.

Boys 13-14 100 SC Meter Butterfly

10, Erickson, Vincent, 1:39.73.

Girls 13-14 100 SC Meter Butterfly

6, Potter, Elena, 1:30.88; 8, Bartkoski, Lexie, 1:34.57.

Boys 15-19 100 SC Meter Butterfly

1, Anderson, Erik, 1:03.98F; 7, Riffey, Jon, 1:22.07; 12, Donner, Benjamin, 1:33.59.

Girls 15-19 100 SC Meter Butterfly

7, Ronish, Hanna, 1:28.88; 12, Potter, Keri, 2:03.97.