The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook Lions and Harlem swim teams headed east this past weekend to compete in the Glasgow Swim Meet. It was a tough go for everyone involved, not because of the nearly 300 swimmers set to compete, but because of the scorching heat. Temperatures soared into the triple digits over the weekend topping out at 108˚ on Sunday breaking an all-time record. Temperatures on the pool deck soared even higher making it miserable for timers, stroke judges and swimmers awaiting their race. Despite the various obstacles swimmers from both teams excelled when it came time for them to swim.

The Chinook Lions Swim team finished third overall with just 20 swimmers competing, five of them took home High Point trophies as well. The Harlem Swim team continued their season long improvement with many swimmers achieving new personal bests. Twelve swimmers competed for the Harlem swim team this week with Ciana Johnson capturing 9-10 Girls High Point Trophy in continuing her fine season in the pool.

The Lions had a great swim in Glasgow with all 20 swimmers performing very well over the weekend. Head Coach Benton Elliot was pleased with his team's overall performance, "Overall the team did very well, we placed 3rd overall and had less swimmers than lots of teams. There were PRs (Personal Records) left and right. Just two weeks until divisional and three weeks until state, I think we are sitting in a very good spot."

The Lions had five individual High Point winners in Glasgow. Rachel Stephens took home top honors in the girls 11-12 division, Katie Tilleman swam her way to the top spot in the girls 13-14 age group and Britton Elliot was the top swimmer in the girls 15-19 division. For the boys Daniel Tilleman and Brockton Elliot shared the 13-14 boys division High Point honors.

Stephens swept all three of her individual races, beginning with the 50 Meter Freestyle. Stephens completed the sprint in just :31.13 to win the event. Later she added a first-place finish in the 100 Meter Freestyle, touching the wall in 1:09.70 and establishing a new Glasgow Pool record in the process. She concluded her swim with a win in the 50 Meter Butterfly with a time of :34.50.

Katie Tilleman has dominated the competition through the years and this past weekend in Glasgow was no different with another trophy and three first place finishes in her individual events. Katie began her swim with a sprint to the finish in the 13-14 girls 50 Meter Freestyle, completing the race in :30.02. Later in the day she would win her second final of the day, touching the wall first in the 100 Meter Backstroke with a time of 1:21.91. Her final event was the 50 Meter Butterfly, Katie sprinted past her fellow competitors to win the race in :33.26.

Britton Elliot continued her strong season in the pool, winning all three of her individual events in Glasgow as well. Britton took home gold in her first event, winning the 50 Meter Freestyle with a time of :29.46. She would then add a top finish in the 100 Meter Freestyle, swimming four lengths of the pool in 1:07.74 to best the field. Britton completed her swim in Glasgow with a win in the 100 Meter Backstroke, finishing in 1:19.36 to win the event.

Chinook has dominated all aspects of the boys 13-14 division in recent weeks with Daniel Tilleman and Brockton Elliot each winning the divisions High Point Trophy. The duo combined for six event wins in Glasgow to share the prestigious award. Brockton won all three of his races beginning with the 200 Meter Individual Medley on Saturday. Brockton completed all four disciplines in 2:53.09 to win the event. Sunday Brockton took home a win in the 50 Meter Butterfly with a time of :30.77. He later completed his swim with a win in the 100 Meter Butterfly, finishing in 1:01.54 to win the event.

Daniel Tilleman also won three events in the boys 13-14 division beginning with a first-place finish in the 50 Meter Freestyle, touching the wall in a blistering :27.56. Daniel added another top finish moments later, winning the 100 Meter Freestyle with a time of 1:02.82. He concluded his Glasgow swim with a victory in the 200 Meter Freestyle, turning in a time of 2:22.81 to win the event.

The Lions also continued to shine in the 15-19 Mixed Relay Races. The Lions had previously set the Federation Mark in the Mixed Medley relay and while in Glasgow this past weekend they established new Federation state records in both the Mixed Medley and the Mixed Freestyle races. This is the first years the Montana Federation of Swimmers has swam the events so new records aren't out of the norm, but for the same team to keep re-breaking the record is pretty cool.

The four swimmers for the Chinook Lions Mixed Medley Relay were Britton Elliot Clara Laird, Dentin DePriest and Daniel Tilleman. For the Mixed Freestyle relay the four swimmers included Britton Elliot, Ivey Lenz, Dentin DePriest and Daniel Tilleman.

Harlem swim teams Ciana Johnson continued her strong showing in the pool this season. Johnson took home another High Point Trophy in the girls 9-10 division, sweeping all three of her individual events. Ciana first captured gold in the 50 Meter Freestyle, finishing in :35.12. She would add another first-place finish soon after with a win in the 100 Meter freestyle, completing the race in 1:16.66 to win the event. Her final race in Glasgow was the 50 Meter Backstroke with another first-place finish completing the race in :42.92.

Both the Chinook and Harlem swim teams had several additional swimmers perform at the top of their age group in their individual races as well. Denton DePriest won two events in the 15-16 senior boys division, winning both the 100 Meter Breaststroke (1:18.69) and the 400 Meter Freestyle (5:05.16). Denton also finished second in the 100 Meter freestyle (1:00.54) to just miss out on the High Point award. Kolton DePriest won the 13-14 boys 100 Meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:28.03. Bryce Elliot also turned in a solid effort for the Lions, winning the 11-12 Boys 100 Meter Freestyle (1:14.04) and earning runner up finishes in both the 200 Meter Individual Medley (3:11.79) and the 200 Meter Freestyle (2:33.01).

Tyler Stephens rounds out the Chinook Lions Individual winners, claiming the top spot in both the 25 Meter Freestyle (:17.62) and the 50 Meter Freestyle (:41.50) for the eight and Under boys' division. Tyler also finished second in the 25 Meter Backstroke (:23.75). Cynnlock Gibson earned three second place finishes for the Lions in the boys 9-10 100 Meter Individual Medley (1:55.86), 50 Meter Breaststroke (:58.73) and the 50 Meter Backstroke (:54.92). Five-year-old Sylvi Harwood picked up a second-place finish in the eight and Under Girls 25 Meter Backstroke with a time of :25.82.

Kellie Rasmussen/Celeste Elliot Photos

the Chin0ok Lions have enjoyed a ton of success in the pool this summer and a lot of that success can be attributed the tremendous team support for each other throughout the week in practice and at the meets on the weekends.

The Harlem swim team also got exceptional swims from Hunter Speakthunder with a first-place finish in the 13-14 boys 100 Meter Backstroke (1:30.19). Landen Gray turned in a winning effort in the 15-19 boys 50 Meter freestyle with a time of :27.49. Gray also finished third in the 100 Meter Freestyle (1:04.85) for the Harlem swim team. Bailey Johnson garnered a second-place finish in the 11-12 girls 200 Meter Freestyle (2:46.81) while also adding a pair of third-place finishes in both the 50 Meter freestyle and the 100 Meter freestyle. Precious Stiffarm finished third in the 11-12 girls 50 Meter Breaststroke while competing in Glasgow.

The final regular season meet is this weekend with swimmers being able to compete in the Eastern division meet in Scobey or the Western division meet in Fort Benton. The Chinook Lions and Harlem Swim Teams will the turn their attention to the Eastern Divisional swim meet in Plentywood July 30-31. The Montana Federation of Swimmers state Swim Meet will be held the following weekend, August 6-7 in Lewistown.