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

Editors note: Due to unforeseen circumstances with the printing process, the Blaine County Journal ~ News Opinion had a much earlier deadline than normal to go to press. As a result every attempt was made to gather as many results and photos from the State Swim Meet in Lewistown for this weeks paper. Additional information, results or photos will be included in next weeks edition as necessary. We apologize for any inconvenience to our readers.

The Chinook Lions and Harlem Swim Teams were in Lewistown this past weekend to compete in the Montana Federation of Swimmers State Meet. Both teams have excelled in the pool all summer long and when given the opportunity, have always excelled. This weekend in Lewistown swimmers from both teams stepped up their performance big time, establishing multiple new pool records, federation state records and crushing many personal bests. The Lions captured the Class A State Team Title along the way to complete an outstanding season.

The Chinook Lions Swim team may lack the numbers of the much larger teams but their contingent sure racks up the records and championship performances. With less than half the numbers of teams like Sidney and Lewistown, the Lions managed to bring home the bulk of the individual hardware. There are five age groups for both the boys and girls and it is possible for more than one swimmer to claim High Point honors for each group. Of the 10 separate divisions the Chinook Lions swimmers earned six High Point Trophies at the state meet with another two swimmers just on the brink, highlighting the quality of swimmers on the Lions Swim Team.

Earning High Point honors for the Lions were Tyler Stephens (8 & Under Boys), Rachel Stephens (11-12 Girls), Bryce Elliot (11-12 Boys), Brockton Elliot (13-14 Boys, Daniel Tilleman (13-14 Boys) and Katie Tilleman (13-14 Girls) All six High Point winners were State Champions in all three of their Individual races as well.

The Harlem Swim team again saw Ciana Johnson excel in the pool. Johnson won the girls 9-10 High Point Trophy while also claiming three individual titles as well. Johnson anchored the State Champion 11-12 Girls 200 Meter Freestyle Relay as well. Alongside Johnson on the relay team were Lillian Cochran, Bailey Johnson and Precious Stiffarm. The State Champions completed all four legs of the relay in 2:16.86 to edge runner up Lewistown by more than a full second.

Johnson began her championship run by claiming Gold in the 9-10 Girls 50 Meter Freestyle, touching the pad in :33.60 to win the event. Johnson later collected her second state championship by winning the 100 Meter freestyle with a golden effort of 1:15.59. She concluded her state swim by winning her third championship, this time in the 50 Meter Back Stroke with a winning time of :41.94.

Harlem Coach, Andrew Rasmussen, wasn't able to attend the state swim meet as he was fulfilling his obligation to the MSU Northern Light football team with fall camp underway. That didn't mean Rasmussen wasn't closely monitoring his teams efforts and had this to say about their performance this season, "We have prepared all year for this meet and it's up to the kids how well they swim at this point! I would have liked to have been there but I am really proud of all the effort that the kids put in, whether they place or not. They all at least tried and they did something this summer, they dedicated themselves to practice everyday to be better for themselves and the team! Congratulations kids, I'm proud of you!"

The Lions were led over the weekend by a superior effort from Daniel Tilleman with a record smashing performance. Daniel crushed the Federation State record in the 13-14 boys 50 Meter Freestyle, touching the wall in :25.86, beating the field by nearly three full seconds (:02.98) to the wall. Daniel followed that effort up with an credible win by :07.63 in the 100 Meter Freestyle to establish yet another Federation State record. He collected his High Point trophy following a win in the 200 Meter Freestyle (2:15.19) to conclude his swim.

Katie Tilleman continued her record shattering performance at the State Swim meet. On Saturday in the preliminary swims, Katie established three new pool records in each of her individual events and then on Sunday broke each of them once again. Katie won her first state title in the 50 Meter Freestyle final on Sunday with a time of :28.93. Her second Gold medal came a short time later in the 100 Meter Backstroke, winning the event in 1:14.02. She capped her record breaking Sunday with a win in the 50 Meter Butterfly with a time of :31.50.

Tyler Stephens led the eight and Under Boys all season long and his three events at the State Swim meet were all championship worthy. Tyler earned his first Gold in the 25 Meter Freestyle with a time of :16.67. The young swimmer followed that up by winning the 50 Meter Freestyle with a time of :39.11. Tyler concluded his day with his third state title by winning 25 Meter Backstroke with a time of :22.28.

Rachel Stephens also swept all three of her individual events in winning the girls 11-12 High Point Trophy. Rachel won her first championship in the 50 Meter Freestyle with a time of :30.66. Her second win came in the 100 Meter Freestyle with a time of 1:08.68. Rachel concluded her swim with a win in the 50 Meter Butterfly, clocking in at :34.44. She had previously broken the pool record in the event on Saturday during the prelims with a time of :33.95.

Bryce Elliot claimed top honors for the 11-12 boys division with three individual state championships to his credit. Bryce won the 200 Meter Individual Medley with a time of 3:03.90. He later picked up a win in the 50 Meter Butterfly (:34.25) and the 200 Meter Freestyle with a time of 2:30.69.

The Harlem Swim Team Girls 11-12 200 Meter Freestyle relay team bested the field to capture Gold in the event claiming Harlem's first State Championship of the State Swim Meet in Lewistown. The team included (L-R) Bailey Johnson, Precious Stiffarm, Lillian Cochran and Ciana Johnson. The girls completed the four legs in 2:16.86 to win the event Saturday morning.

Brockton Elliot captured Chinooks sixth High Point of the weekend while setting a couple of pool records in the process. Brockton has dominated the Butterfly event all season long and broke pool records in both the 50 Meter Butterfly (:28.68) and the 100 Meter Butterfly (1:08.25) while claiming two state titles in the process. Brockton won his third Gold of the state swim meet in 200 Meter Individual Medley with an effort of 2:47.95.

Chinooks Britton Elliot won a pair of individual title in the girls 15-19 Division with wins in the 50 Meter Freestyle and the 100 Meter Freestyle. Dentin DePriest added a pair of wins in th 15-19 Boys 400 Meter Freestyle and the 100 Meter Breaststroke to the Lions total. Kolton Depriest won the 13-14 100 Meter Breaststroke giving the Lions 23 Individual State Championships.

The 2022 Summer Swim Season is over, kids will look to get back in the swing of things at school and start counting the days until the first practice of the 2023 summer swim season. The schedule for next season is a long way from being finalized but we do know after this weekend is that the Eastern Divisional will be in Chinook July 22-23 and the State Swim Meet will take place in Conrad, July 29-30.