Thunder Caps Off Regular Season with Fourth Place in Chinook

Chinook was the setting for the last regular swim meet of the season this past weekend. The Glasgow Kiwanis Thunder was represented by less than half of their team for the two day event. The team eventually brought home fourth place and had three high point winners. Dalton Sand, Trevor Johnson, and Katie Kaiser each won all three of their events in their age groups and received individual trophies for their efforts.

The smallest group of competitors for the Thunder was the 8 and under girls. Kimber Dulaney earned 11th place in the 25m backstroke with a time of 35.62. In the same category, Kaitlyn Hiltunen earned 4th place with a time of 28.38. Sophia Larson took 7th in the 25m freestyle in 22.58, 6th in the 50m freestyle in 55.11, and 4th in the 25m breaststroke in 32.48. The trio earned 33 points for the team.

The only boy swimming in the 9-10 year old age group, Dalton Sand, was the stand-out swimmer with a total of 42 points. Sand finished the 100m IM in 1:33.4, the 50m breaststroke in 34.14, and the 50m butterfly in 40.35. The girls in the same age group earned the team 35 points. Tarin Vandall placed 11th in the 50m backstroke with 57.75, and 6th in both the 50m breaststroke (5:00.00) and the 50m butterfly (57.89). Kate Parks swam the IM and placed 6th with a time of 1:55.54. Ava Reyes placed 10th in the 100m freestyle in 1:42.27, 9th in the 50m breaststroke in 1:00.86, and 8th in the 100m IM with 1:58.88.

Earning 42 points for the team and a high point trophy for himself, Trevor Johnson led the 11-12 year old category. Johnson finished with three first place finishes in the 200m IM (3:10.15), the 50m freestyle (31.27), and the 50m butterfly (36.00). Bergen Miller placed 5th in two of his events, the 50m breaststroke (54.18), and the 100m freestyle (1:32.83). He claimed 8th place in the 50m freestyle with a time of 40.98. Zavier Urbin placed 6th in the 50m butterfly (5:00.00), and 7th in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1:45.26. Raelee Dowden placed 10th in both the 100m freestyle (1:32.85), and the 50m backstroke (49.48). In the 200m IM, Dowden earned 9th place with a time of 3:56.14. Tori Pehlke finished 11th in both the 50m breaststroke (55.07) and the 50m backstroke (50.41). Pehlke's performance in the 100m freestyle earned her 8th place with a time of 1:31.86. The 11-12 year olds earned a total of 95 points for the Thunder.

The Thunder also had only one boy swimming in the 13-14 year old age group. Britt Fairclough finished in the top five in all of his events, taking 5th in the 100m breaststroke (1:44.81), 2nd in the 50m freestyle (33.58), and 1st in the 100m backstroke (1:39.49). Katie Kaiser led the girls in this age group with the third high point of the weekend for the Thunder. Finishing first in each of her events, Kaiser also earned 42 points for the team. She swam the 50m freestyle in 31.64, the 50m butterfly in 35.77, and the 100m backstroke in 1:21.56. Rachel Billingsley earned 9th place in the 100m breaststroke (2:06.40), 7th in the 50m butterfly (44.04), and 6th in the 200m IM (3:54.43). Natosha Sand finished 7th in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:48.25, 5th in the 50m butterfly with a time of 43.25, and 4th in the 200m IM with a time of 3:23.06. Finishing up for the 13-14 year old category was Mykenzie Eliason. She claimed 8th place in the 100m breaststroke (1:58.34), and 6th in both the 50m freestyle (40.87) and the 50m butterfly (44.48). The Thunder's intermediate swimmers earned 135 points for the team.

For the senior swimmers, the Thunder again had only one boy to represent the team. Tony Kaiser swam the 50m butterfly in 38.57 for 6th place, the 100m freestyle in 1:12.52 for 4th place, and the 400m freestyle in 5:31.42 for a 2nd place finish. Jazmine Foster-Shaw claimed 8th place in her 50m freestyle swim with a time of 42.15, 6th in the 50m butterfly with a time of 49.67, and 5th in the 100m backstroke with a time of 2:05.20. Gervi Cadimas, who doubles as assistant coach and a Thunder competitor, swam the 50m butterfly (38.50) for a 3rd place finish and the 100m freestyle (1:20.66) for a 5th place finish.

Jordan Kulczyk finished in the top three for her races. She earned 3rd place in both the 100m backstroke (1:30.90) and the 400m freestyle (5:46.15). Her highest placing for the weekend was 2nd in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1:11.66. The last senior girl swimming in Chinook for the team was DJ Rasmusan. Rasmusan swam freestyle in all three of her races. She placed 4th in both the 400m (6:02.73) and the 100m (1:17.92), and took 3rd in the 50m (33.69). The Thunder's 15 & over swimmers earned 126 points for the team.

The Thunder will be traveling to Plentywood for the Eastern divisional swim meet this weekend. Head coach Nicole Arnold is looking forward to the weekend.

"The other meets throughout the season really aren't a good indicator of how we can do as a team because participation is so different each weekend," she explained. "The swimmers only have to compete in two meets during the regular season to earn the trip to divisionals, so we never really know how the team will do as a unit until then."