Thunder Places Fifth at Divisionals

Where do I start? So much happened this weekend at the divisional swim meet in Plentywood, I don't even know where to begin.

The weather is always safe, right? Wrong. It was hot. Really hot. That probably goes without saying, but there was some notable weather on Saturday. The meet was going full swing when suddenly, at around 3 p.m., Mother Nature reared her ugly head and humbled everyone in her path. The afternoon was perfectly still and serene until there was a strong but fleeting burst of wind. Tents and canopies were literally thrown across the pool and park. Spectators and children scrambled to find safety, and yes, there were screams. In the end, there were two head injuries and plenty of broken canopies.

Less dramatic events of the weekend were the parade of athletes and senior recognition.The parade of athletes is an opening ceremony of sorts. Teams are announced as they enter the pool area and form a circle around the water. Teams are encouraged to choose a theme and dress up for the event, although not all of them do. The Thunder dressed as cops and robbers this year – complete with cardboard police cars. Senior recognition was held Sunday morning during a lightning delay. Glasgow's Gervi Cadimas was recognized as one of the ten senior swimmers in our division this year. In absentia of her parents, Cadimas was supported by several members of her swim team family.

Thankfully, the weather wasn't the most exciting thing that happened. Early on in the meet, it became apparent that pool records are meant to be broken, and the Thunder did their fair share. Katie Kaiser broke the record in the 100m backstroke for her age group with a time of 1:21.53, Dalton Sand set a new pool record in the boys 9-10 year-old 50m freestyle with a time of 34.31, and the girls 15 and over relay team of DJ Rasmusan, Khloe Krumwiede, Jordan Kulczyk, and Katie Kaiser broke a six-year-old record with a time of 2:25.86 in the 200m medley relay.

Kaiser and Sand, along with Trevor Johnson, again earned high point honors in their age groups by winning all three of their events.

Klaire Krumwiede, a veteran swimmer in the 11-12 year-old age group, faced a unique situation with a swim-off in the breaststroke on Sunday morning. Although she didn't prevail in the race, it was apparent she had the support of the Thunder. More than half her team stood at the end of the pool and cheered her on.

In addition to the high point trio of Sand, Johnson, and Kaiser, Taylor Johnson and Tim Wageman claimed champion status in their races: Johnson in the 50m butterfly with a time of 32.32 and Wageman in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:31.08.

Six of Thunder's relay teams finished with first place wins. Not only did the 15 and over girls take first in the 200m medley relay, they also swam away with the pool record in that event. The 11-12 year-old boys and 13-14 year-old boys relays also claimed first place in all four of their relays.

At the conclusion of the weekend, Glasgow had 30 individual and relay state qualifiers under their caps. The Thunder will head to Roundup this weekend for the state meet. They will compete in the "A" division against Glendive, Columbia Falls, Plentywood, Scobey and Chester.

Relay Results

Girls - 8 and under (Abigail Kulczyk, Grace Reyes, Myli Swindler, Kaitlyn Hiltunen): 100 Free 1:58.85 (6th); 100 Medley 2:37.27 (4th), 11-12 (Ava Reyes, Iris McKean, Klaire Krumwiede, Raelee Dowden): 200 Free 2:39.71 (6th); 200 Medley 3:13.02 (7th), 13-14 (Rachel Billingsley, Natosha Sand, Mykenzie Eliason, Tori Pehlke):200 Free 2:32.86 (4th); 200 Medley 2:57.71 (3rd), 15-19 (DJ Rasmusan, Khloe Krumwiede, Jordan Kulczyk, Katie Kaiser): 200 Free 2:04.10 (1st); 200 Medley 2:25.86 (1st)

Boys – 11-12 (Dalton Sand, Bergen Miller, Trevor Johnson, Tristin Vandall): 200 Free 2:30.43 (1st); 200 Medley 2:56.07 (1st), 13-14 (Tim Wageman, Britt Fairclough, Zavier Urbin, Taylor Johnson): 200 Free 2:21.38 (1st); 200 Medley 2:44.88 (1st)

Individual Results – Boys

(Time/Event/Place)

Fairclough, Britt

34.54/Boys 13-14 50 Free/8

1:44.32/Boys 13-14 100 Breast/5

1:44.45/Boys 13-14 100 Back/2

Gunderson, Logan

28.70/Boys 15-19 50 Free/6

1:04.73/Boys 15-19 100 Free/5

Johnson, Taylor

2:56.44/Boys 13-14 200 IM/2

1:05.05/Boys 13-14 100 Free/2

32.32/Boys 13-14 50 Fly/1

Johnson, Trevor

3:12.95/Boys 11-12 200 IM/1

31.17/Boys 11-12 50 Free/1

35.90/Boys 11-12 50 Fly/1

Kaiser, Tony

37.39/Boys 15-19 50 Fly/9

1:08.81/Boys 15-19 100 Free/7

5:29.94/Boys 15-19 400 Free/3

Miller, Bergen

53.97/Boys 11-12 50 Breast/6

1:31.88/Boys 11-12 100 Free/11

Sand, Dalton

1:31.31/Boys 9-10 100 IM/1

34.31/Boys 9-10 50 Free/1

40.23/Boys 9-10 50 Fly/1

Urbin, Zavier

1:04.38/Boys 11-12 50 Fly/DQ

Vandall, Tristin

49.86/Boys 11-12 50 Back/6

Wageman, Tim

33.39/Boys 13-14 50 Free/5

1:17.17/Boys 13-14 100 Free/5

1:31.08/Boys 13-14 100 Back/1

Individual Results – girls

(Time/Event/Place)

Billingsley, Rachel

3:41.95/Girls 13-14 200 IM/8

2:00.61/Girls 13-14 100 Breast/11

46.97/Girls 13-14 50 Fly/9

Cadimas, Gervilyn

35.84/Girls 15-19 50 Free/8

1:19.78/Girls 15-19 100 Free/8

37.18/Girls 15-19 50 Fly/5

Dowden, Raelee

3:41.41/Girls 11-12 200 IM/7

48.77/Girls 11-12 50 Back/9

49.88/Girls 11-12 50 Fly/9

Eliason, Mykenzie

39.08/Girls 13-14 50 Free/11

1:58.91/Girls 13-14 100 Breast/10

4.69/Girls 13-14 50 Fly/5

Foster-Shaw, Jazmine

39.97/Girls 15-19 50 Free/12

46.25/Girls 15-19 50 Fly/9

2:01.89/Girls 15-19 100 Back/5

Hiltunen, Kaitlyn

31.55/Girls 8 & Under 25 Back/11

Kaiser, Katie

31.81/Girls 13-14 50 Free/1

1:21.53/Girls 13-14 100 Back/1

1:25.72/Girls 13-14 100 Fly/1

Krumwiede, Khloe

2:59.38/Girls 15-19 200 IM/2

30.81/Girls 15-19 50 Free/2

1:07.24/Girls 15-19 100 Free/2

Krumwiede, Klaire

1:17.84/Girls 11-12 100 Free/4

49.34/Girls 11-12 50 Back/11

Kulczyk, Jordan

5:36.79/Girls 15-19 400 Free/3

1:10.46/Girls 15-19 100 Free/3

1:29.38/Girls 15-19 100 Back/2

McKean, Iris

1:59.39/Girls 9-10 100 IM/11

55.32/Girls 9-10 50 Breast/6

57.12/Girls 9-10 50 Back/12

Pehlke, Tori

53.72/Girls 11-12 50 Breast/11

Rasmusan, DJ

33.75/Girls 15-19 50 Free/6

1:20.37/Girls 15-19 100 Free/6

5:57.99/Girls 15-19 400 Free/6

Reyes, Ava

1:54.19/Girls 9-10 100 IM/7

1:41.10/Girls 9-10 100 Free/11

56.12/Girls 9-10 50 Fly/6

Sand, Natosha

3:23.71/Girls 13-14 200 IM/5

1:44.74/Girls 13-14 100 Breast/7

43.33/Girls 13-14 50 Fly/3

Vandall, Tarin

53.21/Girls 9-10 50 Fly/7