Swim Team Sends Seven to State Meet

The Malta Swim Team will be sending seven swimmers to the Montana Federation of Swimmer State Swim Meet this weekend in Lewistown.

The team qualified seven out of ten swimmers that competed in the Eastern Divisional Meet in Plentywood, which started on Friday, July 29, and concluded on Saturday, July 30.

“The first day was pretty long because there were a lot more kids than I expected,” Malta Head Coach Darrow Messerly said. “There were like 350 kids.”

The Malta boys were tenth with 58 points and the girls were also tenth with 28 points.

“It was a big learning curve for our kids because, for a lot of them, it was their first divisional meet,” Coach Messerly said. “The jitters got to them and so we had a few disqualifications. All-in-all, they swam pretty well and they gave it their best.”

The Young brothers, Kael and Silas led Malta. Kael had a total of 28 points, while Silas had 23.

“The Young boys did pretty well,” Coach Messerly said. “We even had a few swimmers shave off a lot of time. Rosie Day took off 19 seconds and Brooke Negus did the same.”

K. Young took third place in the Boys 13-14 100-meter Freestyle with a time of 1:07.29. He was fourth in the 50-Meter Freestyle and fourth in the 50-Meter Fly with times of 30.18 and 37.59 respectively.

S. Young was fourth in the Boys 11-12 50-Meter Breaststroke with a time of 47.71. He was fifth in the 50-Meter Freestyle with a time of 35.87, and seventh in the 100-Meter Freestyle with a time of 1:18.45.

Reese Brown scored seven points for Malta. He was ninth in the Boys 15-19 100-Meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:46.87 and tenth in the 100-Meter Freestyle with a time of 1:32.26.

Nine-year-old Brooke Negus led the charge for the girls, with 15 points.

Negus was fourth in the Girls 9-10 50-Meter Fly with a time of 51.58 seconds. She was also tenth in the 50-Meter Backstroke and 50-Meter Freestyle with times of 57.17 and 42.97 respectively.

Taya Wilke was sixth in the Girls 11-12 200-Meter IM. Danika Wilke was tenth in the Girls 13-14 100-Meter backstroke.

“Taya swam pretty well for her age group because the 11 through 12 girls are tough every year,” Coach Messerly said.

Malta was also joined by Rosie Day, Aubrie Norville, and Ellie Norville, but they were not able to qualify for state.