The Piranhas school of swimmers are out of class for the season. Ten members of the Plains Piranhas attended the Montana State Swim Team Finals at Conrad last weekend, finishing in fourth place in Class C.

Twenty-two teams and 579 swimmers competed in the two-day state contest, according to Kelly Horton, whose daughter, Grace, competed in the finals. The team coach, Jack Couch, took first place in the boys' 15 to 19-year-old class 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:7.90. Couch had been a member of the Hamilton Swim Team before taking the job as the Plains head coach this season. He was assisted this year by Kirk Frye, who swam with the Piranhas as a youth and coached in both Plains and Hamilton.

Last weekend, 18-year-old Couch grabbed first place in the 50-meter fly, finishing at 28.40 seconds. He took third place in the 50-meter freestyle at 26.22 seconds.

Piranha Alexis Helterline took second place in the 11-12-year-olds in the 50-meter breaststroke, finishing at 43.50. She also finished in 16th place in the 200-meter freestyle at 3:20.66.

The Plains relay team finished in ninth place in the girls' 15 to 19-year-old class in the 200-meter freestyle relay. The team included Cree Lulack, Lillian MacDonald, Grace Horton, and Kaylee Cole. Their finish time was 2:31.81. The same team took 10th place in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 2:50.30.

Ireland Corbin, competing in the 9 to 10-year-old 50-meter backstroke, finished in 11th place at 50.06 seconds. Her sister, Hallie Corbin, finished 20th in the 200-meter individual medley at 4:35.76. Grace Horton took 12th place in the 13 to 14-year-olds class 100-meter breaststroke at 1:45.73. Also in a 12th place finish was Cree Lulack in the 15 to 19-year-olds 50-meter fly, finishing at 38.94. In the 15 to 19-year-olds girls' 400-meter freestyle, Kaylee Cole took 12th place at 6:39.43.

The Piranhas attended six of the eight regular season meets this year, missing the first two due to mechanical problems of the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool in Plains.

Ed Moreth

POURING ON THE SPEED – Plains Piranha Cree Lulack (above) and Grace Horton (left) swim steadily through the water in the 200-meter freestyle relay competition at the Montana State Finals at Conrad. Also on the relay team was Lillian MacDonald and Kaylee Cole. The team finished in ninth place with a time of 2:31.81.

"Swim team has been a very important part of our summers for the past 10 years," said Kelly Horton. "This sport is the only sport you will ever hear coaches screaming 'don't breath,' but is also one that you will see amazing sportsmanship between the athletes," she said. 

"I admit each of our kids has their rivals in the water, but you'd never know it by the high fives and hugs given freely immediately following the race," added Horton, whose husband, Rick, is on the Plains swim team board. "The relationships built throughout the summer from teams across Montana seem to grow with each year and end up being in some cases lifelong friendships."