On the way to leading Glacier to its best performance at the state swim meet, Wolfpack senior Jordan Loyda won the 50 yard freestyle championship, nearly breaking a 21-year-old state record. In the state finals in Hardin on Saturday, Loyda won in 22.08 seconds, edging Helena High’s Pete Kotson by a tenth of a second. The state record is 21.35, set by Helena Capital’s Thad Michalson in 1992.
The Glacier boys placed second as a team in Class AA after scoring 166.5 points. It was the first top-three finish for the program. Helena won the AA championship with 179. Billings Central of Class A tallied the most points with 189.
Loyda helped Glacier win the 200 and 400 freestyle relay championships along with younger brother Joshua, Logan Streit and Jake Cirincione. The boys won the 200 relay in 1:30.48, a new school record and nearly a state record. Billings Senior owns the state’s best time of 1:30.08 set in 1999. Glacier won the 400 freestyle championship in 3:18.67, beating Helena by seven seconds.
Loyda also placed second in the 100 freestyle.
Joshua Loyda, a junior, earned second in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 200 freestyle. Cirincione, a freshman, earned second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 individual medley. Streit, a senior, earned third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 50 freestyle.
For girls, Glacier senior Makenna Siebenaler earned third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 freestyle. Jessica Stenberg placed sixth in the 500 freestyle. Flathead’s Cassie Krueger earned fourth in the 50 freestyle.
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