Montana

2024 NSW Senior State Championships: 14-Yr-Old Christopher Montana Introduces Himself

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2024

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2024 NSW Senior State Championships: 14-Yr-Old Christopher Montana Introduces Himself

2024 NSW SENIOR STATE SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday, August 23rd – Sunday, August 25th
Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC)
SCM (25m)
Results

The 2024 New South Wales Senior State Short Course Championships concluded today at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

This competition was a chance for young budding stars to make their mark in the short course format, with age records at risk on both the women’s and men’s sides.

Day 1 Highlights

Day 1 of the 3-day affair became ‘The Christopher Montana Show’ as the 14-year-old wreaked havoc in both of his events to kick things off.

First in the boys’ 200m IM, Montana of Trinity Grammar Swimming Club fired off a time of 2:05.83 to beat the field by well over half a second.

Montana split 26.32/31.44/36.87/31.20 to put up the best time of his young career, erasing the 2:11.30 the teen put up just earlier this month.

His outing now ranks Montana as Australia’s 9th-fastest 14-year-old boy in history.

Later in the session, Calum Timms-trained Montana tried the boys’ 14-year-old 100m breaststroke on for size.

Montana ripped a career-quickest result of 1:02.20 to get to the wall nearly a second ahead of the pack. He opened in 28.88 and closed in 33.32 to knock just under 4 seconds off his previous PB of 1:06.38.

With his podium-topping performance, Montana obliterated the previous Australian National Age Record in this 1breast event. The former benchmark stood at the 1:03.25 Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook put on the books in 2013.

Day 2 Highlights

Montana was back at it on day 2, reaping multiple medals en route to making Australian age group swimming history.

Montana raced in the boys’ 200m breaststroke event where he stopped the clock at a mighty 2:18.66. That blew his previous personal best of 2:27.19 to bits en route to posting the sole sub-2:23 time of the field.

His result checks him in as the 6th-fastest 14-year-old Aussie boy in history.

Montana then competed in the 50m breast, roaring his way to the wall in a swift 28.60. That hacked over a second off his previous PB en route to registering a new Age Record.

The previous mark stood at the 29.18 Joshua Collett notched in 2018. This means Montana is the first-ever Aussie 14-year-old to dip under the 29-second barrier.

Of note, runner-up Hudson Hegarty wasn’t too far behind Collett’s mark, hitting 29.32 for silver behind Montana.

Finally, on day 2 Montana topped the boys’ 14-year-old 100m butterfly. He posted a time of 56.53 as one of two swimmers in the 56-range.

Joining him was Ethan Haegebert who touched in 56.82 while Joshua Kang rounded out the top 3 in 57.11.

The trio each turned in new personal bests. Entering this competition, Montana had never been under the minute threshold, owning a former PB of 1:00.22 from just earlier this month. He hacked over 3 seconds off with this powerful performance.

15-year-old Lukas Dunn was another multiple-event winner on day 2. The Knox Pymble athlete rocked a time of 54.14 for a new PB in the 100m fly.

Dunn’s outing rendered him the #2 15-year-old Australian performer, sitting only behind Age Group record holder Jayden Hadler who posted 52.12 in 2008.

Dunn also turned in a time of 24.44 to take the 50m fly by over a second. He’s now the 4th-fastest Aussie 15-year-old boy ever.

Finally, Dunn scored a result of 55.59 for a big-time personal best in the 100m back. That ripped his former PB of 59.01 to shreds.

Day 3 Highlights

Montana topped the boys’ 14-year-old 200m backstroke in a time of 2:05.01, a head-turning personal best by over 7 seconds.

He also raced in the 50m back, where he settled for silver in 26.63 behind Haegebaert who handily got to the wall first.

Haegebaert hit a mark of 26.05 to lead the field and check-in as the 4th-fastest Aussie 14-year-old boy ever in the 50m back.

The same event for the 16-year-old age category saw a swift performance at the hands of Haegebaert’s Knox Pymble teammate Tristen Waugh.

Waugh wowed the crowd with a time of 24.83, producing the sole mark of the field under the 25-second barrier. The outing represents Waugh’s first-ever result under the 26-second threshold, becoming the 3rd-best 50m Aussie backstroker at his age in the process.

Jaimie De Lutiis was too quick to catch in the girls’ 17&O 100m freestyle. De Lutiis of West Iillawara Aquatic Swim Club turned in a time of 53.36 to easily overtake her previous PB of 54.71.

Once again Dunn made his presence known in more than 1 race, taking on the 100m freestyle for 15-year-olds.

Dunn registered 50.06 (24.05/26.01) to get the job done, nearly breaking the 50-second barrier as he logged another lifetime best.

He then rocked a time of 56.44 in his age category’s 100m IM, scoring the sole time of the field under a minute. Dunn completed his campaign with a victory in the 50m free, wrangling up gold in 23.45.

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Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

3 hours ago

March 2, 2026

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Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

16 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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