Montana
2024 NSW Senior State Championships: 14-Yr-Old Christopher Montana Introduces Himself
![2024 NSW Senior State Championships: 14-Yr-Old Christopher Montana Introduces Himself 2024 NSW Senior State Championships: 14-Yr-Old Christopher Montana Introduces Himself](https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Monty-scaled.jpeg?1724617395)
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
Destructive wildfire in southeastern Montana forces evacuations and claims land
![Destructive wildfire in southeastern Montana forces evacuations and claims land Destructive wildfire in southeastern Montana forces evacuations and claims land](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6b822bd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+36/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2F46%2Fd03108d94a02a8ff9cba3441171c%2Ffirestill-2-25-1.jpg)
BIRNEY — The Remington fire has taken over southeastern Montana, and as of Sunday afternoon, has burned over 196,000 acres and is at 0% containment, according to MT Fire Info.
The fire first began in Wyoming on Thursday but quickly crossed the Montana-Wyoming border spreading rapidly, affecting Rosebud, Powder River, and Big Horn counties.
Pre-evacuation orders are in place for residences on Tongue River Road between Ashland and Birney, the town of Birney, East-Fork Hanging Woman Road to the Rosebud county line and Odell Creek Road to Ashland. Tribal resources were staged at the Birney Community Hall throughout the night to help fight the fire. By Saturday morning, due to backburning efforts, Birney residents were allowed to safely return home, according to the Northern Cheyenne Incident Command.
Steve Bourne
“If it had kept going and if the [fire fighters] hadn’t been back, Birney itself as a town would not be there,” said Birney resident Laurel Fjell. “It’s a rude awakening.”
The Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that the fire was being successfully managed by multiple crews throughout Saturday, but that people should still be on the lookout in the area for hazardous situations.
The Remington fire has affected rural communities and ranchers in the area. Many have seen a loss of land, fencing, structures, and livestock.
“It’s kind of a regular thing. Every year we have at least one to two big giant fires that kind of spooks everybody. For the years that I’ve lived here, this is probably the worst one that I’ve seen,” said Birney rancher Jacob Knoblock.
Those who live in the area are usually prepared to jump into action when fires occur. Knoblock said that he and his family have water tanks and sprayers on their trucks to help fight fires.
“We set up a plan to help start back burning over there to make sure it doesn’t jump the road and go into our permits,” said Knoblock.
Knoblock and his neighbors lost a significant amount of cattle initially but are still in the process of relocating them. He also said that while they are lucky the fire missed their house, they still lost almost 1,000 acres of land.
Isabel Spartz/MTN News
“Grazing land. That’s kind of all that’s really burned up. Our hay fields are okay, so that’s always good, but just fencing. I have to go through and fix fences again,” said Knoblock.
Others in the town of Birney also attempted to fight the fire but were worried about the uncertainty and severity of the burn.
“I’ve been fighting fires for over 60 years here, and this is way the worst that I’ve ever seen,” said resident Butch Fjell.
For the Fjell family, the fire was dangerously close to their surrounding neighbors’ houses in Birney. They came to help the backburning efforts near Hanging Woman Creek, but that situation turned into a close call when a tree exploded near them.
“I was in the crossfire. The heat was so enormous that it blistered my knees and my right hand has blisters on it and my ear,” said Laurel Fjell. “To me, it was a close-to-death experience. I’d never ever experienced anything like that before.”
Fjell suffered major burns but was able to treat them. Her grandson, Grayson Fjell, witnessed the fire and jumped into action to make sure she was alright.
“I was in the fire truck on that tree blew up and she was outside and so I didn’t know really what to do,” said Grayson. “I burnt a little bit on my finger and my elbow because I tried to go out the door, but all that heat just on that metal was scorching hot. It was pretty scary for having her outside the pick-up.”
![Remington](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/29b294f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1536x2048+0+0/resize/1080x1440!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fde%2F76%2Fabef3c6142769a8fa7902f4bbed6%2F456689617-2749873835172530-1821926954876028965-n.jpg)
Laurel Fjell
Lots in the community have come together to offer assistance and help. In Lame Deer, the Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation has been established as a shelter for those needing a safe place to go.
“Last night, we did have eight people here and we currently have a capacity of 20 but can expand quite quickly,” said Emma Harris, the Boys and Girls accountant.
The shelters were open to those evacuating from Ashland, as fire crews were worried the fire was heading in that direction. For now, the community is safe, but those pre-evacuation orders are still in effect.
“People are scheduled to be here all through the night in case that situation becomes a little bit more unsafe and people need to be evacuated,” said Harris.
The fire has the potential to spread, but the assistance from many firefighters all over the area hopes to stop it.
“It has given me an enormous respect for all these firefighters that are risking their life every day and our local firefighters,” said Laurel.
Montana
Strong storm hits Seeley Lake and surrounding area
![Strong storm hits Seeley Lake and surrounding area Strong storm hits Seeley Lake and surrounding area](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3575c30/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+36/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3f%2F35%2F4df2c6c54be294be1d73becd9a72%2Fposter-image-1.jpg)
A brief but powerful storm blew through Seeley Lake on Friday, knocking down many trees and power lines in the process.
The storm left most of the town without power due to damaged powerlines. An essential-only driving request made by the Missoula 911 center on Friday evening was lifted on Saturday morning.
Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC) was on the scene Saturday in Seeley Lake and Condon working on cleanup, repairs and pole replacements.
Residents were also working to clean up the debris in their yards following the storm MTN spoke with a resident in one of the most affected areas and he said the recovery from this storm has been a group effort.
“Last night everyone was checking on the neighbors making sure they were okay, needed any help you know,” Dan Smrdel “But it was a storm, and everybody was concerned about their own place naturally, and their own families and such. And they reached out to neighbors and…you help where you could and try to get ready to spend the night with no electricity and probably the next couple of days the way it looks.”
More than 1,600 power outages were being reported from Seeley Lake to Condon as of Saturday afternoon. The latest Missoula Electric Cooperative power outage information can be found here.
MTN
Montana
FCS program Montana State beats New Mexico, rallying from 17-point deficit for 35–31 win
Montana State came into Saturday’s Week 0 matchup with New Mexico as a 13 1/2-point favorite despite being an FCS program traveling to play an FBS school. The Lobos may have beaten the spread, but the Bobcats made the oddsmakers look smart by going to Albuquerque and getting a 35–31 win
Scottre Humphrey ran four yards for the winning score with 10 seconds remaining, finishing off an 89-yard drive in 11 plays. Tommy Mellott’s 37-yard pass to Lonyatta Alexander Jr. was the big play of the drive, getting Montana St. to the New Mexico 26-yard line.
Montana St. coach Brent Vigen earned his first win over an FBS program with Saturday’s victory. He’s in his fourth season leading the Bobcats, who went 8-4 last year and begin the campaign ranked No. 4 in FCS.
The Bobcats rallied from a 31-14 fourth-quarter deficit, outscoring the Lobos 21-0 in the final frame. But a comeback win was within reach when Adam Jones ran 93 yards for a touchdown with 4:35 left in the game, pulling Montana State to within 31-28.
On the following possession, Montana St. forced New Mexico to punt from its own 37-yard line, setting up the opportunity for a tying — or winning — drive.
Mellott passed for 205 yards, completing 21 of 32 passes. But the Bobcats dominated in the running game with Jones rushing for 167 yards and a touchdown, followed by Humphrey’s 140 yards and a score.
For a coach that prides himself on toughness, that kind of defensive effort had to frustrate Bronco Mendenhall, kicking off his first season at New Mexico, which went 4-8 last year. However, the Lobos did score two defensive touchdowns, which may encourage the veteran coach.
New Mexico QB Devon Dampier threw for 173 yards and a touchdown, completing 19-of-27 passes. He also ran 35 yards and a score. Eli Sanders led the Lobos in rushing with 87 yards, while Luke Wysong added 95 yards receiving.
Next week, Montana St. travels to Utah Tech, which went 2-9 in the United Athletic Conference last year. New Mexico goes to No. 21 Arizona for a Week 1 matchup with the Wildcats, coming off a 10–3 season.
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