Despite taking four firsts and six second places out of eleven events, the Bravettes swim team fell short to Bozeman 301-271, at the state swim meet in Hardin, Feb. 7-8.
The Bravettes and Lady Hawks traded leads throughout the event, but ultimately, the title came down to who had more depth.
"We came in second because (Bozeman) had more swimmers," said junior Kristin Rygg. "We didn't have as many people in the final races."
The tournament produced two individual winners for the Bravettes - junior Amanda Hartmann in the 200 Individual Medley and senior Brittney Smith in the 100 flystroke.
"I didn't get the time I wanted," said Hartmann. "But it was my first state title, so I was pretty excited."
Hartmann and Smith joined Rygg and freshman Jenir Nerison to win the 400 freestyle relay in a record time of 3:41.89, breaking the old mark of 3:47.16 by six seconds.
In the first day of preliminaries for the 400 medley, the FHS team swam the race in 3:53, but improved by eleven seconds in the finals to win it, said Rygg.
"We thought if we won that we could win the meet," said Smith. "It was cool to win it and beat Bozeman."
In the 200 relay, sophomore Julie Cummings teamed-up with Hartmann, Smith and Rygg to win in 1:58.13, missing the state record by three tenths of a second.
The Braves swimmers took sixth place with 114 points. Bozeman edged Billings Senior for the boys title, 197-192.
"There were quite a few good teams," said freshman Sam Dauenhauer, who took fourth in the 100 back. "Basically, they have more kids on the team. The other teams have more depth."
Rygg, who had two second place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyle, broke the record in the 500 but still lost by three seconds to Kafentzis of Hellgate.
"We both broke an eleven-year-old record," said Rygg. "I thought I was doing well, but I had no idea I was on a record pace."
Adding to the Bravettes medals were a trio of seconds from Smith, 50 free; Hartmann, 100 free; and Nerison, 100 breast. Nerison also captured third in the 200 medley while Cummings took fourth in the 100 back and fifth in the 100 free.
The team of Nerison, Cummings, junior Chelsea Edwards and senior Angie Blohm took second place in the 200 Medley relay.
For the Braves, the best finish was by fresmen Dan DeStephano who placed third in the 100 back. Junior Steve Satterly placed fifth in the 100 fly and senior Chris Williams grabbed sixth in the 200 IM.
"The 400 relay was probably the highlight of the meet," said Hartmann. "It was the last race, and it was an awesome team to be on."