Pony harriers run well in Missoula

It is hard to find a race more competitive or with more individual talent than the Mountain West. The Havre High cross country team experienced the standout even first hand as the Blue Ponies continue to grow in the right direction.

Saturday the Central A Ponies ran in the Mountain West in Missoula.

Kalispell (173) was the No. 1 boys team, while Bozeman (184) was second, and University (251) was third. And for the girls, it was Bozeman (46) who finished as the No. 1 girls team, followed by Coeur d’Alene (97) in second, and Sehome (112) in third.

No Pony individuals finished in the top 30, but both teams still had productive races as a whole. And with both the HHS boys and girls finishing near the middle of the pack, that has to be a positive for two teams stat still show a lot of promise and potential. The HHS boys finished as the No. 41 team with 1,182 points, and the HHS girls finished as the No. 34 team with 954 points.

“This was our best weekend yet,” Havre High head coach Darci Heninger said. “Every single kid that ran, even our junior varsity, recorded a personal best time. They were anywhere from one minute to two minutes better than their previous best, and I know some of them ran their fastest time they have ever ran. I was very, very proud of how everybody ran.”

And the HHS boys continue to grow, as they turned in another great showing as a team.

Brock Ross led the boys this weekend with a time of 17:44, but Sundance Lodge, Brandon Robertson, and Elijah David were not far behind. Lodge finished in 17:47 and David and Robertson both finished in 17:49. Dylan Stewart also finished in 19:30, while Ethan Smith finished in 20:32. Cameron Knapton suffered a knee injury late in the practice week and didn’t run. Knapton could miss two weeks of action.

But even less than 100 percent, the boy’s team ran very well.

“As soon as I saw those boys finish I got so excited,” Heninger said. “I told the boys that if they can continue to run like that, and continue to put up those times, that they have a good shot at state. When they run that close together they feed off of each other and they push each other.”

Smith and Stewart also ran very well, and can still push the boys team to even better team results. As they continue to shave crucial seconds and minutes off of their times, the boys will continue to grow.

The HHS girls also had a decent pack time with their top three finishers, and their bottom runners aren’t far behind either. But with about five minutes separating the No. 1 and the final runner, they too are looking to keep improving with every race.

Haley Ohm ran a 20:28, followed by Morgan Mazurkiewicz with a 20:35. Rachel David also finished in 20:44, followed by McKenna Barkus with a time of 22:21, Tori Mzurkiewicz with a time of 24:29 and Meggie Zook finished with a time of 25:47.

“I was also super excited to see Haley, Morgan, and Rachel all running together as close as they did,” Heninger said. “Haley led the way again and just looked awesome, but so did the rest of the girls because they looked comfortable. They were all excited and happy with their results after the race was over, and it was awesome to see that as a coach.”

The Ponies continue to do well on both squads, and it comes down to their preparation in practice. If the Ponies continue to execute their philosophy about a strong start, but an even stronger finish, the Ponies will continue to show a lot of potential.

Havre is back in action on Saturday. The Ponies will host the annual Havre Invite on the campus of Montana State University-Northern.

Mountain West

At Missoula

BOYS

Team scores – 1. Kalispell Glacier 173, 2. Bozeman 184, 3. University 251, 5. Lewis & Clark 270, 6. Idaho Falls 315, 7. Mead 316, 8. Lake City 323, 9. Centennial 328, 10. Missoula Hellgate 331, 10. Hillcrest 331, 12. Billings Senior 355, 12. Sehome 355, 14. Helena High 383, 15. Coeur d’Alene 403, 16. Gonzaga Prep 421, 17. Billings West 456, 18. Deer Park 492, 19. Shadle park 493, 20. Kalispell Flathead 597, 21. Laurel 615, 22. Hardin 644, 23. Whitefish 697, 24. Century 709, 25. Helena Capital 727, 26. Red Lodge 734, 27. Billings Skyview 745, 28. Mt. Spokane 756, 29. Great Falls Russell 779, 30. Browning 781, 31. Corvallis 836, 32. Teton 842, 33. Fergus 846, 34. Salmon 884, 35. Manhattan 1007, 36. Belgrade 1043, 37. Missoula Sentinel 1050, 38. Post Falls 1079, 39. Frenchtown 1117, 40. Great Falls High 1131, 41. Havre 1182, 42. Dillon 1262, 43. Cut Bank 1300, 44. Loyola Sacred Heart 1309, 45. Columbia Falls 1321, 46. Polson 1339, 47. Billings Central 1395, 48. Missoula Big Sky 1409, 49. Thompson Falls 1417, 50. Anaconda 1428, 50. Butte Central 1428, 52. Livingston 1430, 53. Townsend 1495, 54. Ronan 1593, 55. Whitehall 1629, 56. Sunburst 1692, 57. St. Ignatius 1740, 58. Libby 1792, 59. Eureka 1834.

Havre Individuals – Brock Ross 17:44, Sundance Lodge 17:47, Brandon Robertson 17:49, Elijah David 17:49, Dylan Stewart 19:30, Ethan Smith 20:32.

GIRLS

Team scores – 1. Bozeman 46, 2. Coeur d’Alene 97, 3. Sehome 112, 4. Idaho Falls 216, 5. Hillcrest 265, 6. Corvallis 279, 7. Gonzaga Prep 288, 8. Billings Senior 294, 9. Kalispell Glacier 307, 10. Mt. Spokane 325, 11. Missoula Hellgate 328, 12. Shadle Park 264, 13. Missoula Sentinel 394, 14. Billings West 443, 15. Helena High 483, 16. Century 537, 17. Billing Skyview 568, 18. Billings Central 578, 19. Centennial 580, 20. University 590, 21. Butte 591, 22. Helena Capital 687, 23. Mead 726, 24. Hamilton 744, Flathead 749, 26. Polson 759, 27. Missoula Big Sky 766, 28. Salmon 792, 29. Post Falls 834, 30. Laurel 837, 31. Deer Park 852, 32. East Valley Spokane 938, 33. Browning 945, 34. Havre 954, 35. Teton 957, 36. Red Lodge 1013, 37. Loyola Sacred Heart 1017, 38. Columbia Falls 1062, 39. Whitefish 1081, 40. Livingston 1091, 41. Belt 1138, 42. Great Falls Russell 1150, 43. Fergus 1153, 44. Hardin 1170, 45. Great Falls High 1179, 46. Belgrade 1180, 47. Lake City 1214, 48. Dillon 1249, 49. Manhattan 1293, 50. Cut Bank 1334, 51. Ronan 1444, 52. Whitehall 1557, 53. St. Ignatius 1583, 54. Libby 1648.

Havre Individuals – Haley Ohm 20:28, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 20:35, Rachel David 20:44, McKenna Barkus 22:21, Tori Mazurkiewicz 24:29, Meggie Zook 25:47.