What we saw, what we'll see

There wasn’t as much in the way of home sports in Havre and on the Hi-Line, but that doesn’t mean the excitement wasn’t equally as high. And as we head into another great week of athletics, here’s some things you might not have seen in Monday’s sports pages, as well as a look ahead at the coming weekend.

Once again, the Havre High cross country teams made good use of the one day the Blue Ponies get to run in Havre. It always amazes me how well the Blue Ponies do in their own Havre Invitational. It amazes me because the Havre course is one of the most challenging the ponies run on all season long.

Havre faces tough competition all season, but the Ponies’ main competition when running at home is the course. Set on the campus of MSU-Northern, the Havre course has a steep climb and some tricky downhill sections as well. And the Ponies navigated the course quite well on Saturday. I guess, even in cross country, there’s such a thing as a home advantage, and on Saturday, the Blue Ponies knew how to exploit that advantage. Job well done Ponies.

Saturday night was also a special night at the HHS gymnasium. The Blue Pony volleyball team played its final home match of the season, and the Ponies backed up Friday night’s thrilling win over Conrad with a three-game sweep of Browning.

Now only did Havre send its seniors out with a final home win, but they did something else special too. The Ponies work pink hair ribbons on Saturday night as Breast Cancer Awareness Month is now in full swing. And it’s always neat to see kids getting involved in great causes, and fighting cancer is one of the best causes there is.

We didn’t see the MSU-Northern volleyball team this weekend, but the Skylights made more history away from the Armory Gymnasium. Northern’s wins over Montana Tech and Carroll College this weekend gave MSU-N a total of 16 victories on the season. So not only are the Skylights off to their best start in more than a decade, and are still unbeaten in the Frontier Conference, but they are also just two wins shy of their total from last season. And they still have nine matches left.

In Monday’s Havre Daily News, Northern head coach Bill Huebsch talked about continuing to be amazed by his team and all of their accomplishments. Well, I continue to be amazed with what Huebsch has done in a relatively short amount of time. I think it’s safe to say, Northern is a true NAIA volleyball power right now.

Looking ahead, it’s going to be another exciting weekend around here.

The Skylights are back home to face UGF on Thursday night. It’s a rivalry match. It’s Breast Cancer Month, and Northern is looking to make it 8-0 in league play. Thursday night’s match shouldn’t be missed.

Basketball is also coming to Havre this weekend. On Sunday, the Northern men make their season debut, hosting Concordia of Alberta at 2 p.m. The Lights are coming off their third straight trip to the NAIA national tournament and return four starters from last year’s squad.

Friday night will also be the last game for Havre High under the lights of Blue Pony Stadium. It’s looking like the Blue Ponies will have a home playoff game next month, but Friday night will be the regular season finale. Havre takes on Lewistown in a critical Central A showdown, and it will also be senior night at Blue Pony Stadium. There’s nothing better than October football under the lights in Havre, and Friday night will be your last chance to see it.