HHS runners start strong

You can't beat fall weather in Montana and there wasn't a better example of it than Friday in Cut Bank where the Havre High cross country teams ran their first race of the season.

The Blue Ponies, who competed in the Cut Bank time trials, used the meet to determine their varsity runners for the 2014 season but also got a chance to pit themselves against some top competition from all classifications.

Because the meet was a time trial, there were no team scores kept, but that didn't mean that the HHS didn't have a chance to show what it could do. The HHS girls, who won the Central A Divisionals last season, put together a very strong showing, led by Morgan Mazurkiewicz, who wrapped up the No. 1 spot in the varsity lineup after finishing 10th in the meet with a time of 21:12.

Rachel David, another top returner for the Ponies, also put together a very good showing in the meet with a time of 21:21, good enough to end up No. 13 overall.

"For the girls, I was actually really impressed," HHS head coach Darci Heninger said "They all ran pretty hard. It was exciting to see them run as good as they did on their first race because everybody is always so nervous. But, it was beautiful, it wasn't raining or storming, so it helped the girls do well and overall it was a very good day for the girls."

Tori Mazurkiewicz had the next best finish of any Pony girl, posting a time of 24:05 to come in 51st overall. Meggie Zook also had a solid race for the Ponies, running the course in 24:50, good enough for 64th. Rounding out the top seven spots for the HHS girls were Rainey Stoner, who had a time of 25:16 to finish 73rd overall, Marca Herron, who finished 78th overall with a time of 25:52, and Rachel Majeres, who placed 99th overall after a time of 27:39.

On the boys side, the Ponies squared off against some top-notch competition and came away with some respectable finishes. Leading the way for the HHS boys in Cut Bank was senior Jamie Lieberg, who posted a time of 19:30 on the three-mile course to finish 46th overall. Brock Ross also had a good outing for Havre, finishing with a time of 19:33 to end up 48th. Coming in 67th for HHS was Sundance Lodge, who posted a time of 20:06.

Other HHS boys that finished in the top 100 at the time trials were Cameron Knapton, who was 70th overall with a time of 20:12, Austin Jones, who finished with a time of 20:32 to earn him 78th, as well as Ryan Stewart, who finished at 79th with a time of 20:34 and Dylan Stewart, who ran a time of 21:01 to finish 86th. "For the boys, it is so competitive, there are lots and lots of natural, talented runners there that are just so good at what they do," Heninger said. "But for our boys, Jamie ran really well. I was really impressed for his first time running. He ran a good race the entire time. Brock also ran really well and was not too far behind him. Cameron also ran really well and had his best time and was almost four minutes faster than he was last year. So that is always a good start to a season. Ryan and Dylan also ran really well, too.

"Overall, I thought the boys did really well for their first meet," She added. "Like I said, with the boys, the competition is so hard. They just have to go out there, work hard and do their best."

The Cut Bank course offered a unique challenge in that it has steep hill at the beginning and then again at the end, which tested the Ponies' endurance but as far as Heninger is concerned, it what a great first showing for both teams.

"I think they did pretty well. The beginning and the finish are always pretty hard. After a quarter of a mile, you are going straight up a hill," Heninger said. "That is a tough way to begin a race and the finish is tough, too, because you have to go up that same hill. We were a little tired, but it's especially hard in the first race because it's harder to know where you should be when you are running. Most of the kids go out too hard. They will learn with every race that they can't do that but its hard with the first one."

In addition to determining their varsity runners, the time trials also gave the Ponies a look at their competition, and provided them a chance to measure themselves against some of the top talent within the class A ranks.

"I think the girls are going to be pretty high up in our division, where we should be," Heninger said. "I think people will be gunning for us because we won divisionals last year. It just depends on how competitive they are and how competitive they want to be. For the boys, it will be tougher because the competition is tougher, so they will need to push hard to place, otherwise it will be tough."

The Ponies will be back in action this Friday when they head to Malta.

The Mike Reynolds Time Trials

In Cut Bank

BOYS

1 Logan Morley Bigfork 16:15; 2 Cooper West CMR 16:42; 3 Sylas Schutt Flathead 16:53; 4 Jake Perriln Flathead 16:59; 5 Collin Buck CMR 17:07; 6 Tristen Belgarde Rocky Boy 17:21; 7 Jacob Calles Flathead 17:21; 8 Tegan Olson GFHS 17:26; 9 Tristin Gone Harlem 17:27; 10 Paul Bielawski Shelby 17:29; 11 Jaden Anderson Flathead 17:38; 12 Robert Hafemeyer Flathead 17:41; 13 Jacob Blake CMR 17:41; 14 Jordan Enger Flathead 17:48; 15 Derek Macfarlane Flathead 17:52; 16 Emmett DustyBull Browning 17:57; 17 Griffin Fisher Flathead 18:02; 18 Connor Dennis GFHS 18:04; 19 Vincent Bohl CMR 18:08; 20 Bryce Krattiger GFHS 18:10; 21 Edin Agmenomi CMR 18:15; 22 Lane Darrow Flathead 18:19; 23 Luke Henke Shelby 18:20; 24 Keaton Grove Whitefish 18:28; 25 Mason Devries Flathead 18:37; 26 Keahna Little Harlem 18:38; 27 Ethan Lannaghan Whitefish 18:42; 28 Will Hoard GFHS 18:42; 29 Mackellien Dean CMR 18:46; 30 Kyle Heptner Shelby 18:47; 31 Michael Michelsen CMR 18:49; 32 Nathan Jones GFHS 18:50; 33 Ethan Potthoff Whitefish 18:50; 34 Tough Snow Hays-LodgePole 18:53; 35 Chance Morgan Sunburst 18:55; 36 Alex Drew Flathead 18:57; 37 Glenn Morden Columbia Falls 19:02; 38 Warren Wood Polson 19:02; 39 Zach Everetz Polson 19:03; 40 Winfield West Columbia Falls 19:05; 41 Alonzo Skunkcap 19:17; 42 Weston MadPlume 19:08; 43 Dale YoungRunningCrane 19:20; 44 Lance Strike Harlem 19:28; 45 Frank Runsabove Hays-LodgePole 19:29; 46 Jamie Lieberg Havre 19:30; 47 Che Roussel Whitefish Roussel 19:32; 48 Brock Ross Havre 19:33; 49 Waylan Ladue Browning 19:33; 50 Nick Brooks Flathead 19:34; 51 Riley Hellinger Shelby 19:35; 52 Jemiah Peveler Cut Bank 19:36; 53 Tanner Rigor Belt-Centerville 19:41; 54 Matt Sitter Polson 19:42; 55 Cody Johnson Big Fork 19:42; 56 Harold Tailfeathers Browning 19:44; 57 Taylor Ray CMR 19:45; 58 Sean Lewis Browning 19:46; 59 Thunder Morales Polson 19:47; 60 Ty Running Fisher Browning 19:48; 61 Patrick Hodges CMR 19:50; 62 Troy Hadley Flathead 19:51; 63 Dawson Reinhart Flathead 19:57;  64 Phillip Sun Rhodes Browning 20:01; 65 Alec Vanderkolk GFH 20:01; 66 Slater Ream Big Fork 20:04; 67 Sundance Lodge Havre 20:06; 68 Gabe Knudsen Columbia Falls 20:07; 69 Joseph Bremner Browning 20:09; 70 Cameron Knapton Havre 20:12; 71 Wyatt Benson Polson 20:13; 72 Christian Newby Whitefish 20:13; 73 Jesse Hatler GFH 20:14; 74 Jimmy Smith Belt-Centerville 20:14; 75 Dawson Matt Cut Bank 20:19; 76 Hunter Peterson Columbia Falls 20:26; 77 David Bennyhoff CMR 20:31; 78 Austin Jones Havre 20:32; 79 Ryan Stewart Havre 20:34; 80 Tyrell Sylvester Cut Bank 20:36; 81 Eric Holdhusen Whitefish 20:41; 82 Santos Parra Whitefish 20:42; 83 Sage Cornelius Whitefish 20:47; 84 Jordan Reese; 85 Will Nelson Columbia Falls 20:53; 86 Dylan Stewart Havre 21:01; 87 Grant Clark Polson 21:02; 88 Ryan Show Big Fork 21:02; 89 Dayln Morgan Cut Bank 21:03; 90 Jordan Hipp Browning 21:04; 91 Koby Red Horn Browning 21:05; 92 Jarod Anderson Shelby 21:13; 93 Gauge Anderson Whitefish 21:19; 94 Greg Hall Browning 21:25; 95 Sam Stevenson Whitefish 21:26; 96 Josh Weller Whitefish 21:28; 97 Eugene Cantley Great Falls Central 21:31; 98 Caleb Grant Harlem 21:37; 99 Mathew Correll Flathead 21:37; 100 Qynn Ingraham Columbia Falls 21:45

GIRLS

1 Bryn Morley Big Fork 17:33; 2 Gillian Maness Flathead 19:16; 3 Samantha Mundel Columbia Falls 19:32; 4 Sarah Hatcham Whitefish, 19:48 .; 5 Elizabeth Thompson Flathead 19:52; 6 Kaitlin Wride Flathead 20:08; 7 Laura Duffy GFHS 20:31; 8 Nicole Bouma Flathead 20:58; 9. Julian Kaptanian Flathead 21:09; 10 Morgan Mazurkiewicz Havre 21:12; 11 Mackenzie George CMR 21:03; 12 Barrett Gray Whitefish 21:17; 13 Rachel David Havre 21:21; 14 Izabella Seemann Polson 21:26; 15 Malia Seeley Polson 21:26; 16 Ryan Harrop Polson 21:28; 17 Johanna Lembke Flathead 21:31; 18 Mackenzie Bouma Flathead 21:53; 19 Kenzie Lencioni Belt-Centerville 21:57; 20 Calies Ludvigson Cascade 21:59; 21Anna Henderson Flathead 22:01; 22 Hanna Schaffer GFHS 22:15; 23 Sophia Skwarchuk Flathead 22:16; 24 Kuhne Kuka GFHS 22:19; 25 Kacie Cummings Cascade 22:19; Annabella Aline CMR 22:27; 27 Meridith Stolte Columbia Falls 22:35; 28 Hannah Freeman Columbia Falls 22:36; 29 Anna Young Polson 22:45; 30 Quinn Motichka Polson 22:47; 31 Peyton Twete Whitefish 22:55; 32 Naima Crowl Polson 22:57; 33 Roya Blake CMR 23:16; 34 Shelbi St. Goddard Browning 23:19; 35 Miranda Livingston Columbia Falls 23:21; 36 Taneesha Jackson Harlem 23:25; 37 Val TalksDifferent Harlem 23:23; 38 Jacelin Augare Cut Bank 23:25; 39 Katie Smith Whitefish 23:26; 40 Lauren Vance Flathead 23:27; 41 Sean Henry Rocky Boy 23:28; 42 Madison Seaman Flathead 23:38; 43 Olivia Bauman CMR 28:39; 44 Mikki Hepler CMR 23:43; 45 Lynn NA GFHS 23:48; 46 Abbi Fitzpatrick Cut Bank 23:49; 47 Elvis HeavyGun GFHS 23:56; 48 Allie Folks Columbia Falls 23:57; 49 Quincy Balins Cascade 23:59; 50 Heather Bodenhamer 24:01; 51 Tori Mazurkiewicz Havre 24:05; Nicole Billedeaux Cut Bank 24:07; 53 Tia Kohs Flathead 24:07; 54 Marissa Lencioni GFHS 24:09; 55 Andrea Morren GFHS 24:16; 56 Lauren Winder Belt-Centerville 24:18; 57 Kenedee Roberts GFHS 24:20; 58 Sarah Perez Whitefish 24:30; 59 Haylie Peacock Columbia Falls 24:31; 60 Rebecca Wride Flathead 24:37; 61 Kendra Cahoon Columbia Falls 24:43; 62 Sadi Panasuk Columbia Falls 24:43; 63 Nely Baltazar GFHS 24:50; 64 Meggie Zook Havre 24:50; 65 Makayla Paul Belt-Centerville 24:54; 66 Sierra Garcia Polson 24:57; 67 Ashley Lorang CMR 24:58; 68 Hannah Madsen Polson 25:01; 69 Natalie Wheeler Polson 25:03; 70 Kennah Fuller Whitefish 25:07; 71 Minnie TheBoy Rocky Boy 25:11; 72 Kerstyn Pimperton Belt-Centerville 25:15; 73 Rainey Stoner Havre 25:16; 74 Erika MadPlume Browning 25:21; 75 Leanne Marino Columbia Falls 25:33; 76 Maya Reed 25:36; 77 Samantha Reed Browning 25:39; 78 Marca Herron Havre 25:52; 79 Delanie Eliason Flathead 25:56; 80 Kiahna DeRoche GFHS Bison 26:00; 81 Haylee Koon Sundance 26:09; 82 Junee LaForge Rocky Boy 26:13; 83 Shelbi Fitzpatrick Cut Bank 26:16; 84 Ashley BearChild Browning 26:19; 85 Dallas Olive Shelby 26:25; 86 Jude TheBoy Rocky Boy 26:27; 87 Emma Sauve Flathead 26:37; 88 Jayla Wells Browning 26:41; 89 Sydney Dickinson CMR 26:42; 90 Jade LeGassey Flathead 26:46; 91 Dianna Snow Hays-Lodge Pole 26:52; 92 Kate Ehrenberg Whitefish 26:52; 93 Greta Roberts Whitefish 27:05; 94 Annabel Conger Columbia Falls 27:19; 95 Brittney Jensen CMR 27:25; 96 Megan Miller Belt-Centerville 27:28; 97 McKenna Salminen Columbia Falls 27:36; 98 Nikki Sauter Flathead 27:37; 99 Rachel Majeres Havre 27:38; 100 Lindsey Lincoln Great Falls Central 27:46.