Havre High runners compete in Central A

The Havre High cross country teams went to the Central A Divisional meet with the hopes of bringing home some hardware. But, despite some strong individual performances, the Blue Ponies fell short of their ultimate goal.

The HHS girls came into the meet as the defending champions from a season ago but were unable to defend the title in Lewistown Saturday and finished third with 65 points. Belgrade finished first with 38 points, followed by Lewistown, which was a close second with 45.

The Pony boys also came up short in their bid to place in the top two and ended up coming in fifth place with 99 points, well behind Belgrade and Lewistown, which took first and second with 21 and 52 points, respectively.

“Individually, we ran pretty well,” HHS head coach Darci Heninger said. “The boys had a pretty close pack time, but they didn’t end up placing very well. The girls also ran well, but they had some pressure on them trying to defend their title. Belgrade and Lewistown both ran really hard and pulled ahead, and we just couldn’t keep up.”

The overall performance for the Havre girls may not have been what the Ponies were hoping for, but Morgan Mazurkiewicz and Rachel David were both able to finish in the Top 10 overall for the second year in a row.

David, who has been impressive all season, had another stellar race Saturday and finished fourth overall with a time of 21:48. Mazurkeiwicz also had one of her finest races of the season and came in fifth with a time of 21:49.

The results for the rest of the Havre girls included a 14th-place finish by Tori Mazurkiewicz, who finished with a time of 24:19. Rainey Stoner also ran well and finished 16th with a time of 24:27.

Other Havre finishers included Maya Reed, who finished at No. 26 overall with a time of 25:54, Marca Herron, who came in at No. 30 overall with a time of 27:33 and Meggie Zook, who finished at No. 32 with a time of 28:25.

“The girls did really good, Rachel and Morgan both ran really good races,” Heninger said. “They ended up fourth and fifth, which is really good and Morgan had just come back from being exhausted the last two weeks and did very good I thought. Tori and Rainey both ran well and stayed right in the middle where they usually fall.”

Even though the HHS boys finished fifth, there was a bright spot and it was Brandon Robertson, who finished sixth overall with a time of 18:00.

“Brandon ran really good,” Heninger said. “He worked really hard and ran well throughout the entire race.”

Jaimie Lieberg also had a solid outing for the Ponies finishing 19th with a time of 18:56. Brock Ross finished at No. 21 overall with a time of 19:13. Sundance Lodge came in at No. 26 with a time of 19:25.

Rounding things out for the Pony boys was Austin Jones, who finished at No. 27 overall with a time of 19:31, Cameron Knapton, who finished at No. 28 overall and Dylan Stewart, who finished at No. 34 overall with a time of 21:24.

“Overall I thought the boys ran pretty well,” Heninger said. “It was a tough race and a tough course but it will only help us be stronger for state next week.”

The Ponies will run their final meet of the season next week and it will be for all the marbles at the Class A State meet at Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena.

Central A Divisional Meet

At Lewistown

Girls

Team scores – 1. Belgrade 38, 2. Lewistown 45, 3. Havre 65, 4. Livingston 86, 5. Browning 110

Havre – 4. Rachel David, 21:48; 5. Morgan Mazurkiewicz, 21:49; 14. Tori Mazurkiewicz, 24:19; 16. Rainey Stoner, 24:27; 26. Maya Reed, 25:54; 30. Marca Herron, 27:33; 32. Meggie Zook, 28:25.

Top 10 - 1, Laura Leininger, Bel, 21:32; 2, Lizzie Vosler, Bel, 21:24; 3, Kaitlyn Poss, Lew, 21:32; 4, Rachel David, Hav, 21:48; 5, Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Hav, 21:49; 6, Madison Rodgers, Lew, 21:54; 7, Larissa Saarel, Liv, 21:59; 8, Makell Meyle, Bel, 22:02; 9, Lauren Hansen, Bel, 22:46; 10, Maida Walters, Lew, 22:59.

Boys

Team scores – 1. Belgrade 21, 2. Lewistown 52, 3. Browning 87; 4. Livingston 96, 5. Havre 99.

Havre – 6. Brandon Robertson, 18:00; 19. Jaime Lieberg, 18:56; 21. Brock Ross, 19:13; 26. Sundance Lodge, 19:25; 27. Austin Jones, 19:31; 28. Cameron Knapton, 19:32; 34. Dylan Stewart, 21:24.

Top 10 - 1, Jonathan Eastwood, Bel, 16:35; 2, Kyle McLaughlin, Bel, 17:18; 3, David Otto, Bel, 17:39; 4, Devin Nelson, Liv, 17:42; 5, Garrett Ruud, Bel, 17:58; 6, Brandon Robertson, Hav, 18:00; 7, Ty Parsons, Lew, 18:11; 8, Noah Majerus, Lew, 18:12; 9, Hayes Majerus, 18:19; 10, Dallas Shaw, 18:20.