HHS track teams host triangular

For the final time this season, the Havre High track teams will compete at the Havre Middle School Saturday as the Blue Ponies host the Malta and Lewistown track teams in a triangular.

The meet, which will get underway at 11 a.m., is not only the last home meet of the season for HHS but it also serves as the final tune up for the Central A Divisional meet which is scheduled for May 15-16 in Belgrade.

“We love having those couple of weeks off before we go to divisionals,” HHS head coach John Ita said. “But this last meet will give us a chance to fine tune some things and also give some other kids a chance to rest and stay healthy. But, we will also be trying some kids in different events like we will have Nick Keller do the triple jump just to see what happens.”

One athlete that will not be giving it a full go Saturday will be Nate Rismon, who will still compete at the triangular just not in four different events like he normally does. He will not be running the 200 or the 400-meter dash, but will still be part of both the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

“Nate has really competed hard for us all year,” Ita said. “So having him rest up and not do everything he normally does will give some other guys a chance to step up and score some points for us.”

Keller is one of the people who Ita will be looking for to help fil the void for Rismon and he will be looking to place in the triple jump as well as the high jump, which is his top event and the one that he just earned a second-place finish at the Glasgow Top 10 meet Tuesday.

Luke Karnauskas, who came on as the season progressed to be a point contributor, will also be counted on to add some points and will be running both the 400 and 800 for the Ponies. Michael Loftus, Jacob LaBrie, Gunnar Aageson and Ivar Aageson are others that Havre will count on for points against Malta and Lewistown.

“Malta and Lewistown will be a good test for us,” Ita said. “I think that our boys finished ahead of Malta in a meet once and they beat us once. So there will be some very intense competition. It’s also different in that you are just competing against those two teams instead of a bunch of different teams at a normal meet.”

While the Havre boys have a good chance of coming out on top against Lewistown and Malta, the Havre girls will have a much more difficult time scoring more points than the Malta girls, which have one of the better track teams in the state.

“You look at Malta and they are experienced and deep,” Ita said. “They have just great depth and it’s just down the line. Almost in every event they have someone that is good. They have very good throwers, and Sophia Stiles is outstanding in the hurdles.”

The Ponies however do have a talented hurdler of their own in Logan Huebsch, who finished second behind Stiles in the 300 hurdles at the Top 10 meet and fourth in the 100 hurdles. Yet, she is not Havre’s only hurdler as Naomi Terry and Ireland Coyne have each been placing on a regular basis.

The Pony girls also have good chances to get points in the distance races with both Rachel David and Megan Erickson set to be in action. David will run in the 400 and 800, while Erickson will run the 800 and possibly the 1,600 as well. Both David and Erickson are also part of the 1,600 relay team along with Terry and Kaylee Nystrom.

“It will be a good last meet for us,” Ita said. “It will be tough for our girls against Malta, but we will compete hard and get points when we can. I think we have a lot of girls that will score points and both of our relays should be competitive.”

The Ponies will take on Lewistown and Malta Saturday and the action will get started at 11 a.m.