Pony thinclads ready for Central A meet

The 2015 season has been one of growth for the Havre High track teams. Both the boys and girls teams have made tremendous strides under head coach John Ita, but with the Central A divisional meet now upon us, it's time for the Blue Ponies to take the next step in their development.

To do that, both the HHS girls and boys track teams will travel to Belgrade to compete in the divisional meet, where the Ponies will face off against Central A rivals Belgrade, Lewistown, Livingston and Browning. The action will start today at 4 p.m. The meet will continue Saturday starting at 10 a.m.

"We are going to be taking 33 kids down to Belgrade for divisionals and that is a good amount of kids," Ita said. "Last year, I think we had around 16 girls come out for track and this year we are taking about that many to divisionals. So I believe that we will be a lot more competitive than we have been in the past with both our boys and girls and expect to score more points this year than we have.

"With the kids that are going to divisionals, we are taking them to do one of three things," he added. "We are expecting them to either win their event, place in their event or get a (personal record). That is what we are looking for all of them to do."

Of course both teams want to score as many points as they can, but the bigger goal for both teams is to qualify as many athletes as possible for the Class A state meet, which will be May 22-23 in Laurel.

"At this point we wouldn't be bringing any of these kids if we didn't at least have a chance to place," Ita said. "But I think we have a good chance to getting almost 30 kids to state. I am hoping for the high 20s but we think every kid that competes at least has a chance."

In terms of the team competitions, the Ponies will have their work cut out for them. On the boys side of things, Belgrade, which is the defending champion, will look to defend its divisional crown, while Lewistown, which has performed well all year, will give chase. Havre, which finished a distant third in the boys competition a year ago, will be looking to be more competitive with the teams at the top.

To do so, the HHS boys will need stellar performances from many of their top athletes such as Nate Rismon, who will compete in the 200-meter dash, as well as the 400 and pole vault. He will also run for both the 400 and 1,600 relay teams. Senior Gunnar Aageson will be vital for the Ponies' success as he will run in the 100, compete in the pole vault and participate in the 400 relay.

The Pony boys will also be looking to get points from Ivar Aageson, who competes in the high jump, pole vault, 400 relay and 1,600 relay, as well Nick Keller, who competes in the jumps, Luke Karnauskas, who is in the, 800, the long jump, the high jump and long relay, and Jacob LaBrie, who runs in the 200, 400 and both relays.

Other boys who will make the trip to Belgrade for Havre include Richard Belcourt, Cody Rennick, Zach Hunt, Jacob Irvin, Wyatt Johnstone, Austin Jones, Keith Thomas, Ryan Bakke, Cole Keller, Rocky Kuhr, Derek Matosich, James May, Shawn Raty and Bobby O'leary.

"Belgrade has kind of been the dominant team, but I think they are vulnerable a little bit this year," Ita said. "In my opinion, Lewistown has one of the better boys teams in the state, and I think they will challenge Belgrade. We are hoping to get our points in there, too, but we are going to be missing points in some areas and that will hurt us."

The Havre girls will also be looking to improve their team performance from a year ago after they finished fourth a season ago at divisionals. A big key to moving upward for the Ponies will be contributions from key returners such as Rachel David, Naomi Terry, Megan Erickson, Kristen Nash and Carleigh Rennick. But, the Pony girls will also need big performances from youngsters such as Logan Huebsch, Ireland Coyne, Jordan Keith and Kaylee Nystrom.

Both David and Erickson will try to help Havre set the pace in the distance events as David will compete in the 400 and the 800 as well as the 1,600 relay, while Erickson will run in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. The Pony girls will also be looking to score points in the hurdles, where Huebsch, a freshman, has shined all season long.

Huebsch will compete in the 100 and 300 hurdles for HHS, as well as in the long jump, the triple jump and the 400 relay. Another freshman who has impressed this season has been Ireland Coyne who will run in the 100 and 300 hurdles, while Terry will compete in the 300 hurdles as well as the 200 and the 400. She will also be on both relay teams.

Havre also has a chance to do well in the throwing events this year as Rennick, Keith and Nash will each compete in the shot put, javelin and discus. The other girls who will head to Belgrade for divisionals are Amelia Beard, Emilee Cariveau, Kaitlyn Nystrom, Kaylee Nystrom, Laine Shettel, Laiken Harris, Ryen Olson and Loni Waid.

"Lewistown is going to be really tough in the girls, too," Ita said. "I think they are the team to beat. But, the nice thing about us is that we are going to be scoring points in events that we never did before. We have girls in the hurdles and the long jump and triple jump that are ranked near the top. So that is nice to see. We will still miss points in certain events, but we are expecting to do well.

"The other thing is that we don't expect all of our girls to go down their and place," he added. "But it will still be good for them to go down to Belgrade and face some really good competition. We run a lot of meets here in Havre, so sometimes you feel like a big fish in a little pond. Then, when we go to some of the bigger meets, the kids feel intimidated. This way, we get to see some real top-notch competition and get some good experience for down the road."

The divisional track meet in Belgrade starts today at 4 and will continue Saturday at 10 a.m. The top six individuals in each event will qualify for the Class A state meet, which begins next Friday in Laurel.