Havre runners improve

The Havre High cross country teams saw some difficult competition last Thursday in Helena at the 7-on-7 preview meet — but that didn’t stop them from getting better.

The Blue Pony boys finished 23rd in the annual meet at the Bill Roberts Golf Course, while the Havre girls finished 33rd.

Bozeman took home the first-place prizes in both the boys and girls competitions that each saw a number of teams from Class AA, Class A, Class B and Class C.

“It was a tough meet,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “Montana has a lot of really good runners. And I think it was good for our kids to see some of those kids and how well they run and to compete against them. It lets them know what you need to do to run really well. But, I was happy with how the kids did. They ran hard and a lot of them finished with PRs (personal records).”

The 7-on-7 meet is different than most, and each team’s runners are ranked 1-7 with the No. 1s going head-to-head with the No. 1s all the way to seven.

Austin Jones has been the top runner for the Havre boys all year long and he finished 23rd in his respective race with a time of 17:17. Freshman Jakob Keller was 29th with a time of 18:11. Brock Ross was 32nd against the No. 3 runners with a tie of 18:49, Lane Paulson was 27 against the No. 4s with a time of 18:48, Luke Karnauskas was 26th against the No. 5 runners with a time of 19:13, Bobby O’leary was 18th among with No. 6 runners with a time of 18:58 and in the race of No. 7 runners, Barrett Kilgore was 25th with a time of 20:02.

“Austin Jones came out and hit the seventeens for the first time this year,” Holt said. “That’s really good. A lot of the good kids ran really well. They ran as hard as they could and you can’t ask for more than that.”

Rachel David was the top runner for the Havre girls with a time of 20:57 and she finished 23rd in her respective meet. Nicole Parsons was 27th with a time of 22:35, Rainey Stoner was 29th with a time of 23:53, Hannah Lunak was 33rd with a time of 25:52, Amelia Miller was 34th with a time of 27:51, Meggie Zook was 27th with a time of 24:48 and Marca Herron was 25th with a time of 25:54.

“Rachel ran really well,” Holt said. “She didn’t have a personal record, but she ran the best time that she ran this year. There were a lot of good teams there, teams that are ahead of us, we are still a year or two away. But it was good for our kids to compete and see how well they run and know that it takes training all year to run as well as they do.”

Havre will be in action again this coming Saturday when the Ponies will head to Browning for the Central A divisional meet in Browning.

Helena 7-on-7 meet

Bill Roberts Golf Course

Havre boys – 23. Austin Jones, 17:17; 29. Jakob Keller, 18:11; 32. Brock Ross, 18:49; 27. Lane Paulson, 18:48; 5. Luke Karnauskas, 19:13; 18. Bobby O'Leary 18:58; 25. Barrett Kilgore, 20:02.

Havre girls – 23. Rachel David, 20:57; 27. Nicole Parsons, 22:35; 29. Rainey Stoner, 23:53; 33. Hannah Lunak, 25:52; 34. Amelia Miller, 27:51; 27. Meggie Zook, 24:48; 25. Marca Herron 25:54.