Pony harriers reach the postseason

There was a time when the Havre High cross country teams won championships. But those days now seem long ago. Yet, head coach Josh Holt believes championships are on the horizon and both Blue Pony squads will get their first shot to bring home some hardware this Saturday in Browning at the Central A Divisional meet.

“I think that we will get there,” Holt said. “It’s going to take us a couple of years because we are just starting to build our foundation and that will take time. But we will get there.”

On Saturday, the Ponies will run against their fellow Central A competitors in Browning, Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade to determine the top teams in the conference, but the meet has no bearing on who runs at state. All teams and their top-seven individual runners automatically qualify to participate in the state meet, which is Oct. 24 in Great Falls.

Even though neither the Havre boys nor Havre girls have scored well at the meets they have competed in this season, there is little doubt that the Ponies are improving.

“I think the kids are working really hard,” Holt said. “They are running as hard as they can and I think that’s all you can ask for as a coach. (Last week) almost all of our kids had a (personal record) or ran their best time of the season.”

One runner that has put together a strong season for the Ponies has been senior Rachel David. David, who notched a Top 10 finish a few weeks ago at the Havre Invitational, finished fourth at divisionals a year ago and helped the Ponies notch a third-place showing.

“Rachel has ran really hard all year long,” Holt said. “She ran her best time of the year in Helena and she should have a chance to place very well at both divisionals and state.”

In addition to David, the Pony girls will also feature Nicole Parsons, Rainey Stoner, Hannah Lunak, Amelia Miller, Meggie Zook and Marca Herron.

While the boys team doesn’t have anyone with David’s record, the Ponies do boast Austin Jones, who has unquestionably been the most consistent runner for the HHS boys all season long.

Jones should be in the mix to place pretty well at the meet, although making his way into the Top 10 against a tough field at the Central A divisionals may prove to be difficult. The Havre boys placed just one runner in the Top-10 a season ago en route to a fifth-place finish.

However, no matter what the results, the meet should prove to be a great experience for the Havre boys, and in particular freshmen Lane Paulson and Jakob Keller.

Paulson and Keller have both run very well for HHS in their first season of cross country and both should do well at divisionals. The meet will provide tremendous experience for two freshman with lots of potential down the road.

The other boys that will be in action for Havre this weekend will be Brock Ross, Luke Karnauskas, Bobby O’Leary and Barrett Kilgore.

“We just need to keep working hard and trying to improve,” Holt said. “But as long as the kids are running hard and having fun, that’s the most important thing.”

The Central A divisional meet will begin in Browning Saturday at 10 a.m. Havre will then move on to the Class A state meet Oct. 24 in Great Falls.