HHS thinclads hit the ground running

With the weather changing daily, it’s clearly springtime in Havre and accompanying those blustery winds is yet another season of Havre High track.

The Blue Ponies had one of the younger teams in Class A in 2015 and because of that, they scored few points at the state meet last May. But, with another solid turnout and a number of young athletes on both the boys and girls teams, Havre head coach John Ita is bullish on the future of the program and this season, which starts Saturday in Lewistown.

“Looking back just a few years ago, we only had like 5 or 6 girls,” Ita said. “This year we have over 25. We have a lot of freshmen out this year and then we had a lot of younger girls that came out last year came back. So I think we have come a long way. I think we are going to have a good year, I think our relays will be strong, especially for the boys and we have a lot of good, young athletes.”

Havre should be particularly strong in the boys relays due to the presence of Nate Rismon, who was the lone Pony athlete to earn points at state a season ago. Rismon placed in the fifth in the 400-meter dash and as long as he can stay healthy, he should be in contention to place again in the 200, as well as the 400.

Rismon is also part of a relay team that also has a chance to make some noise at state this year. Junior Michael Loftus, like Rismon, will likely be on both the short and the long relays. He also runs the 100, the 200 and the 400. Ivar Aageson and Luke Karnauskas are among the others who could be in contention for those spots. Jacob LaBrie will also be in the mix after qualifying for state in the 400 and being part of the 1,600 relay team a season ago. Aageson should also be a contender in the pole vault.

Others on the boys squad that should contribute are Nik Keller, Travis Adams, Lane Paulson, Jakob Keller, Austin Jones, Austin Ratliff, Dylan Chivilicek, Brandon Shaw, JJ Parker, Noah Azure, Cody Rennick, Shawn Raty, Kelden Sullivan and Casey Mariani.

“Nate is still fighting an injury from basketball and that’s taking a little longer to heal, but if we get him healthy, our relay teams are looking good,” Ita said. “We have also have some good kids coming back in some of the other events like the jumps and the throws.”

The Blue Pony girls team was also very young in 2015 and will still have plenty of room to grow this spring. However, two of the better athletes on the squad will come from the senior class in distance runners Rachel David and Megan Erickson. David competes in the 400, 800 and the 1,600 relay for Havre, while Erickson is in the 800, the 1,600 and the long relay.

Yet, beyond the seniors, Havre has a number of other talented athletes such as throwers Jordan Keith and Kristen Nash, sprinter and hurdler Naomi Terry, hurdler Kaylee Nystrom and pole vaulters Ireland Coyne and Loni Waid.

Yet, there may nobody on the girls team coming back that accomplished more last season than sophomore Logan Huebsch, who placed fourth or better at four different events at divisionals last year and looks to have a promising season ahead of her.

Others that will compete for varsity spots this season are Kiara Christenson, Kassidy Compton, Abbey Morse, Caitlyn Terry, Sarah Faber, Tayler Marinkovich, Megan Whitford, Amelia Beard, Jera Verploegen, Laiken Harris and Emilee Cariveau.

“I think our girls can be pretty good,” Ita said. “Our relays should be pretty solid and we just have a lot more kids than we did a couple of years ago, so we are starting to actually to have 1 or 2 good kids in every event.”

The Ponies, who open the season in Lewistown, will get a chance to compete against a number of different teams from Class A, Class B and Class C. Some of the top teams Havre will compete against Saturday are Lewistown, Belgrade, Choteau and others.

After the Havre High track teams get a chance to size up conference foes Lewistown and Belgrade this Saturday in Lewistown at 9:30 a.m., the Ponies will compete in the annual Cal Wearley Invitational next Wednesday.