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News you can use
Havre harriers will test their skills for the first time this season in Cut Bank
Havre High's Austin Jones, pictured above, was the top runner for the boys cross country team last season. Jones, who is a now a junior for the Blue Ponies, finished 19th at the Class A state meet a year ago and will set his sights even higher this season. He and the rest of the Pony runners will see their first action Friday at the Cut Bank time trials.
Nicole Parsons, pictured below, is shown running in last year's Havre Invitational. Parsons is one of the top runners back for the Blue Pony girls cross country team. She is one of four varsity runners returning for the HHS girls.
While golf, football and volleyball have all started the 2016 season, the Havre High cross country team has yet to take part in its first meet. But that changes Friday as head coach Josh Holt and the Blue Ponies will head to Cut Bank for the time trials Friday.
The Cut Bank time trials is an annual meet that allows teams to compete against each other and get an idea of where they stand. Team scores are not kept. Havre, for instance, uses the meet to help determine who will be its varsity runners. The time trials, which feature teams from across the state will get underway Friday at 3:20 p.m.
Holt, who enters his second season as head coach, was happy with the way 2015 finished for both Havre teams and is looking forward to continue to build both programs.
"I think we had a good season last year," Holt said. "We started to get where we need to be in terms of training and working out. We had some kids that worked really hard this summer and it shows with the ones that did. But, it's hard to get everyone to do that, with jobs and family vacations and everything that goes on during the summer."
The Blue Pony boys finished 12th at the Class A state meet in 2015 and they were led by Austin Jones, who finished 19th. Jones, who was a sophomore last season, is back again for HHS and will lead the way for the team for the second straight year.
Jakob Keller, who had the second-best finish on the team as a freshman last year, finished 65th at state, is also returning. Ryan Stewart, who was a varsity runner in 2014 but wasn't part of the team in 2015, is also back, as is Barrett Kilgore.
The rest of the team includes a few new faces such as freshman Quinn Reno, who Holt said has been impressive, as well as Noah Azure, Trevor Williams, Riley Kilgore, Ethan Lines, Vander Swensen, Andrew Vandenbos, Aylan Pratt, Torek Swenson and Ammon Lines.
"We have some new kids out that are looking good," Holt said. "We have a couple kids that are wrestlers in Quinn Reno and Ryan Stewart and they are both looking really strong right now."
The Havre girls team will also need to replace some runners from last year's team, most notably All-State performer Rachel David, who finished seventh at the state in 2015. She and Rainey Stoner, who was 92nd at state, third best on the team, both graduated.
That means the top returning runner from last season is Nicole Parsons, who was 56th at state. Amelia Miller, who finished 101st is also back, as are Hannah Lunak (114) and Meggie Zook (117). Another candidate that has emerged for a varsity spot on the girls team, is freshman Kadia Miller, who has impressed in training according to Holt.
"Kadia Miller has looked really good," Holt said. "She works extremely hard and she is very competitive. She was running with the second round of boys the other day, which tells you something about her. I think she has the chance to be a very good runner."
Other girls who will compete for spots this season on varsity are Rhoda Peterson, Melanie Jones and Hannah Pratt.
"I have really young teams again this year," Holt said. "I have a lot of freshman girls and many of the boys are just in their first or second year. But it really gives us a chance to build things over the next couple of years. This year, we are just hoping to improve. We want to start out strong and improve throughout the year and get better results than we had last year. We are not to the point, where we are going to be competing for the No. 1 spot in the state, but I am hoping, we can at least be top-10 teams and we have enough kids returning on both sides that we should be able to make an impact this year."
After opening the season Friday, the Ponies will head to Malta Sept. 10 and Lewistown Sept. 16, before traveling to the prestigious Mountain West Classic in Missoula Sept. 24.
Both Pony teams will be in Browning Oct. 3 and at the preview meet in Helena, which is set for Oct. 6.
HHS will have its lone home meet Oct. 1, while the Central A Divisional meet is Oct. 15 in Belgrade and the Class A state meet is Oct. 22 in Helena.
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