Blue Pony harriers find their stride in Malta

The Havre High cross country teams both took part in a team competition for the first time this past weekend in Malta and the results for each squad were promising.

Although neither Blue Pony squad came away with a first-place finish, both HHS teams ended up finishing second at the meet. The Havre boys finished with a total of 51 points, which was just 16 points behind Glasgow, which won the meet. Richey was third with 142. On the girls side, Glasgow also took home the top prize, finishing with 64 points. Havre was second with 90 and Malta was third with 145.

The boys team saw a slew of runners put together impressive performances led by junior Austin Jones, who finished fourth at the meet thanks to a time of 18:05. Sophomore Jakob Keller came in fifth, just seconds after Jones for the second straight week. He had a time of 18:05, but finishing just hundredths of a second behind this teammate.

The other bright spot for the boys team was Trevor Williams, who managed to finish in seventh place after posting a time of 18:37. Barrett Kilgore finished 17th place for the Pony boys after a time of 19:52; Quinn Reno was 18th (19:52) and Andrew VandenBos was 25th (20:43). Rounding things out for the boys team was Aylon Pratt, who ran a time of 21:08 to finish 26th.

“The boys team is on the brink of some major breakthroughs,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “The boys continue to make great strides week after week. Each week has been exciting and a surprise as to who will get the 6th and 7th spot. It shows how close things are with the top 10 runners on the boys team. With some bigger races coming up I'm look forward to what the boys team will bring to the course.”

While the boys team has some high individual placers, so did the Pony girls. Freshman

Kadia Miller was the Ponies’ top runner for the second straight week as she finished third in the meet with a time of 21:04. Yet, sophomore Nicole Parsons also had a solid day and navigated the course in Malta in 23:14, which was good enough to give her seventh place.

The other varsity finishers for Havre included Melanie Jonees (25th, 25:05), Amelia Miller (26th, 25:39), Meggie Zook (29th, 26:45), Hannah Lunak (27:54) and Rhoda Peterson (27:54).

“The girls team has shown improvement week after week,” Holt said. “We have some bigger races coming up in the near future. Great things are coming for the girls team.”

Both Pony teams will be back in action in Lewistown this Friday, before taking part in the Mountain West Classic in Missoula Sept. 24.

Malta Athletic Club Invitational

BOYS

Team Results: Glasgow 35; Havre 51; Richey 142; Wolf Point 150; Brockton 199

Individual Top 10: Isaich Runs Above, Hays Lodge-Pole 17:26; Merlin McKean, Glasgow 17:42; Ellis McKean, Glasgow 17:43; Austin Jones, Havre 18:05:92; Jakob Keller, Havre 18:05:94; Wyatt Miller, Frazer 18:28; Trevor Williams, Havre 18:37; Ike Braaten, Glasgow 18:38; Wilson Overby, Glasgow 18:42; Trey Four Star, Wolf Point 18:43

GIRLS

Team Results: Glasgow 64; Havre 90; Malta 145; Rocky Boy 154

Individual Top 10: L'Tia Lawrence, Harlem 20:30; Kita Weingart, Winnett 20:53; Kadia Miller, Havre 21:04; Cyrenna Standing, Frazer 23:07; Jaydin Lenz, Plentywood 23:08; Morgan Guttenberg, Glasgow 23:11; Nicole Parsons, Havre 23:14; TaChante' Cole, Malta 23:19; Alaina Sallee, Glasgow 23:20; Tawny Browning, Winnett 23:29:92.