Blue Pony track teams go to divisionals

The Havre High track teams have put in a lot of work this season and now it all comes down to two track meets, one of which starts today with the Eastern A Divisional.

Both Blue Pony teams, the boys and the girls, will be in Belgrade, today and Saturday, competing in the divisional track meet that features schools from the Central and Eastern A conferences. There will be 11 teams total in attendance. The action will get underway this afternoon at 3. Things will start up Saturday at 10 a.m.

"I think we have a chance to do well at divisionals," HHS head coach John Ita. "We have some athletes on the girls team that have really come along and both our boys and girls relay teams are looking good. This is really the time of year that we have been working towards."

Last year, in the first edition of the combined divisional track meet with both the Central and Eastern A teams, the Ponies got fifth on the boys side of things, while the girls team finished ninth. In the old divisional format, the top five athletes in each event qualified for state, if they hadn't met the state standard in their event previously to quality. Now, athletes need a top 10 finish to make state.

While the boys team graduated many of its top athletes from last year's squad, the girls team returned some of its top point scorers from last year's divisional meet, highlighted by Logan Huebsch, who was third in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the 100 hurdles. She will be back in both events for Havre, along with Ireland Coyne, who like Huebsch, is a contender in both races.

In the other sprinting events, the Pony girls have a slew of young runners looking to breakthrough to state. In the 100, Jessa Chvilicek has already qualified for state, but others such as Tayler Marinkovich and Katie Wirtzberger will also be looking to punch their tickets in their respective events. In the longer running events, Kaylee Nystrom will look to qualify for the 3,200 and both relay teams should have a chance to do well.

The 400-relay team, which features Wirtzberger, Marinkovich, Chvilicek and Coyne has already qualified for state (51.36), but the 1,600-relay team consisting of Huebsch, Nystrom, Chvilicek and Wirtzberger, still has work to do.

The Havre girls are solid in the running events, but are just as good, if not better, in the field. When it comes to the jumps, both Chvilicek and Sarah Faber are already going to state in the high jump. In the long jump and triple jump, both Caitlyn Terry and Amelia Beard have a good chance at making the top 10 at divisionals and making it to state.

Loni Waid will also look to get to state for Havre in the pole vault, while in the throwing events, Havre will be led by Kristen Nash, who has made state already in the discus and Jordan Keith, who will attempt to qualify in multiple events.

The boys team doesn't have the same depth that the girls team does, but there are still plenty of Havre boys looking to earn their way into next week's state meet. Jacob LaBrie will be one of those athletes, as he will try to make it in the 400. Joining him in the sprinting events will be Cole Watson, Ethan Roberts and Brandon Shaw.

Havre also has some contenders in the distance events as Austin Jones, who runs the 800 and the 1,600, leads the way. Lane Paulson, Andrew VandenBos, Jakob Keller and Noah Azure are others that will run in either the 800, 1,600 or 3,200 for HHS.

The boys team will also be looking to qualify both relay teams, who will need to place in the top five this week to make it. LaBrie will lead the 1,600-relay team that also features Roberts, Jones and Martin Wilkie. They come in ranked 16th in the state. The 400-relay team also consists of LaBrie, in addition to Roberts, Watson and Shaw, ranks 17th.

In the field events, the best hope of qualifying for state might come with Mason Rismon, Wilkie or Connor Harris in pole vault, while Tanner Parsons represents the best chance for the Pony boys to make some noise in the jumping events.

The events at the Eastern A Divisional in Belgrade will get underway this afternoon at 3 p.m., followed by a Saturday start at 10 a.m.