Blue Pony track teams head to state

When the Havre High track teams started practicing and preparing more than two months ago, they did it with this weekend in mind, the weekend of Class A state track.

The Class A state track meet, which will be held in Laurel, along with the Class C state track meet, starts Friday with field events starting at 9 a.m., followed by the start of the running events at 10:30 a.m.

"It's nice that we have a lot of girls qualified," HHS head coach John Ita said. "We knew it was going to be tough with the boys, we knew that going into divisionals. So we just have the one individual, but we have girls in just about every event, so we will have a chance to go down there and score some points."

When it comes to individual events, the Ponies are most likely to get points from the girls team. Right now, according to the website Montana Track, the Havre girls are projected to score seven points. The Havre boys are projected for zero.

While the Ponies had a number of athletes returning who were close to placing at state last year, no individuals come back with that kind of pedigree. The closest is Logan Huebsch, who was in the top 10 in both the 100-meter and 300 hurdles last season. She will be back competing in both events, along with Ireland Coyne, who is also a threat to place.

"The two areas that we have the best chance to score points are our hurdlers," Ita said. "If they go out and run the way that they are capable of, I think they can go out and get some points possibly in the 100 and the 300 (hurdles)."

Ita also expressed confidence in both his girls relay teams. The 1,600-meter relay team will have Huebsch, Katie Wirtzberger, Jessa Chvilicek and Kaylee Nystrom. The 400-meter relay team, which comes in seeded higher, also includes Wirtzberger and Chvilicek, along with Coyne and Tayler Marinkovich.

Chvilicek will also be competing in the high jump for the Pony girls, joining teammate Sarah Faber. Both were strong in the event all season long, but struggled at divisionals. Yet Ita still sees each as having a chance to score points. Senior Kristen Nash, who is competing in the discus at state for the fourth time, is another.

"I think that both of our relays have a pretty realistic chance," Ita said. "After that, I think it falls to our high jumpers, although they will certainly need to have a better day than they had at divisionals, but if they can go out and jump like they are capable of, they both have a chance to get on the podium. The other is (Kristen) Nash. I think that if she PR'd (personal record) she could find herself on the podium as well. I hope that she does, that would be a great way for her to end her career."

The Ponies have others who will be in action for the girls team, such as Loni Waid in the pole vault, as well as Amelia Beard and Caitlyn Terry in the triple jump. Marinkovich will also be running in the 200 and Kaylee Nystrom will run in the 1,600 and 3,200. Wirtzberger, who finished fifth in both the 200 and the 400 at the Eastern A Divisional meet, will run in both events at state.

"Wirtzberger, she is another dark horse," Ita said. "She is a competitor and if she gets in the right heat you don't know, she could surprise somebody still. She ran the 400 in 61 and she ran it in a slow heat. There was no one out there running with her. So if you put her in with the fast girls, who are running the 59's and the 60's and it wouldn't surprise me at all if Katie stayed with them. I am not going to bet against her."

There may not be as many opportunities to score points for the boys team, but senior Jacob LaBrie is competing for the Havre boys and he will do so in the 400 after qualifying last week.

LaBrie will also anchor Havre's 1,600-relay team as it tries to defend the state title it won in the longer relay a season ago. Joining LaBrie in the race will be Austin Jones, Marc Woronik and Andrew Boucher. LaBrie will also run in the short relay along with Woronik, Brandon Shaw and Cole Watson.

The Class A state track meet will start at 9 a.m. Friday in Laurel and will conclude Saturday afternoon with the 1,600-meter relay.