Blue Pony runners claim plenty of hardware in Malta

In the first competitive meet of the season for both Havre High cross country teams, both Blue Pony squads finished near the top of their respective team competitions at the Malta Invitational Saturday.

Buoyed by a second-place finish from Kadia Miller, as well as two other Top-10 finishes, the Havre girls took home the team title with 56 points, finishing just ahead of Glasgow, which had 60. Malta was third with 100. On the boys side of things, Havre fell just short of the team crown, notching a second-place finish with 64 points. Glasgow was first with 34 points and Richey-Lambert was third with 69.

“I was really happy with how the kids performed,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “The girls had 56 points and got first place, so they did a really great job. But I think just about every kid took about a minute or so on average off of their times, so that is really great to see. The course is a little flatter than Cut Bank, but still, happy with the result.”

Kadia Miller, who ran the course in 21:06, finished more than a minute behind the individual medalist, L’Tia Lawrence of Harlem, who ran a 19:33 to take first. Behind Miller was Kaylee Nystrom, who finished fourth for Havre with a time of 21:44. Freshman Tamera O’Leary also wound up in the top 10, getting ninth after running the course in 22:41. Amelia Miller also had a solid finish for Havre, finishing 17th (24:33). The other finishers for the Havre varsity team were Lilly Taly, who was 24th (26:14), Rhoda Peterson, who was 27th with a time of 26:47 and Melanie Jones, who finished with a time of 28:39 to get 33rd.

“Kadia ran a really nice race,” Holt said. “And Tamera O’Leary, she did a really nice job. She just keeps getting better every week.”

While the boys team finished second, it had two top-10 finishers. The first was Austin Jones, who finished sixth for HHS, with a time of 17:23. Next up was Jakob Keller, who ran an 18:03 to wind up 10th. What led Havre to such a high finish at the meet, was the fact that the Ponies had all seven runners first in the top 21.

Cameron Pleninger was just outside the top 10 and ended up 13th (18:37). The other finishers were Noah Azure, who was 16th (19:10), Trevor Williams, who finished 19th (19:18), Quinn Reno, who was 20th (19:24) and Barrett Kilgore, who finished 21st (19:24).

Both Havre teams will be back in action next Friday in Lewistown. The meet will get underway at 10 a.m.

Malta Invitational

Boys

Team Scores: 1. Glasgow 34; 2. Havre 64; 3. Richey-Lambert (R&L) 69; 4. Poplar 122; 5. Wolf Point 162; 6. Shelby 19; 7. Plentywood 234

Individual top 10: 1. Isaiah Runs Above, Hays-Lodgepole, 17:08; 2. Sam Smith, R&L, 17:17; 3. Ellis McKean, Glasgow, 17:18:49; 4. Ike Braaten, Glasgow, 17:18:7;, 5. Merlin Mckean, Glasgow, 17:19; 6. Austin Jones, Havre, 17:23; 7. Wilson Overby, Glasgow, 17:34; 8. Chase Brown, R&L, 17:45; 9. Wyatt Miller, Frazer, 18:02; 10. Jakob Keller, Havre, 18:03.

Girls

Team Scores: 1. Havre 56; 2. Glasgow 60; 3. Malta 100; 4. Poplar 107

Individual top 10: 1. L'Tia Lawrence, Harlem, 19:33; 2. Kadia Miller, Havre, 21:06; 3. Carlee Longtree, Poplar, 21:40; 4. Kaylee Nystrom, Havre, 21:44; 5. Emily Kolstad, Glasgow, 22:06; 6. Anna Buller, R&L, 22:17; 7. TaChante'Cole, Malta, 22:23; 8. Leslie Young, Malta, 22:36; 9. Tamera O'Leary, Havre, 22:41; 10. Sierra Summers, Frazer, 22:50.