Solid times for Pony harriers in Lewistown

For the first time this season, the Havre High cross country teams got a chance to compete against their Class A rivals and when the race was finished, both Blue Pony teams came out looking pretty good.

Led by the individual efforts of Kadia Miller on the girls team and Austin Jones on the boys team, both Havre squads finished seventh in the competitive field at the Lewistown Invitational Friday.

Hardin won the girls meet going away and in the boys meet, the top team wound up being Billings Skyview, which edged out Manhattan for the team crown.

"I was really happy with the way the kids ran, I thought they did really well," HHS head coach Josh Holt said. "Lewistown is a tough course and I thought we did really well against some pretty good competition."

Miller finished 10th (21:28) for the Pony girls, while Jones paced the boys team with a 16th-place showing after running a time of 18:14. The girls team also got a solid performance from Kaylee Nystrom, who finished 15th after posting a time of 22:15. The other girls runners were Amelia Miller (38th, 23:40), Lilly Taly (54th, 25:55), Rhoda Peterson (60th, 26:33) and Natalie Verploegen (70th, 30:55).

"You know, Kadia ran a 21:28, so I was pretty pleased with that, she has more speed in her, so we need to figure out how we can get that out," Holt said. "But she ran extremely well and finished in the top 10 against a pretty crowded field. She performed well. Kaylee Nystrom was 15th and she is improving every week. I really think she is going to surprise us come the end of the season."

On the boys side of things Jakob Keller was the second-best finisher for HHS, as he finished 25th with a time of 18:44. After Keller, it was Trevor Williams, who finished 32nd with a time of 18:54. The other finishers for the boys team were Quinn Reno (44th, 19:59), Noah Azure (48th, 19:54), Barrett Kilgore (51st, 19:57) and Cameron Pleninger (62nd, 20:41).

"Austin was sick at the beginning of the week, so I respect him a little bit more," Holt said. "But coming out after being sick, running an 18:14 you can't complain. The ground was wet and soggy. But I thought Austin put it together quite well."

Both Havre teams will be at home this week, as the Ponies will host their first and only home meet of the season with the Havre Invitational. The meet will start Saturday at 10 a.m. and will be run on the campus of Montana State University-Northern.

Havre girls - 10. Kadia Miller, 21:28; 15. Kaylee Nystrom, 22:15; 38. Amelia Miller, 23:40; 54. Lilly Taly, 25:55; 60. Rhoda Peterson, 26:33; 70. Natalie Verploegen, 30:55.

Havre boys - 16. Austin Jones, 18:14; 25. Jakob Keller, 18:44; 32. Trevor Williams, 18:54; 44. Quinn Reno, 19:59; 48. Noah Azure, 19:54; 51. Barrett Kilgore, 19:57; 62. Cameron Pleninger, 20:41.