HHS thinclads add a meet in Glendive

In the past, the Havre High track teams have always taken the week off before divisionals. However, this season, hasn't been a normal track season and because of that, head coach John Ita and the Blue Ponies have had to adjust.

The adjustment is that instead of being off this week and resting up, the Ponies will head to Glendive today to take part in one final meet, before returning to Glendive to compete in the Eastern A Divisional meet May 19. Things at the Jockstop Twilight Invitation started this afternoon.

"Because of missing out on so much, we just felt we needed another meet to get ready," HHS head coach John Ita said. "It will be different in the sense that when we get back, we will have to get right back into training them. We won't be able to give them that week to rest like we normally do. It takes 3-4 days to really recover from a track meet, but that's just what we have to do."

While not every team from the Eastern A will be in attendance, most of them will be, which will give both Pony teams a look ahead to what they can expect to see next week at divisionals. Among the teams scheduled to compete are Lewistown, Billings Central, Miles City, Glendive, Laurel, Sidney, Hardin and Williston. Livingston and Belgrade are two Eastern A teams that will not be in attendance.

"It will be nice to get a chance to compete against those teams from the east," Ita said. "That will give us a chance to see where we are at."

The Havre boys have struggled to rack up team trophies this season, but the Ponies did just that last Saturday at the Havre Invite, finishing second to North Star thanks in large part to another standout performance from Ivar Aageson, who has excelled all season long for Havre in the 110-meter hurdles, the 300 hurdles and the long jump.

Other Havre boys who have been consistently contributing for the Pony boys this season are Jakob Keller in the 1,600, Andrew Boucher in the mid-distance events and Cole Watson, who is running in the sprints.

The girls team, on the other hand, has found the podium in a few different meets and last weekend, the HHS girls took home first place in the Havre Invite. All season long, the Ponies have had a balanced group of scorers, with the team getting points in the sprints, jumps and other field events.

Katie Wirtzberger, Jessa Chvilicek and Taylor Torgerson have been among the top performers for Havre in the short running events and they will be a key part of Havre's point-scoring efforts in Glendive. Chvilicek has also been a strong pointgetter in the high jump for the Ponies this season, along with Sarah Faber, who has earned a medal in the majority of her starts in the high jump, too. In the throwing events, Havre will also be looking for strong efforts from Jordan Keith and Gillian Dorrance.

After the track meet in Glendive tonight the Ponies will return to the same location for the Eastern A Divisional May 19. The Class A state track meet will follow May 25-26.