Havre High harriers race hard against a top field in Lewistown

The Havre High cross country teams were in Lewistown last Friday and both Blue Ponies teams tested themselves against a field that included some tough competition from Class A and Class AA.

Against the toughest field they have faced so far this season, both teams performed admirably.

The HHS girls wound up fifth in the meet with a total of 110 points. The Pony girls featured three top-20 finishers including Kadia Miller, who finished 14th with a time of 22:37. Billings Skyview won the meet with 39 points. Hardin was second with 43 followed by Laurel in third with 85.

As far as the boys team was concerned, the Ponies finished eighth with 192 points. Billings Skyview won the meet with 43, Lewistown was second with 69 and Hardin was third with 87.

Miller put together a solid performance against the strong field but sophomore Tamera O'Leary also had a good race for the Ponies, finishing 17th in the meet with a time of 23:06. Hannah Haslem also had a respectable finish for the Ponies, winding up 19th (23:20). The next finisher for the Pony girls was Emma Gillen. The freshman ran a 24:22 to get 31st. Lilly Taly also finished 45th for the Ponies after she finished the course in 25:25; Aliviah Pratt was 49th after a time of 25:49 and Grace Loftus wound up 51st (25:55).

“Lewistown has a tough course,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “But our girls really prepared for that and worked really hard working up to it and that paid off for them. I thought they did a nice job with all of the hills.”

Senior Jakob Keller was the top performer for the HHS boys and he finished 22nd in a real tough field. Keller ran the course in 18:44. Sophomore Dylan Young also had a strong showing for the Ponies, getting 26th with a time of 18:51. Cameron Pleninger was the No. 3 runner for HHS and finished 47th (19:33). The other runners for the varsity boys were Noah Azure (50th, 19:44), Sidney Moffitt (55th, 20:15), Sergio Tamayo (64, 21:03) and Joshua Williams (21:10).

“I thought that the boys did a solid job,” Holt said. “They didn’t run great, and there were some really good teams there like Hardin and Lewistown that we had to compete against. But it was still good to see where we are at. Now we know what we need to do to improve and try to catch up with some of these teams.”

Both Havre High cross country teams will be back in action this weekend at home for one of two meets the teams will host in Havre this season. Saturday, the Ponies will host the Havre Invitational and the action will get underway at 10 a.m.

“The kids love running at home,” Holt said. “So they are really looking forward to this weekend.”

Lewistown Invitational

Friday

Boys

Team scores: Billings Skyview 43, Lewistown 69, Hardin 87, Laurel 90, Belgrade 115, Livingston 189, Miles City 190, Havre 192, Billings Central 202, Glendive 265.

Top 10: Levi Taylor, Lau, 16:43.10; Sam Fulbright, Lew, 17:07.49; James LeFevre, Sky, 17:34.49; Dylan Wichman, BC, 17:38.30; Trajan Hill, Har, 17:41.06; Gavin Fairlee, Sky, 17:47.37; Alex Mitchell, MC, 17:48.25; Tucker Houlihan, Sky, 17:55.09; Wyatt Ostler, Lau, 17:55.27; Ryker Melton, Lew, 18:00.86.

Havre boys - 22. Jakob Keller, 18:44; 26. Dylan Young, 18:51; 47. Cameron Pleninger 19:33; 50. Noah Azure, 19:44; 55. Sidney Moffitt, 20:15; Joshua Williams, 21:10.

Girls

Team scores: Billings Skyview 39, Hardin 43, Laurel 85, Belgrade 96, Havre 110, Miles City 169, Lewistown 172, Malta 229, Billings Central 238.

Top 10: Emberlyn Hoffman-Gaschk, Sky, 19:43.90; Libby Nedens, Har, 20:27.29; Grace Timm, Lau, 20:28.66; Kayla Kombol, Melstone, 21:18.17; Hannah Hirschi, Sky, 21:21.34; Marion Hugs, Har, 21:25.13; Journey Erickson, Har, 21:39.82; Draya Wacker, Melstone, 21:57.52; Kyra Giese, Bel, 21:59.35; Marissa Giese, Bel, 22:02.85.

Havre girls - 14. Kadia Miller, 22:37; 17. Tamera O'Leary 23:06; 19. Hannah Haslem, 23:20; 32. Emma Gillen, 24:22; 45. Lily Tally, 25:25; 49. Aliviah Pratty, 25:49; 51. Grace Loftus, 25:55