Pony runners race against the best in the Mountain West

While the Havre High cross country teams will have more important meets to compete in this season, there may not be another quite like the Mountain West Classic that both teams participated in Saturday in Missoula,

The massive field at the Mountain West Classic which featured around 70 boys and girls teams from the state of Montana and some surrounding states, is still possibly the toughest Havre will face all season. In the boys competition, Lewis and Clark won the meet with 86 points, followed by Central Valley, which got 112 and Bozeman in third with 127. The individual winner in the boys race was Ben Perrin of Flathead, who took home first prize with a time of 15:38. The girls meet had a much more Montana feel as Missoula Hellgate won the team title with 50 points. Bozeman was second with 54 and Billings Senior finished third with 108.

As far as the Havre teams were concerned, the Pony girls ended up finishing 42nd. The Havre boys finished in a similar position and wound up 46th. Against a stout field, Kadia Miller was the top performer for the Ponies, ending up 156th, with a time of 21:56. Sophomore Tamera O’Leary also finished in the top 200, getting 173rd with a time of 22:08. Hannah Haslem was 205th for the Ponies after running a 22:44, followed closely by Emma Gillen, who ran a 22:49 to get 216th. The other varsity runners for the Havre girls were Lilly Taly (276, 24:04), Aliviah Pratt (283, 24:12), Grace Loftus (288, 24:15).

“We didn't do quite as well as I thought we would do,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “I think that we have plateaued a little bit, but it was a great experience. Any time you get to compete in a quality event like that against some really good runners, it’s good for you and you get better.”

Miller and O'Leary both finished in the top 200 for the Pony girls and joining them by finishing in the top 200 on the boys team was Jakob Keller, who finished 161st after completing the course in Missoula, where the state meet will be held, in 18:05. Dylan Young was the next finisher for the Ponies and he finished 224th, running a time of 18:39. The other finishers for Havre were Cameron Pleninger (267, 19:01), Noah Azure (286, 19:09), Sidney Moffitt (290, 19:12), Sergio Tamayo (348, 20:08) and Kendall Pleninger (363, 20:3).

Both Havre teams will be back in action Thursday, when they will travel to Helena for the annual Preview Meet, which is another one Holt said his team gets excited about.

“That’s one that we always look forward to,” Holt said. “You get to run against some really good competition, and we always seem to get the best from the kids.”

Mountain West Classic

at Missoula

Boys

Team scores: Lewis and Clark 85, Central Valley 112, Bozeman 127, University 218, Gonzaga Prep 232, Kalispell Glacier 262, Rogers (Spokane) 270, Joel Ferris 283, Missoula Hellgate 328, Billings West 358, Billings Senior 373, Helena 402, Missoula Sentinel 403, Great Falls Russell 525, Columbia Falls 579, Helena Capital 581, Mt. Spokane 593, Lewistown 606, Laurel 634, Manhattan Christian 641, Cheney 644, Hardin 649, Great Falls 668, Billings Skyview 676, Kalisepll Flathead 678, Frenchtown 688, West Valley (Spokane) 705, Thunder Ridge 733, Omak 792, Corvallis 862, Soda Springs 864, Manhattan 872, Eureka 894, Hamilton 926, East Valley (Spokane) 940, Whitefish 985, Polson 987, Belgrade 1041, Post Falls 1096, Missoula Big Sky 1098, Deer Park 1098, Ronan 119, Moscow 1135, Butte 1139, Townsend 1168, Havre 1228, Livingston 1373, Teton 1394, Billings Central 1425, Red Lodge 1,431, Lakeland 1,434, Powell County 1,527, Browning 1,542, Poplar 1,560, Stevensville 1,692, Lodge Grass 1,732, Three Forks 1,776, Cut Bank 1,832, Colstrip 1,872, Whitehall 1,874, Libby 1,877, Arlee 1,979.

Top 30: Ben Perrin, Fla, 15:38.50; Wil Smith, L-C, 15:47.39; Stetson Moss, TR, 15:53.42; Ryan Kline, CV, 15:56.79; Levi Taylor, Lau, 16:04.45; Evan Peters, CV, 16:11.73; Jacob Easton, Uni, 16:12.66; Issak Chol, Rog, 16:14.17; SImon Hill, Gla, 16:15.96; Brett Bergler, L-C, 16:17.41; Patrick Korus, L-C, 16:24.55; Aren Alexander-Battee, Gla, 16:25.37; Gordon Gentry, CMR, 16:27.07; Bas Holland, Che, 16:27.40; Sam Fulbright, Lew, 16:28.08; Lukas Brown, Mt. S; 16:30.92; Jonas Bears, GP, 16:32.23; Xander Danenhauer, Boz, 16:33.89; Caleb Hornung, West, 16:35.86; Patrick North, L-C, 16:37.36; Kolby Green, WB, 16:39.55; Dax Summers, Hellgate, 16:40.63; Griffin May, Boz, 16:43.07; Sam Anderson, GP, 16:44.66; Will Miller, JF, 16:44.81; Joseph Nicholls, CV, 16:45.21; Renn Meuwissen, Boz, 16:46.62; Drew Roberts, Uni, 16:46.96; Brooks Peters, Boz, 16:48.02; Jonatahn Wheeler, Boz, 16:49.58.

Girls

Team scores: Missoula Hellgate 50, Bozeman 54, Billings Senior 108, Post Falls 291, Kalispell Flathead 308, Helena 328, Hardin 335, Soda Springs 360, Central Valley 426, Joel Ferris 433, Manhattan 456, Thunder Ridge 458, Gonzaga Prep 459, Billings West 464, Missoula Sentinel 481, Helena Capital 497, Whitefish 514, Billings Skyview 537, Corvallis 560, Mead 568, Kalispell Glacier 590, West Valley (Spokane) 629, Deer Park 652, Polson 708, Great Falls CMR 709, Laurel 714, Frenchown 718, Missoula Big Sky 727, Butte 744, Colstrip 762, West Yellowstone 840, Columbia Falls 870, Moscow 877, Hamilton 882, Three Forks 927, Cheney 931, Dillon 938, Red Lodge 947, Townsend 948, Great Falls 952, Belgrade 1,008; Havre 1,026; Lodge Grass 1,059; Eureka 1,082; Lakeland 1,169; Teton 1,326; Unviersity 1,327; Poplar 1,342; Browning 1,374; Lewistown 1,382; Cut Bank 1,550; Billings Central 1,594.

Top 30: Tiahna Vladic, Senior, 17:48.74; Ember Stratton, Hellgate, 18:16.49; Terra Trom, Boz, 18:30.00; Elise Stearns, Hellgate, 18:40.32; Beatrix Frissell, Pol, 18:40.37; Alex Moore, Boz, 18:51.48; Ella Degrandpre, Hellgate, 18:51.54; Kylie Hartnett, Helena, 18:54.92; Sydney Shanahan, PF, 18:59.33; Elena Vandersloot, Senior, 19:03.49; Emberlyn Hoffman-Gaschk, Skyview, 19:04.34; Hailey Thueson, TR, 19:04.37; Natalie McCormick, Boz, 19:04.83; Ellie Hull, Boz, 19:19.81; Abby Kendrick, Hellgate, 19:20.08; Jessica Moss, TR, 19:25.30; Jade Hallgrimson, Senior, 19:26.35; Riley Moore, Boz, 19:30.11; Jaylyn Hallgrimson, Senior, 19:30.84; Freya Jones, Big Sky, 19:30.93; Tori Noland-Gillespie, Flathead, 19:39.12; Katie Munro, Hellgate, 19:39.87; Samantha Wood, PF, 19:42.51; Madeline Swanberg, Hellgate, 19:43.20; Libby Nedens, Har, 19:45.93; Brynnli Poulsen, Ham, 19:48.83; Brooke Stayner, Sentinel, 19:50.63; Grace Gilbreth, Boz, 19:52.48; Whitney Hanson, Col, 19:57.51; Mackenzie Dean, CMR, 20:01.43.

Havre girls - 156. Kadia Miller, 21:56; 173. Tamera O'Leary, 22:08; 205. Hannah Haslem, 22:44; 216. Emma Gillen, 22:49; 5. Lily Tally, 24:04; 6. Aliviah Pratt, 24:12; 7. Grace Loftus, 24:15.

Havre boys - 161. Jakob Keller, 18:05; 224. Dylan Young, 18:39; 267. Cameron Pleinger, 19:01; 286. Noah Azure, 19:09; 290. Sidney Moffitt, 19:12; 348. Sergio Tamayo, 20:08; 363. Kendall Pleninger, 20:37.