Blue Pony track teams begin in Glasgow

Over the last few years, the Havre High track teams have been building and developing and this season, head coach John Ita is hoping to see many of his athletes take the next step.

Last season, the Blue Ponies had one such athlete, Ivar Aageson, do just that. Aageson, who started his career as a sprinter and jumper, moved over the hurdles and eventually won the Class A state championship in the 300 hurdles and while he has since graduated, there are a number of others, both boys and girls, who will be looking to make a big leap forward like that in 2019.

"We got 74 kids out so we are really excited about that," HHS head coach John Ita said.

Some of the best candidates to turn into consistent point getters are on the girls team as a number of athletes return after having competed at state the past couple of years, including Sarah Faber, Jessa Chvilicek and Katie Wirtzberger.

Wirtzberger made it to the Class A state meet in both the 200 and the 400, finishing in the top five in both events at the Eastern A Divisional. Chvilicek has also qualified for state multiple times in the 100-meter dash and did so last season after taking eighth at divisionals. She also is a jumper and will look to build on a strong season in the high jump, where she competes with Faber, who had made multiple appearances at state in the event.

Another name to watch this season for the Havre girls is going to be sophomore Loy Waid, who finished second at divisionals in the 400-meter dash and also helped the Ponies long relay (1,600 meters) team qualify for state.

The long-striding sophomore isn't the only promising athlete in her class though as distance runner Britton Paulson is someone else in line for a big step up in productivity. Kadia Miller, an All-State runner in cross country, could also have a big impact on the distance events for HHS. In the throwing events, the Havre girls return Abbey Morse, who made it to state in the javelin last season, as well as Jocelyn Ketchum who threw the discus and shot put in 2018.

"I think our girls are going to be really salty this year," Ita said. "I think that we are going to be especially strong with our relays. We were already pretty talented there and then we got Kadia Miller from cross country and she is going to be an immediate contributor for us in the distance races and I think she can really help in the relay too. We could put together a really strong time with her and Katie and Jessa."

The other girls that will be part of the team are Rene Brown, Madison Columbus, Jolie Coyne, Sadie Filius, Emma Gillen, Jenna Golie, Devyn Huebsch, Alexis Isaacson, Katherine Keith, Kyndall Keller, Sophie Kirkpatrick, Grace Loftus, Ellycia Moore, Marissa Ratliff, Myranda Sherman, McKayla Solomon, Savannah Stewart and Megan Whitford.

As far as the boys team is concerned, Havre will have just a couple of individuals returning that qualified for state a season ago as thrower Dylan Chvilicek will be back along with distance runner Andrew Boucher.

Despite not qualifying a ton of individuals for state last season, the Ponies boast a number of seniors such as sprinter Brandon Shaw or distance runners Noah Azure and Jakob Keller that have a wealth of experience. Junior Mason Rismon is another skilled athlete but his sophomore season saw him get hindered by injuries. Ita will also have some raw talent to work with All-State basketball standout Kellen Detrick, as well as football standouts Mason Dionne and Orion Thivierge.

"We have some athletes," Ita said. "But being decent at football or basketball is different than coming out and being a good track athlete. But we have some kids that have really worked hard in the offseason. Noah Azure and Dylan Young have been running constantly and Brandon Shaw is another one that has worked really hard and I hope he has a great year. The one thing I have been really pleased with all around has been our senior leadership, that has been outstanding."

The rest of the boys roster includes Jerzy Borowieck, Joey Bryd, Ethan Durward, Preston Glock, Dylan Goodman, Dylan Hanson, Wyatt Hanson, Kasee Henderson, Nathan Howard, Adam Ketchum, Joah Kinsella, Nolan Lotton, Preston Lowen, Casey Mariani, Noah Molitor, Zachary Monk, Nicholas Nelson, Brock Nystrom, Carter Nystrom, Jeremiah Parker, Garrett Parsons, Lane Paulson, Cameron Pleninger, Joaquin Sanchez, Tysen Sangrey, Magnus Steckel, Tyler Sunchild, Monty Terkildsen and Julian Top SKy.

With limited time on the track to practice due to the weather and with one meet already canceled (Lewistown April 6) the spring has already been unusual for the Ponies but things will get back to normal this weekend, as both teams head to Glasgow to open the 2019 campaign.

From there, Havre will be in action in Havre Wednesday, competing in the Cal Wearley Invitational hosted at the Havre Middle School track by North Star High School.

Other notable events on the schedule for Havre include the Havre Lions track meet which will be in Havre April 13, as well as the annual Glasgow Top 10 meet which is set for April 30. The Ponies will also host the Havre Invitational May 4, before traveling to Belgrade for the Eastern A Divisional meet May 17-18. Class A state track will be May 24-25.