HHS thinclads back on the track

The Havre High girls track team has started the season by winning its first two track meets and this Saturday in Choteau, the Blue Ponies will look to keep that streak alive against many of the same teams.

The Ponies were scheduled to be in Lewistown Saturday, however, weather forced that track meet to be canceled and that shifted Havre over to Choteau, where the Ponies will take part in the Choteau Acantha Invitational. The meet, which will feature a total of 21 teams, mostly from Class B and Class C, will get underway Saturday morning with field events at 9 and track events beginning at 10.

The Choteau meet will feature a number of Northern B teams in Choteau, Cut Bank, Fairfield, Conrad, Shelby, Harlem and Rocky Boy, as well as Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Big Sandy, North Star and others such as Sunburst and Great Falls Central.

During the first two meets of the season, the Havre girls have dominated in the relay events, winning both the 400-meter and 1,600 relays in Glasgow last Saturday and in Havre Wednesday at the Cal Wearley Invitational.

The 1,600-relay team of Kadia Miller, Sadie Filius, Loy Waid and Jessa Chvilicek ran a 4:22 in Havre and will look to improve upon that time this weekend. The 400-relay team of Katie Wirtzberger, Grace Loftus, Chvilicek and Waid has also been exceptional and the impressive thing is that HHS has depth, meaning it has plenty of options for both races.

“We have some really talented runners on our girls team,” HHS head coach John Ita said. “All of our girls are capable of running really good times in the open 400 and it’s going to be exciting to watch them all season long and see the kind of times they can have.”

The relay teams have certainly sparked a strong start for the Ponies but so have strong individual performances from many of the same athletes competing in the relays. Freshman Sadie Filius has been a bright spot in the hurdles for Havre, notching two first-place finishes already in the 300 hurdles. Waid has been strong in the 200, finishing in the top two in both of her opportunities, while Chvilicek notched a win in the high jump Wednesday after capturing first in the 100-meter dash last Saturday. Wirtzberger won the 400 at the Cal Wearley.

Some other key contributors for the Pony girls include Sarah Faber, who was second to Chvilicek in the high jump Wednesday, Hannah Haslem who has placed twice in the 1,600 and Miller who was second in the 800 in addition to her contributions in the long relay.

“I think a huge part of the success we are seeing so far is because of the great leadership we have gotten from our seniors,” Ita said. “We have tried to let them take more of a role in our stretching and some different things like that and it has really paid off. I just can’t say enough about them so far.”

One of those seniors is sprinter Brandon Shaw who has gotten off to a solid start this season as well, although no one on the Pony boys team has been more consistent early on then Andrew Boucher, who placed second in the 200 at the Cal Wearley, while also placing in the 400 at Glasgow. Boucher is also part of a long relay team that features Mason Rismon, Noah Azure and Jakob Keller, who have all placed as individuals in the first two meets, highlighted by Rismon who won the javelin Wednesday.

The Havre boys are probably strongest in the distance events right now with Keller, Azure and also Dylan Young. Some other contributors early in the season for HHS have come in the throwing events with Casey Mariani and Dylan Chvilicek. Preston Glock has also been a point getting in the hurdles.

Both Havre teams will be in action Saturday in Choteau and then the Ponies will return home next Saturday for the Havre Lions Invitational.