Blue Pony thinclads celebrate Senior Day on Saturday

The Havre High track teams have generally taken a week off before divisionals and the Class A state meet, and the Blue Ponies will do that once again in 2019.

But before they do, both teams will get in one final competition at the Havre Middle School track Saturday as the Ponies will host the Havre Invitational, which will be the final home meet of the season. It will also be the final home meet for 12 seniors and is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

While the Havre athletes are excited about the chance to compete at home one last time, their effort this season has brought plenty of excitement back to the Havre High track program. The Pony girls have been one of the most consistent teams in Class A this year and even the boys team is fresh off a solid showing at the Glasgow Top 10 meet with four individuals placing in five different events.

One of those who placed in Glasgow was junior Andrew Boucher, who reached the podium in the 200-meter dash, as well as the 400. He also helped both the 400 and 1,600-relay teams earn their way into the top six.

Another key part of that 400-relay team, which took fifth in Glasgow, was senior Brandon Shaw. He is among a group of other seniors that includes Jakob Keller, Noah Azure, Dylan Chvilicek, Noah Molitor, Casey Mariani, Logan Twombly, Dylan Hanson, Jeremiah Parker and Julian TopSky.

"This group of seniors has been a lot of fun," HHS head coach John Ita said. "You know with Molitor and Chvilicek and those guys, they came out starting last year and they had the attitude that (track) is just going to be fun. They were here to have fun and they have just gotten better and better and better. Dylan Chvilicek made it to state last year. They have good team spirit. They support one another. Jim Gabriel (throwing coach) is just so happy with those guys. They are out there warming up together and pulling for each other and they have just been a really good example for a lot of the younger throwers."

Much like Azure and Keller, who have taken on leadership roles in the distance events, Shaw, who has been part of the Pony track team since his freshman season, has also worked hard, taking on much of that responsility for the sprinters.

"I get emotional every time I think about the kid," Ita said of Shaw. "He has never missed a practice, you know outside of some sort of family emergency. He is the first person to practice and he is the last one to leave. He has battled all four years with shin splints and he has just perservered. This season (Havre Lions track meet) has been the first time that he (Shaw) has placed at least sixth in an indivudual event and gotten a ribbon for it. He takes so much pride in being part of that relay team. When he gets there at practice, he greets everybody and, I tell you what, I am going to miss this senior class."

In addition to Boucher, Chivilicek, Keller, Azure, the relay teams, and Shaw, some of the other Havre boys who should have a shot at scoring points Saturday are Mason Rismon in the javelin, along with Preston Glock in the hurdles and Dylan Young in distance events.

Havre will be competing against local Class B and Class C schools such as Big Sandy, Box Elder, Rocky Boy, North Star, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Turner, Sunburst and Conrad.

The girls team also features two seniors who will be honored in Sarah Faber and Abbey Morse.

"First of all with Abbey, in the offseason, she really talks up track," Ita said. "She is positive, she shows up, she doesn't miss practice and she is just a good representive and ambassador for track."

Faber and Morse both qualified for state last season and Faber is already qualified for state in the high jump but is still hoping to make her way in the long jump, too.

"I have worked a lot with Sarah on her high jump and throughout the offseason, and she is just very serious about her jumps," Ita said. "It's a hard thing to even talk about. I just can't imagine that we are losing her because she has been so steady, and I really want her to do well at divisionals and state. She has always been the kid that will go 5-foot and 5-(foot)-2, but she can do more and she knows it."

Outside of honoring the seniors, the Havre Invite is also the final chance for other Havre athletes to pre-qualify for state, ahead of the divisional meet which will be in Belgrade May 17-18.

The biggest issue for the Ponies in the past few weeks has been some nagging injuries to key performers such as sprinter Katie Wirtzberger and hurdler Sadie Filius. Yet, with this meet and then two weeks off, health shouldn't be a huge concern going forward. Both Wirtzberger and Filius should have a good chance to score points in their respective events if they are close to 100 percent but that's in addition to other runners like Jessa Chvilicek (100), Loy Waid (200), Grace Loftus, Kadia Miller and Hannah Haslem, who have all been consistently getting points in the sprints and distance events.

Faber has led the charge in the jumps for Havre, along with Chvilicek, who has also performed well in the high jump this season and will head to state along with Faber. Loftus has also come on strong recently in the long jump, while Waid hss also started to contribute for the Ponies in the triple jump.

The first events Saturday morning at the Havre Invite are scheduled to begin at 11. The Ponies won't compete again until May 17-18 at the Eastern A Divisional track meet.