Busy week for Pony harriers

The Havre High cross country teams had a good showing at the Cut Bank Time Trials and once again have shown their skills at the Lewistown invitational Tuesday.

Lewistown’s course is quite tough. A lot of hills and barely any flat land made it an endurance test for the many harriers that attended the competition.

At the end of the day, the Blue Pony teams gave another good performance and head coach Josh Holt is impressed with what he saw.

“All in all, we did good,” said Holt. “We’re sitting good for the year.”

The Blue Pony boys team put on another good run. Junior Dylan Young finished fourth in the varsity 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:04.63. Senior Cameron Pleninger placed 19th with a time of 19:19.29. Overall, six boys landed in the top 50, all with times under 25 minutes.

Holt was also pleased with freshman junior varsity runner Paul Bartlett, who finished his run with a 19:49.47 and a fourth-place finish. Bartlett will be moving up to the varsity team after giving a great performance in Lewistown.

The varsity boys team finished fourth overall.

“We had some really good performances out of our boys,” stated Holt. “They ran really strong.”

The HHS girls team had a fairly good showing, too. Tamera O’Leary finished in the top 15 with a time of 22:56.32. Hannah Haslem placed in the top 25 with a 24:13.91. Overall, six girls landed in the top 50 for Havre and sixth in the competition.

“They (varsity girls) were close,” said Holt. “Could have ran a little bit better. They were faster this year than they were last year. So, a little room for improvement for our girls.”

The Blue Pony harriers gave it their all at the Lewistown invitational, but now they face a greater challenge this weekend in Kalispell.

The Flathead invitational will be full of teams from both Class A and AA schools. Havre will have a very competitive atmosphere with a lot of pressure surrounding them, as well as many talented runners among the other schools.

Flathead’s course is also very intense. The run is vast and there is one big hill the harriers will have to overcome the climb. The tough nature of the race will be a good challenge for the Blue Ponies.

“This will be the first year we’ve gone to the Flathead invite,” says Holt. “We’re pretty excited. It should be a fun race to see. It’ll be really nice for the kids to go there and see a lot of competition.”

There will certainly be a lot expected of Havre in Flathead and many great opportunities to see new competition take place. The Ponies will be giving it their all to place high and come home with great results.

Havre races down to the Flathead invitational this weekend.

2019 Cross Country invitational

In Lewistown

BOYS

Team scores: Lewistown 40, Hardin 53, Laurel 104, Havre 108, Broadwater 116, Miles City 133, Billings Central 158

Individuals

Sam Fulbright, Lewistown, 16:47.77; Dylan Wichman, BCHS, 17:19.36; Haden Wilson, Laurel, 17:48.02; Dylan Young, Havre, 18:04.63; Cooper Austin, Miles City, 18:09.32; Jalen High Hawk, Hardin, 18:15.71; Quaiden Whiteman, Hardin, 18:23.68; Logan Wisenbaugh, Lewistown, 18:24.15; Jalen Robinson, Lewistown, 18:31.47; Ryker Melton, Lewistown, 18:34.73; Tayjon Joe, Hardin, 18:44.39; Asa Jassen, Centerville, 18:44.39; Bradley Vaughn, Lewistown, 18:50.91; Keyshawn Rogers, Hardin, 18:52.47; Dylan Paris, Laurel, 18:55.08; Chance Miller, Lewistown, 18:59.06; Takes Enemy Alduran, Hardin, 19:02.56; Trae Hugs, Hardin, 19:10.11; Cameron Pleninger, Havre, 19:19.29; Clement Not Afraid, Hardin, 19:26.30; Ty Henry Steele, Broadwater, 19:26.36; Sam Layton, Miles City, 19:28.58; Tyler Christinsen, Broadwater, 19:31.43; Justin Bergstad, Broadwater, 19:43.76; Zach Wickens, Broadwater, 19:48.57

Havre boys – 04, Dylan Young, 18:04.63. 19, Cameron Pleninger, 19:19.29. 27, Trenton Varney, 19:55.35. 30, Ethan Durward, 20:06.02. 33, Sidney Moffitt, 20:28.45. 35, Riley Pleninger, 20:37.60. 42, Joshua Currie, 20:54.23.

GIRLS

Team scores: Hardin 28, Laurel 55, Broadwater 72, Lewistown 111, Miles City 123, Havre 142, Malta 204

Individuals

Libby Nedens, Hardin, 20:38.71; Emma Stolte, Broadwater, 20:51.91; Journey Erickson, Hardin, 21:17.98; Zoe Delaney, Lewistown, 21:20.75; Grace Timm, Laurel, 21:26.56; Carly Cook, Laurel, 21:42.42; Ivery Fritzler, Hardin, 1:42.46; Sophie Nedens, Hardin, 21:57.28; Marion Hugs, Hardin, 22:23.70; Khylah Two Leggins, Hardin, 22:35.36; Justene Santi, Broadwater, 22:40.96; Lindsey Paulson, Centerville, 22:47.58; Bailey Taves, Broadwater, 22:40.96; Andria Mourich, Laurel, 22:55.05; Tamera O'Leary, Havre, 22:56.32; Kayla Kombol, Melstone, 23:28.83; Becky Melcher, Laurel, 23:37.41; Lauren Taylor, Laurel, 23:41.63; Aspen Montgomery, Lewistown, 23:45.18; Britnee Atkinson, Laurel, 23:51.18; Sarah Christensen, Broadwater, 23:53.41; Hannah Mark, Hardin, 24:00.37; Jayna Hennig, Miles City, 24:03.86; Skyler David, Miles City, 24:10.87; Hannah Haslem, Havre, 24:13.91

Havre girls – 15, Tamera O'Leary, 22:56.32. 25, Hannah Haslem, 25:13.91. 35, Emma Gillen, 25:00.35. 41, Chloe Shennum, 26:28.68. 45, Grace Loftus, 27:12.03. 47, Lilly Taly, 27:49.34. 56, Savannah Stewart, 30:45.42.