Blue Pony cross country teams shine in tough Livingston races

The Havre High cross country teams continue to adapt with the ever-changing world of COVID-19. So, instead of attending the Class AA Great Falls Invitational last week, the Blue Ponies went to Livingston for the Park High Invite.

The Great Falls meet featured just AA teams this season to lower the number of runners in the field, so Havre battled many Class A counterparts in Livingston.

And both Pony teams ran very well, with the boys and girls placing second.

On the HHS boys team, Dylan Young placed ninth overall for the Ponies, with a time of 18;36, while Caleb Tomac was 11th at 18:57. Ethan Durward ran a personal best time of 19:22, to place 12th overall, while Brody Henry was 13th (19:52), Riley Pleninger was 14th (20:02), Kendall Pleninger was 18th (20:24) and Caleb Spangler was 22nd at 20:55.

In the girls meet, Sadie Filius finished an outstanding second for the Ponies with a time of 21:25, while Hannah Haslem ran a PR for the year with a time of 22:27, to place sixth. Senior Tamera O’Leary was right behind Haslem with a seventh-place finish in 22:32, while Emma Gillen was 10th at 22:43 and Loy Waid was 15th at 23:43. Maleigha Fuzesy (22nd) and Never Phillips (25:50) round out the strong showing for Havre in Livingston.

“The kids are really running well and staying together,” HHS head coach Kari Filius said. “We will continue to work to get those times faster as we near state.”

The Blue Ponies will compete in the Malta Invitational this weekend.

Havre also stil has one home meet left this season, an October meet which will be held at Beaver Creek Golf Course, and will take place of the Helena 7-On-7 meet.