Blue Pony Tamera O'Leary signs with MSU-N cross country

The Montana State University-Northern women's cross country program has had a lot of success in recruiting Havre High distance runners. And that success continued this week as Northern head coach Chad Spangler announced the signing of yet another Blue Pony.

Wednesday, Havre High senior Tamera O'Leary signed her NAIA letter of intent to compete for the Skylights starting next fall.

O'Leary is a four-year varsity runner for the Blue Pony cross country team, and she led the Blue Ponies at the Class A state meet back in October with a time of 21:16, which was also a season best.

"I've been most impressed with Tamera's optimism and support of her teammates. I really appreciate having that kind of affect on my teams," Spangler said in a press release. "I've also observed her confidence and comfort with running in the 21 minute-area. She knows we're going to have to shake that up a little, and I think she's prepared to work on that this summer. I'm really looking forward to working with her."

Aside from being a four-year varsity runner and four-time state qualifier for the Pony cross country team, O'Leary will also be a four-year participant, and third-year varsity tennis player at Havre High in the spring, and she has also been a member of the cheer squad at HHS. A member of Leadership High School and the 2020 HHS Homecoming queen, she plans to major in integrated health sciences and focus on prerequisite courses for admission into a dental hygiene program.

The daughter of Tim and Hailey O'Leary, she said she is most looking forward to going all out in school and sports next year, and she is very grateful for all the support she's experienced from family, friends, teammates, coaches and teachers.