Ponies race, jump for gold in Laurel

The season finally comes to an end for the Havre High track and field team as they compete in the Class A State Track Meet this weekend in Laurel. As the Blue Ponies head into the weekend, HHS head coach Ryan Gatch knows that a state title for any of his athletes would cement their legacy at Havre High.

"At the end of the day it's where you finish at the state tournament," Gatch said. "We'll have an awesome training week and we'll be able to go down to Laurel and have a great meet."

At the meet, the Ponies will compete for state titles against athletes from over 60 schools across the state. Some of these schools include divisional foes such as Sidney, Lewistown, Glendive and Miles City. Despite the competition, Gatch believes his team is focused.

"They're some of the elite athletes in the state and they're going to have a chance to go down and prove it," Gatch said. "The students have a great work ethic and a great mindset as far as going and competing for a state championship."

One of those elite athletes competing for a state title will be Nolan Lotton. In his last meet as a Pony, Lotton will race in the sprints. He is the only Pony to bring home a divisional title last weekend, winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.71 seconds. He also qualified for the 100 and 200 races this weekend.

"For a guy like Nolan, he's going there to win the 100, the 200 and the 400 and he's going to be ready to go in all those races," Gatch said.

The Havre boys relay teams will also look to finish their season on a positive note. The 400 relay team made up of Carson Harris, Brayden Kimberling, Jasper Wendland and Lotton will look to win their event for the first time this season. The 1,600 relay team consisting of Hunter Awtrey, Brody Henry, Jason Wold, Caleb Tomac and Lotton will look to win their event for the second time this season.

The Havre girls relay teams also look to end their strong seasons with a state title. Their 400 relay made up of Emma Gillen, Sadie Filius, Kennedy Hampton, Kyanna Jarvis and Tamera O'Leary has placed in the top two of the event in every meet this season. The 1,600 relay team made up of Loy Waid, Filius, Gillen, O'Leary and Jarvis looks to pick up their fourth event win of the season to clinch a state title. Hannah Haslem will be an alternate for the 1,600 relay team this weekend.

While she has been dealing with a late-season injury, Filius hopes to get one more chance to compete this season. If she is able to go, she will compete in the 300-meter hurdles where she finished second with a time of 50.22 seconds at the divisional meet. She also qualified for the long jump and 400 this weekend.

The Ponies will see many seniors finish their careers this weekend. Waid will race in three different sprints this weekend after placing fourth in the 400, fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at divisionals. Hampton will compete in the 100 and the long jump and O'Leary will race in the 100 as well. Dylan Young will race in the 800 after placing sixth at divisionals with a time of 2:06.21.

Havre will also have many underclassmen compete this weekend. Henry will race in the 800 and Gillen will compete in the hurdles after placing third in the 100-meter hurdles and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles at divisionals.

Many freshmen will also compete this weekend. Ciaran Courtnage will run in the 100-meter hurdles and Tomac will run in the 1,600 and 3,20. Jarvis hopes to end her freshman season strongly as she will compete in the 300-meter hurdles and high jump. Emilee Chambliss hopes to carry over her strong performance in the discus at divisionals into this weekend's meet. Even though some of his younger athletes are not expected to bring home a state title, Gatch knows they will compete hard.

"Each one of our students will have differentiating goals," Gatch said. "Some are going to expect to win state championships and some are going to expect to compete at their very best and understand that they'll have another three years of experience coming up."

If the Ponies are going to finish their season strong and bring home some hardware, they will need to use anytime off this week to rest up in order to have the energy to compete this weekend.

"They got to start prepping now," Gatch said. "It's going to be proper sleep, proper nutrition, proper recovery and proper rest and that's going to be the key on how well we perform this weekend, and our students are understanding that."

Havre will begin competition in the MHSA Class AState Meet this Friday in Laurel.