Havre High cross country wins Browning Invite

In their first meet under new head coach Erin Lynch, the Havre High cross country team ran well at the Browning Invitational meet to open their season on Saturday. In both the boys and girls meets, the Blue Ponies took first place as a team to start Lynch’s tenure as head coach.

“I thought it was a great way to start the season and it was really great to see timewise where the kids were at,” Lynch said.

The HHS boys team took first with 35 points in their meet. Cut Bank finished second behind them with 45 points and Browning was third with 46 points. Other schools that had runners at the meet include Box Elder, Heart Butte, Fairfield and Shelby. The Ponies were led by sophomore Caleb Tomac, who finished first in the boys 5,000 meters with a time of 17:43.36.

“Caleb just kept with it and did exactly what he had planned to do,” Lynch said.

Junior Brody Henry also had a high finish as he took fourth with a time of 19:30.29. Sophomore Zack May took fifth with a time of 19:34.79.

The HHS girls team took first in their meet with 29 points. Browning finished second with 51 points and Cut Bank took third with 53 points. Freshman Hailey Gingery had the highest finish for the Ponies as she took fourth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 24:13.33. Senior Emma Gillen finished fifth with a time of 24:49.11. Kiara Iron Heart of Browning won the 5,000 meter with a time of 22:04.85.

With her first meet with the program now in the books, Lynch now has a better idea of where her runners are at. She now hopes to build off the success they had in Browning as they compete the rest of the fall.

“We’re using this as a starting point. We’re looking at our times, we’re looking at how we did,” Lynch said. “I was really proud about how kids on both the boys and girls side stick together as a pack and work together.”

HHS cross country will continue their season this Saturday with a meet in Hardin.

Havre Individuals

Boy Varsity

Caleb Tomac, 1st, 17:43.36; Brody Henry, 4th, 19:30.29; Zack May, 5th, 19:34.79; Ezra Goldhahn, 13th, 20:39.75; Carter Spangler, 14th, 20:41.02; Joshua Currie, 15th, 20:49.29; Ethan Durward, 16th, 21:01.31; Jackson Headdress, 20th, 22:43.18; Nathan Gregoire, 23rd, 25:33.73; Wyatt Burr, 25th, 26:03.63; Koby Preputin, 26th, 27:25.60.

Girls Varsity

Hailey Gingery, 4th, 24:13.33; Emma Gillen, 5th, 24:49.11; Maleigha Fuzesy, 9th, 26:12.50; Chloe Shennum, 10th, 26:21.34; Jayla Meldrum, 11th, 26:36.45; Neveah Philips, 12th, 27:51.72; Clara Haslem, 14th, 28:17.56; MacKenzie Dean, 23rd, 34:20.34; Katie Messinger, 24th, 35:43.87.