Havre High girls' cross country wins Malta Invite

After competing in several large meets the past few weeks, the Havre High cross country teams ran in a much smaller gathering of only 14 teams when they competed at the Malta Invite this past Saturday. Against less competition, the HHS girls team took first in their meet while the HHS boys team finished second.

"They actually surpassed some of the expectations I had," HHS head coach Erin Lynch said about her runners' performance. "Most of the kids had PRs so we're pretty excited."

The HHS girls' team took first with a score of 36. Poplar took second in the meet with a score of 42 and Glasgow finished third with a score of 45.

Hailey Gingery again had the best finish for the Blue Ponies as she took fourth in the girls meet with a time of 21:09.96. Emma Gillen also had a high finish as she took sixth with a time of 22:36.20. Jayla Meldrum also ran well as she took eighth with a time of 23:08.10.

The HHS boys team ran well in its meet with a second-place finish with a score of 52 points. Glasgow took first in the meet with a score of 16 and Poplar finished third with a score of 68.

The Ponies' top runner Caleb Tomac did not run Saturday. Instead, Havre was led by Brody Henry. At Malta, he finished seventh with a time of 18:48.20. Zack May also ran well to take 10th in the meet with a time of 19:00.31.

The Ponies now only have one more meet before state later this month. As their season winds down over the next few weeks, Lynch and her runners are evaluating where they are compared to other teams to see what times they will need to run.

"We've been looking at the other teams and how we can break up their packs," Lynch said. "This next week, the girls are going to be targeting the Lewistown pack and the boys are going after Miles City and using what we did this weekend to be competitive with those two teams."

The HHS cross country teams will next run in the Fall Classic in Hardin this Friday.

Boys Individuals

Brody Henry, 7th, 18:48.20; Zack May, 10th, 19:00.31; Joshua Currie, 12th, 19:19.85; Ethan Durward, 13th, 19:20.63; Carter Spangler, 14th, 19:30.53; Ezra Goldhahn, 15th, 20:02.62; Jackson Headdress, 22nd, 21:59.00; Koby Preputin, 26th, 23:30.54; Nathan Gregoire, 30th, 24:02.90; Wyatt Burr, 32nd, 25:35.56; Ryland Horn, 34th, 26:58.60.

Girls Individuals

Hailey Gingery, 4th, 21:09.96; Emma Gillen, 6th, 22:36.20; Jayla Meldrum, 8th, 23:08.10; Clara Haslem, 12th, 23:43.57; Nevaeh Phillips, 13th, 23:57.78; Chloe Shennum, 25th, 25:34.11; Emily Gilbertson, 31st, 26:59.05; Amya Custer, 39th, 28:12.17; MacKenzie Dean, 40th, 28:24.73; Katie Messinger, 46th, 32:21.73.