Havre High cross country runs hard at Fall Classic

Over the past month, the Havre High cross country teams have been doing their best to be at their peak for postseason competition. With the state meet next weekend in Missoula, the Blue Ponies only had one more chance to improve their times when they ran at the Fall Class in Hardin this past Friday. In Hardin, the HHS boys team finished fourth and the HHS girls team took fifth.

“Overall, we came in about where I figured that we would be coming in this year,” HHS head coach Erin Lynch said about her teams’ performance.

The HHS boys’ team finished fourth in the meet with a score of 145. Hardin won the meet with a score of 21 while Laurel took second with a score of 55 and Miles City took third with a score of 123. Caleb Tomac led the HHS boys team by finishing 10th with a time of 17:51.85. Brody Henry also ran well with a time of 19:09.51 to take 26th. Zack May took 29th for the Ponies with a finish of 19:28.76.

The HHS girls team finished fifth in its meet with a score of 131. Hardin also won the girls meet with a score of 33. Laurel took second in the meet with a score of 60 and Miles City took third with a score of 64.

Hailey Gingery had the best finish for the HHS girls team as she took seventh with a time of 21:11.10. Jayla Meldrum also ran well with a time of 23:05.96 to take 27th. Emma Gillen finished 31st with a time of 23:19.75.

While the HHS varsity runners will have one more meet this season, the junior varsity teams wrapped up their seasons in Hardin this past weekend. Koby Preputin had the best finish for the HHS boys junior varsity team as he took 24th with a time of 23:01.58. On the girls’ side, Amya Custer had the best finish as she placed 19th with a time of 26:59.49.

While she was satisfied with how her teams ran in Hardin, Lynch knows there are still things to work on. She expected a flatter course in Hardin but there were some aspects of the course such as sand that made the course harder than expected. With the state meet coming up for all her varsity runners, she will need to work with them to help them move past this weekend.

“Some of us had really great races this weekend and then others underestimated the course a little bit, which was something that we talked about after,” Lynch said. “We’re working through those mental barriers going into this next week and focusing on the big race.”

The HHS cross country teams will finish their season at the state meet this Friday in Missoula.

Boys Individuals

Caleb Tomac, 10th, 17:51.85; Brody Henry, 26th, 19:09.51; Zack May, 29th, 19:28.76; Ethan Durward, 39th, 20:09.17; Joshua Currie, 41st, 20:23.52; Ezra Goldhahn, 42nd, 20:25.76; Carter Spangler, 48th, 21:10.35.

Girls Individuals

Hailey Gingery, 7th, 21:11.10; Jayla Meldrum, 27th, 23:05.96; Emma Gillen, 31st, 23:19.75; Clara Haslem, 38th, 24:16.69; Neveah Phillips, 39th, 24:19.73; Chloe Shennum, 48th, 26:00.39; Maleigha Fuzesy, 53rd, 26:47.63.

Boys Junior Varsity Individuals

Koby Preputin, 24th, 23:01.58; Wyatt Burr, 28th, 24:05.80; Nathan Gregiore, 30th, 25:13.69; Ryland Horn, 32nd, 25:43.92.

Girls Junior Varsity Individuals

Amya Custer, 19th, 26:59.49; Emily Gilbertson, 21st, 27:13.79; MacKenzie Dean, 29th, 28:44.38; Katie Messinger, 36th, 31:16.88.