Havre High track teams ready to leap into spring

While they will be on the road for most of the spring, the Havre High track and field teams should have the attention of local sports fans. With a new season and a new head coach this year, there is plenty to look forward to for the Blue Ponies.

As she takes over the program, head coach Kari Filius looks forward to getting the Poneis ready for success, especially at the end of the season.

"I just want everybody to enjoy being on the team together and see improvement gradually throughout the season," Filius said. "(We're hoping) to be ready by the end of the season to get as many as we can qualified for state."

The Ponies have several returning athletes who should have strong seasons this spring.

On the girls team, Sadie Filius and Emma Gillen return for their senior years while Kyanna Jarvis comes back for her sophomore campaign. Clara Laird will also come back to throw for the Ponies.

The rest of the HHS girls track team consists of Kaite Messenger, Natalies Hobbs, Alexa Labrie, Shyla Solomon, Mallory Murray, Grayce Harada, Saige Knutsen, Hailey Gingery, Chloe Shennum, Jayla Meldrum, Emily Leeds, Macee May, Klayre Hitchcock, Kylee Tyler, Carolyn Thomas, Tierra Parker, Maggie Daniel, Sophie Drew, Katherine Terry, Taylor Leeds, Kaydance Reiter, Emily Gulberson, Kenzie Kallenberger, Amaya Custer and Koryn Bedwell.

On the boys team, Kari Filius looks forward to the return of Jason Wold. Other returning athletes that Filus believes should make an impact include Shane Patascil, Carson Harris, Braden Kimberling and Greg O'Leary. After a few years away from track, Riley Pleninger will make his return to the program. The Ponies will also have good distance runners in Caleb Tomac and Brody Henry.

Other athletes looking to have strong seasons on the HHS boys team include Brisbin Reiter, Jacob Herring, Ryker O'Leary, Ethan Durward, Hunter Sawdey, Ryan Powell, Mason Wilting, Cory Kueffler, Ethan Elliot, Jasper Carlson, Byron Gallager, Chase Mariani, Kaden Barkley, Zack Monk, Justin Awtrey, Marc Whitacre, Drew Allen, Makaya Lodgepole, Landon Caplette, Orion Thivierge, Kale VanCampen, Evan Barker, Justin Rosgaard, Tate Nelson, Colter Solomon, Pierce Caplette, Jack Gillen, Ezra Goldhahn, Carson Sandstrom, Joey Wendland, Jasper Wendland, Ricky Moore, Wyatt Burr, Kolter Sands, Trayden Riley, Ciaran Courtnage, Rodney Kennerly, Wyatt Simpson, Isaac Pedraza, Andrew LaRoque and Jericao Bracelet.

As they head into the season, Filius believes the Ponies can have success in both boys and girls sprinting this season. She also believes she has some good jumpers on the boys team and some good hurdlers on the girls team.

The Ponies will head on the road more this year as they will compete against more Class A schools. The season will begin this Friday with the Glasgow Invite. The Ponies will then return home for the Cal Wearly Memorial April 6 and then the Havre Lions Invite April 9.

The Ponies will then spend the rest of April on the road with meets in Billings, Malta, Laurel and Whitefish. The Ponies then begin May with the top 10 meet in Glasgow and the Great Falls Frosh meet. Havre then returns home for the Havre Invite on May 7 and will then end the regular season on May 13 with the Glendive Twilight. The postseason will begin with divisionals in Lockwood and then end with state in Butte.

Over the course of their regular season and divisionals, the Ponies will compete against Eastern A schools such as Lewistown, Sidney, Glendive, Miles City, Hardin, Billings Central, Livingston, Laurel and Lockwood. As she took over the program, Filius wanted to compete against Class A schools more often than previous seasons, so scheduling more meets against these schools was a priority heading into this year.

"We're going to compete this year against more Class A schools, so we're going to be traveling a little bit more this year away from home," FIlius said. "I'm looking forward to competing against kids that we will compete with at the end of the year so we'll see where we are during the season instead of just at the end of the season."

The HHS track teams begin their season this Friday with the Glasgow Invite.