Havre track wraps up season with Class A State Meet

The spring season for the Havre High track and field teams finally came to an end with the Class A State Track Meet in Butte this past weekend. Throughout the season, first-year head coach Kari Filius had been looking to help her athletes improve in time for the state meet.

At the end of the weekend, the HHS girls team finished 10th in its meet while the HHS boys team took 21st. However, Filius believes the Blue Ponies showed their improvement in their final meet of the season.

“I thought we did well. We snuck into a few places in a few different events, especially the girls,” Filius said. “It was a really good experience for our young kids. Just to see that state is just a different animal. The kids performed well and they rose to the challenge.”

The HHS girls team had a solid end to the spring by scoring 14 points to tie for 10th with Hamilton in the meet. Whitefish took first with 103 points while Corvallis took second and Laurel took third. Along the way, several Ponies had excellent endings to their seasons.

Just like she had done all season, freshman Kaydance Reiter excelled in the running events. In the 100-meter sprint, she finished third with a time of 12.96. In the 200, she posted a time of 26.95 to finish sixth. With this being her first state track meet, Filius believes Reiter represented Havre well over the weekend.

“She just goes in and does her thing and she did an excellent job,” Filius said. “For her to get third in the 100 and sixth in the 200 as a freshman was pretty impressive.”

Kyanna Jarvis also did well in multiple events for Havre. She finished fifth in the high jump with a height of 5-00 and she finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.89. Since Jarvis was only a sophomore, Filius was impressed by her performances throughout the season.

“Her high jump and her hurdles this year were both excellent. She had a great year,” Filius said. “We could see a lot of improvement with her from freshman year to sophomore year.”

In the triple jump, Macee May finished fourth with a personal record of 34-03.25. In the 400 relay, the HHS girls team of Reiter, May, Jarvis and Sadie Filius finished sixth with a time of 51.66.

In the boys meet, Dillon took home the state title with 103 points. Hamilton came in second and Whitefish finished third. As a team, the HHS boys team scored two points to finish 21st.

At state, Caleb Tomac had the best showing for the HHS boys track team. He finished sixth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:35.06. He then finished sixth in the 3,200 with a time of 10:25.34. With another strong meet in the long-distance runs to end the season, Coach Filius should not have been surprised.

“He had an excellent season. He improved in almost every meet,” Filius said. “For him to place in such a tight, tough field (at state) was really amazing. He did a great job.”

As the season comes to a close, so too does the first year for Filius leading the program. Looking back on her first year with the Ponies, Filius enjoyed building a culture that fosters success and camaraderie.

“I really enjoyed this year. The kids were great, this whole group,” Filius said. “It was really fun to try to bring the kids in as a team. (Trying to build) team atmosphere, rooting for each other, doing our best every meet and taking it seriously but having fun. I really enjoyed trying to instill that mindset in track.”

Filius also has plenty to look forward to next season with the Ponies. Athletes such as Reiter, Tomac, Jarvis and May will return to compete for Havre next season. As they head into summer, Filius plans on getting the work started for next spring.

“We’re just going to try to see if we can get some kids working out a little bit in the summer, a couple days a week,” Filius said. “(We’re) just trying to make track important too and we’ll work with other coaches and try to get us moving in the right direction every year.”