Havre cross country starts season at Hardin Invitational

After weeks of conditioning, the Havre High cross country teams finally began the season this past Friday with the Hardin Invitational. In the first competition of the fall, the HHS girls team finished second in its meet while the HHS boys team placed fourth, which is where HHS head coach Erin Lynch expected them to finish.

“I was overall pretty happy with where our kids were this week,” Lynch said. “The first meet of the season is always going to give our team a baseline as far as where we are at that given moment in time.”

The HHS girls team scored 84 points to take second in its meet. The Hardin girls team had a strong showing to score 22 points to win the meet. Lewistown came in third behind Havre with 94 points as a team. The HHS boys team scored 118 points to tie for fourth with Miles City. Livingston won the boys meet with 61 points while Hardin came in second and Laurel placed third.

The Hardin course was not an easy course to run, especially with the extremely high temperatures Friday. With little shade on the course, the Ponies had to traverse a hefty hill on the course. They then ran for about a mile on the ridgeline as they pushed through the heat.

“It’s a pretty extreme course and probably one of the more difficult courses we’ll be on this season,” Lynch said. “So looking at the times that we had for here versus the courses that we’ll be running the rest of the season, I’m really excited at what I saw.”

On the boys team, Caleb Tomac had the highest finish for the Ponies as he took second in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 17:00.2. He finished second behind Greysen Piseno from Billings Central, who had a time of 16:48.5. With the competition he faced, Lynch liked how Tomac came out to start the year.

“He ran a really great race,” Lynch said. “The next time (Tomac and Piseno) encounter each other, I’ll be curious to see who comes out on top.”

Several other Ponies who competed at state last year will be looking to repeat that success this fall. Brody Henry finished 12th in the meet with a time of 18:52.2 and Ezra Goldhahn took 29th with a time of 20:21.4. Even though he was not at state last year, Zack May finished 25th in Hardin with a time of 19:55.4. Other Ponies who ran Saturday include Dylan Kunz, Mason Gregoire and Vance Burr, who finished 62nd, 63rd and 72nd respectively.

Hailey Gingery had the best finish for the HHS girls team with a time of 21:48.9 to finish sixth in the 5,000. She performed better at this meet than she did at last year’s Hardin meet, so Lynch is excited to see what Gingery can do this fall.

“Her goals at this race were to PR from the time that she had last year on the same course and she did so well by over a minute,” Lynch said. “Given the point in the season where we’re at, I’m ecstatic because I can’t wait to see what she does with the rest of the season.”

Jayla Meldrum took 11th at Hardin with a time of 24:36.6 while her teammate Paige Anderson came in 19th with a finish of 24:36.6. Clara Haslem took 24th with a time of 25:00.0 and Hannah Kinsella finished 28th with a time of 25:59.0. For the Ponies, Gulbertson finished 47th and Chloe Shennum finished 53rd.

At the Hardin Invitational, the Ponies competed against about 15 other teams. With all the competitors they got to see and run against, Lynch believes it will be beneficial for the Ponies as they head into the rest of their schedule.

“I think it was a really great way to just begin the season,” Lynch said. “Just coming out and taking second place in that particular meet on the girls side was fantastic. Then on the boys side, we saw a couple teams that we wouldn’t typically see until the state meet this year so I was excited to see how we stacked up against that.”

The HHS cross country teams will next compete at home with the Havre Invitational this Saturday. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. at Prairie Farms Golf Course.

Boys Individuals

Caleb Tomac, 2nd, 17:00.2; Brody Henry, 12th, 18:52.2; Zack May, 25th, 19:55.4; Ezra Goldhahn, 29th, 20:21.4; Dylan Kunz, 62nd, 23:24.9; Mason Gregoire, 63rd, 23:24.9; Vance Burr, 72nd, 26:34.4.

Girls Individuals

Hailey Gingery, 6th, 21:48.9; Jayla Meldrum, 11th, 22:57.7; Paige Anderson, 19th, 24:36.6; Clara Haslem, 24th, 25:00.0; Hannah Kinsella, 28th, 25:59.0; Emily Gulbertson, 47th, 27:58.3; Chloe Shennum, 53rd, 28:31.7.