Blue Ponies ready to return to action

As the calendar finally turns to spring, the high school track and field season will soon make its return. The Havre High track and field teams are excited to get going this spring as they look to continue building as a program under second-year head coach Kari Filius.

"I hope that we can pick up where we left off. Last year, we had a really good year and I hope that our excitement and experience we had last year will carry over and have more people meeting those standards," Filius said. "So we're working towards the postseason in every track meet, and every practice is hopefully going to be toward that. But we have a good group of kids that are working hard."

If the Ponies want to continue developing as a program, they will need their best athletes to perform well this season. Thankfully for them, they have many returners that can make an impact this spring.

On the boys side, Caleb Tomac and Brody Henry will return to run long distance for the Ponies. The Ponies also see the return of Brayden Kimberling, Brisbin Reiter, Carson Harris and Trayden Riley who will run sprints this season.

On the girls side, the Ponies will see the return of Kyanna Jarvis who placed in the hurdles and high jump last season. Macy May will come back after placing in the triple jump at state. Kaydance Reiter also returns after placing in the sprints last season.

The Ponies also have many newcomers to the program that Filius hopes can make an impact. In the sprints, Filius believes Macy Brandon, Ela Harbor, Amaya Jarvis and Sierra Parker can do well. Brandon Healy and Tommy Lewis should also be good throwers for the Ponies this season.

"We have a really big freshman class of good boys and girls who look like they might be pretty talented," Filius said. "They're competitive and they work hard so we'll see where they enter as they get in."

The Ponies have several meets ahead of them this season. This weekend's Glasgow Invitational was canceled, so they will now begin the season with the Fergus Meet in Lewistown April 6. Along with getting the season started, Filius looks forward to seeing how they fare against competition such as Lewistown, Laurel and Miles City.

The Ponies will then compete in the Cal Wearley Memorial Invite April 15 right here in Havre. The Ponies will then compete in the Laurel Invite April 22. The following weekend, the Ponies head on the road for the Whitefish Invite.

Then on May 2, the Ponies start the month with the Glasgow Top Ten. Following that on May 6, the Ponies will host the Havre Lions Invite at the Havre Middle School Track. The Ponies will then wrap up the regular season with the Dawson County Twilight Meet in Glendive May 12.

The Ponies start the postseason with the Divisional Meet in Sidney from May 19 through May 20. The best athletes from that meet will then advance to the State Meet in Laurel from May 26 through May 27.

As she heads into her second season leading the Ponies, Filius hopes that the Ponies can continue to develop as a program. If they are going to do that, Filius hopes to see continued improvement over the next few weeks in order to be at their best for the postseason.

"I hope that I see them having fun and embracing hard work because track is an individual and a team sport, but you don't get much improvement or anything out of it if you don't work hard," Filius said. "I just hope they embrace hard work and have fun while they're doing it and support each other and hopefully that carries over to the postseason."

The HHS track and field teams will begin the season with the Fergus Meet in Lewistown on April 6.