Blue Ponies ready for Class A competition at Gold Strike Invitational

After winning the Cal Wearley Track meet last weekend, the Havre High track and field teams will look to keep it up Saturday when they head to Laurel for the Gold Strike Invitational. They will compete against some Class A schools at this meet, so HHS head coach Kari Filius looks forward to seeing how the Blue Ponies fare.

"It'll be nice to compete against some Class A teams that we haven't seen yet this year," Filius said. "We'll see where we stack up there to get us prepared for divisionals so that's what I'm looking forward to."

At the meet, the Ponies will compete against schools such as Lewistown, Laurel, Lockwood and Livingston. However, she expects Hardin and Billings Central to be their toughest competition this weekend. With some strong competition, Filius believes it will be beneficial for her athletes.

"I'm looking forward to our kids seeing those other A school kids that we'll be seeing in the future," Filius said. "We don't get that sometimes being up in Havre. We don't get to see those kids very often until we get to divisionals."

Many Ponies will look to perform well after a strong showing at last weekend's Cal Wearley Memorial Track Meet. Brayden Kimberling will look for another strong showing in the sprints after taking first in both the 100-meter sprint and the 200-meter sprint last weekend.

Trayden Riley had a strong showing in last weekend's sprint as he took first in the 400-meter sprint. Other sprinters such as Michael Emge, Brisbin Reiter and Shane Patacsil will also look to build on their high finishes from last weekend.

In the long-distance runs, Brody Henry should do well after taking first in both the 800-meter dash and the 1,600-meter dash last weekend. Caleb Tomac is coming off a first-place finish in the 3,200-meter dash and a third-place finish in the 800. Zack May also had a solid showing in last weekend's long-distance runs and looks to do so again this weekend.

Jacob Herring and Ciaran Courtnage will look to run well in the hurdles after a strong finish in their last meet. Kale Van Campen will look to build on his fourth-place finish in the triple jump at the Cal Wearley.

Kyanna Jarvis will look to do well after taking first in both the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump last weekend. Ariana Gary should do well after taking second in both 100-meter hurdles and the high jump in her last meet.

In the sprints, Kaydance Reiter is coming off second-place finishes in both the 100 and the 200. Other sprinters that will look for strong finishes this weekend include Carolyn Thomas, Macy Brandon and Gracie Shandorf.

In the long-distance runs, Hailey Gingery is coming off a first-place finish in the 1,600 and a second-place finish in the 3,200. Jayla Meldrum should also do well after taking third in both the 1,600 and 3,200. Hannah Kinsella will look to improve on her fifth-place finish in the 3,200 at the Cal Wearley.

Macee May will look for another strong weekend after taking second in the long jump, fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the 100. Amaya Jarvis should be competitive in the hurdles while the likes of Maggie Daniels, Taylor Leeds and Clara Laird should do well in the field events.

Both the boys and girls relay teams will look to replicate their performances from last weekend. The HHS girls team is coming off first-place finishes in both the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay. The HHS boys relays team finished first in the 400 relay and finished second in the 1,600 relay.

The Ponies have many competitive athletes that can place high this weekend. But along with hoping for strong finishes, Filius looks forward to seeing the Ponies further build toward the postseason.

"We're pretty spread out with different events with some competitive kids," Filius said. "I expect them to keep working to get better times and distances and getting more confident when we see that we can do it against A schools."

The Gold Strike Invitational will begin in Laurel this Saturday at 10 a.m.