HHS cross country welcomes new coach Danielle Parsons

The Havre High cross country teams will soon return to the course this fall, and they will be under new leadership.

Danielle Parsons will take over for the Blue Ponies this season. As she takes over the program, Parsons hopes that her runners have fun and stay healthy in her first year leading the program.

“My expectation is to do the best we can and have a good time doing it,” Parsons said. “My big emphasis is that we end the season with everybody that we started with and to keep injuries at bay. That seems to be a problem that has plagued some of them in the past and I just want to keep them all sound and strong.”

This will not be Parsons’ first opportunity to coach the HHS cross country program. She has coached the cross country teams at the Havre Middle School for the past six years. She considered applying for the high school job a few years ago, but the timing did not feel right.

But when the job opened up this time around, she felt like it was the right time to apply. She also coached many of the runners on the high school teams when they were in middle school, so she looks forward to coaching them again.

“When this team was in middle school, I knew they were a pretty special group and really talented,” Parsons said. “I thought to myself, ‘That’s going to be a really good high school team.’ I just didn’t know at the time that I’d be the one coaching them so I feel really fortunate to be able to do that.”

While she has not traveled the high school cross country schedule before, Parsons is looking forward to several meets this season. From talking with her runners, Parsons is looking forward to the meet in Great Falls and later the state cross country meet at the end of the season. And of course, Parsons and the Ponies look forward to their lone home meet of the season.

While these meets are the ones that Parsons looks forward to the most this fall, she believes each meet will provide good experience for both the runners and her as a first-year head coach.

“They’re looking forward to each course that has its own set of challenges and bonuses,” Parsons said. “There’s some that they look forward to more than others but they all leave an impression on the athletes.”

As she takes over the HHS cross country program, Parsons is excited to see how things go for the Ponies this fall. While there are sure to be growing pains along the way, Parsons looks forward to working with her runners and helping them improve over the course of the season.

“I really look forward to getting to know the athletes and seeing how they’ve progressed since middle school,” Parsons said. “It’s just very exciting because of the potential that exists and to set some goals and see where we go.”