Blue Pony track teams prepare for long trip

After having yet another meet cancelled because of weather conditions, the Havre High track teams will hit the road for one of their longest trips of the season.

The Blue Ponies, who were supposed to compete at the Malta Invitational Tuesday, will travel to Whitefish Saturday to participate in the track meet hosted by the Bulldogs. The events will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Last weekend, both teams were in Belgrade and got their first look at a number of their Class A competitors. Both teams performed well as the Pony girls finished fifth and the Pony boys finished eighth.

Coming off those performances, both teams will get another chance to see how they stack up against Class A teams as the Ponies will see some different schools from out west that they haven't competed against yet this season.

"Going to Belgrade was a great experience for us," HHS head coach John Ita said. "We got to see some really good competition and our kids got to see how they stack up against some very good athletes. Now we need to keep getting better. One thing we need to do is do a better job of starting our races and getting out of the blocks. But we are still young and those are little things that we are learning and working on over time.

"A lot of our kids are used to being the top dog back in middle school," he added. "But now, when they get to high school and see some of the competition it can be eye-opening and it takes a while to adjust to it."

The Havre girls, which seem to have potential point-scorers in just about every event, will be looking to build on their performance and will look to do so again by scoring points in a number of different ways. The girls have gotten strong contributions in the running events recently, led by Naomi Terry in the 100-meter dash and 200, as well as Rachel David and Megan Erickson in the distance events.

The hurdles have also been a strong point for Havre this season and could be another source of points Saturday as both Logan Huebsch, who finished second in the 300 hurdles in Belgrade, and Ireland Coyne have a strong chance to place. Huebsch also stands out in the triple jump, while freshman Sarah Faber has placed in jumping events in back-to-back meets.

Loni Waid, Amelia Beard and Kaylee Nystrom have all placed in the pole vault multiple times this season. And in the throwing events - the discus, the shot put and the javelin, Kristen Nash and Jordan Keith are both threats to get points for Havre.

"Logan and Ireland have both done well in the hurdles, we have seen good results there recently," Ita said. "Our distance runners, Rachel and Megan, they have done a good job and so has Naomi Terry in the 100 and the 200."

The girls team seems to be hitting its stride and, while the boys team isn't struggling, it has been missing some key contributors, such as Ivar Aageson, who, when healthy, competes in multiple events at a high level.

The Havre boys have plenty of talented athletes that can make up for the absences, such as Nate Rismon, who placed in the 200 at state a season ago and has done so in numerous meets this season. Highlighted by Rismon, the boys team has a talented group of runners that also includes the likes of Jacob LaBrie, Luke Karnauskas, Ethan Roberts and Michael Loftus. All placed in at least one event a week ago. They have also helped the Ponies put together one of the most competitive 1,600 relay teams in Class A.

The Pony boys also get regular contributions from Thomas Keith in the throwing events. Rismon has also gotten points consistently from Rismon in the pole vault and Karnauskas in jumping events.

"Rismon has been doing what Rismon does," Ita said. "Ethan Roberts is back healthy now and that helps us and our relays have been looking really good."

Following the Whitefish meet, the Ponies, at least the athletes that qualify, will compete in the annual Top Ten meet in Glasgow. That will take place Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The Glasgow Top Ten requires athletes to be in the top-10 in their event in order to quality. After the Top Ten Meet, HHS will have just one other meet before the Eastern A Divisional meet, which will be May 20-21 in Laurel. The Ponies will then finish their season at the Class A state track meet, which will take place May 27-28 in Bozeman.

Both Havre teams will be in Whitefish Saturday, with the events scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.