George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
Sometimes it is not quantity but quality that shines through in sports. That was the case for the Havre High girls track team at the Optimist Invitational track meet Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.
On a day when the girls were the main attraction on the field and on the track, the HHS girls managed to score 24 team points and finish 10th at the Optimist meet, which pitted the Class A Ponies with all 13 Class AA schools.
The team title came down to the final discus throw as Helena High edged Bozeman 93-92.5. Havre's 10th-place finish was just one point behind host Great Falls High, which came in ninth with 25 points.
The meet was littered with outstanding performances and meet records all day and that didn't exclude the Class A Ponies. Although Havre had just two girls on the medal stand all day, those two girls were outstanding in their respective events.
Sophomore Carmen Neuens shocked the Class AA competition by dominating the long jump field with a final leap of 16-7. Neuens' winning jump easily outdistanced second-place Alisha Walker of Billings Senior. Walker's best effort was 16-2.
Neuens scored again for Havre when she finished a very respectable eighth place in the triple jump. Neuens' best effort in that event was 35-5.
Fellow sophomore Lena Suek also gave Havre High a big lift, as she has done all season.
Suek finished second in a javelin competition that featured Helena High standout Anna Brooks. Although Suek's best event is normally the discus, her outstanding day in the javelin included a second-place toss of 129-3. Suek didn't disappoint in the discus either. She came in in fourth place with a final throw of 117-3.
Havre High track coach Mark West could not be reached for comment.
The Havre boys were idle this week, opting not to attend the Swede Dahlberg Invitational in Butte. Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when the Ponies host the CMR Rustlers in dual action.
The meet had been scheduled for the Havre Middle School track. However, a scheduling change will have the Ponies back at Memorial Stadium at 3 p.m. HHS will also be on the road Saturday when they attend the Bulldog Invitational in Whitefish.
Great Falls Optimist Meet
Team scores
Helena High 93, Bozeman 92.5, Billings West 75.5, Billings Senior 74, Kalispell 66, C.M. Russell High 54, Missoula Big Sky 53, Billings Skyview 50, Great Falls High 25, Havre High 24, Helena Capital 20, Missoula Hellgate 17, Butte High 13, Missoula Sentinel 6
100 - 1. Julia Cooper, Boz, 12.74; 2. Whitney Haseman, Hel, 12.75; 3. Leslie Saunders, Boz, 12.76; 4. Jessica Leslie, West, 12.91; 5. Kelsey Ham, Boz, 12.94; 6. Cricket Johnston, Kal, 13.01; 7. Sarah McGree, Butte, 13.04; 8. Rhysa Huston, West, 13.18.
200 - 1. Whitney Haseman, Hel, 26.54; 2. Sydney Best, CMR, 26.91; 3. Cricket Johnston, Kal, 26.97; 4. Melissa Jenkins, Hgt, 26.98; 5. Leslie Saunders, Boz, 26.99; 6. Sarah McGree, Butte, 27.07; 7. Callie Muri, West, 27.54; 8. Rhysa Huston, West, 27.64.
400 - 1. Sydney Best, CMR, 59.92; 2. Salone Loney, Skyview, 59.97; 3. Julia Cooper, Boz, 1:00.41; 4. Jade Roskam-Purnell, Hel, 1:00.45; 5. Melly O'Malley, Senior, 1:00.59; 6. Mary Mahoney, Skyview, 1:01.12; 7. Alexa McLaughlin, Cap, 1:01.89; 8. Morgan Schutte, Hgt, 1:01.99.
800 - 1. Zoe Nelson, Kal, 2:20.08; 2. Auriele Fain, Senior, 2:25.00; 3. Blair McCormack, West, 2:25.90; 4. Elysia Andrews, Kal, 2:27.08; 5. Gillian Goodrich, Boz, 2:28.11; 6. Julie Charron, Boz, 2:28.95; 7. Kendra Little, GFH, 2:29.98; 8. Amanda Piatte, Senior, 2:30.45.
1,600 - 1. Zoe Nelson, Kal, 5:05.14; 2. Auriele Fain, Senior, 5:14.42; 3. Bridgette Hoenke, Senior, 5:17.11; 4. Kim Tritz, Big Sky, 5:22.01; 5. Alyssa Bossler, Hel, 5:26.04; 6. Kristin Parker, Cap, 5:26.87; 7. Kaci Hockaday, Butte, 5:27.7; 8. Marilee Woyth, CMR, 5:28.10.
3,200 - 1. Kim Tritz, Big Sky, 11:40.35; 2. Katie Gilboy, Cap, 11:46.36; 3. Chelsea Burfeind, Kal, 11:48.58; 4. Alyssa Bossler, Hel, 11:53.40; 5. Kaci Hockaday, Butte, 12:03.49; 6. Mandi Jourdannais, Cap, 12:12.33; 7. Marilee Woyth, CMR, 12:13.81; 8. Emily Lynch, Kal, 12:14.14.
100 hurdles - 1. Alisha Walker, Senior, 15.95; 2. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 16.15; 3. Salone Loney, Skyview, 16.52; 4. Frankie Brady, GFH, 16.72; 5. Laurel Urquhart, GFH, 16.73; 6. Angie Loving, Hel, 16.74; 7. Jessie Goesslin, Big Sky, 16.86; 8. Brittany Maines, Boz, 17.48.
300 hurdles - 1. Salone Loney, Skyview, 46.06; 2. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 47.36; 3. Brittany Maines, Boz, 47.91; 4. Ashley Wamsley, Big Sky, 48.63; 5. Frankie Brady, GFH, 49.86; 6. Elizabeth Myers, Kal, 49.87; 7. Laurel Urquhart, GFH, 49.97; 8. Hannah Stanton, Senior, 49.99.
400 relay - 1. Bozeman (Maines, Lohman, Cooper, Saunders) 50.89; 2. Kalispell 51.13; 3. Helena 51.63; 4. Big Sky 51.76; 5. Skyview 51.93; 6. CMR 52.39; 7. Hellgate 52.56; 8. Senior 52.96.
1,600 relay - 1. Bozeman (Maines, Tilleman, Cooper, Lohman) 4:13.59; 2. West 4:14.13; 3. Helena 4:16.57; 4. CMR 4:16.73; 5. Kalispell 4:16.76; 6. Skyview 4:16.78; 7. Senior 4:21.39; 8. Capital 4:21.56.
High jump - 1. Kate Fischer, Senior, 5-2; 2. Shayna Kleinsasser, Skyview, 5-0; 3. Mary Mahoney, Skyview, 5-0; 4. Britney Lohman, Boz, 5-0; 5. (tie) Jessica Leslie, West, 5-0; Brittney Kaelberer, Boz, 5-0; 7. Leslie Dyer, Kal, 4-10; 8. Shara Flores, Hel, 4-10.
Triple jump - 1. Jade Roskam-Purnell, Hel, 35-2; 2. Kirsten Tilleman, Boz, 34-8; 3. Sarah Griffith, Kal, 34-8; 4. Jen Casey, West, 33-7; 5. Rachel Hansen, Big Sky, 33-1; 6. Callie Muri, West, 33-; 7. Samantha Gunlikson, Kal, 32-8; 8. Carmen Neuens, Havre, 32-5.
Long jump - 1. Carmen Neuens, Havre, 16-7; 2. Alisha Walker, Senior, 16-2; 3. Whitney Haseman, Hel, 16-2; 4. Kirsten Tilleman, Boz, 16-2; 5. Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 16-0; 6. Ashley Kropp, Cap, 15-10; 7. Britney Derhak, Skyview, 15-7; 8. Katrina Solomon, Senior, 15-5.
Javelin - 1. Anna Brooks, Hel, 148-0 (meet record, old record 147-7, Natalie Brayer, Hellgate, 1993); 2. Lena Suek, Havre, 129-3; 3. Steph Wordell, West, 113-3; 4. Sarah Stubbs, GFH, 112-0; 5. Ali Reisig, Boz, 111-8; 6. Tara Udall, GFH, 110-5; 7. Katelyn Vaala, Butte, 110-1; 8. Jen Casey, West, 109-10.
Shot put - 1. Lexi Halverson, West, 36-2; 2. Cortney Zappe, West, 36-2; 3. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR, 36-0; 4. Ali Middlestadt, Sent, 35-5; 5. Aimee Morrison, Hel, 35-2; 6. Annie Seaman, Hgt, 35-1; 7. Sam Swan, Senior, 34-3; 8. Erica Rominger, Sent, 33-9.
Discus - 1. Sara Bents, West, 131-5; 2. Aimee Morrison, Hel, 120-2; 3. Emily Schwenk, 117-8; 4. Lena Suek, Havre, 117-3; 5. Lexi Halverson, West, 115-10; 6. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR, 112-7; 7. Jess Lusin, Boz, 112-5; 8. Christine Coppock, Hgt, 110-9.
Pole vault - 1. KC Dahlgren, Big Sky, 11-0; 2. Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 10-6; 3. Shayla Crist, Big Sky, 10-0; 4. Anne Yeager, Hgt, 10-0; 5. Alex May-Fraser, Hel, 10-0; 6. Kari Heiple, Hel, 9-6; 7. Jen Casey, West, 9-6; 8. Cree Howard, Boz, 9-6.
Outstanding sprinter/hurdler - Salone Loney, Skyview
Outstanding distance runner - Zoe Nelson, Kalispell
Outstanding field performer - Anna Brooks, Helena High
