George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Havre High boys and girls cross country teams are heading toward the postseason, with the Central A divisional meet this weekend in Livingston.
The Ponies appear primed for a solid run at postseason success as they competed well at the Browning Invitational this Saturday at the East Glacier Golf Course.
The HHS girls finished a close second to Ronan. The Maidens scored 36 points while Havre came in with a score of 47. Browning was a distant third with 79 points.
Havre is looking to repeat as Class A state champions this season and its performance against Class A favorite Ronan was solid, HHS head coach Tim Ranes said.
”I thought the girls ran pretty well in Browning,“ Ranes said. ”We finished second to Ronan and they are our primary competition when we get to state, so I was very happy with our results.“
Havre also shined individually on the East Glacier course. Darci Briere, who has been the most consistent Pony runner this season, finished in second place overall with a time of 20:06. Briere was less than 30 seconds off the winning pace of individual medalist Terinee McCreedy of Ronan. McKayla Patterson also turned in a top-five finish for the Ponies with a time of 20:24 - good enough for fourth place. Meredith Hanson also looked sharp, finishing in eighth place with a time of 21:05.
The trio of Kristin Keltgen, Mandi Nystrom and Danika Patterson posted finishes in the top 25 for Havre. Keltgen finished in 14th place, while Nystrom and Patterson finished 19th and 23rd, respectively.
The Havre High boys also looked sharp on Saturday afternoon, even without two of their top two runners. The Ponies finished in third place in the team standings behind host Browning, as well as Ronan. Havre finished the day with a score of 68. The Indians won the meet with a score of 40.
”I thought our boys ran well, but we'll need to be better if we want to make up some time on Browning at divisionals,“ Ranes said. ”The nice thing is that we get a couple of kids back this week and we'll be at full strength for the first time this season.“
Individually, Andy Kheim paced the Ponies with a sixth-place finish. Kheim finished the race with a solid time of 17:32. Marcus Campbell and Jade Nystrom also finished in the top 10 for Havre, coming in ninth and 10th, respectively. Campbell finished the race with a time of 17:39, and Nystrom came across the finish line one second later.
”I thought all of our guys ran a good race,“ Ranes said. ”They were very strong and the nice thing is that we stayed healthy.“
In a meet in Helena earlier last week, the HHS girls finished first among all Class A schools and the Havre High boys were second among Class A schools behind Browning.
Both Havre High cross country teams are now preparing for the Central A divisional meet in Livingston on Saturday morning.
At East Glacier Park Golf Course
Boys
Team Scores
1. Browning 40; 2. Ronan 42; 3. Havre 68; 4. Cut Bank 99; 5. Shelby 159; 6. Harlem 178.
Havre Top 25 Runners
6. Andy Kheim, 17:32; 9. Marcus Campbell, 17:39; 10. Jade Nystrom, 17:40; 20. Jeff Hedstrom, 18:45; 23. Richard Jarvis, 18:48.
Girls
Team Scores
1. Ronan 36; 2. Havre 47; 3. Browning 79; 4. Cut Bank 88; 5. Shelby 108; 6. Harlem, 185.
Havre top 25 runners
2. Darci Briere, 20.06; 4. McKayla Patterson, 20:24; 8. Meredith Hanson, 21:05; 14. Kristin Keltgen, 21:57; 19. Mandi Nystrom, 22:30; 23. Danika Patterson, 22:51.
