George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
Facing some of the best Class AA teams that the state of Montana has to offer, the Havre High track teams had their work cut out for them this weekend.
The fierce competition didn't stop the Ponies from competing well, however, and even though they didn't earn a lot of points, the Ponies came away with a positive experience that will benefit them in the long run.
The HHS boy's team and the HHS girl's team each went its separate way on Saturday with the boys in Butte for the Swede Dahlberg Invitational and the girls in Great Falls for the Optimist Invitational.
The Havre High girls, who were coming off a solid performance in a dual meet against Great Falls High on Tuesday, fared much better than the boys team did. They finished with 26 points, which was good enough for 11th place at the Optimist Invitational at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. Billings West won the meet with 111 points. Coming in second was Bozeman with 108 points and third place went to CMR with 88 points.
Billings Skyview grabbed the team title at the Swede Dahlberg Invitational in Butte on Saturday with 66 points. Helena Capital was second with 64.5 points and Kalispell finished third with 56.5. The Havre High boys finished in 13th place with just two points.
One of the few bright spots on the afternoon for the Ponies was the outstanding performance of Lena Suek. Suek was by far the top point getter on the day for Havre in Great Falls. Suek took home first-place honors in the javelin and also came in third in the discus.
“I think that we did all right considering the level of competition that we were up against,” HHS head coach Mark West said. “Lena Suek had a great day for us. She was excited to get the chance to compete against some really good competition and she did a nice job.
“Some of the kids, especially a lot of the younger kids, were probably a little intimidated because it was a really big meet and there were a lot of really good teams there,” he added. “But some of our older kids like Lena handled it well and that's why they were able to perform a little bit better.”
Other individuals who performed well for the Ponies on Saturday were Carmen Neuens, who finished sixth in the high jump and eighth in the long jump, and Casea Pollington, who finished in fifth place in the high jump.
“Carmen did a good job for us. She placed in both the high jump and the long jump,” West said. “She has been injured for part of the season, so it was nice to see her perform the way she did. “It was also good to see Casea Pollington place in the high jump,” West added. “It would have been nice to get a few more points, but we had some girls who got injured and we weren't able to compete in the relay, which hurt us because we may have been able to pick up a few more points there.”
On the boys side of things, Cody McLean was the only Blue Pony to place in Butte. McLean came in fifth in the pole vault, giving the Ponies their only two points in the meet.
“It was really neat to see Cody perform as well as he did,” West said. “He got a personal best in the pole vault and he just did a great job.
“We had some other kids that performed well even though they didn't place,” West added. “But, we ran pretty good times or at least the times we expected to run. We had some kids like Derek Verploegen who got personal bests in their events, which is always nice to see.”
The Ponies will be in action again Tuesday afternoon as they head to Great Falls to compete in a dual meet against CMR.
Swede Dahlberg Invitational
Team scores
Billings Skyview 66, Helena Capital 64 1/2, Kalispell 56 1/2, Butte 52, Bozeman 51, Missoula Hellgate 50, Billings Senior 43, Billings West 38, Great Falls 38, Missoula Big Sky 35, C.M. Russell 18, Helena 12, Havre 2, Butte Central 1.
Individual events
100 - 1, Christian Prosperie, CMR, 11.25; 2, Josh Colvin, BSr, 11.36; 3, Conner VanFossen, MH, 11.39; 4, Nick Haynes, But, 11.44; 5, Aaron Booth, GF, 11.58; 6, Beau Watkins, Kal, 11.62.
200 - 1, Josh Colvin, BSr, 22.64; 2. Aaron Booth, GF, 22.86; 3, Christian Prosperie, CMR, 22.94; 4, Conner VanFossen, MH, 23.10; 5, Justin Maes, Hel, 23.16; 6, Joe Houghton, BW, 23.62.
400 - 1, Norm Comfort, Boz, 50.85; 2, James Allred, HC, 51.83; 3, Joe Houghton, BW, 52.04; 4, Reed Watkins, Kal, 52.28; 5, Layne Scheveck, BSkyv, 52.88; 6, Eron Krpan, Hel, 52.96.
800 - 1, Nolan Real Bird, BSkyv, 1:58.23; 2, Sean Clark, Kal, 1:58.83; 3, James Allred, HC, 1:59.88; 4, John Fairweather, Kal, 1:59.97; 5, Tanner Clark, Boz, 2:00.73; 6, Davey Steinbacher, Boz, 2:01.34.
1,600 - 1, Nolan Real Bird, BSkyv, 4:27.67; 2, Hunter Nelson, MBS, 4:28.16; 3, Davey Steinbacher, Boz, 4:36.10; 4, Seth Grossman, Kal, 4:37.25; 5, Daniel Jackson, Boz, 4:37.74; 6, Nathan Adams, Boz, 4:38.55.
3,200 - 1, Nolan Real Bird, BSkyv, 9:50.57; 2, Hunter Nelson, MBS, 9:51.61; 3, Daniel Jackson, Boz, 9:52.41; 4, Joe Stusek, BW, 9:57.52; 5, Alex Brekke, Boz, 9:59.37; 6, Carl Nystuen, Kal, 9:59.71.
110 hurdles - 1, Tymon Gleason, HC, 15.33; 2, Tony Cuneen, But, 15.44; 3, Ryan Whitney, BSr, 15.56; 4, Jared Hunt, HC, 15.59; 5, Brandon Penrose, But, 15.87; 6, Logan Polkow, BSkyv, 16.30.
300 hurdles - 1, Logan Polkow, BSkyv, 40.10; 2, Tony Cuneen, But, 40.85; 3, Andrew Lopez, Boz, 41.32; 4, Kyle Klaudt, MBS, 41.46; 5, Brandon Penrose, But, 41.60; 6, Justin Hickert, Boz, 41.69.
400 relay - 1, Butte (Justin Sullivan, Tony Cuneen, Nick Haynes, Heath McCloskey) 43.59; 2, Great Falls 44.10; 3, Bozeman 44.33; 4, Kalispell 44.40; 5, Missoula Hellgate 44.55; 6, Missoula Big Sky 44.94.
1,600 relay - 1, Kalispell (Beau Gravelle, Sean Clark, John Fairweather, Reed Watkins) 3:28.19; 2, Helena 3:30.21; 3, Billings West 3:32.66; 4, Butte 3:33.10; 5, Billings Senior 3:35.00; 6, Billings Skyview 3:37.81.
High jump - 1, Adam Bleken, But, 6-4; 2, Corey Raymond, BSr, 6-2; 3, Kevin Henry, BSkyv, 6-2; 4, Christian Segota, MH, 6-0; 5, Kevin Corwin, GF, 6-0; 6-tie, Mike Kuehne, Kal, and Cole Conway, But, 5-10.
Long jump - 1, Christian Segota, MH, 21-11 1/2; 2, Chris Wells, BW, 21-5 1/2; 3, Kevin Corwin, GF, 20-8 1/2; 4, Kyle Wheatley, GF, 20-4; 5, Justin Goselin, BSkyv, 20-3 1/2; 6, Tim Lucero, BSr, 20-2.
Triple jump - 1, Christian Segota, MH, 44-8; 2, Eric Sebastian, Boz, 42-0; 3, Richie Carter, Kal, 41-9; 4, Sam Tedrow, Kal, 41-6 1/2; 5, Mike Devlin, MBS, 41-4 1/2; 6, Jake Stagnoli, BC, 40-8 1/2.
Discus - 1, Dan Ogden, Kal, 160-4; 2, Andrew Woods, MH, 158-3; 3, Francis Reishus, HC, 153-7; 4, Nick Kessler, HC, 150-4; 5, Alex Smith, But, 145-0; 6, Kyle Caldwell, But, 144-9.
Javelin - 1, Nick Lam, BSkyv, 202-0 (new meet record); 2, Wade Boss, BSr, 187-6; 3, Conner VanFossen, MH, 183-2; 4, Nick Lebsock, BSkyv, 181-9; 5, Konnor Backer, BW, 173-9; 6, Matt Komac, Hel, 165-8. (previous meet record: Chris Reno, BW, 2005, 190-10; old javelin: Timm Rosenbach, MH, 1983, 215-8 1/2).
Shot put - 1, Brandon Quessenberry, BW, 52-9 1/2; 2, Darby Reardon, GF, 49-6; 3, Beau Donaldson, MBS, 48-4 1/2; 4, Nick Kessler, HC, 47-10 1/2; 5, Andrew Voorhees, CMR, 47-8 1/2; 6, Michael Sisk, BW, 47-5 1/4.
Pole vault - 1, Bob Biskupiak, HC, 14-6; 2, Taylor Brown, HC, 14-6; 3, Lance Carl, MBS, 14-0; 4, Chris Crawford, HC, 13-6; 5, Cody McLean, Hav, 13-6; 6-tie, Bobby Pomroy, But, and Eric Malstrom, HC, 13-0.
Optimist Invitational
Team scores
Billings West 111, Bozeman 106, C.M. Russell High 88, Billings Senior 62, Kalispell 61, Butte High 41.5, Helena Capital 37.5, Missoula Hellgate 32, Helena High 28, Missoula Sentinel 27, Havre 24, Great Falls High 19, Missoula Big Sky 15, Billings Skyview 11
Individual results
100- 1. Leslie Saunders, Bozeman, 12.66; 2. Melissa Jenkins, Hellgate, 12.73; 3. Elizabeth Myers, Kalispell, 12.85; 4. Kelsey Ham, Bozeman, 12.86; 5. Lauryn McKay, West, 12.87; 6. Jamie Pankratz, CMR, 12.93; 7. Jessica Leslie, West, 12.94; 8. Emilee Grubb, Bozeman, 13.06.
200- 1. Melissa Jenkins, Hellgate, 26.04; 2. Leslie Saunders, Bozeman, 26.48; 3. Jamie Pankratz, CMR, 26.75; 4. Kendalyn Habel, Kalispell, 26.85; 5. Chelsea Hart, Kalispell, 27.25; 6. Britney Derhak, Skyview, 27.31; 7. Taylor Kirkdendall, CMR, 27.58; 8. Whitney Haseman, Helena, 27.78.
400- 1. Melissa Jenkins, Hellgate, 59.13; 2. Layryn McKay, West, 59.50; 3. Jenae Lister, Kalispell, 1:00.20; 4. Kelsey Ham, Bozeman, 1:00.73; 5. Kelly O'Malley, Senior, 1:00.87; 6. Emilee Grubb, Bozeman, 1:01.13; 7. Nicole Hickey, CMR, 1:01.14; 8. Chantel Grey, Sentinel, 1:01.52.
800- 1. Bridgette Hoenke, Senior, 2:25.34; 2. Elizabeth Spartas, Bozeman, 2:26.14; 3. Alyssa Bossler, Helena, 2:27.20; 4. Faith Steinbacher, Bozeman, 2:28.38; 5. Kayla Jaquet, Butte, 2:28.95; 6. Asia Graham, Sentinel, 2:29.14; 7. Kate Dolan, Bozeman, 2:29.68; 8. Gillian Goodrich, Bozeman, 2:33.29.
1,600- 1. Bridgette Hoenke, 5:18.70; 2. Carly Selleck, West, 5:19.16; 3. Aurielle Fain, Senior, 5:19.66; 4. Katie Gilboy, Capital, 5:23.35; 5. Kate Dolan, Bozeman, 5:24.24; 6. Elysia Andrews, Kalispell, 5:26.13; 7. Kayla Jaquet, Butte, 5:26.59; 8. Julie Walsh, West, 5:28.38.
3,200- 1. Carly Selleck, West, 11:40.79; 2. Katie Gilboy, Capital, 11:42.55; 3. Mandi Jourdonnais, Capital, 11:57.23; 4. Tayte Cranston, Bozeman, 11:58.11; 5. Aurielle Fain, Senior, 12:00.92; 6. Erika Flowers, Bozeman, 12:01.82; 7. Emily Allison, Bozeman, 12:06.98; 8. Elizabeth Mancuso, Skyview, 12:07.86.
100 hurdles- 1. Brianna Perry, CMR, 15.67; 2. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 16.27; 3. Coriann Clark, Bozeman, 16.47; 4. Krystina Beach, Big Sky, 16.74; 5. Laurel Urquhart, GFH, 16.84; 6. Cassie Holm, West, 16.87; 7. Gwen Abbott, Butte, 16.94; 8. Hannah Stanton, Senior, 17.04.
300 hurdles- 1. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 46.98; 2. Coriann Clark, Bozeman, 48.31; 3. Chelsea Hart, Kalispell, 49.15; 4. Elizabeth Myers, Kalispell, 49.31; 5. Lindsey Dolan, West, 49.85; 6. Laurel Urquhart, GFH, 51.18; 7. Kassie Krpan, Helena, 51.34; 8. Anna Snapp, Skyview, 51.65.
400 relay- 1. West (Laird, Muri, Leslie, McKay) 51.16; 2. Bozeman 51.29; 3. Kalispell 51.32; 4. CMR 51.82; 5. Butte 51.96; 6. Skyview 52.72; 7. Senior 52.90; 8. Helena 53.40.
1,600 relay- 1. Bozeman (Grubb, Carey, Clark, Ham) 4:15.95; 2. West 4:19.19; 3. Butte 4:20.48; 4. Sentinel 4:21.25; 5. Kalispell 4:22.04; 6. Skyview 4:23.40; 7. Senior 4:25.17; Helena 4:25.34.
Javelin- 1. Lena Suek, Havre, 124-4; 2. Kristen Tuttle, CMR, 121-0; 3. Katelyn Vaala, Butte, 117-10; 4. Sarah DeGooyer, CMR, 113-8; 5. Jacque Freyenhagen, Senior, 113-5; 6. Erica Rominger, Sentinel, 110-10; 7. Kirilynn Winkler, GFH, 110-1; 8. Hannah Stanton, Senior, 109-7.
Shot put- 1. Cortney Zappe, West, 42-5; 2. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR, 40-9 1/2; 3. Lexi Halverson, West, 37-6 1/2; 4. Aimee Morrison, Helena, 37- 1/2; 5. Lily Peterson, Capital, 36-1; 6. Tasia Kain, Big Sky, 36-0; 7. Amanda Chilcote, Big Sky, 35-5 1/2; 8. Kirilynn Winkler, GFH, 34-0.
Discus- 1. Lexi Halverson, West, 137-3; 2. Kelsey Hopkins, CMR, 130-1; 3. Lena Suek, Havre, 129-10; 4. Aimee Morrison, Helena, 121-01; 5. Emily Willmuth, Bozeman, 118-11; 6. Rebecca Johnson, Kalispell, 115-02; 7. Kirilynn Winkler, GFH, 113-0; 8. Christine Coppock, Hellgate, 112-06.
Triple jump- 1. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 35- 1/2; 2. Kirsten Tilleman, Bozeman, 34-9; 3. Asia Graham, Sentinel, 34-2 3/4; 4. Samantha Gunlikson, Kalispell, 32-7 1/4; 5. Sarah McGree, Butte, 32-5; 6. Callie Muri, West, 32-3 1/2; 7. Kayla Smart, Kalispell, 31-10; 8. Jen Casey, West, 31-9 1/2.
High jump- 1. (tie) Carrie Little, Sentinel, 5-0; Jessica Leslie, West, 5-0; 3. Ally Krautbauer, Kalispell, 5-0; 4. Gwen Abbott, Butte, 5-0; 5. Casea Pollington, Havre, 4-10; 6. Carmen Neuens, Havre, 4-10; 7. Sarah Hicks, Capital, 4-10; 8. Mikal Chancy, Capital, 4-8.
Long jump- 1. Jessica Leslie, West, 17-2 1/2; 2. Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 16-6 1/2; 3. Ashley Kropp, Capital, 16-2; 4. Shani Sullivan, Butte, 16- 3/4; 5. Callie Muri, West, 16-0; 6. Shantell Marquis, CMR, 15-10; 7. Sarah McGree, Butte, 15-9 1/2; 8. Carmen Neuens, Havre, 15-5 3/4.
Pole vault- 1. Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 11-6 (ties meet record, Suzanne Krings, Capital, 1998); 2. Heidi Biehl, GFH, 11-0; 3. Alex May-Fraser, Helena, 11-0; 4. Shayla Crist, Big Sky, 10-6; 5. Kaycee Gillespie-Foster, Capital, 10-0; 6. Anne Yeager, Hellgate, 9-6; 7. (tie) Jackie Polette, Capital, 9-0; Karrie Vivian, Butte, 9-0.
