Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
It’s setting up to be a pretty busy weekend for the Havre High boys and girls track teams. The Blue Ponies will kick off their busy weekend this afternoon in Malta for the Malta Invitational. Then after taking just one day to rest, the Ponies will head west to Whitefish for the Whitefish Invitational. The Malta event will provide the Ponies with a unique experience, as the track they will compete on in Malta is made of dirt as opposed to the normal all-weather surface the team runs on each and every day. “The times will definitely be a lot slower in Malta because of the track,” HHS head coach Mark West said. “But I think that it will be good for our kids. That kind of surface is a little more forgiving and we have a lot of kids who are dealing with shin splits, so I think it will be good for us.” The Ponies will also face some stiff competition at the meet in the form of the host team Malta, as well as as fellow Class B stalwart Glasgow. The three teams competed against each other at the season-opening Glasgow Invitational with Malta sweeping both the boys and girls titles. Other teams that will be competing today in Malta include, Saco, Nashua, Hinsdale, Whitewater, Chinook and Harlem. “It’s been a pretty good meet the last couple of years, ever since we have been going there,” West said. “Malta has a good team and Glasgow also has a pretty solid team, so we are going to be facing some pretty stiff competition.” On Saturday, the Ponies will face some talented Class A competition in Whitefish. Along with the Bulldogs, HHS will square off against such teams as Columbia Falls, Libby, Polson, Eureka, Browning and a number of western area Class B schools. “It’s going to be really nice to go up there and compete against some of the western A schools,” West said. “Whitefish has a pretty good team and our kids really like to run against them, so I think it’s going to be a good meet.” If the Pony girls team is going to have success this weekend, they will need standout performers Lena Suek and Carmen Neuens to continue to perform at a high level just as they have done all season long. Suek, a senior, always has a great chance to win both the discus and the javelin, while Neuens is a threat to place or win all three jump events. Other HHS girls that may stand out this weekend, include hurdlers Tricia Samson and Hannah Wells, jumpers Karla Hellegaard and Madison Ruff, as well as pole vaulter Andrea Mack. Meredith Hanson should also have a chance to place in all of the distance events. “Lena and Carmen have just been solid for us all year long,” West said. “I think that our hurdle kids and our jump kids are going to have a good chance to place and it would be really nice to see our pole vault kids do well.” Meanwhile, Robert The Boy has been one of the most consistent performers for the HHS boys, competing in the discus and the shot put. Grayson Winsor has also had success in the throwing events, along with Paul Jensen. Sophomore Jack Teske has excelled in both the long jump and the high jump this year for the Ponies. Michael Hickman has done well in both the hurdles and jumps, while Thomas Kline has found success in the sprints and hurdles. Another top performer for the HHS boys is distance runner Andy Keim. Keim runs the 800, the 1600 and the 3200 meters. The Ponies will be looking for another solid performance out of Keim in order to compete for the top spots in both events. The Ponies will still be without the full services of state champion sprinter Kyle Finneman. Finneman will throw the javelin in Malta and will possibly run the 400 on Saturday in Whitefish. “I think right now the main thing we are looking for is the continued improvement from all our kids,” West said. “We have a big couple of weeks in front of us, so hopefully we can just continue to get better.” The Ponies will compete in the Malta Invitational this afternoon and the Whitefish Invitational on Saturday morning
