Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
With the divisional and state meets just around the corner for the Havre High cross country teams, the Blue Ponies will get a good tune-up and an opportunity to run in front of their home fans on Saturday at the Havre Invitational. Havre will compete against a number of teams from Class A, Class B and even Class C. Some of the teams invited to the meet, include conference foes Browning and Lewistown, as well as other Hi-Line teams such as Glasgow, Malta, Shelby, Cut Bank, Cascade, Harlem and Dodson, among others. “We have a lot of teams that will be up to compete,” HHS head coach Tim Ranes said. “We even have a couple of teams from Canada, so there should be some good competition. Browning is probably going to be the team to beat on the boys side. Glasgow and Lewistown will be the teams to beat on the girls side, but I think that both of our teams will be right there too.” The meet will take place on the campus of Montana State University-Northern. The three-mile course that will be facing the runners on Saturday is a challenging one with a number of steep hills, adding to the level of difficulty. “It is a pretty tough course,” Ranes said. “Either you are running uphill or you are running downhill. There is not a lot of flat ground, so that makes it a pretty difficult course. So I think that you might see the times be a little higher than normal, but it is a good course that will help you get ready for state. “But it is our hometown course and we are used to the conditions,” he added. “So it should give our kids a little bit of an advantage in the meet.” The meet will be another big test for the Havre boys, who won the Lewistown Invitational two weeks ago and had a respectable showing last weekend at the Mountain West Invitational in Missoula. Senior Andy Keim and junior Garrett Korb pace the Pony boys. The two finished second and third, respectively at the Lewistown Invitational and lead a strong group that also includes junior Kaden Keto, as well as Issac Hutton and Micheal Morelli. “This week will be a good test for our boys team,” Ranes said. “I think that the meet is going to come down to us and Browning, and we will see how well we compete against them. “They are always a tough team to beat because they have such strong numbers and they run up in elevation in Browning,” he added. “But hopefully we will go out, run well and stay with them.” If the Pony girls want to have good showing in their home meet, they will need to good performances from sophomore Sarah Vigliotti, who was ran well all year long for the Ponies, as well as seniors Meredith Hanson and Jessica Obrecht. But the Ponies will have to contend with Central A rival Lewistown, as well as Glasgow. The Scotties come into the meet with one of the best runners in the state and arguably the top individual runner in the Class B ranks Emily Morehouse. “Glasgow is a very good team,” Ranes said. “They have some very good runners, including Emily Morehouse and she is an awfully good runner.” The varsity portion of the Havre Invitational will get under way at approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday at the campus of Montana State University- Northern. “I think the kids are excited about the chance to get to run at home,” Ranes said. “You know its homecoming and its and exciting week for them, we have given them a little bit of a rest week, so we can start training for state and hopefully the kids go out and run well on Saturday.”
