George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
Weather has played a big part in the spring sports season thus far. And more weather could wreak havoc on both the Havre High track teams, as well as the Blue Pony softball team. Already this week, the HHS track team missed out on its dual with Great Falls High, and the Blue Ponies are set to travel to Belgrade for an invitational meet on Saturday. So far this season, the HHS track teams have competed just once under new head coach Roger Larson. That meet came last weekend in Havre as the Ponies hosted the Havre Invitational a meet that the HHS boys dominated and the Pony girls finished fourth. In Havre, the Blue Pony boys got a balanced effort on their way to scoring 153 points. Jason Mudrow, Andy Keim, Robert The Boy and Kyle Finneman paced Havre by all scoring points in multiple events. But HHS got much more than just what those four gave, as Jack Teske, Mike Hickman and Grayson Winsor all contributed to Havre's blowout victory as well. On the girls side, HHS struggled because of depth, but standouts like Hannah Wells and Andrea Mack and Amanda Hedstrom, as well as newcomer Stacey Sheppard, did give the Ponies points, and those four will need to anchor HHS on Saturday in Belgrade. The Belgrade meet is one that is considered one of the toughest in Class A. The meet features most of the Central A Division, including Belgrade, Lewistown and Havre. The meet also features a host of talented Class B and C schools from around the area, and with a lot of talent in the field, it should make for an interesting meet. Meanwhile, the Havre High softball team, which is off to a difficult 1-8 start this year, suffered its first weather setback on Tuesday when a road game in Glasgow was cancelled. That game has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, and the Ponies will try to get back on the diamond on Saturday in Browning. Havre is coming off a difficult road trip in which the Ponies dropped four games to Libby and Columbia Falls last weekend. However, HHS did pummel Browning three weeks ago in its season opener in Havre, and the Ponies have senior Steph Stremcha on the mound, as well as top hitters Sam Mack and Holly Cartwright, both of whom are doing extremely well at the plate this season. This is a busy weekend for all HHS teams as the softball team will play in Browning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and the track teams get under way in Belgrade at 10 a.m. The HHS tennis team is also in action in Helena today and Saturday, and the HHS Junior Varsity track team will compete in the Chinook Invitational at the HMS track on Saturday morning. However, weather could play a factor in this weekend's events as much colder temperatures, rain and snow showers, as well as high winds are expected to move into Montana on Friday night, and that trend is predicted to continue through the middle of next week.
