There are two big meets lined up for the Havre High boys and girls cross country teams this week, and with divisionals just around the corner, the meets are as important as ever.
Today the Central A Blue Ponies will travel to Helena for the preview meet. And on Saturday, the Ponies will head north to compete in the Browning Invite. Only the seven varsity runners will travel to Helena for the preview meet and compete for the Ponies in the rare format. There will not be one boys race and one girls race, instead all varsity No. 1’s will race each other, all of the varsity No. 2’s will race each other, and so on until all of the top seven runners have raced. There will be seven total races, and with most of the Class AA and Class A schools in attendance and nearly 40 total teams, the competition will be tough today.
On the HHS boys team, No. 1 Marc Klimas, No. 2 Garrett Aguillard, No. 3 Dolan Tuss, No. 4 Derek VanDessel, No. 5 Desmond Fialkesky, No. 6 Dylan Stewart and No. 7 Dillon Seely will compete. And for the HHS girls, No. 1 Jess Wiken, No. 2 Trisha Kinsella, No. 3 Katie Christenson, No. 4 Ashlynn VanVoast, No. 5 Larissa Price, No. 6 Chanal Standing Rock and No. 7 Mikell Kinsella will compete.
“It is just a good meet with a lot of good competition,” Havre High head coach Kyle Fisher said. “And with there being seven different races, it will be fun because our girls will run with our boys and that is unique. It is just a good meet because it is difficult as well as fun.
So far the Ponies have improved with every race. And with the top seven boys and top seven girls facing the rest of the top runners in the state, they are looking keep improving.
But the rest of the Havre squad is looking to compete as well, when the Ponies travel to Browning on Saturday.
The runners who compete at the Preview Meet will not run Saturday. But still being a varsity race, this present a good opportunity to those runner trying to make varsity in time for divisionals.
Marvin Spotted Bird, Alec Drew and Nick Rhines have looked solid all season. They are amongst the leaders on the HHS junior varsity and are one big day away from a spot in the varsity lineup. The same goes for HHS girls Kiana Robertson, McKenna Barkus and Shelby O’Neil.
“It is a varsity race and we are looking to use this meet to get ready for divisionals.” Fisher said. “For those kids who are on the bubble (between varsity and junior varsity), it gives them a chance to compete and making the divisional team."
Today the Ponies will compete in the Preview Meet in Helena and on Saturday they will compete in Browning, ending the regular season.
