After weeks of practice, the Havre High track and field teams were finally able to get out and compete.
On Saturday, the Central A Blue Ponies were in Lewistown for the Lewistown Invitational. The Ponies and Lewistown Golden Eagles were supposed to be the only Class A schools in attendance, but after the Livingston Rangers also made the trip, the Ponies gladly competed with both conference rivals in their first weekend out.
The Pony boys finished third with 74 points, following Fairfield with 147 and Lewistown with 88. And for the Pony girls, they finished fourth with 58.33, following Lewistown with 132, Belt and Fairfield, both with 62 points.
“It was good to get out, compete and to see some familiar faces,” Havre High head coach Trever Van Campen said. “We saw a lot of great competition, and after seeing Lewistown and Livingston, we know there is a lot of good competition in the Central A this year.
“It was a perfect day for track,” VanCampen added. “The kids had a lot of fun and the meet ran smoothly. All of our kids competed hard and were happy with their times and marks. This should hopefully be a good spring bard for us, hopefully motivating our kids and getting them to push even harder after seeing their potential.”
Mason Case is still getting over an ankle injury, but grabbed No. 1 finishes in both the 100-meter and 200-meters. He ran a 11.5 in the 100-meter and a 24.6 in the 200-meter. Thurman Holdsclaw also got off to a great start, clearing 12-0 in the pole vault. The HHS boys’ short relay also had a decent outing, finishing with a time a 46.5, better than any time they recorded last season.
The HHS girls also turned in some great marks and times their first time out.
Sammy Evans picked up where she left off, besting the field in the triple jump, clearing more than 35 feet. Peyton Filius had two good races, finishing the 800-meter in 2:41 and finishing the mile in 5:24. Filius’ time in the mile outdid her first mile time last season by nearly 1:30. Ashlynn Van Voast also ran the 800-meters very well, finishing with a time of 2:43.
Wrapping up top HHS finishers, Garrett Agguillard finished second in the 1,600 (4:55.9), Marc Klimas finished fourth in the 1,600 meter (5:00.5) and second in the 3,200 (11:07.41), Michael Richards finished fifth in the 110-hurdles (19.7), Chasun Law finished sixth in the discus (107-0), Joey DeVries finished third in the shot put (39-2) and Matt Emge finished third in the pole vault (11-0). And for the girls, Van Voast finished fourth the 300 hurdles (52.02), Evans finished second in the high jump (5-0) and third in the long jump (15-9).
The Ponies saw solid performances across the board, and got off to a great start. They aren’t nearly as big in numbers as they were a year ago, but have solid team chemistry, and it shows already.
“With the good weather that we have had this spring,” VanCampen said. “Our times and marks are way ahead of where we were last year at this point. And I received a couple comments yesterday (Saturday), saying our kids were competing hard, and that though we are a small team we have some key individuals that are in the right place. I was really excited to hear that, because the kids we have are here to compete and work extremely hard in practice.”
HHS will be back on the track on Tuesday, when they attend the North Star Knights Cal Wearly meet in Havre. The Blue Ponies will also be back at home on April 14 for the annual Havre Lions Invitational.
