Home Course: Havre High harriers take full advantage of running at home

There is no place like home, and after another successful day by the Havre High cross country teams, the Central A Blue Ponies will be the first ones to tell you that.

The Ponies get one chance to run in Havre every season. And recent history shows both the boys and girls teams run very well on their home course, located on the campus of Montana State University-Northern in Havre. Both teams finished near the top of the team standings at Saturday’s Havre Invitational, and yet again, multiple runners continue to earn personal records with every race they run this season.

With 84 points the Pony girls finished in a solid second place, following a very tough Class B Glasgow program with 39. Malta was third with 85. And in boys action, the Ponies placed third with 89 points, following No. 1 Browning with 54 and No. 2 Lewistown with 56.

“Running on our home course, it was a good outing,” Havre High head coach Darci Heninger said. “I know the girls were excited to take second because we beat Malta by one point and we have been trying to beat Malta all season. And for the boys to place third, I thought that was pretty good too because the boys race was very tough, there were a lot of good boy runners.”

And a huge advantage was getting to run at home, as the HHS runners got to hear their name being cheered all over the course.

Haley Ohm led the Pony girls once again, and took full advantage running at home. And as every single runner continues to record better and better times every race, Ohm led the way with a No. 5 finish overall with a time of 20.14. Morgan Mazurkiewicz followed with a time of 20.18, as did Rachel David with a time of 20.39, and McKenna Barkus with a time of 21.51. The top four runners continue to look great, and the bottom three runners aren’t too far behind. Darlena Bradly ran a 24.08, while Tori Mazurkiewicz ran a 24.15, and Meggie Zook ran a 25.10.

“It was really fun,” Ohm said. “But really difficult with this bumpy ground. But it was great to have somebody I knew all over the course and that really helped us. I felt good facing this competition and I have been getting better with each race, so I just pushed myself so I could get a personal record here at home. But it was a good day for the whole team. Everybody got a personal record again so we are doing very well.”

Elijah David continued to help the HHS boys as well.

David finished as the No. 8 runner overall Saturday, and turned in a time of 17.22. Sundance Lodge wasn’t far behind and finished in 17.28, while Brandon Robertson also finished in 17.32 and Brock Ross finished in 17.41. It was a solid pack time for Havre as Dylan Stewart recorded a 19.13, Ethan Smith finished in 19.49, and Thomas Perrone finished in 25.52 in his varsity cross country debut.

“I loved it (running at home).” David said. “It was definitely better with our fans, and it was just easier for us to get out and go. And it was a good finish for our team. We all finished close as a pack, especially our top four runners.”

The Ponies got a solid look at the conference as well, but were more focused on their own times still. The HHS girls finished ahead of Browning and Lewistown, while the HHS boys finished behind No. 1 Browning and No. 2 Lewistown.

But running well at home is another good sign moving forward. Divisionals is just weeks away, and if the Ponies continue to shave precious seconds or even impressive minutes from their times, then the conference race could get a whole lot tighter.

“Our course is always hard,” Heninger said. “But everybody did very well on the hills. They worked the hills, and ran the right pace that they needed too. And even though it was freezing outside, we all just ran really well. And you know, the kids just really worked hard. They wanted to make their home fans proud, but they also wanted to prove to themselves that they could get their times down, and that is exactly what they did, they all got a personal record. We have two weeks basically before we run at divisionals. And divisionals will really show us who we need to compete with.”

Thursday the Ponies will run at the Helena 7-on-7, followed by a race in Browning on Saturday.

2013 Havre Invite Cross Country Results

Girls

Varsity Team scores — 1. Glasgow 39; 2. Havre 84; 3. Malta 85; 4. Browning 99; 5. Belt-Centerville 119; 6. Lewistown 126; 7. Cut Bank 160.

Top 10 — 1. Josie Braaten, GLA 19.10; 2. Dalainy Tedesco, LEW, 19.33; 3. Rachel Zeiger, GLA, 19.34; 4. Courtney Littledog, BRO, 19.41; 5. Haley Ohm, HAV, 20.14; 6. Sophia Stiles, MAL, 20.18; 7. Morgan Mazurkiewicz, HAV, 20.18; 8. Kenzie Lencioni, B-C, 20.19; 9. Emma Fewer, GLA, 20.29; 10. Amanda Wolf, GLA, 20:35.

Havre Individuals – Haley Ohm 20.14, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 20.18, Rachel David 20.39, McKenna Barkus 21.51, Darlena Bradley 24.08, Tori Mazurkiewicz 24.15, Meggie Zook 25.10.

Havre Junior Varsity – Rachel Majeres 25.05, Brooke LaValley 26.32, Talina Hernandez 26.32, Alara Vogel 27.23, Jaryn Winchell 28.26.

Boys

Varsity Team scores — 1. Browning 54; 2. Lewistown 56; 3. Havre 89; 4. Belt-Centerville 119; 5. Glasgow 161; 6. Cut Bank 171; 7. Shelby 189.

Top 10 — Emmette Dusty Bull, Bro, 16.11; 2. Brady Stone, Bro, 16.20; 3. Paul Bielawski, Sho, 16.39; 4. Ryan McInney, LEW, 16.57; 5. Kale Kelsey, LEW, 17.08; 6. Tristan Gone, HARLEM, 17.08; 7. Jared Berkram, Cut Bank 17.15; 8. Elijah David, Hav, 17.22; 9. Sundance Lodge, Hav, 17.28; 10. Jaret Warren, , Dodson, 17.30.

Havre Individuals – Elijah David 17.22, Sundance Lodge 17.28, Brandon Robertson 17.32, Brock Ross 17.41, Dylan Stewart 19.13, Ethan Smith 19.49, Thomas Perrone 25.42.