Cal Wearly meet set for Wednesday

The high school track and field season is already underway. But for local fans of the sport, this week marks the beginning of all the fun.

Wednesday morning, the annual Cal Wearly Invitational will take place at the Havre Middle School Track. And in a special track and field double feature of sorts, the Havre Blue Ponies will host the annual Lions Havre Invitational Saturday at the HMS Track.

But first things first. The Cal Wearly is widely considered one of the best early season meets in this part of the state, and Wednesday’s rendition should be no different. Hosted by the North Star Knights, the Cal Wearly meet generally features around 30 teams and well over 300 competitors. This year’s meet will include the Knights, as well as the Blue Ponies. Also expected to compete are Class B squads like Malta and Fairfield, as well as top Class C talent like Belt, Roy-Winifred, Centerville and others.

And while the field for Wednesday’s meet will be deep and talented, it wouldn’t be that way without the local teams.

North Star has been a Class C track and field power for years under head coach Brian Campbell, especially on the girls side. But the Knights are only part of a strong local contingent. Chinook fields very strong boys and girls teams this season, while the Chester/J-I Hawks, who will also be making the trip Wednesday, are talented and athletic in almost every event.

Teams like Turner, Box Elder, Rocky Boy and Big Sandy don’t have the depth that other teams in the field do, but those squads will also bring some outstanding individuals to Wednesday’s meet.

And of course, there’s the Blue Ponies, who will field a close-to-full team Wednesday. Havre opened its season Saturday at the Lewistown Invitational, and the Ponies should contend for team titles on both sides of Wednesday’s event.

“Those local Class C schools are just loaded with talent,” Havre High head coach John Ita said. “North Star and Chinook always have a ton of talent, so it will be a good training day for us. We will have some rested bodies, and this meet will show us where we have improved.

“We are going to rest the kids (Monday),” Ita added. “Tempo them out, and then work on some detail things on Tuesday. We will use the meet on Wednesday as their hard workout day, then we will tempo again on Thursday, do detail work on Friday, and get ready for our meet here on Saturday, our hard training day again.”

Indeed, it’s a big week for the Blue Ponies, but it is for all of the local teams. The Cal Wearly meet marks the beginning of a long stretch of meets for most area schools, a stretch that will take teams right into May.

Wednesday’s Cal Wearly Invite will get underway at 9 a.m. at the Havre Middle School Track.