HHS track teams open at Lewistown

This weekend is the final weekend of March and that means spring sports are fully underway. The tennis and softball teams have already gotten started and now it’s time for the Havre High track teams to get in on the act as they open their seasons this Saturday in Lewistown.

One thing about both the boys and girls track teams is that they are young and filled with freshmen who have yet to take part in a high school meet. But, they will do just that this weekend against a field that includes Lewistown, Belgrade, Choteau, Livingston and a slew of other Class B and Class C schools from the area.

“We are very young,” HHS head coach John Ita said. “But we have some good numbers this year and we have some promising kids. But (this first meet) is just about getting in some competition and not getting hurt.”

The Havre boys team, which finished third at divisionals a year ago, will be led into the season-opening meet by Nate Rismon, who placed at the divisional meet in the 200-meter dash, the 400 and the triple jump.

In addition to Rismon, the Pony boys also have Gunner Aageson back after he placed in the pole vault a year ago. Michael Loftus also returns after placing at divisionals in the 100 and 200 and Nick Keller, who also placed season ago in the high jump.

“We have some promising athletes,” Ita said. “We have over 40 boys out and a lot of them are from other sports, which is what we want. Some of them are naturals and will be able to compete right away and others won’t, but the numbers are great if we can keep them.”

The Havre girls also return a number of athletes who placed at divisionals a year ago including Rachel David, Naomi Terry, Ceyara Plante, Carleigh Rennick and Kristen Nash.

David does her damage and point scoring in the longer runs, and she will compete in the 400 and 800. Terry placed in the 300 hurdles and the long jump and will compete in some other events as well over the course of the season. Plante finished fifth at divisionals in the high jump and will compete in other events, while Nash placed in the discus and Rennick the javelin.

Ita also believes that he has some freshmen girls who will be able to compete right away to earn points in events such as the hurdles, jumps and sprints. But, this first meet is not really about earning points, it’s more about gaining experience, getting their feet wet and staying healthy.

“It will be good for our younger kids to get some experience,” Ita said. “But we aren’t going to have anyone do more than one or two events. It will be good to get some competition, we just want to try and keep people from getting hurt.”

After the Havre High track teams get a chance to size up conference foes Lewistown and Belgrade this Saturday in Lewistown at 9:30 a.m., the Ponies will compete in the annual Cal Wearly Inviational on Apr. 8 in Havre.