Shorthanded girls track team wins Lewistown meet

For the second straight weekend, the Havre High track team took to the road without a full team.

But that fact did not seem to matter too much as the Blue Pony girls team cruised to a first-place finish at the Central Montana Invitational track meet in Lewistown on Saturday afternoon.

The Ponies scored 137 team points on their way to capturing the girls team title. Host Lewistown finished a distant second with 92 points and Livingston finished third with 77 points.

"The girls team had a really good showing on Saturday," said HHS co-head coach Mark West. "To not have our full team there and to score that well was really good.

"We had a group of young girls like Lena Suek, Mandy Nystrom and Darci Briere really step up and score a lot of points for us this weekend," he said.

Suek had a stellar day in an area in which Havre last season lacked the ability to really find points from anyone. She captured first-place honors in the discus with a final throw of 106-11. Suek also won the javelin with a throw of 99-2.

Nystrom also shined for Havre by capturing the 400-meter title with a time of 1:02. She finished third in the 200 meters.

The bulk of Havre's points on Saturday came from an area in which West expected his team to be good - the distance events. Havre placed three individuals in the 800 meters, led by Darci Briere, who finished fourth. Briere was also one of four Ponies to place in the 1,600. She finished second, followed by Kelsey Malsam in fourth, McKayla Patterson in fifth and Emily Kostelecky in sixth. Malsam then turned around to win the 3,200 with a time of 13:31. Kostelecky came in right behind her in second place and Patterson finished in third.

"Our distance runners competed really well in some tough conditions," West said. "It was pretty windy down there, and they all stepped up and ran really well."

The Ponies also captured the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:33. The team consisted of Kelsey West, Nystrom, Kim Jestrab and Alexa Lipp.

Lipp also had a good day for the Ponies. She grabbed a second-place finish in the triple jump and a third place in the long jump. Casea Pollington added a second in the high jump and Carmen Neuens finished third.

"Hopefully, this weekend showed us that our girls team is shaping up to have a pretty good season," West said. "We have a long way to go, but things are looking really good for our girls right now."

Havre was also missing several key competitors this weekend on the boys' side. However, the young Ponies managed to finish third with 73 points. Fairfield won the meet with 93 points and Livingston was second with 79 points.

Kasey Barsotti led the way for the Ponies this weekend by winning both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Barsotti finished with a time of 4:52 in the mile and 10:40 in the 3,200. He was also part of the Ponies' 1,600-meter team that included Derek Verploegen, Sam Simpson and Scott Robinson.

The Ponies made it a clean sweep in the relays by winning the 400-meter event with a time of 46.05. The 400-meter relay team was composed of Robinson, Ryan Horn, Anthony Bonavita and Grant Neuens.

"We were definitely missing some of our boys team, but I thought they competed well," West said. "Kasey Barsotti ran really well and we did well in the relays. We also had some younger kids perform well again this weekend. Right now we are just looking to keep building this team and finding more kids who can score for us."

The high jump was also a strong point for the Havre boys on Saturday. Bonavita won the event with a jump of 6-0, and Neuens was third. Robinson, who did not compete in several of his normal events, was able to grab a second-place finish in the discus and a third in the 200.

"One thing that surprised me a little was how good Livingston has become," West said. "But again, we were missing some kids and we held some kids out of some events this weekend, so we have a lot of work ahead of us. But if our young kids step up and score for us down the road, I think we will be in good shape."

Havre is off over Easter weekend. The team will be back in action April 17 when it hosts the Havre High Invitational.

Central Montana Invitational Track Meet

BOYS

Team scores - Fairfield 93, Livingston 79, Havre 73, Lewistown 63, Hobson 38, Judith Gap 34, Stanford 34, Roundup 32, Shepherd 32, Denton 16, Grass Range 14, Hays-Lodge Pole 10, Winifred 8, Geyser 1.

Individual Results

100 - Dan Johnson, LIV, 11.46; Ryan Baxter, LIV, 11.78; Brian Skattum, LIV, 11.98; Garath Stahl, GRA, 12.05; Calvin Walter, JUD, 12.14; Brandon O'Leary, SHE, 12.22.

200 - Dan Johnson, LIV, 22.76; Brian Skattum, LIV, 23.07; Scott Robinson, HAV, 23.73; Garath Stahl, GRA, 24.34; Tony May, FAI, 24.44; Jacob Bausch, LIV, 24.49.

400 - Brian Skattum, LIV, 52.31; Jayden Manuel, FAI, 53.19; Colby Ridgeway, STA, 53.68; Joe Foggins, SHE, 54.55; Colby Kinna, FAI, 55.44; Tony May, FAI, 56.88.

800 - Jaceson Stokken, LEW, 2:19.28; Matt Klinker, FAI, 2:19.31; Elling Warner, JUD, 2:19.53; Brian Jeide, LEW, 2:21.75; Evan Volf, JUD, 2:22.58; Donnnie Ferrin, FAI, 2:24.02.

1,600 - Kasey Barsotti, HAV, 4:52.20; Cameron Martinez, ROU, 5:10.19; Tony Christian, LIV, 5:12.00; Donnie Farrin, FAI, 5:14.36; Tyrel Thurston, LEW, 5:18.50; Brien Peterson, DEN, 5:22.00.

3,200 - Kasey Barsotti, HAV, 10:40.00; Benji Rogers, HOB, 11:23.45; Cameron Martinez, ROU, 11:28.25; Marcus Campbell, HAV, 12:13.45; Tyrel Poser, DEN, 12:31.76; Tyrel Soennichson, ROU, 13:07.56.

110 hurdles - Jaxon Allen, FAI, 17.05; Julian Rogers, HOB, 17.45; Brenton Melton, DEN, 17.96; Kam Pearson, LEW, 18.84; Tom Knudsen, HAV, 19.47; Calvin Bronec, DEN, 19.80.

300 hurdles - Jaxson Allen, FAI, 44.04; Julian Rogers, HOB, 45.75; Brenton Melton, DEN, 46.00; Tyrel Thurston, LEW, 47.39; Matt Schmitt, FAI, 47.47; Kam Pearson, LEW, 47.87.

400 relay - Havre 46.05; Judith Gap 46.79, Stanford 47.23, Livingston 47.31, Shepherd 47.68, Lewistown 48.17.

1,600 relay - Havre 3:45.79, Fairfield 3:47.08, Livingston 3:48.51, Stanford 3:52.62; Shepherd 3:53.23; Lewistown 3:57.34.

Field events

High jump - Anthony Bonvita, HAV, 6-0; Joe Foggin, SHE, 5-10; Brandon Warner, FAI, 5-10; Cedric Snelling, JUD, 5-8; Neuens, HAV, 5-8; Jim Page, JUD, 5-8.

Long jump - Nick Kamp, LEW, 19-9; Brandon Warner, FAI, 19-2; Garath Stahl, GRA, 18-7; Brandon O'Leary, SHE, 18-2; Deshawn Lewis, JUD, 17-8; Seth Wildung, STA, 17-5.

Triple jump - Julian Rogers, HOB, 39-10; Joe Foggins, SHE, 39-1; Brandon Warner, FAI, 38-6; Jaxson Allen, FAI, 37-10; Colby Kinna, FAI, 37-0; Seth Wildung, STA, 36-1.

Discus - Justin Hartley, LIV, 138-4; Scott Robinson, 121-1; Wes Deegan, STA, 119-3; Jason Smith, ROU, 119; Josh Greenfield, SHE, 116-4; Robert Bergstrom, FAI, 114-9.

Javelin - Bill Page, JUD, 142-5; Nick Econom, WIN, 141-0; Mike Mayernik, LEW, 139-6; Adam Waltz, HOB, 137-6; Lance Vescovi, ROU, 135-6; James Smith, ROU, 134-2.

Shot Put - Jason Smith, ROU, 42-5; Charles McConnell, HAY, 40-10; Mike Hamling, LEW, 40-9; Robert Bergstrom, FAI, 40-1; Cameron Bullshoe, HAY, 39-7; Ben Noland, GEY, 39-4.

Pole vault - Daniel Hawkey, STA, 12-0; Jaceson Stokken, LEW, 10-6; Wade Janzen, FAI, 10-6; Evan Moring, LEW, 10-0; Troy Hancock, LEW, 9-0; Shayne Shaules, FAI, 8-6.

GIRLS

Team scores - Havre 137, Lewistown 92.5, Livingston 77, Judith Gap 45, Grass Range 29, Denton 27.5, Fairfield 27, Stanford 25, Shepherd 24, Roundup 19, Winnett 10, Geyser 6, Hobson 4.

Individual Results

100 - Staci Johnson, LIV, 13.31; Erica Warner, JUD, 13.5; Brianna Ackerman, LIV, 13.53; Olivia Rider, LIV, 13.53; Laura Anderson, LEW, 13.94; Rylee O'Connell, 14.02.

200 - Olivia Rider, LIV, 27.52; Laura Anderson, LEW, 27.83; Mandi Nystrom, HAV, 28.09; Brianna Ackerman, LIV, 28.41; Brittany Olson, GRA, 28.42; Kelsey West, HAV, 29.67.

400 - Mandi Nystrom, HAV, 1:02.74; Brittany Olson, GRA, 1:03.45; Olivia Rider, LIV, 1:05.98; Erica Warner, JUD, 1:06.24; Malori Woodford, WIN, 1:07.69; Robyn Keyes, LIV, 1:09.54.

800 - Shaina Pauley, ROU, 2:38.30; Jacilyn Duce, SHE, 2:38.38; Candice Rodriguez, LEW, 2:41.77; Darci Briere, HAV, 2:48.40; Emily Ulgenes, HAV, 2:57.60; Kristine Keltgen, HAV, 3:01.03.

1,600 - Jacilyn Duce, SHE, 6:00.08; Darci Briere, HAV, 6:03.18; Candice Rodriguez, LEW, 6:07.14; Kelsey Malsam, HAV, 6:07.23; McKayla Patterson, HAV, 6:26.08; Emily Kostelecky, HAV, 6:28.00.

3,200 - Kelsey Malsam, HAV, 13:31.59; Emily Kostelecky, HAV, 14:02.11; McKayla Patterson, HAV, 14:04.57; Cassie Kiehl, WIN, 14:14.19; Sarah Ingalls, Rou, 14:34.76; Kisa Kron, LIV, 14:52.87.

100 hurdles - Amanda West, FAI, 17.86; Brittany Olson, GRA, 18.07; Kallie Merrill, JUD, 19.30; Katie Kohler, LEW, 19.48; Ashley Kolar, STA, 19.64; Erica Warner, JUD, 19.82.

300 hurdles - Brittany Olson, GRA, 50.24; Amanda West, FAI, 53.40; Robin Keyes, LIV, 53.54; Kallie Merrill, JUD, 53.73; Ashlynn Hershberger, DEN, 54.15; Megan Bronec, DEN, 56.13.

400 relay - Livingston 53.25, Lewistown 54.10, Havre 55.47, Judith Gap 55.64, Denton 56.52, Stanford 58.30.

1,600 relay - Havre 4:33.96, Livingston 4:38.04, Lewistown 4:43.86, Shepherd 4:47.38, Stanford 5:01.27.

High jump - Lauren Tognetti, LEW, 5-1; Casea Pollington, HAV, 4-10; Carmen Neuens, HAV, 4-8; Allison Linhart, HOB, 4-8; Jordan Merrill, JUD, 4-6; Claire Slagel, LEW, 4-6; Denice Musick, DEN, 4-6.

Long jump - Erica Warner, JUD, 15-2; Lauren Tognetti, LEW, 14-10; Kallie Merrill, JUD, 14-9; Alexa Lipp, HAV, 14-6; Julie Davis, LIV, 14-6; Brittany Olson, GRA, 14-4.

Triple jump - Laura Anderson, LEW, 32-11; Alexa Lipp, HAV, 32-11; Denice Musick, DEN, 30-8; Whitney Derks, DEN, 29-11; Jordan Merrill, STA, 29-4; Amy Marshall, HAV, 29-1.

Javelin - Lena Suek, HAV, 99-2; Alesha Lear, FAI, 85-0; Janina Varjonen, GEY, 84-4; Linsee Nemec, DEN, 83-4; Heather Hauser, JUD, 82-6; Hannah Mattingly, FAI, 78-7.

Shot put - Heather Kirby, STA, 30-4; Linsee Nemec, DEN, 29-0; Kelli King, ROU, 28-3; Ashley Downs, WIN, 26-8; Dabri Raprager, STA, 26-5; Kelsey Joronen, LIV, 26-0.

Discus - Lena Suek, HAV, 106-11; Alesha Lear, FAI, 85-0; Tasha Herrera, HAV, 89-2; Heather Kirby, STA, 87-7; Ashley Buyse, SHE, 85-4; Kelli King, ROU, 83-4.

Pole vault - Lauren Tognetti, LEW, 10-0; Heidi Rettig, LEW, 7-6; Tay Anderson, LEW, 6-6; Casea Pollington, HAV, 6-0.