Pony thinclads finish strong at home

The Havre High track teams finished strong at home this weekend, and performing on the sunniest day Havre has seen in a while, the Blue Ponies put on an all-around good show. Saturday at the Havre Middle School Track the Central A Pony boys and girls track teams hosted a triangular with Malta and Lewistown. The HHS boys finished first with 82 points, outscoring the Mustangs with 50 and the Golden Eagles with 49. And the HHS girls finished second with 57 points, barely being edged out by the M-Ettes with 58. The Eagles were third with 41 points. "We lucked out, weather-wise," Havre High head coach Roger Larson said. "It was a little bit cool, but still the sun was shining. It was a great day and it was great to have two good track programs like Lewistown and Malta come in and work with us." And even with the meet being one of the last of the season, the Ponies still saw steady progress on both the girls and boys team. Will DeVries earned a personal best by nearly three feet in the shot put with a second-place toss of 43-2. Jeff Thibodeaux also earned a personal best after he threw 143-1 for a third-place finish in the javelin, while Ashlynn Van Voast shaved off half a second for a personal best in the 200-meter dash, running the race in 28.69 for a second-place finish. Karla Hellegaard nearly earned a PR in the triple jump after scratching on a jump of over 33 feet. Hellegaard ended up taking second with a leap of 32-9. And Sammy Evans jumped just under her personal best for a first-place finish in the triple jump, leaping over 35-1. "That's exactly what we wanted to do," Larson said. "We've got everybody working their way up and everybody is improving. It was great, we were seeing runners, jumpers and throwers all get up there." Wrapping up the top boys finishes, Corderro Strickland earned first place in the 100 meters with a time of 11.69 and a first-place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 24.48. Strickland also finished second in the long jump (18-9). John Perrodin took second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.37 and first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.58. HHS's David Jefferey took first in the 400 with a time of 55.47 and second in the 800 with a time of 2:19.73. Garrett Aguillard was third in the 800 with a time of 2:21.13 and fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 5:11.0. Kendall Murie was second in the 1,600 with a time of 4:57.0 and first in the 3,200 with a time of 11:03.4. And DeVries was second in the shot put with a toss of 43-2 and third in the discus with a toss of 106-1. Tyson Kultgen was fourth in the 200 meters (25.8), while Kade Barsotti was third in the 400 (58.42), Marc Klimas was second in the 3,200 (11:05), Greg Rhines was third in the 3,200 (11:57.5), Derek Van Dessel was fourth in the 3,200 (12:41.6), Thibodeaux was third in the high jump (5-2), Thurman Holdsclaw was fourth in the high jump (5-2), Jim Beemer was fourth in the shot put (38-11), Colter Lairy was fourth in the javelin (136-0) and Jake Lillevedt was fourth in the discus (94-6). Layne Waid was first in the pole vault, clearing 12-6, while Tyson Gruber was second (12-0) and Jake Myers was third (12-0). The Ponies' 400-meter relay team was first with a time of 46.26 and their 1,600 relay team was also first with a time of 3:47.69. For the girls, Hellegaard finished fourth in the 200 meters (29.64) and first in the long jump (14-10). Brooke Jappe took fourth in the 400 (1:10.3) and fourth in the 800 (2:51.0). Madison Ruff took third in the high jump (4-10), third in the javelin (107-7) and fourth in the shot put (26-5). Alexia Olson took second in the 100 with a time of 13.45, while Jaye Ceynar was third (13.86) and Sadie Seidel was fourth (13.86). Mikell Kinsella was fourth in the 400 (1:06.0) and Katie Christianson was fourth in the 1,600 (5:50.2). Shelby O'Neil was second in the 3,200 (14:08.9) and Van Voast was second in the 300-meter hurdles (51.43), while Seidel was fourth in the long jump (12- 8), Evans was fourth in the high jump (4-10) and Alicia O'Leary was second in the discus (76-8). The Pony girls 400 relay took first with a time of 53.5 and the 1,600 relay took first with a time of 4:17.18. "We are just happy with all of the kids," Larson said. "They all competed." And for the kids that Larson said were on the bubble for going to divisonals, they also performed. But before any yes or no's are given out to the HHS athletes about the postseason, the coaches have to get together and discuss the possibilities. It will be a group decision, looking at each athlete and what they have done all season long as far as improvement. "We did see a couple extra kids that we (coaches) are going to have to sit down and talk about," Larson said. "Nobody was disappointing, and the big thing is they were all at least trying." Next up for the Ponies is the Top 10 meet in Glasgow. The event will get under way this afternoon at 3 p.m.