Home cookin': Pony boys capture Lions title

Over the weekend the Havre High track teams hosted the annual Lions Invitational, and the Blue Ponies couldn't have asked for a better meet. On Saturday at the newly refurbished Havre Middle School Track, the Ponies played host to a dozen teams. And while the Pony girls earned 81 points for a No. 3 finish, the Pony boys came away with their first first-place finish of the season, scoring 96 points. "We had all of our kids there," Havre High head coach Roger Larson said. "That's our main team and that's what we are expecting. It was a perfect day, with perfect results. We saw a lot of improvements and that's exactly what we wanted. Today was really a stepping stone." On the girl's side, Malta blew out the competition with 136.5 points and a first-place finish. Glasgow was second with 91.5. Behind the Pony boys, it was Malta taking the No. 2 spot with 94 points, while Glasgow took third with 75. Fort Benton was also in contention with 74 points. The Ponies were hoping to see some Class A talent over the weekend, but with all the meets taking place across the state, that didn't happen. But with teams like Malta, Glasgow, Wolf Point, Chinook, Big Sandy and North Star making an appearance, there was plenty of competition. The local Class C track teams, both boys and girls, looked sharp as well, making the Hi-Line very successful Saturday in Havre. "They pushed us," Larson said. "You are always going to find at least one or two kids from each school that can compete, and with enough of those schools you get good competition in each race. It's kind of a bummer that you don't get to see Class A at your own meet, but next week we have a dual with AA and then the Central A preview." For the Pony girls, Karla Hellegaard and Sammy Evans shined in the jumping events. Hellegaard claimed the No. 1 spot in the long jump with a distance of 15-6, and captured the No. 5 spot in the triple jump with a distance of 30-2. Evans captured the top spot in the triple jump with a distance of 33-2, and the No. 3 spot in the high jump after clearing 4-10. Katie Christianson and Alicia O'Leary also grabbed a couple of top spots for HHS. Christianson took third in the 3,200 meters (13:21.90) and fifth in the 1,600 meters (6:10.80). O'Leary grabbed two fourth-place finishes with a toss of 25-9 in the shot put and a toss of 68-4 in the discus. Brooke Jappe, Sadie Seidel, Jay Ceynar and Madison Ruff also placed for the Ponies. Jappe was sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:43.30, while Seidel was sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 30-1. Ceynar took sixth in the pole vault after clearing 6-6 while Ruff threw 99-6 in the javelin for a third-place finish. Ashlynn Van Voast and Alexia Olson both combined for six top finishes. Van Voast was fourth in the 300 hurdles (51.01), fifth in the 200 meters (30.09) and sixth in the 400 (1:07.29). Olson was second in the long jump (15-1), fourth in the triple jump (30-8) and fifth in the high jump (4-8). On the boys' side, it was the Pony pole-vaulters who dominated the competition once again. Layne Waid earned the No. 1 spot after clearing 12-6. Tyson Gruber also cleared 12-6, but landed the No. 2 spot after attempting more jumps overall. Jake Myers also had a good afternoon, walking away with the No. 4 spot after clearing 12-0. "Having three guys from the same team pushing each other is phenomenal," Larson said. "They are each other's toughest competition, so every day, Monday through Saturday they are going to be competing. They are doing a heck of a job." Thurmon Holdsclaw, Will DeVries and Jeff Thibodeaux also placed for the Blue Ponies on Saturday. Holdsclaw finished sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 35-0, while DeVries finished fourth in the shot put after a toss of 40- 5. Thibodeaux finished sixth in the javelin after a throw of 129-0. On the track, the Ponies earned a solid effort by John Perrodin. He took fourth in the 400 with a time of 55.13, but captured the top spot in both the 300 (41.40) and 110 hurdles (16.91). Kade Barsotti, Kendall Murie and Marc Klimas all placed in the 3,200 meters. Barsotti was No. 3 with a time of 11:05.30, while Murie was fourth with a time of 11:05.40 and Klimas was sixth with a time of 11:13.80. Murie also placed third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:08.80. Garrett Aguillard and Corderro Strickland also placed in two events each. Aguillard placed sixth in the 800 meters (2:15.10) and fourth in the 1,600 (5:14.20), while Strickland placed fifth in the 200 (24.92) and third in the long jump (18-11). All of the relay teams also had a fairly good afternoon. The girls' 400-meter team finished third with a time of 54.23 and the 1,600-meter team placed fourth with a time of 4:38.53. The boys short relay team captured the No. 2 spot with a time of 46.77, while the long relay team placed third with a time of 3:48.32. "For the most part, everybody had a good day," Larson said. "I don't have a complaint or bad thing to say effort wise, and that's the main thing about track. The numbers, the distances the height, those will take care of themselves if the effort's there." Next up for the Ponies will be a dual against CMR. The Ponies will host the Class AA squad at the HMS track on Tuesday at 3 p.m. HHS will also take to the road on Saturday, where they will compete in the Class A preview in Belgrade.