Havre High harriers compete with the best

Daniel Horton

In big meets it's easy for teams to become overwhelmed and lost in the numbers. But with hundreds of kids from 73 boys teams and 73 girls teams ranging from all over Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington, the Havre High cross country teams were able to stand out.

On Saturday the Central A Blue Ponies were in Missoula where they took part in the Mountain West Meet.

The Blue Pony girls finished as the No. 28 team out of 73 with 802 points. And the Pony boys finished in the No. 34 spot out of 73 teams with a team total of 925 points.

"Both teams were in the top half of the teams that were there," Havre High head coach Kyle Fisher said. "They both competed and did a nice job, and it was an experience of a lifetime for all of our athletes. It was awesome, I thought both teams ran great."

Every Pony runner improved his or her time from last weekend.

And the HHS girl's improvements helped them to just a 1:40 pack time between the top five girls. Katie Christianson was the top runner and finished No. 98 overall with a time of 21:07. Brittanee Korb was No. 154 with a time of 21:54, while Shelby O'Neil was No. 180 with a time of 22:21, Trisha Kinsella was No. 183 with a time of 22:25 and Ashlynn Van Voast was No. 187 with a time of 22:29.

Larissa Price and Mikell Kinsella also ran well for HHS. Price finished as the No. 189 runner overall with a time of 22:32 and Mikell Kinsella finished as the No. 203 runner with a time of 22:45.

Courtney Bricker ran in the junior varsity race and placed No. 94 with a time of 23:43.

Fisher was proud of all the Pony runners, but Mikell Kinsella saw the most improvement. She shaved a whole minute off of her time from last weekend in Malta.

"They did a great job," Fisher said. She (Mikell Kinsella) really stepped up and did a nice job for us."

On the boys side, the Havre pack time also saw a slight improvement. The pack time improved because overall times improved, but still needs work if the Ponies want to be competitive in the conference.

Kendall Murie once again led HHS as the top runner. He grabbed the No. 69 spot overall and finished with a time of 16:51.

Marc Klimas, Greg Rhines and Dillon Seely also ran very well. Klimas finished 138th with a time of 17:41, while Rhines finished 181st with a time of 18:15 and Seely finished 253rd with a time of 18:57.

Dolan Tuss was the No. 284 runner with a time of 19:37, Chazley Hulett was the No. 288 runner with a time of 19:33 and Ty Bauer was the No. 306 runner with a time of 19:48.

Zack Smith finished as the No. 196 runner in the junior varsity race, finishing in 20:03 for the Blue Ponies.

The Ponies were all able to run well against some of the best competition they will see this year. But most importantly, both Blue Pony squads were able to get a good look at their conference, and where they stack up.

The Ponies finished as the No. 2 team in the conference this weekend on the girls side behind Lewistown (474). But the Ponies did finish ahead of Browning (838) and Belgrade (861).

On the boys side, the Ponies finished as the No. 4 team in conference. Finishing ahead of the Havre was Belgrade (548), Browning (822) and Lewistown (890).

"We definitely need to move up with our boys," Fisher said. "But both teams are doing well and we just need to keep improving each week."

Havre High is back in action on Friday when the Ponies travel to Lewistown. HHS also races in Glasgow on Saturday.

Mountain West

BOYS

Team scores

Lewis & Clark (Idaho) 59, Sehome (Wash.) 141, Mead (Spokane) 148, Mount Spokane 149, Bozeman 193, Helena High 267, Missoula Sentinel 313, Kalispell Flathead 317, Missoula Hellgate 326, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane) 344, Helena Capital 353, Deer Park (Wash.) 450, Sandpoint (Idaho) 455, Corvallis 456, Cheney (Wash.) 483, Billings Skyview 489, Kalispell Glacier 506, Belgrade 548, Great Falls High 560, East Valley (Spokane) 567, Columbia Falls 619, Billings West 651, Butte High 659, Great Falls Russell 722, Loyola Sacred Heart 771, Whitefish 772, Manhattan 812, Browning 822, Riverside (Wash.) 837, Billings Central 849, Missoula Big Sky 853, Anaconda 862, Lewistown 890, Havre 925, Hamilton 971, Billings Senior 976, Ronan 1,060, Cut Bank 1,105, Laurel 1,107, Frenchtown 1,133, Polson 1,181, Hardin 1,189, Dillon 1,321, Manhattan Christian 1,465, St. Ignatius 1,503, Arlee 1,550.

GIRLS

Team scores

Bozeman 74, Sehome (Wash.) 194, Whitefish 214, Mead (Spokane) 219, Missoula Hellgate 224, Billings Senior 267, Cheney (Wash.) 284, Billings West 339, Missoula Sentinel 346, Polson 388, Gonzaga Prep (Spokane) 412, Corvallis 423, Kalispell Flathead 435, Missoula Big Sky 449, Deer Park (Wash.) 456, Lewistown 474, Helena High 477, Butte High 490, Kalispell Glacier 527, Univeristy High (Spokane) 625, Great Falls High 625, Great Falls Russell 671, Billings Skyview 687, Sandpiont (Idaho) 691, Columbia Falls 695, Riverside (Wash.) 743, East Valley (Spokane) 778, Havre 802, Browning 838, Anaconda 849, Belgrade 861, Helena Capital 872, Laurel 894, Three Forks 984, Belt 990, Billings Central 1,000, Dillon 1,002, Hamilton 1,014, Hardin 1,023, Frenchtown 1,051, Cut Bank 1,067, Manhattan 1,170, Townsend 1,293.

Havre Individual Results

Boys

No. 69 — Kendall Murie, 16:51

No. 138 — Marc Klimas, 17:41

No. 181 — Greg Rhines, 18:15

No. 253 — Dillon Seely, 18:57

No. 282 — Dolan Tuss, 19:27

No. 288 — Chazley Hulett, 19:33

No. 306 — Ty Bauer, 19:48

Junior Varsity

No. 196 — Zac Smith, 20:03

Girls

No. 98 — Katie Christianson, 21:07

No. 254 — Brittanee Korb, 21:54

No. 180 — Shelby O'Neil, 22:21

No. 183 — Trisha Kinsella, 22:25

No. 187 — Ashlynn Van Voast, 22:29

No. 189 — Larissa Price, 22:32

No. 203 — Mikell Kinsella, 22:45

Junior Varsity

No. 94 — Courtney Bricker, 23:40.