HHS boys shine at home

Havre High's Garrett Augillard (front) races in the 1,600 meters of the Central A Divisional track and field meet Saturday at the Havre Middle School track. Augillard helped the Pony boys to a third-place finish overall.

Havre High's Thurman Holdsclaw clears the pole vault bar at Saturday's Central A Divisional in Havre.

Going into the Central A divisional meet, the Havre High boys track team knew Belgrade was a clear favorite. But hoping to compete with Lewistown for a No. 2 finish at least, the Blue Ponies fell just short.

Friday and Sa

Havre's Mason Case (middle) wins the Central A boys 100 meters this weekend at the Havre Middle School track.

turday the Central A Ponies hosted the Central A track and field meet at the Havre middle school track. The Belgrade Panthers, Lewistown Golden Eagles, Livingston Rangers and Browning Indians all joined the Ponies over the weekend, but it was the Panthers taking the No.1 spot with 177 points. The Eagles finished second with 113.5, while the Ponies were third with 110.5. The Rangers followed with 94 and the Indians finished up with 24.

"The boys team just missed out on second place by three points," Havre High head coach Trevor Vancampen said. "And we had chances of finishing second behind Belgrade, but fell short. We were in that position because we had some kids step up and get points for the team. They really had a good weekend and we qualified 11 of our 12 boys to the state meet in individual events so I thought that is a great achievement for those kids."

The Ponies were able to find themselves in contention by stepping up across the board. Most of the Pony individuals competed in their specialty event as well as a handful of events they normally wouldn't compete in. This gave the Ponies a boost in production, as did a couple of key athletes stepping up finding their way to a podium finish.

Kade Rismon stepped up in the shot put. Rismon didn't throw his best, but did finish sixth. Rismon also finished fourth in the javelin (141-1), while fellow sophomore Ryen Antley finished fifth in the javelin (138-8), giving the Ponies a handful of key points.

"Those two javelin throwers stepped up big and they are both sophomores," VanCampen said. "Coach Jim Gabriel is doing a great job of developing the kids that want to improve everyday. "

Thurman Holdsclaw also stepped up and placed fifth in the 100 (11.98) and second in the triple jump (40-1), adding key points as his main focus is the pole vault. Zach Plum also strayed away from the pit to place third in the long jump (19-3).

But the usual names still led the Ponies over the weekend, including Mason Case, who was presently surprised with the team finish.

"I think we did really good as team actually," Case said. "I didn't know if we could really break 50 points because we haven't really done that this season, but we really did good as a team. We had a lot of guys step up.

"And I felt better yesterday (Friday)." Case added. But today I felt a little soar and tired. I still took first in the 100 and 200, and I had my best time in the 200 today (Saturday), so that made me happy."

Case swept the 100 and 200-meter sprints, running the 100 in 11.43 and the 200 in 22.99. Case also placed fourth in the 400 with a time of 55.25.

Garrett Aguillard also had a big day; ending the weekend with three No. 2 finishes. Aguillard ran a 2:06.02 in the 800-meter, a 4:43 in the 1600-meter and ran a 10:27.90 in the 3200-meter. Aguillard finished behind Monte Cole of Livingston in the 1600 and 3200, somebody who many think is the clear favorite at the state meet.

Marc Klimas also placed fifth in the 3200 (10:30.40), while Michael Richards placed third in the 110 hurdles (17.97) and sixth in the 300 hurdles (48.52). And the 1600 relay team also placed fifth (3:46.9), while in a devastating disqualification prevented the short relay team from placing after missing the final handoff while clearly leading the pack.

"Marc Klimas and Garrett Aguillard have trained together since last year and it has worked out great for the two of them," VanCampen said. "Mason Case was able to qualify in the 100, 200, and 400 meter and he has had one of the best years for the Blue Ponies in recent past. I hope that (Case) completes his senior year by achieving his goal of winning state. The boys team has come together and there has been some great leadership emerging this year and I believe they are now starting to understand the team concept in track."

But in one of the more unique stories of the weekend, the Blue Pony pole vaulters nearly swept the event. HHS has five vaulters and the Ponies went one through five on Saturday. Holdsclaw cleared 12-6 for the No. 1 finish, while Thomas Gruber cleared 12-0 for the No. 2 spot. Matt Emge cleared 11-6 for third place and Zach Plum cleared 11-0 for fourth. And wrapping up the dominating appearance, Gunnar Aageson cleared 10-6, a personal best, for a fifth place finish.

"That was a great job by the boys and a great job by coach Andy Smith," VanCampen said. "All of the Havre pole vaulters made it to state."

Overall, it was good outing for the Ponies, and they qualified a lot of top talent into the state meet. It is unlikely that the Ponies can compete for a team title with teams housing much higher numbers at state, but the Ponies will look to be in contention for quite a few individual titles. The top five in each event will advance to state in Bozeman this weekend.