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Havre High harriers back at it

Peaking at the absolute perfect time is crucial for a successful cross country season. And while this week isn’t quite that moment the Havre High cross country teams, the beginning stages of peaking needs to be present with another trip to a very difficult race.

This afternoon, the Central A Blue Ponies will run at the annual Helena Preview Meet in Helena.

Today’s a 7-on-7 format is unique, but team scores will still be kept. And with the No. 1’s running against the No 1’s, the No. 2’s running against the No. 2’s, and so on, there will be some necessary adjustments made by the HHS harriers.

“I think the big thing that is going to be different for them,” Havre High head coach Darci Heninger said. “Is that they are used to running with the same runners and at the same pace. But with this format, it is going to make it tougher because my top girls and top boys really feed off of each other. It can be hard to adjust to that, but I think this meet is going to still benefit us because we can really see who the top runners in the state are, and who we need to compete with.”

And there is a long list of very good programs, and very good individuals the Ponies will have to face today.

Nearly 40 teams are in attendance every year, including almost the entire Class AA field as well as plenty of Class A programs. Last season some of the top finishing programs included Bozeman, Billings Senior, Billings West, Corvallis, Billings Skyview, Missoula Big Sky, Lewistown, Hamilton, Missoula Hellgate, Helena High, Missoula Sentinel, Butte, Kalispell Flathead, CMR. The HHS girls finished as the No. 12 team last season, while the HHS boys finished as the No. 25 team.

Pace will be key, and while the Blue Pony runners can’t keep pace off of each other, they have to find a way to still run strong and remain competitive. Stacked with talented runners, HHS will be sure to get past the unusual format and stick with what has made them successful to this point, a strong finish, but an even stronger push at the finish. Times typically vary at this meet because of the format, but the Ponies have earned personal record each weekend they have ran this year. The Ponies will look to earn top individual times again today, but will also look for a way to juggle a strong outing, while trying not to peak a couple weeks too early. The Ponies are looking to begin peaking Oct. 19 at divisionals and then peak Oct. 26 at state.

“They have to run as if they were running a typical race,” Heninger said. “They need to run how they always run, be smart on the hills, and really just run like it were any other day. I have talked to them about this race and how I know it is going to be hard, but how we still need to compete. We have one week left until divisionals, and then it is on to state. Divisionals and state is where we want to see our best times, this weekend will just give us a better idea of the best runners out there, and how we match up.”

Looking ahead at how they match up to last year’s team, the top Pony runners were Jess Wiken with a time of 19:15 and Marc Klimas with a time of 17:05.

Running for the HHS boys will be No. 1 Elijah David, No. 2 Sundance Lodge, No. 3 Brandon Robertson, No. 4 Brock Ross, No. 5 Dylan Stewart, No. 6 Ethan Smith and No. 7 Cameron Knapton. And for the girls it will be No. 1 Haley Ohm, No. 2 Morgan Mazurkiewicz, No. 3 Rachel David, No. 4 McKenna Barkus, No. 5 Kiana Robertson, No. 6 Darlena Bradley and No. 7 Tori Mazurkiewicz.

Havre will look to have another successful race today in Helena at the annual Preview Meet.

 

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