Blue Ponies ready to race at home

There is nothing quite like homecoming weekend for any high school sports program. But when it comes to the Havre High cross country teams, it means even more because it serves as the Blue Ponies’ only home meet.

The Havre Invitational, which will feature a number of teams from along the Hi-Line as well as Lewistown and Browning, will give both Pony teams a chance to run in front of their hometown fans for the first time this season.

The meet, which will get underway Saturday at 9 a.m., on the campus of Montana State University-Northern, will also be the final home meet for seniors Rachel David, Rainey Stoner, Alara Vogel, Adrienne Miller, Cameron Knapton, Brock Ross and Luke Karnauskas.

“We are excited, I know the kids are really looking forward to having a home meet,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “Not only is it at home for us, but it’s also homecoming. For our seniors, it’s also their last meet at home. Some of them may run in college and they might have a chance to do that here, but as far as high school goes, this is it for them.”

Of course, seeing as the meet is being held in their hometown, both Pony teams should come into Saturday with a bit of an advantage. The veteran runners on each team have experience on the tough MSU-N course from previous seasons. But, even the newer runners should be familiar with the course because coach Holt made it a point to get his team on the course as much as possible leading up to the meet.

“I think it will give us a bit of an advantage,” Holt said. “A lot of running is mental and that fact that we are comfortable running on the course should help us, especially the kids that have run here before and had success. We have also been running the course this week in practice to help us get ready.”

The HHS girls will be led into the meet by David, who has been the team’s top runner all season long. She should have a good chance to compete for the top individual spot and if she doesn’t win the meet, she should post a Top 5 or Top 10 finish without much trouble.

The other girls who will run for the HHS varsity on Saturday are Stoner, Vogel, Adrienne Miller, Amelia Miller, Nicole Parsons, Meggie Zook, Marca Herron and Hannah Lunak.

The boys team will feature Austin Jones, who, like David, has been the top runner on his team all season long. Yet, the Havre boys also have a pair of talented freshmen in Lane Paulson and Jakob Keller, who will each run in the Havre invite for the first time.

The other Pony boys who will compete Saturday are Karnauskas, Ross, Knapton and Barrett Kilgore. The Havre High junior varsity squads will both be in action as well and will get a chance to gain some valuable experience.

“I think that it’s certainly important to the kids to do well,” Holt said. “They will have their parents there and some of their friends will be there to watch them run. It’s a great motivator, just having the support there and allowing more family to show up will mean the whole world to these kids.”

The Havre Invitational will begin Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with middle school races, followed by the junior varsity races. The varsity races will begin with the boys at 12:20 p.m. and the girls at 1 p.m. All the action will take place on the race course at MSU-Northern

2015 Havre High Cross Country

Invite

Saturday at MSU-Northern

10 a.m.: Junior High Girls

10:30: Junior High Boys

11 a.m.: JV Boys

11:40: JV Girls

12: 20 p.m.: Varsity Boys

1:00 p.m. Varsity Girls