Ponies race against top competition in Missoula

The Havre High cross country teams took part in the Mountain West Classic last Saturday in Missoula and both Blue Ponies squads competed well.

Among one of the deepest and most-competitive fields in cross country in Montana, the Blue Pony girls finished 42nd in the meet, while the HHS boys ended up 46th. Yet, even though each team finished far from the top, both teams improved dramatically from a season ago.

“The girls finished six places better and took almost 10 minutes off their time,” HHS head coach Josh Holt said. “The boys took two minutes off their time and finished for two places better.”

The top overall finisher on either team was Kadia Miller, who ran a time of 21 minutes flat to finish 135th. Kaylee Nystrom, who was running in her first varsity meet, finished 205th with a time of 21:58. Nicole Parsons (213, 22:05), Amelia Miller (262, 23:10), Melanie Jones (273, 23:35), Meggie Zook (304, 25:38) and Rhoda Peterson (313, 26:22) were the other varsity finishers for the HHS girls.

“The girls went out a little conservative,” Holt said. “But finished fast and strong. Kadia ran a great pace in an extremely talented field.”

The Havre boys, who were without top runner Austin Jones, performed admirably, led by Jakob Keller, who finished 212th after posting a time of 17:52. Trevor Williams came in with a time of 18:07 (240) and Quinn Reno ran a 18:38 (275). Noah Azure finished 313th for Havre (19:11), while Barrett Kilgore was 318th (19:20), Aylan Pratt was 319th (19:22) and Taylen Mullan was 325th (19:31).

“Jakob ran an exceptional race,” Holt said. “He broke the 18 minute barrier for the first time. He went out strong and was consistent for the first two miles and really finished strong on the last mile. Trevor is also running well in his first season. (The Mountain West Classic) was his best race of the year and he dropped over one minute off his time from last weekend.”

Both Havre teams will be in action again this Saturday, when the Ponies will host their only home meet of the year. The Havre Invitational will get underway at 10 a.m.

Mountain West Classic

GIRLS

Team scores

Bozeman 57, Billings Senior 139, Missoula Hellgate 180, Central Valley 192, Mead 198, Kalispell Glacier 249, North Central 267, Missoula Sentinel 309, Sehome 323, Great Falls Russell 357, Kalispell Flathead 359, Deer Park 369, Billings West 393, Spokane University 479, Helena High 485, Hardin 486, Post Falls 523, Helena Capital 524, Manhattan 553, Whitefish 567, West Valley 640, Gonzaga Prep 641, Ferris 644, Polson 649, Cheney 655, Bigfork 673, Columbia Falls 703, Missoula Big Sky 738, Corvallis 752, Great Falls High 853, Belgrade 867, Broadwater 884, Moscow 937, Teton 938, Butte 966, Livingston 968, Lakeland 1,012, Dillon 1,019, Lake City 1,069, Lewistown 1,075, Red Lodge 1,078, Havre 1,083, Frenchtown 1,132, Laurel 1,163, Browning 1,199, Stevensville 1,223, Arlee 1,454, East Valley 1,469, Billings Central 1,515.

Havre girls - 135. Kadia Miller, 21:00; 205. Kaylee Nystrom, 21:58; 213. Nicole Parsons, 22:05; 262. Amelia Miller, 262, 23:10; 273. Melanie Jones, 23:35. 304. Meggie Zook, 25:38; 313. Rhoda Peterson, 26.2.

BOYS

Team scores

Bozeman 62, Lewis and Clark 123, Ferris 177, Sehome 221, Kalispell Glacier 241, Deer Park 301, Billings Senior 303, Gonzaga Prep 322, Spokane University 367, Frenchtown 407, Kalispell Flathead 408, Spokane West Valley 411, Missoula Hellgate 414, Corvallis 444, Great Falls Russell 454, Billings Skyview 456, Cheney 498, Broadwater 504, Mead 506, Helena High 543, Missoula Sentinel 573, Great Falls High 587, Billings West 611, Laurel 662, Lewistown 682, Hardin 706, Manhattan Christian 783, Mt. Spokane 806, Belgrade 847, Manhattan 853, Columbia Falls 860, Helena Capital 880, Moscow 886, Butte 993, Lake City 1,030, Hamilton 1,050, Shadle Park 1,081, Ronan 1,118, Whitefish 1,162, Missoula Big Sky 1,175, Lakeland 1,194, Teton 1,197, Post Falls 1,210, Polson 1,223, Browning 1,355, Havre 1,358, Anaconda 1,379, Dillon 1,385, Loyola Sacred Heart 1,407, Seeley-Swan 1,433, Red Lodge 1,457, Whitehall 1,493, Livingston 1,498, Billings Central 1,500, Three Fork 1,539, Cut Bank 1,783, Shelby 1,784, Arlee 1,831.

Havre boys - 212. Jakob Keller, 17:52; 240. Trevor Williams, 18:07; 275. Quinn Reno, 18:38; 313. Noah Azure, 19:11; 318. Barrett Kilgore, 19:20; 319. Aylan Pratt, 19:22; 325. Taylen Mullan, 19:31.