HHS track teams compete hard in Belgrade

The Havre High girls track team was excited to test itself against some Class A competition last Friday in Belgrade and after tying for fourth, the Blue Ponies held up pretty well.

The Gallatin Valley Invitational, hosted by Belgrade, featured a slew of Class A teams, as well as Bozeman and it was Dillon that came away with team titles in both the boys and girls competitions. The Dillon girls won with 88 points followed by Lewistown in second with 69 and Belgrade in third with 62.75. Havre tied for fourth place with 59 points along with Manhattan.

Dillon took home the boys crown with 82 points. Lewistown was second with 67 and in third was Jefferson with 60.33, edging out Broadwater with 60. The Pony boys finished in 14th with three points.

“On our way back, coach (Andy) Smith was talking about how we had gone down there (Belgrade) and not scored a point,” HHS head coach John Ita said. “And our girls went down there and were in the thick of a lot of the battles. Had we not had the injuries we had, we would have even had a a better day.”

While the Pony girls were close to full strength, they weren’t quite at 100 percent and were missing Sadie Filius, a consistent point getter in the hurdles. Katie Wirtzberger, another consistent performer, was less than her best and those injuries limited their output. However, Jessa Chvilicek had a huge day, finishing second in the 100-meter dash, second in the 200 and sixth in the high jump. She was also part of two first-place relay teams, as the Ponies ran away with first in both the 400-meter (50.83) and 1,600 relays (4:22.55).

“Jessa Chvilicek just really had a day,” Ita said. “She just did. The girl that comes from Dillon and beat her in the 100 is consistently running in the 12s. That girl PR’d and she had to in order to beat Jess because she was right there with her. That was a fun race to watch. It was pretty cool. She (Jessa) just put together a really good performance in the 100, the 200 and we had no complaints at all.”

The only runner who bested Chvilicek in the 200 was her teammate, sophomore Loy Waid, who ran a 26.91, a personal best, to top the podium, followed by Chvilicek who ran a 26.97. Kadia Miller also had a productive day in the distance events, finishing third in the 800 (2:33.47) and sixth in the 1,600 (6:07). Sarah Faber was the other individual for the Havre girls who placed, as she finished third in the high jump (4-10). Chvilicek also finished sixth in the event (4-08).

“Loy also really looked good in the 200,” Ita said. “She just keeps getting better and better. Both of our relays didn’t have our A teams completely together but those girls ran hard and we had good times. We didn’t have Filius or Wirtzberger in the 1,600 and the girls won big with Kadia Miller and Emma Gillen running it. They just ran a really good race. Loy and Jessa also really stepped it up.

The Pony boys had a hard time scoring points in the meet but it doesn’t mean Havre didn’t have its share of solid performances. One of the best came from senior Dylan Chvilicek, who threw 145-02 in the javelin to edge out teammate Mason Rismon to finish in sixth place. Another individual who had a solid showing in Belgrade was fellow senior Andrew Boucher. After placing in multiple events at the Havre Lions track meet, Boucher was sixth in the 400 in Belgrade after running a 54.18. He also paced the 400-relay team that finished sixth for HHS.

“Dylan and Mason are both throwing really, really well in the javelin,” Ita said. “Mason has some tired legs and we need to rest him a little bit. Dylan really stood out and had a really good day and that was good for him. Our quick relay (400) had one of the better times they have had all season as well. Every time the boys get on the track, they are getting PRs (personal records), the times are coming down and as coaches, I know we are pretty happy for them.”

The Ponies will be back in action this Tuesday when they head to Malta for the Malta Invitational. Both teams will be in Great Falls this weekend before traveling to Glasgow April 30 for the Top 10 meet.