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Local thinclads head to Glasgow Top 10 Meet

After competing in the Glendive Elks Invitational a couple days before, the top athletes from the Havre High track and field team will compete in the Top 10 meet in Glasgow Tuesday. Unlike most meets, each event will only have 10 competitors, all from the Northeast region. The athletes qualified for the event by posting a top-10 finish, so the meet will have the best athletes in the region. Despite the tough competition, HHS head coach Ryan Gatch believes his athletes will have success at the meet.

"We got some students that are sitting real good to be able to win their events," Gatch said. "My expectations are for us to go up there and compete at our very best level with a quick turnaround from our last meet on Saturday and be able to go up there and take care of business."

Some events that the Blue Ponies should have success in are the girl's 400 and 1,600 relays. Both relay teams have the best times of the teams competing in the meet. The Havre 400 team has a personal best of 51.90 and the 1,600 relay team has a time of 4:16.47. Gatch believes his 1,600 team's success this season has come against weaker competition, so he looks forward to when they race against tougher teams.

"The reality is our 4x400 team is pretty good even though we're not at the automatic standard for qualifying, but we're at that level where we're 100 meters ahead of everybody when we finish," Gatch said. "It will be fun to see when we get into a competitive situation where they're racing against people for every single lap."

Relay team member Sadie Filius will also compete in the 300-meter hurdle as she has the second-best finish with a time of 48.92. She did not compete in the hurdles at the Glendive Elks Invitational because of an injury, so Gatch looks forward to seeing her return.

"Not running her on Saturday was key in improving her health to be ready to go on this Tuesday meet," Gatch said. "We're really looking forward to her competing at a top level here at this meet."

Filius will also compete in the long jump along with Kennedy Hampton Tuesday. The Ponies will see Hampton and Tamera O'Leary compete in the 100-meter sprint. Loy Waid will compete in the 200 as she has the second best finish with a time of 27.55. She will also race in the 400. Hannah Haslem will race in the 3,200, Kyanna Jarvis will compete in the 100 hurdle and Emma Gillen will compete in both hurdles.

In the boy's 200, the Ponies will have Nolan Lotton and Jasper Wendland race. Lotton has the best time in the 200 with a time of 22.67, so he will look to remain at the top Tuesday. Lotton will also compete in the 400.

The Havre boy's team will have other athletes compete Tuesday. Dylan Young will compete in the 1,600 as he has the second best finish in the region this season with a time of 2:07. Along with Hunter Awtrey and Brody Henry, Young will compete in the 800. Other Ponies competing Tuesday include Ryker O'Leary in the 100 hurdle, Caleb Tomac in the 3,200 and Eli Cloninger in the triple jump. The Havre boys's relay teams will also compete in both the 400 and 1,600 relays.

At the meet, the Ponies will compete against athletes from 38 other schools. Other schools competing from the Hi-Line include Chinook, Harlem, Hays-Lodge Pole and Turner. They will also face Eastern A opponents such as Glendive and Sidney. Other schools that Havre will compete against include Bainville, Baker, Brockton, Carter County, Circle, Culbertson, Dodson, Lustre Christian, Malta, Nashua, Plentywood, Poplar, Richey-Lambert, Roy-Winifred, Saco, Savage, Fairview, Frazer, Froid-Medicine Lake, Garfield County, Glasgow, Hinsdale, Scobey, Terry, Westby-Grenora, Whitewater, Wibaux County and Wolf Point.

After competing Saturday, Gatch hopes that his athletes used the short time between meets to rest their bodies so they will be physically ready for Tuesday's meet. Gatch also believes the quick turnaround will mentally prepare his athletes for the short turnarounds they will see in the postseason.

"The divisional tournament's a day and a half tournament, the state tournament's a two-day tournament so you're going to have a quick turnaround on both those days," Gatch said. "They're doing a great job with their training regiments and their programming and being coachable. It's just that mental preparedness."

The Ponies will compete in the top 10 meet in Glasgow Tuesday starting at 3 p.m.

 

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