By Rob Everingham
by Rob Everingham
The Havre Daily News
Friday, May 14
Area tennis team converge on Havre this weekend for their divisional tournament. Big Sandy, Chinook, Chester and Fort Benton will be the four team at the meet. The top five singles players and the top five doubles team will invited to go the state tournament next weekend.
Chester will be coming to the divisional tennis tournament the favorite. April Stubbs has dominated the scene all year and won most of the tournaments she has been in. Stubbs has a bye in the first round. The Coyotes other singles are Sunni Spicher who got paired in the same bracket as Stubbs. Teresa Muncey will also be going as will Kali Nelson who has the unenviable task of facing Chinooks Janie Kelley in the first round.
In doubles Chester will be taking Devan Lalum and Nicole Anderson, who have been strong all year. The second doubles team will be Lisa Wickum and Kali Wicks.
Chester coach Bruce Cook said the players are excited. Cook said the athletes have seen the bracket and have been practicing hard and preparing for the different match-ups. Cook said they have been able to get some practice in this week.
They have been focused and are ready to go, Cook said.
The Big Sandy Pioneers will be taking all seven tennis players to the divisional tournament. They will have two doubles teams and three singles. Michelle Fell and Heather Paul will make up one of the doubles team with the other one being Amanda Pokorny and Amanda Grass. The singles will be Sherri Upham, Candi ONeal and Laura Edwards.
Upham has experience at the divisional level and after playing in just a few tournaments this year coach Raelynn Genereux hopes she can come out and perform well.
As for the freshman on the team Generaux said they will be able to go in and get some good experience.
Genereux did say she hopes the weather clears up before the tournament and added that it should be a good tournament.
The Pioneers are hoping to get someone on to state but with a young team that is playing inconstantly it will be tough Genereux said.
It would be nice to move somebody on but with a young team it is hard to say, Genereux said.
The Chinook Sugarbeeters will be sending No. 1 singles player Janie Kelley, No. 2 Bonnie Hall, No. 3 Mandy Harbolt, and No. 4 Susan Thackery. The No. 1 doubles team for Chinook is Cassie Jergeson and Kelsie Whitney with the No. 2 team of Kelsie Altenhofen and Savannah Brown.
The doubles, which coach Brent Schellin just finalized this week will play two Fort Benton teams that are seeded higher. Schellin said he expects to win one and have a shot at the other one.
As for the team the goal is to shot for second place in the division with knowing they are not strong enough for Chester. Schellin said they will need to do it with the doubles teams. The two teams did play well last weekend but have been rained out the majority of this week so Schellin said they will be as polished as he would have liked.
Were Hoping to do well, and hoping to make it a race with Fort Benton, Schellin said.
Schellin added that they would like to advance five or six girls to state with a pair of singles players and both doubles teams.
The Beeters will be doing nothing new after face all three other teams this season. Schellin said with a young ream of just two seniors and one junior the team is rebuilding but he hopes that Kelley will be fighting for second place. Schellin added that it should be a good match-up between Kelley and Lacy Schultz of Fort Benton, who are the No. 2 and No. 3 players behind April Stubbs of Chester.
Id like her (Kelley) to win that and give April Stubbs a good game, Schellin said.
