Havre tennis teams head to divisionals

It’s been a long and interesting season for the Havre High tennis teams. Good weather early, bad weather of late, long trips, highs and lows, the Blue Ponies have already seen it all.

And yet, things are just getting started.

Today and Thursday, the Blue Pony boys and girls will be in Lewistown for the Central A Divisional tournament, where team titles and berths in next week’s Class A state tournament are on the line.

“This is the really exciting part,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “This is what all those cold and windy days of practice, and the tough trips and the tough matches have been for. We’ve spent the entire season building towards this tournament. And believe me, our kids are ready. They are a great group, they’ve worked hard, been pushed, and pushed themselves, and they are ready for this. It’s very exciting.”

The Pony boys are certainly ready. While Havre may have some new faces on varsity this season, the Ponies are still the big dog of Central A tennis. Havre romped to a 30-point victory at last year’s Central A, and, the Ponies have won eight straight titles, and a remarkable 22 of the last 23 divisional tournaments.

And while Lewistown, Livingston and Belgrade all have tough challengers, Havre still has the most firepower. Senior Jeff Miller has never lost a match at the divisional tournament and is looking to join former Pony Kyle Baltrusch as the conference’s only four-time singles champions. Miller is an outstanding 30-2 on the season, and is the heavy favorite in singles.

However, Miller has some big guns on his side too, including senior Jerod Boles and junior Jake Sedahl at No. 1 doubles. Both are veterans of the divisional tourney, and they enter as the No. 1 seed. Havre also has junior Dustin Haas, who has had a breakout season in singles, while the doubles teams of Kennedy McKay and Trey Murphy and Nate Korb and Trey Hanson give the Ponies even more depth. Korb went to state a year ago with Wyatt Lindbloom, while Murphy and McKay came within a match of doing the same as freshmen. Sophomore Brady Ophus and freshman Tommy Brown round out Havre’s singles lineup, and while both are newcomers at the divisional level, they certainly add to an already complete Pony team.

“This is an intriguing divisional team this year,” Ferguson said of his boys. “We have the best singles player in the state, and a great No. 1 doubles team. We have veterans like Dustin and Nate Korb, and even Murphy and McKay are really veterans now. And, we have some kids who haven’t been here before but are still really good tennis players. So this is a really nice mix on our team, and yet, the goal hasn’t changed. These guys all want to win another divisional title, and they won’t settle for less. They are so competitive, they have worked really hard to get to where they are, and they’ll be great in this tournament. I believe that.”

Havre’s girls have come a long way, too. A year ago, the Ponies were a young group, and watched as Livingston ran away with the team title. Now, however, Havre is a senior-laden team, led by the doubles tandems of Rainey Stoner and Madison Huebsch and Alara Vogel and Reggie Bernard, as well as senior singles standout Meggan Smith. And while Havre has no juniors, even its sophomore group has plenty of experience. Top singles player Paige Nelson just missed out on qualifying for state last season, while the doubles team of Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom scored points as freshmen. Sophomore Marca Herron also played varsity for much of last season, so the Ponies’ have experience and depth. Freshman Kadyn Acor rounds out Havre’s roster.

And that experience makes Havre the favorite to win its second divisional title in the last three season, even though Livingston still has a strong team.

“Our seniors have been working towards this tournament for three years really,” Ferguson said. “They have worked hard and were really motivated when they watched us win that exciting girls title two years ago in Bozeman. So, it’s their time now. They really want this, and I know they will lead us.

“But overall, we have a very strong girls team,” Ferguson continued. “We have depth in both singles and doubles. Our sophomore class has come so far. Those girls are a very talented group, so much so that we have two more sophomores who didn’t even make the trip, and they would be on most team’s varsity right now. So our girls are right where they should be. Now, they just have to go out and do it on the court for two days. They are such a great group, and I know they’ll play really well this week.”

And that’s the goal, to play well, win two team titles and push as many players through to the state tournament as possible. Those are always Havre’s goals, and Ferguson believes all those goals can be achieved in Lewistown.

“This has been such a fun team to coach,” Ferguson said. “We work hard in tennis; it’s a hard sport and we set high expectations in our program. And this particular group has never once backed away from any of that. And for that, I really have a great amount of respect and admiration for these kids we have going to divisionals, and all the kids in our program. It’s been a great season, but the fun is just beginning. This is such a fun time for these kids, and I can’t wait to watch them do great things in this tournament.”

The Central A tourney runs today and Thursday in Lewistown. The top four placers in each bracket will advance to next week’s Class A state tournament in Bozeman/Livingston.

Results from the Central A meet can be seen in Monday’s Havre Daily News.