Havre golfers get tested at tough Billings area courses

The Havre High golf teams wrapped up the regular season with a trip to the Billings area last week.

On Thursday, the Blue Pony boys and girls varsity teams were in Billings for the Billings Central Invitational, then the Ponies played at the Laurel Invite on Friday.

Thursday, the Ponies played at Eaglerock Golf Club in Billings against a tough field in the Billings Central Invite.

The Pony girls played very well at Eaglerock, finishing second with a team score of 395. Havre didn't have any player listed in the Top Four in the individual rankings, but the Ponies lost to Laurel by just 18 strokes. HHS finished ahead of fellow Class A teams Glendive and Miles City.

Boston Swensen led the Pony girls with an outstanding 94 on Thursday, while freshman Randi Gabrielsen was right on her heels with a solid 95. Fellow frosh Payton Howard turned in a good score with a 100, while Katie Beck shot 106 and Julie Kadrmas finished with a 124. Havre's team total was the lowest a Pony girls team has shot in three seasons.

The HHS boys shot 369 and finished last against a quality group of teams in Billings. Glendive won the meet with a 314, while Sidney was second and the Billings West JV's were third.

Senior Ramsey Drew paced the Pony boys at Eaglerock with an 89. Senior David Denny shot a solid 92, while Spencer Ross and Jerod Boles each shot 94 and Jeff miller carded a 95.

The Ponies moved on to the Laurel Country Club for Friday's Laurel Invitational, the last chance for HHS to get ready for this week's Central A Divisional.

Once again, the Pony girls excelled, finishing fourth against a very tough field of teams. Havre finished with a team total of 424 and beat Lewistown, which finished fifth. Laurel, Livingston and the Bozeman JV team all finished ahead of the Ponies, and now Havre player recorded a Top 10 score.

Swensen again led the Ponies with a 101 in Laurel. Howard shot 104, Gabrielsen 108 and Beck 111, while Kadrmas finished with a 117.

The HHS boys finished 10th in Laurel out of an 11-team field. The Ponies recorded a team score of 371 and had no individual players finish inside the Top 10, which the highest score was a solid 81 and the low for the tournament was a one-over-par 73.

Drew was again outstanding for the Ponies, shooting an 85 to finish just outside the Top 10. Miller and Denny both shot 94 at Laurel, while Boles finished with a 98 and Ross shot 100.

"The teams fell a few strokes on Friday. We shot around our season average. I feel it was a really good warm up to the divisional tournament. I feel we have good confidence to going into next week," HHS head coach McKinsey Rodriguez said.

Now, the HHS boys and girls teams will prepare for Saturday's Central A Divisional meet, which will be held at the Livingston Golf Course. The top 15 individuals and two teams from each of the boys and girls meets will move on to the Class A state tournament Sept. 28-29 at Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda.

Billings Central Invite

at Eaglerock

Boys

Team scores -- Glendive 314, Sidney 314, Billings West JV 333, Laurel 334, Havre 369

Top five -- Paul Brannan, Sidney, 68; Bobby Frank, Sidney, 71; Zach Palmer, Glendive, 73; Cam Caraveau, Billings Central, 77; Blake Stanhope, Glendive, 77.

Girls

Team scores -- Laurel 367, Havre 395, Glendive 409, Miles City 419.

Top four -- Morgan O'Neal, Laurel, 83; Elli Sullivan, West JV, 87; Carlee Hart, Laurel, 88; Danielle Campanella, West JV, 91.

Laurel Invitational

Boys

Team scores -- Glendive 324, Billings Skyview JV 333, Billings West JV 334, Laurel 335, Bozeman JV 335, Sidney 342, Lewistown 352, Miles City 357, Billings Senior JV 370, Havre 371, Billings Central 379.

Team scores -- Laurel 394, Livingston 395, Bozeman JV 419, Havre 424, Lewistown 424, Miles City 425, Glendive 460.

Top 10 -- Elli Sullivan, West JV, 86; Danielle Campenella, West JV, 88; Emily Moran, Boz JV, 90; Allie Mittlestadt, Gle, 91; Christal Tokash, Liv, 91; Carlee Hart, Lau, 92; Hannah Thomas, Lew, 94; Morgan O'Neil, Lau, 96; Megan Ryan, MC, 99; Jamie Cahooh, Liv, 100; Rosie Luce, Liv, 100; Jamie Burman, MC, 100.