Havre tennis teams invade Great Falls

The Havre High boys and girls tennis teams have been fortunate as the Blue Ponies have played every match on the schedule so far. That just doesn't happen in the spring very often.

And the Ponies are hoping for the same good fortune today when they travel to Great Falls for three duals against top-notch competition.

Havre High senior Jacob Holden strikes a backhand during the 2013 Havre Invitational tennis tournament earlier this month. Holden and the Blue Pony boys and girls are in Great Falls today for three duals.

The Ponies take on former Central A rival Butte Central this morning, then battle Class AA powers Great Falls High and CMR this afternoon. Today is part of a three-day run in Great Falls as HHS will be back in the Electric City this weekend for the Great Falls Invitational.

"We're in the stretch run of our season," Havre head coach George Ferguson said. "Our kids are getting a lot of match experience right now and Tuesday will be another day of that for us. This is the time of year when we should see rapid improvement and we are building towards the divisional tournament."

Ferguson notes that while it's always good to step up and play the Class AA's, he's particularly interested to see how his teams stack up against the Maroons this morning. Butte Central has become a solid program, especially on the boys side, and Ferguson said this morning's dual will be a good measuring stick for his team.

"The Butte Central boys have a strong lineup," Ferguson said. "When I first took over at Havre High, they (Maroons) were in our division and they weren't even fielding a full boys team back then. Now they are coming off their best state tournament ever and they have beaten some of the top Class A teams in duals this season. So the boys dual will be a really good test for our team. I know their girls have improved this season too, so Tuesday morning, we'll really find out how far our kids have come in the last two or three weeks."

In the afternoon, Havre will face the Rustlers and Bison. Both teams are somewhat down this season, but there will be solid individual matchups. GFH has one of the top girls singles players in the Northwest in senior Molly Crum, while both the Bison and CMR girls field strong doubles teams. The CMR boys have a solid No. 1 in Will Runkel, while GFH is strong in boys doubles.

As for Havre's lineup, the Pony boys will go with Jeff Miller at No. 1, followed by Ned Malone, Zach Hellegaard and Jacob Holden in singles. Nick Rhines and J.J. Hovet play No. 1 doubles, while Brian Smith and Noah Landgraf play No. 2, Jerod Boles and Wyatt Lindbloom play No. 3 and Patrick Leeds and Jamie Lieberg are at No. 4.

On the girls side, Brandy Lambourne and Jade McCormick are No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, while Tatiana Ralph will play No. 3. Junior standout Shannon Herring is absent today, so freshman Sarah Holsinger will play No. 4 singles. Havre is led by seniors Lainey Chagnon and Jennifer Cichosz at No. 1 doubles, while juniors Breck Don and Ellery Bresler, and Haley Graham and Morgan Jappe play No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Freshmen Madison Huebsch and Rainey Stoner will play No. 4 doubles this week.

"All three matches today will be good for our kids," Ferguson said. "The rest of the season, the competition will keep getting stronger and with each matche, we should see our kids get stronger, no matter the results. We want to pmake sure we're playing our best tennis three weeks from now, and it starts with this run of matches over the next few days."

Havre played Butte Central this morning in Great Falls. The Ponies will take on CMR at 2 p.m. today and GFH at 4.