Blue Pony tennis wraps up season with state meet

It was an exciting end to a crazy and challenging season for the Havre High boys and girls tennis teams. And the end came last weekend at the Class A state tournament in Missoula.

At the tournament, both the Havre High senior duo of Courtney Burchard and Cat Kaftan, and junior Carter Spangler were one win away from earning Class A All-State honors.

Burchard and Kaftan teamed together all season long, and finished the season on a high note, placing second at the Northeast A Divisional two weeks ago. In Missoula, the duo topped the No. 1 team from Hamilton in the first round by scores of 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals last Thursday. They would lose a heartbreaker to Southeast A champion Hardin in three sets, but bounced back to beat the No. 2 Polson team in a loser-out match in another three-set thriller. On Friday morning, Burchard and Kaftan again went to three sets, falling to the No. 1 team from Polson, ending a tremendous run, and a great season for both.

Spangler, in his first year as Havre High's top singles player, also had a strong run at state.

He opened the tournament with a win over the top player from Livingston in the first round, 6-1, 6-1, before falling to eventual state champion Andy Purcell from Hamilton in the quarterfinals. Spangler rebounded to oust the No. 2 player from Corvallis in the loser-out match, but Friday morning his tournament came to a close with a loss to the No. 1 Corvallis singles player.

It was a strong season from Spangler, who played doubles as a sophomore, but is now gunning to be one of the top players in the state when he returns next spring.

On the boys side, Polson ran away with the team title, while Spangler scored three points for the Ponies. Miles City won the girls state title, while the Ponies also scored three points.

Now, with his first season at a close, HHS head coach Jeff Miller should be excited about what all his players did this year, and for the future of Blue Pony tennis.