Pony boys card a Central A championship

Thanks to an exciting day of golf in Lewistown, nine Havre High golfers get to play one more week of golf this season. And on top of that, another Central A championship trophy is being added to the trophy case.

On Saturday, at Pine Meadows Golf Course in Lewistown, the Havre High boys captured the 2015 Central A Divisional championship, while the Blue Pony girls had a good day as well, qualifying four golfers for this week’s Class A state meet.

The Blue Pony boys scored a 348 in Saturday’s 18-hole tournament, which was two strokes better than Livingston. It was Havre’s first divisional boys title in golf in four years.

Individually, the Ponies also placed all five of their boys inside the Top 15, with senior Jeff Miller and junior Dustin Haas leading the way. Both players shot 86, with Miller finishing fourth overall and Haas placing fifth. Right behind that duo were the tandem of senior Jerod Boles and junior Kane Gabrielsen, who both carded rounds of 88. Boles finish in the sixth place, while Gabrielsen was seventh.

All four Blue Ponies earned Central A All-Conference honors for their scores, and for Miller and Boles, it was the fourth time each of them accomplished that feat. Junior Aden Passon rounded out the scoring for the Ponies with a 93, which put him at 14th place.

“I’m really proud of the boys team,” said HHS head coach Brett Gilman. “I’m proud of how they played. It wasn’t their best scores of the season, but the course was playing really tough. The greens were really tough, but they fought through it and came out on top.”

While the Pony boys did come out on top, the Havre girls did, too, but in a different way. The ponies’ team total of 430 put them in fourth place, behind champion Lewistown, second-place Browning and third-place Livingston, HHS was still able to push four of its five girls through to the state tournament.

Leading the way for the Ponies was senior Payton Howard, who fired a round of 99 to place sixth overall. Also, sophomore Grace Litzinger was outstanding, as she shot a personal low 101 to place seventh. Both Blue Ponies also earned Central A All-Conference honors.

Also heading to state is freshman Teagan Fee and senior Randi Gabrielsen. Fee, in her first divisional tourney, shot a 112 to place 13th, while Gabrielsen shot a 118 to finish in 15th place. Gabrielsen will be making her fourth consecutive state tournament appearance. Regan Lammers rounded out the scoring for the Ponies with a 124.

“The cool thing about the girls is, although they didn’t qualify as a team, we qualified enough girls to have a team score at state,” Gilman said. “Payton Howard played really well and Grace Litzinger played awesome. She had a personal best day. The girls have improved every week, and this will be another good experience for them.”

A good experience is also what’s next for all nine of the Blue Ponies who qualified. They will head to Sidney Thursday for the 2015 Class A state tournament, which runs Friday and Saturday at the Sidney Country Club.

“It was a good divisional tournament,” Gilman said. “It’s exciting for the boys to win a divisional championship, and the girls got four to state. So it was a good tournament.”

Central A Divisional

Pine Meadows Golf Course

At Lewistown

Boys

Team scores: Havre 348, Livingston 350, Lewistown 354, Belgrade 381, Browning 460.

Top 15: Tyrell Walter, Lew, 75; Winston Oppelt, Liv, 85; Colton Oppelt, Liv, 86; Jeff Miller, Hav, 86; Dustin Haas, Hav, 86; Jerod Boles, Hav, 86; Kane Gabrielsen, Hav, 88; Max Serafin, Liv, 88; Elijah Baker, Bel, 89; Trae Kennerly, Bro, 90; Jace Davis, Lew, 90; Ben Engbers, Liv, 91; Ian Baker, Bel, 93; Aden Passon, Hav, 93; Kody Neill, Lew, 94.

Girls

Team results: Lewistown 403, Browning 416, Livingston 425, Havre 430. No team score: Belgrade.

Top 15: Kinsey Irvin, Lew, 82; Summer Kennerly, Bro, 95; Tiara Gilham, Bro, 97; Hunter Rose-Goetz, Liv, 98; Kaycee Keegan, Liv, 98; Payton Howard, Hav, 99; Grace Litzinger, Hav, 101; Abby Gremaux, Lew, 105; Madison Lewis, Lew, 106; Carson Ooley, Liv, 106; Ranessa Skunkcap, Brow, 109; Kayla Irish, Lew, 110; Teagan Fee, Hav, 112; Sarah Harrison, Brow, 115; Randi Gabrielsen, Hav, 118.