All Pony Blue at Cut Bank tennis invite

It’s early. It’s still chilly, and it’s certainly windy. But even with those tough conditions, the Havre High tennis teams got their season off to a very successful start.

Last Saturday, the Blue Ponies were in Cut Bank for the annual Cut Bank Invitational, and after placing an 11 combined singles players and doubles teams, head coach George Ferguson was more than excited about what he called, only the beginning.

“Just very proud of the kids,” Ferguson said. “For the first competition, for many, their first varsity competition, I thought they all did great. Most importantly, they did what we asked of them for this meet, and that was to have fun, play hard and apply the things we had been working on the last two weeks in practice. Win or lose, all our kids did that on Saturday, so I’m very, very pleased.”

On the boys side, senior Dustin Haas won the top singles bracket, defeating Lewistown rival Danyon Rice in the championship match. Havre ended up completely dominating the boys tournament, with seniors Jake Sedahl and Trey Hanson winning the doubles for the second straight year, while senior Bobby Personett edged fellow senior Jase Stokes in the 3-4 singles championship match. In doubles, Havre also got a second-place finish from juniors Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay.

“The boys, I felt like, played some really good tennis for this early in the season,” Ferguson said. “Dustin’s win was especially big because he and Danyon are considered two of the top players in Class A, and definitely in the Central A. So they’re going to play a lot this season. But again, with all our boys, the most important thing wasn’t where they finished, but how they played, and those guys all played really well. It was just a really solid day.”

The Pony girls were not to be outdone. Juniors Baylee Miller and Megan Lindbloom edged sophomores Marcee Murphy and Devyn Solomon in the championship match, while Katie and Alex Donaldson beat fellow Ponies Tiffany Ralph and Bryn Nault in the consolation championship. In singles, Page Nelson finished fourth in the top bracket, while Mckenzie Tommerup placed second and Teagan Fee finished fourth in the 3-4 bracket.

“We have so many girls who are either in new roles this season, or are newcomers to playing varsity tennis,” Ferguson said. “So to see them play so well right out of the gates, that’s exciting. All of our girls had some really strong performances Saturday, and, it just shows the progress they’re making. We have a very deep girls team this season, and it showed in Cut Bank. So that was very exciting.”

And at the end of a cold and windy, but typical, March day in Cut Bank, Ferguson added, the most exciting part was just seeing his teams in action for the first time and seeing them play as well as they did.

“I’m proud of all of them,” Ferguson said. “It’s the first meet, it’s tough weather conditions, and we had to play a lot of Havre on Havre matches throughout the day. And our kids did exactly what we expect, they competed, they gave 100 percent all day long. They were excited about being back on the tennis courts, and they played with that Pony Pride.

“And, what’s more exciting is, for as well as all of our boys and girls played, we’re only scratching the surface,” he continued. “We’re just getting started. With how hard these kids work, and how excited about playing tennis they are, this is only the beginning. And it was a very good beginning.”

The Ponies will travel for junior varsity duals this Saturday in Conrad. The full HHS teams will be back in action April 7-8 when the Ponies host the annual Havre Invitational.

Cut Bank Invitational

Boys Singles 1-2 Singles

Dustin Haas (1st Place)

Def. Tanner Mannin, LEW, 10-3; def. Danyon Rice, LEW, 10-4.

Kendall Holden

Lost to Austin Padilla, CON, 8-0; lost to Mannin, LEW, 8-2. Won exhibition match 8-3.

Boys Singles 3-4

Bobby Personett (1st Place)

Def. Jett Pruttis, CON, 8-7 (7-5); def. Jase Stokes, Havre, 10-7.

Jase Stokes (2nd Place)

Def. Vander Swensen, HAV, 8-3; def. Gus Meiwald, CB, 8-6; lost to Personett, HAV, 10-7.

Vander Swensen

Lost to Stokes, HAV, 8-3; lost to Pruttis, CON, 8-6.

Boys Doubles

Jake Sedahl/Trey Hanson (1st Place)

Def. Kolar/Southworth, LEW, 8-2; def. Phillips/Kinderski, LEW, 8-3; def. Murphy/McKay, HAV, 10-5.

Trey Murphy/Kennedy McKay (2nd Place)

Def. Brown/Ophus, HAV, 8-5; lost to Sedahl/Hanson, HAV, 10-5.

Brady Ophus/Tommy Brown

Def. Miller/McQuinn, LEW, 8-5; lost to Murphy/McKay, HAV, 10-5; lost to Matt/Kraft, CB, 10-8.

Girls Singles 1-2

Paige Nelson (4th Place)

Lost to Dalayne VanDyke, CON, 10-3; def. Audra Frey, LEW, 8-2; lost to Alexia Arndt, LEW, 8-3.

Kadyn Acor

Def. Frey, LEW, 8-3; lost to Megan Barrett, CB, 10-1; lost to Arndt, LEW, 8-1.

Girls Singles 3-4

Mckenzie Tommerup (2nd Place)

Def. Cassidy Acor, HAV, 8-4; lost to Lizzy Southworth, LEW, 10-0.

Teagan Fee (4th Place)

Lost to Southworth, LEW, 8-6; def. Shairaira First Rider, CB, 8-7 (7-4); lost to Deanna Gobert, CB, 10-1.

Cassidy Acor

Def. First Rider, CB, 8-3; lost to Tommerup, HAV, 8-4; lost to Gobert, CB, 8-7 (7-5).

Girls Doubles

Baylee Miller/Megan Lindbloom (1st Place)

Def. Overstreet/Schmidt, CB, 8-4; def. Donaldson/Donaldson, HAV, 10-5; def. Murphy/Solomon, HAV, 10-6.

Marcee Murphy/Devyn Solomon (2nd Place)

Def. Ralph/Nault, HAV, 10-2; lost to Miller/Lindbloom, HAV, 10-6.

Alex Donaldson/Katie Donaldson (3rd Place)

Lost to Miller/Lindbloom, HAV, 10-5; def. Nault/Ralph, HAV, 10-8.

Bryn Nault/Tiffany Ralph (4th Place)

Lost to Murphy/Solomon, HAV, 10-2; def. Overstreet/Schmidt, CB, 8-4; lost to Donaldson/Donaldson, HAV, 10-8.