A showcase weekend for Pony netters

The Havre High tennis teams see the blue colors of the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts every day in practice. But the Blue Ponies only get to play other teams on those courts one weekend each season.

And that’s why Havre, and head coach George Ferguson take so much pride, and are so excited each season when the annual Havre Invitational tennis tournament rolls around.

“We only get one opportunity usually to compete on our home courts,” Ferguson said. “So we really embrace the Havre Invitational. It’s our home meet, we take a lot of pride in it, and it’s exciting for our kids. They're excited about it. They really look forward to it.”

And this year’s Havre Invitational could be the most exciting one yet. That’s because the Blue Ponies have added a day, and a new team to the mix.

On Friday, Havre will dual Class A rivals Hardin and Belgrade, with the Panthers and Bulldogs also playing each other in between. Then, Saturday, HHS will host its annual tournament, which will feature Hardin, Belgrade, Lewistown, Cut Bank and Conrad.

“Getting those two varsity duals against Hardin and Belgrade is exciting,” Ferguson said. “It will be a very good way to test ourselves and see where we’re at right now. It will be great experience for our kids. And then, to have them also compete in our tournament, it’s going to make it that much more competitive. It should be a really fun two days, and we’re really looking forward to it.”

As for the competition, it’s still early in the season, and this weekend will be just Havre’s second varsity meet, as the Ponies sent a junior varsity team to last weekend’s Conrad Invitational. The Ponies opened their season two weeks ago at the Cut Bank Invite and, Ferguson said, the Havre Invite is always looked at as a turning point for his squads.

“It’s kind of the first point in the season where we want to turn a corner,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been at it for a month now. The rust should be gone, the veteran kids should be really finding their form, and our young kids and newcomers, they should now be able to really apply all that they’ve learned thus far. Our goal is to get better every single day, throughout the season, but I always look at the Havre Invite as the first test of where we’re at, and especially with how competitive it will be this year, it will be exciting to really see how much all of our kids have progressed to this point.”

As for Havre’s varsity lineups, the Blue Pony boys have Dustin Haas at No. 1 singles, and overall, the HHS lineup features four senior boys in singles, with Bobby Personett, Trey Hanson and Jase Stokes rounding out the order. In doubles, senior Nate Korb and Jake Sedahl will play together for the first time this season, while Trey Murphy and Kennedy McKay and Tommy Brown and Brady Ophus round out the lineup. With District Music Festival also being held in Havre over the weekend, others like junior Kendall Holden will see some varsity action, and on Saturday, all the Blue Ponies, JV and varsity will compete.

On the girls side, Havre’s varsity lineup right now consists of Paige Nelson, Kadyn Acor, McKenzie Tommerup and Cassidy Acor in singles, while Teagan Fee will also see varsity action this weekend. Marcee Murphy and Devyn Solomon are at No. 1 doubles, followed by juniors Alex and Katie Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom and Baylee Miller.

While Ferguson said that his varsity teams are playing well coming into the Havre Invitational, all of his Blue Ponies get a chance to play in Saturday’s double-elimination tournament. And, he said, that’s one of the most exciting parts of the annual tennis showcase.

“We make sure every single kid on our team, no matter where they are at on our ladder, gets at least two matches in our invitational,” Ferguson said. “That’s always been important to me. I want all of our kids to be able to play in front of family and friends, to be able to let everybody see how hard they work and how much fun they are having being a Blue Pony tennis player.

“The other big thing about our tournament is, just being able to let everyone see the pride we have in our program,” he continued. “Our kids take a lot of pride in Blue Pony tennis, but so often, a lot of people don’t get to see it because we play away from home so much. So this weekend is a big one for us. We want to play as well as we can and put our best foot forward on the court, but we also want to showcase our program, to let our community see what a great job all of these kids do, and how much fun they have. So, with all of that, and with all we have planned, it’s going to be a really exciting weekend for our tennis teams.”

The excitement starts at 11 a.m. Friday with Havre taking on Hardin. Hardin will play Belgrade at approximately 2 p.m. The Blue Ponies will also dual Belgrade at approximately 4 p.m. The Havre Invitational will start with Blue Pony senior day at 7:45 a.m. Saturday, with matches beginning at 8 a.m. and running until dark. Both the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts and the MSU-Northern tennis courts will be used both days.