Blue Ponies finish golf season on a high note

For four Havre High golfers, Friday and Saturday would be the final chance to tee it up this season. That's because the Blue Ponies reached the season-ending Class A state tournament in Polson.

And while HHS wasn't able to post any team scores this past weekend, they did post some strong individual scores, and third-year head coach George Ferguson couldn't have been more proud of his players.

"State was a great experience for all four of our kids," Ferguson said. "It's the ultimate level in high school golf, so just to be playing on that level is something those kids should be so proud of. But not only did they just play at state, they did a great job. They battled a tough course and a tough field. They represented Havre High with so much class and sportsmanship and pride. I'm just honored to have the opportunity to coach those kids and I'm really proud of all four of them. It was a great weekend."

All four Ponies had their moments at Polson Bay.

On Friday, Havre's lone girl in the field, sophomore Shea Reber, fired a personal best 99, and followed that up with a 104 for a Top 30 finish.

"We were all so excited for Shea," Ferguson said. "To post her best ever score at state is quite an awesome accomplishment. Shea has just continued to get better and better, and this weekend was a great experience for her. She has a very bright future in high school golf, and I'm just really proud of her. She did great."

Havre's trio of senior boys, Caleb Spangler, Theron Peterson and Kale Reno also closed out their careers on a high note, all three shooting in the 80s on Saturday. Spangler led the two-day total for the Ponies with 85-83, while Peterson had the low round on Saturday at 81, to go with a 90 on Friday. Reno also made a huge jump up the leaderboard on Saturday, shooting 86 after posting a 100 on Friday.

"I've gotten to coach those boys for three years now," Ferguson said. "And it's been an honor. They all three are very good golfers and they finished their careers the right way, by playing some outstanding golf on the last day of the season. I'm really proud of them for that, and it's been an honor to be their coach over these three years."

As for the tournament, the Laurel boys and girls swept the team state championships for the second time in four years. On the boys side, Whitefish was second and Polson was third, while Hamilton was second and Livingston was third in the girls race.

So, the weekend in Polson brought another Havre High golf season to a conclusion, and it was a fun one for Ferguson.

"It was a great year," Ferguson said. "Sad to see it end. We had a record number of kids out for our program this season, we got pretty much to golf normal again, and we had so many kids do so many great things this season. It was just a lot of fun from beginning to end. I'm proud of all of our kids. They were awesome to coach this season, and a I can't wait to do it all over again next fall."

State A golf tournament

at Polson Bay

Final results

Girls

Team scores: Laurel 653, Hamilton 762, Livingston 770, Polson 784, Corvallis 788, Whitefish 789, Miles City 802, Billings Central 884.

Top 25 individuals: Hannah Adams, Laurel 74-72-146; Macee Greenwood, Corvallis, 74-77-151; Katie Lewis, Frenchtown, 76-81-157; Haylee Adams, Laurel, 79-79-158; Breana Jensen, Laurel, 83-80-163; Ashley Maki, Polson, 83-83-166; Karly Volk, Sidney, 84-85-169; Aly Rose, Hamilton, 86-85-171; Reagan LaPante, Miles City, 89-84-173; Karsyn Swigart, Miles City, 88-89-177; Anyah Cripe, Whitefish, 87-91-178; Anna Prill, Billings Central 90-92-182. Kiaralynn Weidinger, Lockwood, 90-93-183; Macy Whisenand, Lockwood, 88-98-186; Molly Cooney, Laurel, 90-96-186; Brooklyn Brown, Hamilton, 91-95-186; Jessica Gubler, Livingston 91-96-187; Alyssa Pretty on Top, Ronan, 92-97-189; Elsa Cajune, Livingston, 96-97-193; Camille Poncin, Livingston, 100-94-194; Ashlan Mortensen, Livingston, 99-97-196; Kara Allen, Livingston, 100-197; Kylee Niemeyer, Ronan, 102-95-197; Kila Cannon, Polson, 102-96-198; Emma Hollingsworth, Hamilton, 105-95-200.

Boys

Team scores: Laurel 597, Whitefish 606, Polson 617, Livingston 635, Hamilton 655, Billings Central 657, Lewistown 711, Corvallis 713.

Top 25 individuals: Cameron Hackmann, Laurel, 71-67-138; Billy Smith, Whitefish, 72-73-145; Eli Weisenberger, Laurel, 74-72-146; Aubrey Kelley, Livingston, 72-75-147; Danyk Jacobsen, Livingston, 74-75-149; Carson Hupka, Polson, 75-75-150; Sam Norman, Laurel, 75-76-151; Max Cianflone, Hamilton, 76-75-151; Johnny Nix, Whitefish, 73-79-152; Christian Lund, Polson, 75-80-155; Marcus Kilman, Whitefish, 74-81-155; Conor Walsh, Billings Central, 78-77-155. Hunter Emerson, Polson, 77-79-156; Reese Jensen, Billings Central, 81-75-156; Torrin Ellis, Polson, 79-77-156; Jackson Heath, Hamilton, 78-79-157; Riley Brown, Whitefish, 83-76-159; Reece Malyevac, Libby, 80-81-161; Ryder Lee, Miles City, 80-81-161; Bjorn Olson, Whitefish, 78-84-162; Fischer Brown, Lewistown, 81-82-163; Mason Anderson, Corvallis, 82-81-163; Trayson Hart, Laurel, 82-81-163; Trey Ewalt, Laurel, 81-83-164; Kamas Romney, Frenchtown, 86-78-164.