Pony seniors hit back against lost season

It has been a long and tough road for the careers of the seniors on the Havre High tennis teams. The past two years, they have had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic looming over them, including the cancellation of the 2020 spring season. Despite all that, the seniors have accomplished a lot and are set to be honored on their senior day this weekend.

“It’s amazing what the Class of 2022 has overcome,” HHS head coach George Ferguson said. “Not just on the tennis court, but off it. They are part of a generation whose world has been turned upside down by the events of the last couple of years. But to see these seniors, the great students, the great people they are, in spite of everything that has transpired, in spite of all the obstacles, it makes me so proud. Because I know how hard it’s been for them. I know how hard it’s been for kids in general.”

Last season, the HHS boys team won its first state title in 16 years and won its 14th straight divisional championship. From the HHS girls team, Grace Crantz had a strong year for the Blue Ponies as she made it to state in doubles with her partner Talia Ralph. After missing her sophomore season, Crantz appreciated getting to play tennis her junior season.

“I definitely appreciate tennis more,” Crantz said. “I didn’t realize how much of an impact it made even though I was just a freshman when I actually played a complete season but I think it definitely made an impact (on me).”

But missing the 2020 season was hard for everyone involved. Several seniors were going to get the chance to compete on the court one last time while the underclassmen such as Josh Currie, who was a sophomore at the time, were not able to further develop their skills through the season.

“It was really hard. It was something I was really looking forward to all that year,” Currie said. “Everybody’s still kind of a year behind so it’ll take another few years for everybody to get caught back up.”

Ferguson agrees that missing an entire season hurt the development of his tennis players, but the 2022 senior class has been resilient to play well on the court last season.

“As for the tennis,” Ferguson said. "The seniors have made incredible advances, and that’s after having an entire season taken away from them. Tennis is not a sport you can just stop playing for a year, and magically still be better at it when you start playing again. So the fact that all these seniors are where they are now, that speaks to how dedicated they’ve been to tennis, to our program and to getting better.”

Ferguson said he believed the Ponies were going to have a great season in 2020, so the sudden cancellation was a heartbreaker.

“Initially, when the 2020 season was canceled, we were all crushed, and I was just devastated for our seniors that year,” Ferguson said. “Those kids were going to have such a great season, and it was just gone. Then, though, you start to realize the effects it had on the entire program, and I think the sophomores (Class of 2022) really bore the brunt of not having a season, because that is really the critical year for many high school players. That’s the year when you really start to transition from beginner to advanced player, and they didn’t get that opportunity. On top of that, until mid-summer, (because of COVID), we weren't having open gyms, or workouts, so I hadn’t been able to work with those kids at all, really since February. We finally were able to have open tennis in the fall of 2020, and things started over from there, but there was a huge gap, where the kids were really on their own, and their dedication shows by how good of players they are now, and how much they invested in this program once we got back to normal.”

Some Ponies used the free time from the missed season to hone their skills. While she did not get to practice with her teammates or her coaches, Crantz often went down to the courts to practice which she believes helped her improve in time for her junior and senior seasons.

“I actually think that really helped how I play tennis this year,” Crantz said. “It was really educational.”

When the Ponies finally got back on the courts in the fall of 2020 and through that winter. They went to work.

“I’ve been spending a lot more time hitting with my teammates after practice,” Currie said. “I spend most of my summer at the tennis courts trying to hit and make up for that lost time. It sucks because I’ll never get it back but I try to make the most of what I can out of it.”

“This senior group hasn’t missed an open tennis, from the fall of 2020 up until this season started,” Ferguson noted. “They put in as much extra time under the lights and any time they could get on the courts. They were down there all summer last year, they were even outside playing when the courts weren’t snow covered this winter. They are so dedicated. They did whatever they could to make up for lost time, and as their coach, it means the world to me. I just have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for this senior class, and all they’ve been through. They are a remarkable group and I'm so proud of them all.”

For all their hard work and effort over these past two years, the HHS tennis seniors will be honored this weekend at the Havre Invite. Seniors on the team who were on the ill-fated 2020 team include Crantz, Currie, Trenton Maloughney, Theron Peterson, Caleb Spangler, Collin Miller, Jared Rosgaard and Kendall Pleninger. Other seniors who will be honored on Saturday and were not members of that 2020 team are Claudia Ucin, Lacy Preeshl and Hiram Cammon.

And after the missed spring of 2020, the Ponies have tried to make the most of their time on the court last season and now this spring. As she gets on the tennis court one last time for the Ponies, Crantz is just happy to be able to play tennis.

“I’ve just been trying to have fun and play as hard as I can,” Crantz said. “I’m not too worried about wins or losses, I just want to have fun.”