Area Spring Sports 2016

Pony thinclads ready to run Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com With the weather changing daily, it’s clearly springtime in Havre and accompanying those blustery winds is yet another season of Havre High track.

The Blue Ponies had one of the younger teams in Class A a year ago and because of that, they scored few points at the state meet last May. But, with another solid turnout and a number of young athletes on both the boys and girls teams, Havre head coach John Ita is bullish on the future of the program.

“Looking back just a few years ago, we only had like five or six girls,” Ita said. “This year we have over 25. We have a lot of freshmen out this year and then we had a lot of younger girls that came out last year who came back. So I think we have come a long way. I think we are going to have a good year, I think our relays will be strong, especially for the boys, and we have a lot of good, young athletes.”

Havre should be particularly strong in the boys relays due to the presence of Nate Rismon, who was the lone Pony athlete to earn points at state a season ago. Rismon placed fifth in the 400-meter dash and, as long as he can stay healthy, he should be in contention to place again in the 200, as well as the 400.

Rismon is also part of a relay team that also has a chance to make some noise at state this year. Junior Michael Loftus, like Rismon, will likely be on both the short and the long relays. He also runs the 100, the 200 and the 400. Ivar Aageson and Luke Karnauskas are among the others who could be in contention for those spots. Jacob LaBrie will also be in the mix after qualifying for state in the 400 and being part of the 1,600 relay team a season ago. Aageson should also be a contender in the pole vault.

Others on the boys squad who should contribute are Nik Keller, Travis Adams, Lane Paulson, Jakob Keller, Austin Jones, Austin Ratliff, Dylan Chivilicek, Brandon Shaw, J.J. Parker, Noah Azure, Cody Rennick, Shawn Raty, Kelden Sullivan and Casey Mariani.

“Nate is still fighting an injury from basketball and that’s taking a little longer to heal, but if we get him healthy, our relay teams are looking good,” Ita said. “We also have some good kids coming back in some of the other events like the jumps and the throws.”

Havre Daily News/File Photo Havre High senior Luke Karnauskas clears the high jump bar during the 2015 Havre Lions Invitational. The Blue Pony track teams are looking to be much improved this season and are again under the direction of veteran head coach John Ita. The HHS girls team was also very young in 2015 and will still have plenty of room to grow in 2016. However, two of the better athletes on the squad will come from the senior class in distance runners Rachel David and Megan Erickson. David competes in the 400, 800 and the 1,600 relay for Havre, while Erickson is in the 800, the 1,600 and the long re-

lay.

Yet, beyond the seniors, Havre has a number of other talented athletes such as throwers Jordan Keith and Kristen Nash, sprinter and hurdler Naomi Terry, hurdler Kaylee Nystrom and pole vaulters Ireland Coyne and Loni Waid.

Yet, there may be nobody on the girls team coming back who

accomplished more last season than sophomore Logan Huebsch, who placed fourth or better at four different events at divisionals last year and looks to have a promising season ahead of her.

Others who will compete for varsity spots this season are Kiara Christenson, Kassidy Compton, Abbey Morse, Caitlyn Terry, Sarah Faber, Tayler Marink-

ovich, Megan Whitford, Amelia Beard, Jera Verploegen, Laiken Harris and Emilee Cariveau.

“I think our girls can be pretty good,” Ita said. “Our relays should be pretty solid and we just have a lot more kids than we did a couple of years ago, so we are starting too actually have one or two good kids in every event.”

Havre will kick off its season with four meets in April, including the Cal Wearley meet and the Havre Invitational April 9. Another important meet will be the Top Ten meet in Glasgow May 3 and the Eastern A Divisional meet will be in Laurel May 2021. The Class A and B state meet will be held May 27-28 in Bozeman.

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Spring 2016

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HHS has the talent on the diamond Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com Even though the Havre High softball team may have undergone some important changes before the start of the 2016 season, the goal remains the same and that is to reach the Class A state tournament.

The Blue Ponies have reached that objective in each of the past two seasons and under the direction of first-year head coach Whitney McNally, the Ponies are hoping to continue their recent string of success.

“I think the key for us is going to be working as a team,” McNally said. “We have a lot of experience back from last season and I think that will really help.

But, we also have some younger players that don’t have a lot of varsity experience, so we will need to get them ready.”

McNally, who was an assistant for the Ponies last season, takes over the top leadership role within the program after Bob Evans Sr., the previous head coach, decided to step down following last season.

Evans, who still plans to remain involved with the program as a volunteer assistant, said he felt that the time was right and that McNally will do a great job.

“I am just glad that I can still help out and stay around the game,” Evans said. “I have worked with these girls for a long time and I want to continue that.”

One nice thing is that Evans didn’t leave the cupboard bare of McNally, although some important pieces from last year’s team are now gone. Rachel Majeres, who suffered an injury and was unable to play last season, graduated, as did All-State shortstop Paige Henderson, who has a home-run machine for HHS in 2015.

However, as difficult as it will be to replace Henderson, the Ponies still boast one of the best players in the state in Dani Wagner. Wagner is Havre’s top pitcher. She is also an outstanding defender at both center field and shortstop when she’s not on the mound, and she’s pretty good with a bat, too.

During last year’s regular season, Wagner batted well over .400 and finished with 20 home runs, to go along with 20 runs batted in. She is also one of the better hurlers in Class A and gives the Ponies a chance to win whenever she’s on the mound.

Wagner may be limited early in the season due to a shoulder injury, but Havre has three other pitchers capable of starting and they include Alex Barkus, J.J. Hassa and Nicole Parsons.

The only other player who received postseason accolades who returns for Havre this season is Jacey McDonald, who earned Second Team Central A All-Conference honors a season ago. McDonald is a talented

Havre Daily News/File Photo Jacey McDonald and the Havre High softball team has a new head coach in Whitney McNally, but with so many talented players the Blue Ponies figure to be a strong contender at both the Central A and State A level this spring. hitter and will play first base.

Other key returning players are Payton Howard, who plays third base, Scout Boucher, who will play shortstop and Claire Worm, who plays second base.

In addition to pitching, Par-

sons will also catch for the Ponies. Others who will play for the varsity team at potentially multiple positions are Madison Tommerup and Camryn Huston.

“I think the girls are excited,” McNally said. “We have had a

lot of girls that have been working in our indoor batting cages that we have at the high school and they have been working extremely hard and they look really good. We also are going to have four varsity pitchers, which

isn’t something that we had last year, so that will be really nice.”

The Ponies will open their season at the Great Falls Jamboree. They will play in a number of tournaments, as well as a total of six conference games, two against both Browning and

Lewistown and then one each against Livingston and Belgrade. Havre will compete at the Central A divisonal tournament in Belgrade May 20-21. The Class A state tournament will be May 26-28, also in Belgrade.

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Spring 2016

The Hi-Line will be buzzing with track and field excitement

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Beeters thriving in tennis and golf George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com When it comes to spring sports along the Hi-Line, track and field usually takes center stage.

That’s because in many Class C schools, it’s the only spring sport offered.

But, in places like Chinook and Chester, among others, there is more for athletes to do than run track.

Especially in Chinook, where the Chinook girls tennis team has become one of the most dominant programs in all of Class B-C tennis. Under head coach Thom MacLean, the Sugarbeeters have won back-to-back B-C state championships, and three titles overall in the last five years.

And it doesn’t look like Chinook’s dominance will end any time soon.

The Beeters may have lost two-time defending state champion Mariah Swank to graduation, but they return the bulk of last year’s title team, including senior Brooke Nicholson, who will be a favorite to keep Chinook’s streak of singles titles going. Also back is the doubles tandem of Lauren Harshman and Courtney Gunderson, who placed second at state a year ago. But the talent doesn’t end there for the Beeters, who also return state qualifiers Hattie Niederegger and Sierra Swank, as well as Nicole McCracken among others. So once again, Chinook will

certainly be the team to beat in Class B-C. The Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks have also been a strong team on the tennis court in recent years, and they should be once again this season, especially with senior leader Madeline Woods returning. Meanwhile, tennis always flourishes in Fort Benton as well, so the area has three strong girls programs again this spring. All three of those teams will compete in the Northern B-C girls divisional in May in Havre, while the B-C state tourney runs May 19-21 in Missoula.

Golf is also sometimes a forgotten sport in the spring because the Class AA and A seasons are conducted in the fall. But, like tennis, golf is big in Chinook in the spring. The Beeters are always competitive on the links under head coach Mike Seymour, and while the Chinook boys lost some strong players off a team that finished third at the state tourney a year ago, the Beeters should be tough again with the likes of Derek Bell, Ian McIntosh and Kade Friede all returning for another season.

The Chinook girls, along with Fort Benton also compete in Class C golf, while Rocky Boy and Harlem both compete in Class B golf in the spring. The Class C state tournament will be held May 17-18 in Hamilton, while the B state tournament will be played at the same time in Billings.

Havre Daily News/File Photo Turner senior Bret Van Valkenburg is just one of many standout track and field athletes on the Hi-Line, and there will be many strong teams again this year in the District 9C.

District 9C track will be exciting again this spring, culminating with the District 9C Meet in Havre in May Chris Peterson

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com The transition to spring sports has started in Montana and that means that all the local track teams from along the HiLine will soon be sprouting into action.

Last season, no team from the Hi-Line came close to contending at the Class C level, but

there will still be some quality athletes that came out of the District 9C and there are some that are set to return this season.

On the boys side, two of the more accomplished tracksters returning are Shane Ketchum of Box Elder and Justin May of Chester-Joplin-Inverness.

Ketchum competes in the 800meter run, the 1,600 and the 3,200. Last year at the Class C state meet, he finished third in the 3,200.

May, who along with Ketchum is a three-sport athlete, excels in a number of different events, but placed at state in the javelin last year. One team that didn’t have anyone place at state, but which still enjoyed a lot of team success last season was the North Star Knights, who won the 2015 District 9C meet.

The Knights, who have been one of the more consistent programs in the 9C under the direc-

tion of head coach Brian Campbell, have a number of solid athletes coming back such as Payton Peterson, who won divisional crowns in the pole vault and the high jump last season.

The Knights also have Matthew Helmbrecht and Gavin Spinler.

In addition to North Star, another top team in the district is Chinook. The Sugarbeeters have a deep pool of athletes and should be able to compete with anyone in the district behind strong relay teams and individuals such as Kyler Johnson.

The other teams that compete in the 9C are Turner, Fort Benton, Big Sandy and Hays-Lodge Pole. Tyson Shambo is one of the top athletes from HLP, while Eddie Harmon is one of the top returners for Turner.

On the girls side of things, both Chinook and North Star sustained some big losses to graduation. Brittney Nelson is gone, as is Kailey Kleinjan for

Chinook, but Abbie Ellison, Taylor Neibauer and Kelsey Mathon are three of the Beeters’ top returners and all should make big contributions this year.

Fort Benton had a strong track season a year ago and despite losing a number of athletes, the Longhorns should once again, be very competitive. Turner also has some good athletes to boast about, including Ella Billmayer. HLP, CJI and Big Sandy are the other teams that will be competing in the 9C. One of the biggest meets for local area teams is right around the corner with the Cal Wearly set to take place in Havre. The 9C meet will also be held in Havre May 11, while the Northern C Divisional will be in Great Falls May 19. The Class C state meet will be held in Missoula and will be May 27-28.

Havre Daily News/File Photo Chinook's Hattie Niederegger is part of a highly successful Sugarbeeter tennis program.

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Blue Ponies will be strong on the courts Chris Peterson

Nelson, and the doubles tandem of Alex Donaldson and Megan Lindbloom also scored points for the Ponies last season, and with the return of fellow sophomores Marca Herron and Baylee Miller, Havre’s varsity lineup is strong and deep.

“Those five sophomores make us a very good team,” Ferguson said. “And, they’re also the backbone of the future of this program. All five of them are going to be instrumental in our girls team being as good as it can possibly be.”

Of course, Ferguson is excited about the future too, as his girls team is flush with newcomers, including senior exchange student Mariaii Makarova, sophomore Katie Donaldson, and a huge group of freshmen, including Mallory Schaub, Kadyn Acor, Tiffany Ralph, Marcee Murphy, Teagan Fee, Caprice Gobin, Ally Padgett, Mckenzie Tommerup, Devyn Solomon and Holly Strobel.

But the future is also now for the Pony girls as well and, like the boys team, the HHS girls have their sights set on big things. The Central A will be tough with Livingston and

Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com When it comes to success in the spring, it’s hard for anyone to match the run the Havre High tennis teams have been on for nearly two decades now. And, with a new season about to begin, there’s no reason to think that run is going to end anytime soon.

The Blue Ponies are under the direction of George Ferguson, now in his 14th season at the helm of both the boys and girls programs. While he has coached for many years, Ferguson said he’s just as excited to start this year as he is every year.

“We have an awesome group of kids out for tennis,” Ferguson said. “They are a lot of fun to coach and they’ve already been working really hard. So I’m really looking forward to this season and can’t wait to see how it all turns out. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Awesome would certainly describe the Havre High boys. The Ponies have clinched a trophy at the state tournament the past two years, and many consider Havre the team to beat this spring. The Ponies have also won an astonishing 22 of the last 23 Central A team titles, and that reign isn’t likely to end this season considering all of the talent the HHS boys have.

And that talent starts with senior Jeff Miller, who was the Class A singles champion in 2014 and the runner-up a season ago. Miller is also a three-time Central A champion. Havre also returns senior Jerod Boles, who teamed with Noah Landgraf last year to win the Central A doubles crown. This season, Boles will team with Jake Sedahl, who headlines a stellar junior class which also includes Nate Korb, who went to state a year ago in doubles, as well as Dustin Haas and Trey Hanson. Senior Patrick Leeds rounds out Havre’s group of upper classmen.

“We have a strong group of boys back, and those boys have been at this a long time now,” Ferguson said. “Jeff obviously is one of the best players in all of Montana tennis, at any level. But he’s got some really good teammates around him. Jerod Boles is another outstanding player and we’re going to really count on him to lead us in doubles this year.”

Havre has some strong younger players, too, including the sophomore duo of Kennedy McKay and Trey Murphy, who came within one match of making the state tournament a year ago. Fellow sophomores Brady Ophus, Kendall Holden and Vander Swensen will also look to have an impact on the varsity level this season, while freshmen Tommy Brown, Josiah Harrison and Jack Johnsrud round out the HHS roster.

“Our sophomore class has a lot of potential,” Ferguson said.

“Those guys learned a lot last season, and we’ll need them to contribute even more this year.

We didn’t get the freshmen numbers we were hoping for, and that’s a little disappointing, but the three we have out all have a lot of potential.”

As for the season itself, Havre’s tough schedule, which now includes a trip to Glendive

Lewistown, as well as state contenders that include the Rangers, Polson and Billings Central. But, also like the boys, the HHS girls aren’t looking too far ahead.

“This can be a great girls team, and it can be a great season for them,” Ferguson said.

“So, I’m really excited for them.

But, at the same time, right now, the only thing we’re trying to do is get the winter rust off, get our form back and work our way into the season. It’s a long season, and we’re just at the very beginning. But, there’s no doubt, I’m really looking forward to seeing what this group of girls can do.

They are a great group.”

Havre started its season with trips to Cut bank and Conrad.

The Ponies will also host the Havre Invite April 9, and travel to tough tournaments like the Class A Duals in Cut Bank, the Central A Preview Meet in Lewistown, the Elks Invite in Glendive and the Helena Invite.

The postseason starts with the Central A Divisional May 19-20 in Lewistown, while the Class A state tournament will be held the following week in Bozeman and Livingston.

Havre Daily News/File Photo Havre High senior doubles player Madison Huebsch is part of a strong group of Blue Pony girls and boys out for this year's Havre High tennis teams. for the prestigious Elks Invitational, will certainly prepare the Ponies for the run they’re looking for in the postseason. But no matter the potential with the Pony boys, who will likely have to battle Billings Central, Whitefish and Glendive for Class A supremacy, Ferguson says the season is a step-by-step process, and he’s not interested in looking too far ahead.

“This boys team can do great things this season,” Ferguson said. “Exactly what those things will be, we don’t know. And that’s not what we’re worried about right now. We don’t talk much about winning and losing, let alone trophies. That stuff will come through hard work, a lot of repetition in practice and taking the season day-by-day, match-bymatch. I’ve always liked to think of the season as three parts and

right now, we’re barely into part one. So, all the boys are concerned about is working hard, improving every day and focusing on what’s right in front of them. That’s what we’ve always done, and it’s worked well. And with the talent this team has, if they follow that plan, they’re going to be successful in May.” The Havre High girls are also looking to do great things in May. And the Ponies are certainly capable. Last season, Havre was a relatively inexperienced team, qualifying only graduated senior Tatiana Ralph for the state tournament. But, one year later, Havre is a senior-heavy, experienced tennis team.

“Our senior girls have been working on this for a long time,” Ferguson said. “All of them have been very dedicated to tennis, and many of them have had to

kind of wait their turn. And I appreciate their dedication so much, and I’m really excited for them this season. They are such a great group, and they are also very good tennis players, and the sky is the limit for them this season.”

The sky is the limit for the Ponies, especially in doubles, where Havre essentially has two No. 1 teams in seniors Madison Huebsch and Rainey Stoner and Alara Vogel and Reggie Bernard.

Those two tandems, combined with fellow seniors Meggan Smith and Ashley Hoffland are the foundation of a strong Blue Pony girls team.

But, to be a completely strong team, and a team that will look to dethrone defending state and Central A champion Livingston, Havre needs depth, and the Ponies have that too. Paige

Havre Daily News/File Photo Havre High senior Jerod Boles and the Blue Pony boys are in store for another strong tennis season.