GOING FOR GOLD

Not surprisingly, the Polson tennis program is once against competing at the top of the conference this year.

What might be surprising is the girls’ team standing of 19-0 in their duals – a record never before achieved in school history, according to 25-year head coach Bob Hislop.

Both the girls and boys have state championships under their belts, with the Polson girls’ last one coming in 2012. The girls are going for their tenth straight divisional championship, and the boys are looking to get back to their winning ways after losing by just two points at divisionals last year.

In 2012, the current six senior girls on the team were only eighth graders. One of those girls, Mollie Lemm, remembered that team. “It’s an inspiration to win,” she said.

Lemm definitely has the winning thing down. She’s undefeated in competition as the number two singles player for the team. Lemm started playing in junior high and did not have the specific goal of going undefeated until she had seen all the other players in the conference. “I didn’t necessarily think I would be undefeated until about halfway through the season when I had played everyone once, and realized that I definitely could do it,” she said.

Her teammate and fellow senior Marlee Congdon plays in the number one singles spot. She only has two losses, both to Emily Getts of Columbia Falls. Last week, Congdon played her the tightest she ever has, taking her to three sets.

Congdon said her tennis career started with her watching her brother play, then got more serious after she lost out at state her sophomore year. “I put in a lot of work after losing out,” she said. That work has paid off for Congdon.

However, the girls team is more than just the top two singles players. Their doubles teams are doing well too. The teams of Natalee Wheeler and Hunter Tamcke, and the other of Cassie Carlyle and Shawna Lenz have also done well so far this year. Coach Hislop compared to the last two state championship teams, this one might be the strongest overall group. “This team is way deeper, its a good combination of singles and doubles. I’m not sure this isn’t the best overall team we’ve ever had here,” he said at practice on Monday.

Lemm, who has not met up with Getts yet but expects to see her in the semifinals, said this year’s team is a good group. “It’s a really cool team, there’s not drama – we all get along. If there’s any year we can do it I think it could definitely be this year.”

The Polson boys are fairly young this year, but return the divisional champions in doubles – Senior Quaid Harlan and junior Collin Kenney. Harlan is one of three seniors on the team, but the only one with more than a year of experience. The other two, Wyatt Ducharme and Hudson Smith, are new to the sport, but add a lot to the team, according to Hislop. “Those two athletes helped us out this year, they’re giving us some more competitiveness.”

Smith and Ducharme play doubles, as do Matt Sitter and Cadis Chowning. Jaron Morgan will play in the number one singles spot this week.

As a team, the boys are 13-6 in duals. Harlan said the team is hoping to get back to a divisional title, but he’s also hoping for he and his partner, Kenney, to repeat as doubles champions. They went 1-2 at the state tournament last year, losing to the eventual third and fourth place finishers. This year, Harlan said he and Kenney will need to change a few things to compete better at state. “There will be a lot more strategy, making less mistakes, trying to keep the other team from getting good shots, and keeping them out of position,” he said.

His partner, Kenney, is only a junior. He said things have been different this year. ‘We’ve gotten to know each other way better. We only lost one match in doubles to a really good team up in Cut Bank.”

Coach Hislop said the players have put in a ton of time. “I think that’s really the reason for our success. They just work harder than anybody else,” he said.

However, the kids have more to say. All four kids – Congdon, Lemm, Harlan, and Kenney – have learned how to play tennis from Hislop, some all the way back in junior high.

“I think he has been an excellent coach,” Lemm said, “it’s been really fun. I think that’s a big reason I stayed with the game and why I loved if from the beginning.”

Congdon added, “Just being at practice makes you want to be the best you can be, he makes you love the sport.”