Mission Valley teams get preseason conditioning ... shoveling lots of snow
NWA Polson Lady Pirate girls
The defending State A team champions return their State A singles champion Shea McGuinness along with half of their fourth place doubles tandem in Berkley Ellis. Other strong contenders for some of the rungs on the varsity ladder include Qia Harlan, Megan Rost, Sarah Kinzle and Ara Mercer. The tandem of Berkely Ellis and Qia Harlan teamed up to win the girls 16U doubles at the 2018 Western Montana Open this past summer.
These and others will probably mix and match between singles and doubles at least through the early portion of the season to see what fits best. Veteran coach Bob Hislop rates the Lady Pirates among one of the top contenders in the west. His early focus will be to “go out and have fun, then let the chips lie where they may.”
NWA Polson Pirate boys
The Pirate boys graduated state placer Johnny Moore and a sizeable swath of both their singles as well as leading doubles competitors. But Polson returns doubles state qualifier Joe McDonald, who coach Hislop rates as “solid.”
Other seasoned competitors include Trevor Schultz, Kendall Forman-Webster, Colby Devlin and Anton Lefthand. In coach Hislop’s estimation, the junior class appears to be the strong point in the program at this juncture. “We’ll be somewhat green, but we’ll go for it and have fun,” said Hislop.
One among those green shoots that the program hopes will sprout as spring unfolds is senior Bridger Wenzel. As a three-time all-state soccer player, his footwork should be better than decent. As a thrice all-state, four-time all-conference wrestler, Wenzel ought to have a solid grip. The challenge remains to see whether those apptitudes can be translated into a solid wack of a racket with strategic aim to keep his opponent(s) on the other side of the net off balance.
Polson players have been shoveling off the snow from the courts in preparation for hosting Libby and Hamilton on Friday, March 22, followed by Loyola and Corvallis on Saturday, March 23.
NWA Ronan
Seasoned returnees among the Ronan tennis program include senior Thomas YellowBird and juniors Maddy Sevier and Garrett Anderson. Yellowbird was half of the Chief doubles tandem that placed fourth at The NWA Divisional last season and qualified to compete at State.
The sophomore contingent includes a mix of returnees along with newcomers in Vicente Ortega, Caden Bourdon, Connor Cornwell, Sherman Violette, Skyler Shima and Courtney Bourdon. Shima won a match at the NWA Divisional last season, a three set tiebreaker over a higher seeded opponent.
An influx of aspiring freshmen netters include Larenz Alvarez, Dillon Pretty On Top, Aaliyah Decker, John Paca, Brady Dresden and Layla Pretty On Top.
Ronan tennis head coach Katie Castor says, “The team is excited to get out on the courts and get the season started. We look forward to competing in the Northwest A division.”
The Chiefs and Maidens are slated to compete in the Bitterroot this Saturday, March 23, against Stevensville and Hamilton.