Polson, Whitefish look for tennis titles

The Whitefish girls enter as defending champs as the Polson boys try to retake the state crown when the Class A state tennis tournament kicks off at 8 a.m. today at the Flathead Valley Community College tennis courts.

Whitefish enters the tournament with six girls, the most of any team in the state, looking to retain the state title they won last season. Singles player Hannah Madsen is kined up to play Corvallis’ Olivia Fehr in the first round and Paint Intasuk will open with Dillon’s Mariah McClure. Doubles team Paige Sproul and Cailyn Ross open with a team from Billings Central and Holly Hileman and Melissa Pollard will play a team from Glendive.

Columbia Falls’ Molly Schmit is competing in singles and Polson’s Cassie Carlyle enters as one of the favorites to claim the girls singles title, carrying an undefeated record into the state tournament.

The Polson boys carry the most players into the tournament, with eight Pirates entered.

Johnny Moore and Colin Kenney will compete in singles for Polson and the teams of Kabe Foreman-Webster and Carson McDaniel, Matt Sitter and Cadis Chowning and Jaron Morgan and Kaidan Foreman-Webster will compete in doubles.

The Pirates enter with a chance to claim their first state title in four years, hoping to unseat Billings Central, which has won it every year since.

“The boys had a great divisional,” Polson coach Bob Hislop said. “Depth is a big deal for us.

“I like our chances. Dillon, Billings Central and some of those schools will be tough to beat.”

Whitefish has four players competing in the tournament, with Eric Holdhusen and Ethan Pothoff both competing in singles. Brenden Buls and Thomas Carloss will team in doubles.