Kellen Bates remains unbeaten.
The Glacier High junior cruised through the state singles tennis tournament in Missoula last weekend with dominant efficiency and captured his third straight Class AA championship. Bates lost only five games in his first three matches and handled Hellgate’s Alex Braun in the title match Saturday, 6-3, 7-5, becoming only the eighth boy to have won three or more singles titles in any classification in Montana history.
Freshman Hunter Blalack placed third in boys singles and Glacier finished second as a team with 26 points. Hellgate won with 52 points.
Glacier junior Katya Kulikova won the girls state singles championship, beating Molly Crum of Great Falls, 6-4, 6-4. Junior Hailey Blalack finished third in singles, beating junior teammate Veronica Walton, 7-6, 6-3. Despite placing three girls in the top four singles bracket, Glacier fell just short of its bid to win three straight state titles. Bozeman had the top two doubles teams and edged Glacier, 30-29, to win the team title for the first time since 2008.
Bigfork senior Colter Mahlum capped an impressive prep career with an undefeated run at the Class B/C state tennis tournament.
Mahlum defeated Ronan’s Hunter Shima 7-6 (5), 6-1, to win his first singles championship in Missoula. Mahlum’s first-place finish helped Bigfork place third as a team.
Mahlum was the state runner-up in 2010, when the Vikings won the team title, and was eliminated in the quarterfinals last year.
Polson swept the Northwestern A divisional tennis tournament over the weekend and rolls into this weekend’s state tournament in Great Falls in search of the first championship ever for boys and first for the girls since 2008.
Whitney Zimmerman beat teammate Sara Robinson 6-1, 6-0, to claim the divisional singles title, Mollybeth Hendrix and Kenzie Clay won the doubles title and the Lady Pirates piled up 65 points. Polson’s Audra Engebretson and Karmen Borchers were second in doubles and Karly Rochin and Jordan Quinn were third.
Whitefish placed second as a team with 21 and Gabrielle Stenger from Columbia Falls placed third in singles.
For boys, Polson’s Brady Hislop beat teammate Sam Peel 6-0, 6-1, in the singles championship. Whitefish’s Camp Kenyon and Connor Ellis won doubles over Polson’s Hayden Congdon and Dylan McCrumb, 6-3, 6-3. Polson finished with 54 points, followed by Whitefish at 29. Columbia Falls’ Brian Marcille finished third in singles and Parker Johnson and Miroslav Zvyagelskiy placed third in doubles.
Bigfork senior Sara Keenan wrapped up her final prep golf tourney with a seventh-place finish this week. Keenan shot 85-80 at the Class B state tournament at Eaglerock Golf Course (par 72) in Billings. Keenan tied for fifth last year.
On the boys side, Bigfork’s Lars Gittings placed 12th, carding 84-77 at Pryor Creek Golf Club (par 71) in Huntley.
The AA state softball tournament is at Kidsports Complex, May 24-26. Neither Glacier nor Flathead advanced past playoff games last week. The Class A and B/C tournaments are in Anaconda.
The Frenchtown Lady Broncs (21-1) are the top seed from Northwestern A after taking the division title away from two-time defending state champ Polson (16-5). Frenchtown has a first round bye at state. Polson enters ranked third from the Northwest and plays Anaconda, the second seed from the Southwest, at noon Thursday. Second-seeded Columbia Falls (16-5) plays Billings Central, the third seed from the East, at noon Thursday.