by Danny Waldo
The domination of Class AA sports by Bozeman High’s athletic teams continued this spring with the sweeping of state titles by both the boy’s and girl’s tennis teams recently. For the girls, it was their fifth consecutive state title, while the boys earned their second title in the past three years, improving upon their runner-up status from a year ago. On the girl’s side, the Lady Hawks took home three top-four finishes, including individual state champion Madison Shea, who defeated fellow Hawk teammate Heather Sikoski 6-4, 6-1 to help secure the state title. Overall, Bozeman compiled 33 points, 24 of them coming from Shea and Sikoski, to run away from runner-up Missoula Hellgate, who finished a distant second with 22 points. Shea, a senior, fell behind the freshman sensation, Sikoski, 3-1 in the opening set before winning five straight to take the opener. Shea then cruised to the title, taking a 6-1 decision in set number two, completing an undefeated senior season. Shea spent her junior season at a tennis academy in Texas, and will take her tennis talents to California next season, where she will suit up for the Claremont McKenna College tennis team, a Division III school located in Claremont, California. As for Sikoski, she’ll return next season as a sophomore to lead another talented Hawk squad in pursuit of title number six, and she won’t be alone. Also returning will be junior doubles teammates Hannah Hays and Brooklyn Mailey, who battled back through the loser’s bracket after falling in the semifinals to earn a fourth place finish.
On the boy’s side, the Hawks put together a dominating team performance of their own, securing the state title by racking up 31 points to easily defeat runner-up Billings Senior (20 points). Junior Marcos Zelver cruised to the individual state title, winning 6-0, 6-1 in the title match over Kalispell’s Spencer Johnson. Zelver and Johnson had battled earlier in the season, with Zelver winning that one also, but in a much tighter contest, 7-5, 7-5. The state title match, however, was never in doubt. “It felt really good,” Zelver said. “I played really well and it all came together.” The boy’s doubles team of James Williams and Logan Derby aided the Hawks’ cause by taking home the doubles title after finishing off their opponent from Billings Senior. The Hawk duo dropped the first set 6-2, before coming back to take the second set 6-4 and force a third and deciding set. In the final, the score was squared at 4-4 before Bozeman broke Senior’s serve, then, closed it out by holding serve to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. This was the 17th championship for the girls’ program and 13th for the boys’. Each team loses just two seniors off their rosters and expect to be back in the title hunt again next year. “We’re going to hopefully rock it a roll it again,” head coach Cheryl Litle joked. “They are getting better and getting a little bit wiser and patient.”
Danny Waldo is a local freelance writer covering Bozeman Hawk and Montana State Bobcat athletics. •
