PREP NOTEBOOK: CMR tennis has 6 in HOF; 3 All-Staters in softball

This was a great year to play tennis at Charles Marion Russell High School, for more reasons than a team championship in Boys' Tennis.

For three boys and three girls, their names and pictures will be part of the CMR Tennis Hall of Fame, along with the commemorative rug stitched when the boys' title was imminent.

Luca Alvisi, Carter Corn, Josh Stimac, Hannah Bingham, Becca Sherman and Ruby Jennings will join their coaches, Byron Boyd and Valerie Scheevel, on the wall in the northwest corner of the CMR Fieldhouse reserved for the tennis Hall of Fame.

To get to the Hall, you have to place no worse than fourth during the state tournament. The doubles team of Corn and Stimac earned runners-up honors, Alvisi took third in singles, Jennings placed fourth in girls' singles and Bingham and Sherman were fourth in girls' doubles.

The state championship for the Rustler boys - which they will share for all eternity with the Bozeman Hawks - marked the first time since 2004 they left the tourney with a team title. This, after completing an undefeated dual season and winning the Northern AA Divisional Tournament in front of their home crowd.

The Rustler girls finished in second last weekend at Fort Missoula Regional Park, well behind established powerhouse Bozeman, following a 15-1 season in duals and an impressive team victory at divisionals as well.

For their efforts, Boyd and Scheevel were both named Class AA Tennis Coaches of the Year by the Montana Coaches Association.

A great year for Rustler tennis? Yes, yes, and furthermore, YES.

"It's been unbelievable," Boyd said. "It's been a dream season, and then to get Coach of the Year, it's unbelievable.

"I mean, all the hard work has paid off and been recognized. It's nice; more than I rever expected."

The six youngsters they have guided onto the wall at the Fieldhouse - five of them since Boyd and Scheevel accepted the coaching positions four years ago - is just icing on the cake.

"It's the biggest Hall of Fame class since Val and I," Boyd added. "It's very difficult to get up there.

"It's ... it's an honor. When you grow up, and you come back and look at the wall, it's pretty special."

"It's been a great year. Yeah, so proud of my girls and the effort they have put forward," Scheevel said. "Kind of like Byron alluded to, having played ourselves and having been in coaching for a lot of years in the tennis industry, it's easy for us when we're coaching to see the potential and realize that this could come about as we go along in our coaching.

"It's another thing to have the kids buy in and believe it themselves, especially if they don't come from a long tennis background. And the fact that so many of them did, and we've been able to watch that progression. They started to believe, and they started to put in the work, and this is really the fruition of that.

"It's incredible. We recognize how rare this season is, to have such success on both sides. We're just thrilled about it, we're proud of us as coaches, we're proud of our team. The state titles are a reflection of not just those who made it to state, but the whole team, because the whole team practices together, they spar off against one another, and they really made it possible for those that went to state to do as well as they did. So we're just proud of our team as a whole."

"It wasn't just one person who scored points and contributed, it was an entire team effort," Boyd concluded. "I couldn't be prouder of the kids.

"Go Rustlers!"

Three of the newly inducted Hall of Famers - Carter Corn, Josh Stimac and Hannah Bingham - spoke about what reaching the Hall meant to them, especially as seniors.

"On our second day of playing, we lost our first match," Bingham, who played doubles with Becca Sherman, said. "And our second match was to be able to play for third and fourth place.

"And the entire time we were playing, Becca and I were just like, 'This is for the Hall of Fame. This is to go up, like, next to our coaches, next to these people we've admired for so long ... next to Gail Parambi, Lizzy Martinez, Mackenzie George ... people that I've looked up to my entire tennis career.' And when we won that second match, knowing we would be either third or fourth place, that was a big deal.

"And I turned to Becca and I yelled at her: 'We're in the Hall of Fame!' Yeah. It's a big deal."

For Corn, who with partner Josh Stimac placed second in boys' doubles, it was the culmination of a four-year dream.

"Since I started playing tennis in my freshman year, I always looked up there, and I wanted to be up there," Corn said. "As our coaches first (made the wall), I knew it would feel really good to be up there, and just have my picture up there for as long as they stay up there.

"Now that it's happened, it just feels great."

His partner said being in the Hall means a lot. "It meant a lot for me to play with Carter this year, and have such a great season," Stimac said. "I don't know; it's just a lot to take in."

THE CMR GIRLS SOFTBALL squad finished their season in fourth place during the state tournament at Fort Missoula, and three of the girls were duly honored with nods to the Class AA All-State Softball team.

Senior outfielder Madeline Hamma, junior catcher Sarak Faulk, and senior shortstop Lauren Lindseth were named First-Team All-Staters by a tally of Class AA Coaches. It is the first All-State award for all three players, which has Rustler mentor Alex Lowry doing cartwheels ... in a manner of speaking.

"I'm just super proud of them, the work and time they put in year round," Lowry said. "And to be recognized by other coaches in our conference as one of the best!

"They deserve all the accolades!"

Hamma, Faulk and Lindseth were also named first-team all Eastern AA Conference (all first-teamers were automatically placed on the All-State Team).

Senior third baseman Tori Lapierre took Second Team All-Conference honors for the Rustlers, with second baseman Jenna Etcheberry and outfielder Jaclyn Kleinsasser earning Honorable Mention nods.

Four members of Great Falls High's squad received All-Conference designations. First baseman Ella Galloway and outfielder Ashlyn Jones won second-team honors, while catcher Alex Bloomgren and utility player Haley Lins earned Honorable Mention.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: PREP NOTEBOOK: CMR tennis has 6 in HOF; 3 All-Staters in softball