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  • 29 Jun 2013

    Missoula's Riley King starting out in Arizona League

    It was about three weeks ago now that the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball snatched up Missoulian Riley King in the 2013 MLB first-year player draft. The 19-year-old outfielder quickly chose baseball over returning to the hoops program at Carroll College, signing to play in the Royals' minor league system and jetting off to Arizona and Kansas City's extended spring training facility in Surprise. That was the last time we'd heard from the Missoula Sentinel graduate. Well now an update: King will remain in Arizona, at least for now, with the Royals' rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona League this season. King boarded a plane for the southwest on June 11, two days after finishing his pro paperwork. All of the recently signed draftees from the organization would be there before getting divvied up along the minor-league ladder. When the Arizona Royals opened their season on June 20, the 24th-rounder from Missoula was in the starting lineup batting fifth. He hasn't had the success that fans of the Missoula Mavericks had come to expect on a daily basis, but then again this isn't exactly Montana American Legion pitching he's facing either. King has a .208 batting average through six games and is still looking for his first extra base hit. Still, he's nothing if not consistent. King opened the season on a three-game hitting streak and has hits in five of the Royals' first six games. He's also one of only seven position players on the team who hasn't committed an error yet. None of the other six has played in more than five games either. We'll keep you up to speed on any happenings related to Missoula's recently drafted baseball star throughout the summer. Should King get the call up to advanced rookie, one step up in the minor league system, his destination will be Idaho Falls and the Chukars of the Pioneer League. Missoula plays two series against the Chukars this summer, once at home July 13-15 and once on the road July 20-23. King will have to play some inspired ball in Arizona to make the jump in the next two weeks for a trip back to Missoula. Until that call finally comes, he'll have to start trying to enjoy that broiling Arizona sunshine.

  • 09 Mar 2014

    Unlucky Laurel keeps predicting State A champs

    When the Columbia Falls boys bumped Laurel off the championship track in Friday's State A semifinal, Locomotives coach Patrick Hansen Jr. knew exactly who would win Saturday's title game, even before C. Falls had an opponent line up for the finals. The cards all pointed to the Wildcats, or at least Laurel's bizarre pattern of semifinal state losses did. Including this weekend, the Locos have lost in four straight semis, each time the team they've lost to winning it all. Like clockwork, the luck of the Laurel loss held true Saturday night when the Cats won their fifth championship in program history with a 56-47 victory over Dillon. "Hopefully this is the lucky token for Columbia Falls that beat us this time and good luck to them tomorrow," Hansen said after his team came up short in a semifinal again, losing 57-48. There's some magic in there somewhere, so let's review the tape. Laurel won a State A championship in 2010 and hasn't stopped fielding strong state contenders since then. Some unknown deity has higher plans for them, though. "The next year we lose in the semifinals to Columbia Falls," Hansen remembers, recalling his team's repeat bid coming up short in a 61-38 loss to the 2011 champion Wildcats. "They win state. "The next year after that we lose to Dillon in the semifinals," he continued, picking at his team's 45-39 loss to the eventual 2012 title-winning Beavers. "They win state. "Then last year we lose to Stevensville by two (in the semis)," Hansen finished, though mis-remembered slightly from Laurel's 52-49 loss to 2013's champs. "And of course, they win state." So for all you state hopefuls out there in Class A, you know the way to a crown. Just check the opening bracket Thursday morning and hope your team lines up with Laurel in the second round. You know they'll be there; the Locos haven't missed a state scene since 2007. For anybody else, better luck next time.

  • 15 Mar 2014

    Hellgate comes up short avenging season losses at state

    Missoula Hellgate’s run to the championship game gave the Knights a unique set of circumstances as the State AA boys’ basketball bracket played out. The Knights would only face teams they’d lost to during the regular season. Hellgate lost four games during the regular season starting with – in chronological order – Billings Skyview, Billings West and Helena Capital (twice). In order to win a second straight state title, the Knights needed to beat – again, in order – Skyview, West and Capital. “We’ve been talking about that,” Hellgate point guard Devin Bray said after the Knights’ semifinal victory over West on Friday, “but all we were doing was taking it one game at a time. You can’t look ahead, but luckily we got to the place where we could battle it out with our rivals, basically, Capital – and hopefully get them for the third check mark.” The Missoula boys came oh-so close, just missing out on a repeat state championship bid with a 51-47 loss to Capital in Saturday's title tussle. Hellgate went 0-4 against those three teams, its four losses by a combined 14 points that featured three overtime periods. Before the State AA tournament’s final site at Billings’ Rimrock Auto Arena and MetraPark, Hellgate had gone 17-0 against every other team. Skyview started the Knights’ title defense off with a 60-58 loss on Dec. 13 in Billings, a duel in which Falcon Kendal Manuel hit the game winner to break a tie with hardly any time remaining. The next night the Knights fell to 0-2 on the season with an 82-79 double-overtime defeat at West. But Hellgate dominated in the rematches at state, turning back Skyview 68-51 in a first-round game Thursday before whipping West 57-37 the next night to reach the finals where Capital was waiting. The Bruins got the best of Hellgate twice in Western AA league play, a 60-54 final and then a 44-41 game that went to overtime. The losses marked the two lowest-scoring outputs for Hellgate during the regular season. “Those losses sting, but we learned from them and got better,” Hellgate coach Jeff Hays said. But Capital was ready to do some avenging of its own. The Knights took out the Bruins in overtime of last year's finals 58-53.

  • 15 Mar 2014

    Lady Spartan seniors finish amazing 4-year run of success

    Here’s a quick look at what the girls of Missoula Sentinel’s class of 2014 have done in four years on the basketball court:

    • Four straight State AA title game appearances

    • Three straight State AA championships

    • A four-year combined record of 83-10

    So is it safe to call this group the greatest girls’ basketball class in Sentinel history? “Oh for sure – by far,” said Spartans coach Karen Deden, a Sentinel alum as well. “We’ve been blessed with a group of kids that have really pushed it to a new level – and it kind of started with Olivia. Those kids have worked hard and they play year-round since they got here and vastly improved. They’re a team and they play well together.” Senior guard/forward/superstar Olivia Roberts led the Spartans to a 48-30 beat down of Billings West on Saturday to win the third of those three state championships. Roberts led all players with 18 points and nine rebounds. The future 5-foot-11 Wyoming Cowgirl was around for most all those 80-plus wins since her freshman year as the only frosh to see major varsity minutes in the 2010-11 season. But soon her fellow classmates at Sentinel High School joined her on the court. Five other varsity seniors will graduate with Roberts this spring. They include 6-1 Sam Harper and 5-10 Emily Beach, a pair of heightened starters defending the key for the Spartans this year; 5-8 guard Maddie Keast, a Lady Griz signee and threat from anywhere on the court; 5-9 forward/post Jess Henning, a reserve who ensures Sentinel won’t drop its defensive intensity when starters check out for a rest; and 5-0 guard Brittani Wulf, the speediest and smallest Spartan on the roster. Keast has only experienced the last two Sentinel seasons – albeit the most successful ones – though she missed most of Saturday's title game with an ankle injury. She transferred from Loyola Sacred Heart before her junior season. The group weathered the storm of expectations again this year with another charge through the state bracket. “I said to the kids, to be proud of where you’re at. I mean think of the whole season playing with a target on your back and to persevere through that,” Deden added. “Because every time somebody plays us, they have absolutely nothing to lose. They can go out there and play out of their heads, because what’s the worst that’s going to happen? They’re going to lose.” On the eve of her fourth state championship appearance in as many seasons, one of Sentinel’s all-time great athletes struggled to put the grandeur of her prep career into words. Roberts’ awe at her past path couldn’t keep her from focusing on the immediate future, though. “I can’t believe it. It’s so weird to think that I’ve been to the state championship every single year,” Roberts said after her Spartans outlasted Kalispell Glacier in Friday’s semifinal. “I’m so blessed to have such a great coach and such great teammates. “But all I’m thinking about is I just want another state championship. I want a three-peat and I want to get it done.” Consider that job very well done, Lady Spartans.

  • 08 Jan 2014

    The Jesse Sims case: When some questions can't be answered

    We in the media ask a lot of questions. I mean it's kind of our job, right? Well sometimes the people at which we're directing said queries are not allowed to answer them. When such a quandary arises, you'll usually see a flood of things like, "No comment," and the like. Sometimes, though, you get a real gem when an authoritative figure says everything you need to hear, without saying anything at all. Such was the case when the Missoulian contacted Stevensville boys' basketball coach Joey Wark on Tuesday night looking for confirmation of the rumors that star athlete Jesse Sims had transferred schools. Here's what he had to say:

    "The rule that we have at the school is that we are able to talk and comment on the players that we have on our team; so I’d gladly talk to you about our great senior leaders like Jared Schultz and Zach Gavlak."

    - Joey Wark, Stevensville coach

    Wow. What fantastic legal speak to pretty much answer the question without answering it at all. The Missoulian did confirm Tuesday that Sims indeed had switched schools to Corvallis High School and will be sitting out the varsity basketball season after playing the first five games with defending State A champion Stevensville. We should see Sims back on the football field this coming fall, where he's really done his damage. The junior has already drawn scholarship offers from six schools for the gridiron game.

  • 21 Aug 2014

    What's in a name: The Flint Creek Titans

    Everything about creating a new program can be tricky when the ingredients include a pair of longtime rivals with their own storied and distinct histories. The safest way to name the new 8-man football co-op between Drummond and Granite high schools, both sides agreed, was to create an entirely new identity.

    The school districts settled on Flint Creek, carrying the mascot The Titans.

    The two schools shied away having the co-op take the name of one of the respective existing programs for fear of slighting one or both of the natural rival towns that are separated by about 27 miles. Flint Creek, which runs from the mountains of Flint Creek Range near Philipsburg north toward Drummond before spilling into the Clark Fork River, allowed for a shared commonality.

    "I was thinking we could go all Granite, since we’re all in Granite County," Philipsburg senior lineman Thomas Paxton said, "but since we couldn't keep the same name and had to change it up I figured, Flint Creek? Might as well." There were plenty of other options and both Drummond and Philipsburg, both of which saw enrollment declines warranting a co-op to continue play at the 8-man level. had their students vote for both a name and a mascot. That included students in the respective high schools and all the way down to the primary schools and feeder programs in nearby Hall and Helmville. The list included your classic animals like the Rams, Badgers, Trout or Wolves -- though Wolves was quickly stricken from the list, said longtime Drummond head football coach Jim Oberweiser, who takes over the helm for the Titans.

    "Wolves are not helping our livestock industry right now," he said with a chuckle that accompanied the P.R. move.

    Along with Titans, one popular finalists was the DawGs. The nickname would have allowed both original teams to sneak into the new name, the capital D for Drummond and the capital G standing for Granite.

    The Pintler Peaks was another popular choice, a shout out to the nearby Pintler Range of mountains.

    Flint Creek Titans won out and became the moniker for the new program, which opens its existence this fall. The Titans begin play on the road against Seeley-Swan on Sept. 5.

    Read more about the team with the Missoulian's two-part series:

    PART 1

    PART 2

  • 02 Oct 2013

    Wading through Hellgate's two-QB system

    To say the Missoula Hellgate Knights have struggled on offense would be, well, offensive. Through four games, the Knights hadn't scored a point and were needless to say 0-4. But that was before co-quarterback Andy Nemec got the lion's share of the signal-calling duties in the Hellgate backfield. The senior -- who is still listed as wide receiver on the team's depth chart -- was a wildcat-only option in Hellgate's offense. In layman's terms, he was only brought in to run the ball while the "passing QB" Brayden Frohlich worked the throwing downs. "The idea is that we have different styles with the different players," coach R.L. Boyles told the Missoulian after a Week 2 game against Great Falls High. "They each have abilities so we try to utilize each of their abilities." But that became very clear to defenses as well. Nemec = run. Frohlich = pass. Neither player could do much of either with the play call all but revealed to the defenses. It was a frustrating environment to try and get anything going, Nemec said. "Every week I have to ask our offensive coordinator what my role is in the offense this week. Last week I didn't play as much defense," said Nemec, also the team's starter at safety. "Which was nice, so I could be rested to be on the offensive side of the ball. "(Offensive coordinator) JP (Souliere) made some changes last week to see if we'd have any success with that and we did. I think we're going to change it up a little bit more this week to see if we can get more going on." Behind a revamped offensive line and the with a new scheme in hand, the Knights scored 14 points last Friday against Billings Senior. Both scores came with Nemec at quarterback. They'll try to build off of that limited success this week with a home game against Butte on Friday, the second leg of a Missoula County Stadium doubleheader at 7:30 p.m.

  • 30 Aug 2014

    Hometown Pride Classic a win for Montana football

    Even a narrow loss couldn't keep the Ronan football team down. "You don't ever want to say you're happy when you lose, but come on," Chiefs head coach Jim Benn said gesturing to his surroundings. "Getting to coach here and letting our kids have this experience, I mean I'm watching my quarterback take pictures with his parents on the field." The special location was Washington-Grizzly Stadium Saturday, which hosted the first Hometown Pride Classic series between high school teams in Montana and Idaho -- an event as pleasing to its organizer as it seemed to be to the players, coaches and fans involved. "This was the best case scenario," said Marc Burr, GM of the Billings Wolves indoor football team and the driving force behind the Hometown Pride Classic. "Who doesn't want to say they're hosting a game like this? And to have two or three of them lined up?" Prior to the Ronan vs. New Plymouth game on Saturday afternoon, Hamilton beat Salmon on Friday evening and then Frenchtown and Timberlake finished out the trio on Saturday night. Burr said the opener featuring Hamilton drew 577 paid attendees and 1,474 people , though the gate isn't really the main factor in calling the experiment a success or not. It's more in the feedback that Burr and other officials receive. Which so far has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. The future of the Classic is still unknown. It only came together so nicely this year with the Montana Grizzlies traveling to Wyoming in Week 1, leaving their 25,000-capacity stadium vacant. Should it not work out so swimmingly in the future, Burr hopes to move games to Bozeman and Bobcat Stadium for another round here or down to the Moscow, Idaho, at the home of the University of Idaho. Either way, Year 1 of the Classic has Burr and Co. hoping to make the games a yearly event. "I would have to say this is definitely a win for the state of Montana," Burr said.

  • 04 Apr 2014

    Latest Loyola golf stars ready to continue run

    Following Tommy Tirrell's tie-breaking chip-off victory Friday that earned him second place at the Loyola Sacred Heart Invitational golf tournament, he carried his iron off the 18th green to talk to a waiting reporter. They introduced themselves, having never met before. Tirrell didn't garner too many interviews in his sophomore or freshman seasons golfing at Loyola. "You probably talked to Tom last year," Tirrell said, no hint of animosity in his statement of fact, just an observation. Tom Swanson, and with him Maggie Crippen on the girls' side, dominated the action for the Rams and Breakers golf teams over the past few seasons. Each are gone now onto NCAA Division I programs, but the Loyola golf legacy still has some sheen on it. The Loyola teams flashed it at their home invitational this week, the season opener for action without their multi-medalist leaders in camp. Swanson and Crippen were each three-time State B individual champions in their last three seasons of high school golf before graduating last spring. Swanson headed off to Michigan to swing for the Wolverines while Crippen is now on the links with North Dakota State. In their place is a new crew that isn't really very new at all. The top two girls and boys each played important roles in the past few seasons, though as sidekicks to their well-known superhero teammates. "And I think that even we didn't know how far along they had come," Loyola head golf coach Julia Jones said following the conclusion of this week's Loyola Invite. Tirrell and Jared Geer, who battled it out for second place Friday, were both top 10 finishers at state last year. So were Sadie Crippen and Brooke Bezanson on the girls' side, Crippen nearly knocking off her older sister before finishing second in the state meet. They seem to be stepping into the empty shoes with gusto as Loyola looks to continue its half decade of sheer state dominance. The boys are five-time defending champs, tied for the most consecutive wins at any boys' level with the 1993-97  Columbus team, while the Breakers have five straight state-trophy winning seasons with top-three finishes. Right there in the middle in 2011 is the program's only championship. "I think the expectation that they have is that if they work hard enough that it will continue," "And we've got good leadership. Jared Geer is our only senior, so they're young, but they're pretty well seasoned." Other players like Tom Sellman and Bryan Swanson for the boys and Madison Purdy, Julia Downing and Rosie McCormack for the girls will keep pushing those top pairs as the Rams and Breakers continue their march on Class B golf.

  • 07 Jun 2013

    Lacrosse sticks for summer

    Missoula Sentinel students Alvin Adams and Sean McCoy will get the chance to play lacrosse this summer thanks to the generosity of a local lacrosse enthusiast and their Life Skills Department teacher. The Sentinel duo, who finished their freshman year of high school Friday, received hand-made custom lacrosse sticks from Tucker Sargent, University of Montana club lacrosse coach, after he was contacted by para-educator Christian Bitterauf. The sticks were part of a "graduation" celebration for the students who successfully finished another school year. The wooden sticks, which also have the boys' names engraved in them, came from Sargent's new business, Sargent Sticks. The Life Skills department at Sentinel serves students with mild to moderate cognitive and physical disabilities.

  • 12 Feb 2015

    Entry to Montana wrestling's Four-Timers Club just got tougher

    Winning four straight state wrestling titles is hard enough, but the reclassification of weight classes in Montana that began this year will likely make the feat decidedly more difficult. When the Montana High Schools Association shifted from 15 to 13 wrestling classes, it eliminated the weight at which many four-timers wrestled as freshmen. The 98 and 105 weights were combined -- as were 195 and 220 on the upper end -- to form a new hybrid weight of 103 that will leave fewer holes in brackets and dual lineups. But it also adds new competition for the lightest weight, the one typically housing freshmen, by doubling the participants. "It's going to be interesting with the weight changes," said Columbia Falls wrestling coach Jesse Schaeffer, who has a senior in his wrestling room chasing state title No. 4 this week in Shonn Roberts. "I think that's going to maybe reduce that." Twenty-three Montana wrestlers have completed their four-peats and 11 of those started at 98 pounds of lower -- Gene Davis of Missoula County High, the state's first four-timer, won his freshman year at 95 pounds in 1960 before a similar weight shift later in the decade. Add in Roberts, who will compete at 138 pounds when state action begins Friday in Billings but won at 98 in 2012, and that's exactly half. "It's kind of weird since that's what I wrestled at as a freshman," Roberts began, "but 103, the 98-105 mix, I think that's reasonable. It'll make things a little bit tougher." That's hardly the thinking behind merging weights, though. At either extreme ends of the weight scale (195 and 220 became the 205 class) fewer teams -- especially at lower classifications -- could field a full lineup. Many times, too few entrants there led to a state bracket marred by automatic byes and regular season duals that might as well skip on to 105 pounds anyway. The unintended consequence is that 2015 may be near the last time wrestling fans will get a trio of four-time possibles all on the mats at the same time. Sidney's Gresh Jones joins Roberts in the Class A tournament this week at 126 pounds searching for his fourth, while Forsyth's Matt Weber will be the talk of Class B-C with a potential fourth title. Both boys won their first -- and lightest -- at 112 pounds, though.

  • 18 Jan 2014

    Sentinel's Jaydn Wilson narrowly misses Jug Beck 3-peat

    It's been a long time since Missoula Sentinel wrestler Jaydn Wilson had lost a match at his Spartans' home tournament, the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic. That's three years to be exact. As he won his way into the semifinals of the 2014 addition of the tournament this weekend, the 37th such holding at Sentinel High School, he'd come to the spot where a freshman Wilson had been knocked off the championship path. In between were more than 15 wins. But that streak came to an end in Saturday's semifinals.Wrestling Clarkston (WA) big man Dylan Beeler at 220 pounds, Wilson owned a 3-1 advantage with moments left in the third and final period. Beeler got the upper hand and scored a two-point takedown to tie things up with five seconds remaining in the period. The boys battled to a stalemate through the first minute-long overtime and went to a second. With Beeler starting from the down position, he pulled away for an escape and even scored another takedown in that 30 seconds to go up 6-3. During Wilson's turn in the down position in the second 30-second section, he failed to make up the ground and was even caught for what looked like a near-fall. Beeler could have tallied three more points with the near-fall as time expired but the match finished with that score and Wilson's first loss in three years of Jug Beck matches. But the Sentinel senior didn't let it get him down. He followed his two Jug Beck championships with a bronze in this year's event. He pinned Helena Capital's Dillon Coffman in the consolation semis and then beat Mead's Mason Ju 7-2 in the consolation championship. The Spartans' most dominant wrestler improved his record to 27-2 in matches held at the Classic.

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Monthly Archives:' February 2015

Entry to Montana wrestling's Four-Timers Club just got tougher

Entry to Montana wrestling's Four-Timers Club just got tougher

Winning four straight state wrestling titles is hard enough, but the reclassification of weight classes in Montana that began this year will likely make the feat decidedly more difficult.

When the Montana High Schools Association shifted from 15 to 13 wrestling classes, it eliminated the weight at which many four-timers wrestled as freshmen.

Continue reading →

UPDATED: 2015 national signing day's western Montana football commits

UPDATED: 2015 national signing day's western Montana football commits

UPDATED: With fall camps just around the corner, the list of western Montana natives in the Missoulian’s coverage area has swelled near 50. Take a look:

 

It’s national signing day 2015 and the National Letters of Intent were flying around this morning with local athletes securing their spots with college football programs.

We’ll keep you updated with the area players who have made their commitments known throughout the day. Here’s a quick look at what we have so far.

Don’t forget this is just a bare bones list right now and it will be updated often. Don’t see your name or your kid listed here? Leave it in the comments, or get in contact with us at ajmazzolini@missoulian.com or on twitter (@ajmazzolini).

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  • 03 Feb 2015

    UPDATED: 2015 national signing day's western Montana football commits
    UPDATED: With fall camps just around the corner, the list of western Montana natives in the Missoulian's coverage area has swelled near 50. Take a look:
      It’s national signing day 2015 and the National Letters of Intent were flying around this morning with local athletes securing their spots with college football programs. We’ll keep you updated with the area players who have made their commitments known throughout the day. Here’s a quick look at what we have so far. Don’t forget this is just a bare bones list right now and it will be updated often. Don’t see your name or your kid listed here? Leave it in the comments, or get in contact with us at ajmazzolini@missoulian.com or on twitter (@ajmazzolini).   MONTANA (4) TE Colin Bingham, Missoula Big Sky DE Andrew Harris, Kalispell Glacier S Josh Sandry, Bigfork DE Jesse Sims, Corvallis MONTANA STATE (5) LB Josh Hill, Kalispell Glacier LB Tanner Hoff, Hot Springs WR Logan Jones, Kalispell Glaicer QB Brady McChesney, Kalispell Glacier DE Byron Rollins, Missoula Sentinel EASTERN WASHINGTON (1) TE Jayce Gilder, Corvallis NORTH DAKOTA (1) TE Brock Shaide, Missoula Big Sky CARROLL COLLEGE (1) WR Paul Wilson, Missoula Hellgate MONTANA TECH (9) WR/RB Nate Gray, Hot Springs RB Jackson King, Missoula Sentinel WR/RB Danny Mannix, Flint Creek WR Sam McCamley, Kalispell Glacier WR Ty Morgan, Columbia Falls OL Matt Murphy, Missoula Big Sky OL Truman Pisk, Kalispell Glacier DB Tucker Rauthe, Kalispell Glacier LB Ike Schweikert, Columbia Falls MONTANA WESTERN (12) OL Zach Brown, Hamilton RB/LB Joe Caicedo, Darby WR Devin Cochran, Kalispell Glacier RB Cory Diaz, Missoula Big Sky RB/LB Jason Ferris, Dillon QB/S J.D. Ferris, Dillon WR/DB Justin Ferris, Dillon QB/DB Bo Hughs, Loyola Sacred Heart (transfer) RB/LB Raymond Matt, St. Ignatius LB Connor McKillop, Missoula Sentinel WR/DB Austin Ray, Corvallis OL Spencer Ross, Columbia Falls MONTANA STATE-NORTHERN (6) RB Zach Crace, Libby LB Travis Crawford, Missoula Big Sky FB Lane Foster, Hot Springs DL Trevor Frandsen, Missoula Big Sky MLB Jonathan Gragg, Missoula Hellgate OL Ryan Handley, Missoula Hellgate ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE (3) LB Joe Gallatin, Polson DE Jesse Grabowska, Florence RB Marty Pigeon, Loyola Sacred Heart DICKINSON STATE (1) DB Cain Boschee, Kalispell Glacier LEHIGH (1) OL Harrison Kauffman, Kalispell Glacier MACALESTER COLLEGE (1) WR Jack Streibich, Whitefish
  • 23 May 2014

    Makena Morley gets creative to fund trip to track nationals
    Ever wanted an autographed photo of one of Montana's all-time record-breaking prep runners? Now's your chance. Bigfork High School junior and State B champion of champions Makena Morley is raising money through technology and grass roots to help her reach the New Balance Outdoor High School Track & Field Nationals meet in Greensboro, North Carolina in mid June. And any donors of $25 or more through the fundraising website IndieGoGo.com receive a Morley original complete with signature.  As of this posting, Morley is about 75 percent of the way to her goal of $2,300 for travel and lodging costs for her and her father to the national meet. Events run June 13-15. Morley isn't new to the national running scene, but she appears to be getting create in funding her trips there. She won the West Regional of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships back in December and then finished eighth in the ensuing national race. "As a junior I have been to 4 national championship races (three in cross country and one for indoor track) but I have never won a national title, so this one is very important to me because I would love for this to be the year for me to win," Morley wrote on her IndieGoGo.com fundraising page. "It is an important year for my college recruiting process, because this is the year when all colleges are looking at you and at what you have accomplished!" IndieGoGo is a kind of online kickstarter to raise money for a cause or idea. It's "the world’s most established crowdfunding platform," according to the organization's website. Crowdfunding is the process of pooling money from many different people for a cause. Morley, a three-time winner of the State B cross country title and Gatorade Runner of the Year for Montana, plans to run the 5,000 meters at the New Balance Nationals along with either the one or two mile. For more about her trip to nationals, or to donate, you can visit her page here.

  • 12 Feb 2015

    Entry to Montana wrestling's Four-Timers Club just got tougher
    Winning four straight state wrestling titles is hard enough, but the reclassification of weight classes in Montana that began this year will likely make the feat decidedly more difficult. When the Montana High Schools Association shifted from 15 to 13 wrestling classes, it eliminated the weight at which many four-timers wrestled as freshmen. The 98 and 105 weights were combined -- as were 195 and 220 on the upper end -- to form a new hybrid weight of 103 that will leave fewer holes in brackets and dual lineups. But it also adds new competition for the lightest weight, the one typically housing freshmen, by doubling the participants. "It's going to be interesting with the weight changes," said Columbia Falls wrestling coach Jesse Schaeffer, who has a senior in his wrestling room chasing state title No. 4 this week in Shonn Roberts. "I think that's going to maybe reduce that." Twenty-three Montana wrestlers have completed their four-peats and 11 of those started at 98 pounds of lower -- Gene Davis of Missoula County High, the state's first four-timer, won his freshman year at 95 pounds in 1960 before a similar weight shift later in the decade. Add in Roberts, who will compete at 138 pounds when state action begins Friday in Billings but won at 98 in 2012, and that's exactly half. "It's kind of weird since that's what I wrestled at as a freshman," Roberts began, "but 103, the 98-105 mix, I think that's reasonable. It'll make things a little bit tougher." That's hardly the thinking behind merging weights, though. At either extreme ends of the weight scale (195 and 220 became the 205 class) fewer teams -- especially at lower classifications -- could field a full lineup. Many times, too few entrants there led to a state bracket marred by automatic byes and regular season duals that might as well skip on to 105 pounds anyway. The unintended consequence is that 2015 may be near the last time wrestling fans will get a trio of four-time possibles all on the mats at the same time. Sidney's Gresh Jones joins Roberts in the Class A tournament this week at 126 pounds searching for his fourth, while Forsyth's Matt Weber will be the talk of Class B-C with a potential fourth title. Both boys won their first -- and lightest -- at 112 pounds, though.