State tourneys get underway Thursday

| May 24, 2006 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

It's state tournament week in the realm of Montana high school sports … Do you know where your school is headed?

There are three state softball tournaments, as well as State A tennis meet, starting Thursday and running through Saturday. Then the two combined state track meets begin Friday and end Saturday.

… And northwest Montana has many participants at all six venues.

The Flathead High School softball team begins its march for a State AA championship Thursday at 2 p.m. in Missoula against Great Falls C.M. Russell, which finished the regular season with a 19-1 record - the best in the state. The Bravettes head into the tourney with an 11-10 record, having won 10 of their last 13 games.

THE STATE A SOFTBALL tournament has three northwest Montana schools vying for the championship. Columbia Falls, the No. 4 seed from the West, will be the first to see action in the tournament at Stewart Softball Park in Billings. The Wildkats play Corvallis, the No. 2 seed from the Central A, Thursday at 11 a.m.

Libby, the No. 2 seed from the West, plays Hardin - No. 4 out of the Eastern A - Thursday at 1 p.m. If the Loggers win their first-round game, they will play Billlings Central at 5 p.m. Billings Central earned a first-round bye as the No. 1 team from the East.

Polson earned a first-round bye after sharing the Western A conference title with Libby and will play the winner of 11 a.m. game between Butte Central and Havre Thursday at 3 p.m.

The Class B-C Eureka softball team is going to Conrad for its state tourney. The Lions (13-7) won four straight loser-out games last year at the tournament. As the No. 8 seed, the Lions start off against No. 9 Shepherd Thursday at 1 p.m. in the 16-team event. A victory in the first-round will likely pit the Lions against defending state champion Florence, the tourney's overall No. 1 seed, Thursday at 5 p.m.

THE STATE A tennis meet in Polson also starts Thursday.

Whitefish has 11 kids slated to compete (singles: Matt Harris, Ian Hosek, Brielle Menegazzi; doubles: Izaak Opatz and Ben James, Ryan Rottenbiller and Kyle Jacobson, Maresa Jenson and Kyla Roy, Kate Whitaker and Taylor Beach).

Polson has seven kids entered (singles: Derrick Roberts, Andy Dykstra, Jenn Orchard; doubles: Colton Woods and Brett Vandeberg, Malika Erickson and Emily Fors).

Bigfork has three (singles: Trisha Smith; doubles: Joe Wolstein and Owen Roberts) and Columbia Falls has one girls doubles team, Kate and Sarah Marcill, participating.

THEN TRACK and field begins Friday … And once it hits, the Mining and Capital cities will be going full tilt. Butte hosts the State A-B track meets. Helena hosts the State AA-C track meets.

The Flathead High School girls track team won its sixth straight Western AA divisional track title Saturday while the boys placed second. They are both expected to do well at state in Helena.

Both the Whitefish High School boys and girls track teams are expecting big things at their state meet in Butte.

State AA softball

in Missoula

at Fort Missoula Softball Complex

Fields 1 and 4

Thursday

2 p.m. - CMR (19-1) vs. Flathead (11-10)

2 p.m. - Butte (11-9) vs. Billings West (13-9)

4 p.m. - Missoula Big Sky (18-2) vs. Great Falls (10-12)

4 p.m. - Billings Skyview (15-5) vs. Helena Capital (12-7)

Friday

Winners' bracket

10 a.m. - winners of 2 p.m. games

10 a.m. - winners of 4 p.m. games

4 p.m. - winners of 10 a.m. games, undefeated semifinal

Losers' bracket

noon - losers of 2 p.m. games

noon - losers of 4 p.m. games

2 p.m. - winner of noon game vs. loser of 10 a.m. game

4 p.m. - winners of 2 p.m. games, 4th place

Saturday

10 a.m. - winner of 4 p.m. game vs. loser of undefeated semifinal, 3rd place

noon - winner of undefeated semifinal vs. winner of 3rd place game, championship

2 p.m. - championship, game 2, if needed

State A softball

in Billings

at Stewart Softball Park

Fields 1 and 3

Thursday

First round

11 a.m. - Corvallis vs. Columbia Falls

11 a.m. - Havre vs. Butte Central

1 p.m. - Libby vs. Hardin

1 p.m. - Glendive vs. Hamilton

Second round

p.m. - Laurel vs. Corvallis/Columbia Falls winner

p.m. - Polson vs. Havre/Butte Central winner

5 p.m. - Billings Cenral vs. Libby/Hardin winner

5 p.m. - Frenchtown vs. Glendive/Hamilton winner

Friday

Winners' bracket

1 p.m. - winners of second round games

Losers' bracket

Rounds at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

State B-C Softball

in Conrad

Thursday

First round

9 a.m. - St. Ignatius vs. Conrad

9 a.m. - Thompson Falls vs. Sunburst

9 a.m. - Cut Bank vs. Noxon

11 a.m. - Simms vs. Missoula Loyola

11 a.m. - Glasgow vs. Huntley Project

11 a.m. - Plains vs. Columbus

1 p.m. - Florence vs. Poplar

1 p.m. - Shepherd vs. Eureka

Second round

p.m. - two games scheduled

5 p.m. - two games scheduled

Friday

Winners' bracket

11 a.m. - winners of second round games

Losers' bracket

Rounds at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.