Briefs: Wilde ties UM's indoor HJ record

Whitefish product Erin Wilde cleared 5 feet, 10 inches last Friday to win the high jump at the Riverfront Invitational track and field meet in Spokane and tied the University of Montana’s indoor record in the event. 

The mark was set by Havre's Brenda Naber, who went 5-10 in 1994.

Wilde has won three straight Big Sky Conference championships in her signature event, including two outdoor titles. She set UM’s outdoor record, 5-10.5, last spring. 

Athletes set two other UM indoor records at the meet: Freshman Braden Ankney ran the 200 in 21.49 seconds to break David Blair’s 2000 men’s record of 21.51; the quartet of Sophia Clark, Whitney Morrison, Claire Hutchison and Lily Meskers broke the women’s 1,600-meter relay mark by .13, clocking 3:45.05. 

Ankney also anchored the men’s 4x400 relay that included Libby’s Jay Beagle and finished second.  

Jace Hill shining for MCC Pioneers 

Jace Hill, a freshman out of Columbia Falls, is having a solid basketball season for Miles Community College in Miles City. 

The 6-foot-1 guard is averaging 9.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Pioneers. He’s shooting 50.6 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from 3-point range. Hill has started 24 games for the 10-21 Pioneers and hit a career high of 23 points in a 101-91 loss at United Tribes on Jan. 13. 

Following a six-game losing skid the Pioneers have won three of their last five games, with the two losses coming by a total of six points. 

Bob Stitt returns as Colorado Mines coach

Bob Stitt, who guided the Montana Grizzlies for three seasons after a successful run as football coach at Colorado School of Mines, returned to the Division II school as coach. 

Stitt was introduced as the Orediggers’ coach on Friday; he went 108-62 at the school in Golden, Colo., building it into a DII power over 15 seasons. He had three conference titels and NCAA playoff appearances in that time, and was selected to the Colorado Mines’ athletic Hall of Fame in 2021. 

Hired by the Grizzlies before the 2015, Stitt went 21-14 in three seasons, after which his contract wasn’t renewed.