Storybook finish for the Braves

Dan Hodge has been boys track coach at Flathead for eight of the Braves’ state championships, and Saturday was maybe the first where he began the cleanup portion of the meet before it was actually over.

Wilmot, Whitefish girls claim State A crown

Rachael Wilmot crushed it, Grace Sliman cleared it and the Whitefish Bulldogs won it.

They’re for real

Rinehart sets records, Braves win title

Alivia Rinehart is for real and so are the Flathead Braves.

Wolfpack sweep the 3,200s

Sophomore Lauren Bissen and junior Owen Thiel both claimed 3,200 state titles Friday, during the first day of the State AA track and field championships at Legends Stadium.

A track: Wilmot cruises; C-Falls boys lead

Rachael Wilmot clocked Lane 7 and then kicked it in gear.

AA track: Hollensteiner blazes to 400 record

For those who hadn’t spent much time at Legends Stadium before Friday or otherwise seen Will Hollensteiner in person, the Flathead junior made it official: He can fly.

Heading for home

The two fastest seniors walking the halls of Flathead High School have a chance to end their prep careers in style, on a track located four blocks from campus.

Reid, between the lines

The core of Columbia Falls’ back-to-back state championship softball teams graduated or otherwise moved on, but here we are in late May and the Wildkats are still hitting.

There there was 1: Wildcats head to State baseball

The Class AA schools have crashed the party that is high school baseball in Montana, and the Northwest A felt the pinch.

Softball: Troy, Polson and Glacier aim to make statements

It’s a nice cross section of Northwest Montana that is headed to the state softball tournaments, from Columbia Falls to Polson and up to the corner for the Troy Lady Trojans.

Troy softball: Driven to new heights

The coach drives the bus, the third baseman throws lefthanded and the first baseman has only been hanging around the diamond for three seasons.

A breakaway roper and her horse

When her horse, Monty, reared back in the breakaway roping box and pinned Anna Tretter to the back wall, the needle swung to “big mistake.”

Why not Wilmot

There was a time when Whitefish burner Rachael Wilmot was a cross country runner, and her dad remembers it well.

Things continue looking up for Phelps

Jack Phelps’ time through the 200 meters at the Iceberg Invitational on April 17 was 22.57 seconds, which tells you that the Columbia Falls sprinter can fly.

Bravette backstop

Reese Conley leads Flathead at the plate, and behind it

Reese Conley hits at the top of the lineup for a team that made the last two State AA softball tournaments, but she and the Flathead Bravettes have a tougher road this year.

Legion: Experienced Loggers built better for 2025

There were way too many walks and errors and they added up in a 13-11 loss in their American Legion baseball opener. But in this version of the Libby Loggers, coach Kelly Morford found a lot to like.

Steady Influence: Cazz Rankosky leads Pack from behind plate

The dust was settling on Helena Capital’s 3-2 win over Glacier in the 2024 State AA softball championship last May, and DJ Rankosky found himself near the backstop, offering words of encouragement to his daughter Cazz.

Putting up zeroes

Glacier's Warriner leads sweep of Butte

Olivia Warriner threw 7 2-3 scoreless innings Tuesday, broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run single in the first game and helped Glacier sweep a home softball doubleheader from Butte, 6-4 and 5-0.

Olivia Squared

Gibbons, Warriner lead Pack to 15-1 Crosstown win

Down 1-0 out of the gate, the Glacier Wolfpack answered with their two Olivias — and those two did some serious damage on their home field.

Dogged Pursuit: Libby's Ryan Beagle chases another title

Ryan Beagle started his tennis career early, in that Libby coach Kyle Hannah dragged the 6-year-old out to the courts for a few summer volleys.

I am here not to bury Donovan

On Nov. 25, 1985 a youngish reporter, in his Monday duties writing about Griz football for the Montana Kaimin student newspaper, traipsed into Larry Donovan’s office.

Offenses highlight Maroon-Silver scrimmage

MISSOULA — The Montana Grizzlies’ annual spring game featured perfect weather, a respectable crowd and more than its usual amount of fireworks Friday.

Griz ready to wrap up spring drills

The final workout of Montana’s spring football drills is Friday evening, and takes the form of a scrimmage set inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 6 p.m.

AA Lakers start season Saturday

The Class AA Kalispell Lakers start their American Legion baseball season Saturday, and the games won’t be against some pushover.

Hurdler, he is

Glacier's Ethan Anderson has grown to love his signature events

The question for Ethan Anderson coming out of middle school was: Is he a hurdler, or isn’t he?

Is there an O-lineman in the house

Dillon Botner felt he had a good reason to step away from football after a senior season in which he made three starts on the offensive line: Med school.

Former Bravettes star Hildal dies in police shooting

The Flathead High School family received tragic news out of Ohio on Thursday that former basketball player Kesley Hildal died in a police shooting April 1.

Whitefish, Columbia Falls still powers in Northwest A track

Whitefish’s girls and boys track and field programs were second and third at the State A meet last year, and Columbia Falls’ boys were a narrow second to Corvallis.

Track and field: Building (to) Legends

Flathead, Glacier rebuild rosters

The Flathead and Glacier track teams have been salty of late, with Flathead’s boys taking second and Glacier’s fourth at last year’s State AA meet, and the Bravettes getting fourth on the girls side.

Columan: 'Only Game in Town' turns 20

This coming Sunday at Bozeman’s Historic Ellen Theatre, at 1:30 p.m. in its upstairs ballroom, Wally Kurth and Montana PBS will present a viewing of Class C: The Only Game in Town.

Prep tennis: Whitefish ready to battle tough Northwest A

Whitefish has proud tennis programs, with seven state titles for the boys and three for the girls, and the Bulldogs plan to cover all corners this spring.

Glacier’s Presley flips commitment to Montana State

Jackson Presley, the decorated Glacier High quarterback who will be a senior this fall, has flipped his college commitment from Boise State to Montana State.

2-time softball champion Wildkats reload

Columbia Falls went 25-4 last softball season, and four of the principals in the Wildkats’ heart-stopping repeat as Class A champs have departed: third sacker Haden Peters, pitcher Maddie Moultray, catcher Demye Rensel and coach Dave Kehr.

Column: Vegas lights and press box fights

The passing of Norm Clarke, the eye patch-wearing Terry native who spent a lifetime in newspapers, has brought a flood of eulogies and remembrances from across the state and country.

Rams overtake Ronan for third

BILLINGS — For two and a half quarters Ronan had the momentum Saturday night, in its rematch battle with Billings Central in the State A boys basketball consolation game.

Valkyries’ ride ends with loss to Havre

BILLINGS — The rematch with Havre didn’t go any better, but the Bigfork Valkyries still had quite a ride.

Lockwood holds off Browning in A semifinal

BILLINGS — The burst belonged to the Lockwood Lions Friday.

Ronan Chiefs stay alive at State A

BILLINGS — The Ronan Chiefs got Chad Higgins back, unleashed Wade Qualtier and lived to see another day at the State A boys basketball tournament at the First Interstate Arena Friday.

Vals stay alive; C-Falls' Kemppainen sets record

BILLINGS — The Bigfork Valkyries weren’t ready to go home, especially Braeden Gunlock.

Blue Ponies slow Bigfork girls offense at State A

BILLINGS — The Bigfork Valkyries’ hunt for a fourth straight trophy got a little tougher Thursday, thanks to another perennial power: The Havre Blue Ponies

Runnin' into the semis

Reevis, Browning heat up to beat Red Devils

BILLINGS — Browning grinded it out and got the burst; Ronan needed a couple more boards or fewer sailed passes.

Column: Missing out on magic of Divisionals

There are plenty of compelling reasons why there are no divisional basketball tournaments in Class AA. Dustyn Franchini-White, Avery Chouinard and I have our reasons why there should be.

Northwest teams to be tested in Billings

Three more days will decide our state basketball champions and over in Billings, the Class A is going to be a test for the Northwest entrants.

The unusual launch of an All-American

Hannah-Gray Petro’s journey to the University of Vermont was, more or less, launched from a trampoline.

Missoula's 3 AA schools adding flag football

The Kalispell flag football teams are getting new neighbors.

Dankers resigns as Glacier wrestling coach

Ross Dankers, the wrestling coach at Glacier High School the last 12 seasons, has resigned from that position, Glacier activities director Mark Dennehy announced Thursday.

Double-Koss'd: Siblings lead Lions, Lady Lions

It figured that the Eureka Lions boys basketball team, coming off an 18-6 season bolstered by seven seniors, would get younger.

Column: Fulfilling trip to Western B for Trojans

When Cody Orr was asked the last time the Troy boys basketball team made divisionals, he understandably hit a bit of a dead zone.

Ramey aims for success

Three years ago Reese Ramey was part of a youth movement in the Glacier girls basketball program, one of six freshmen on the Wolfpack’s junior varsity/varsity roster, with a few — Ramey, Charlotte Osler, and Kenedee Moore — getting quite a few varsity minutes.

Column: Painting a pretty volleyball picture

Jaimie Nelson might seem like an unlikely pick to be Glacier High’s next volleyball coach, in that it’s her first varsity coaching job at the age of 48.