FRITZ NEIGHBOR
SPORTS EDITOR
Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast.
IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together.
Recent Stories
Bennett gets 100th win at Glacier
A couple landmarks were reached Friday at Legends Stadium, where Glacier dispatched stubborn Missoula Big Sky 56-20 in Western AA football.
Unbeaten Glacier taking cautious approach to 1-1 Big Sky
Missoula Big Sky went 2-6 last football season, including a pair of lopsided losses to Glacier, and graduated dual-threat quarterback Colter Janacaro to the Montana Grizzlies.
The 500-times-2 club welcomes Polson’s Wilson
Polson coach Kaden Glinsmann has no intention of counting the numbers racked up — including four touchdown passes by Jarrett Wilson — in a 49-21 win over the Glacier junior varsity on Aug. 27.
Griz already cooking up front with Cook and Co.
The first thing to realize about the Montana Grizzlies’ 13-7 win at (then-No. 20) Washington Saturday is that they had to win the battle up front.
Raptors get out quick, cruise past Braves 49-7
Two weeks and two slow starts spelled out an 0-2 record for the Flathead Braves, who fell 49-7 to the talented Gallatin Raptors Friday in Class AA football at Legends Stadium.
Raptors in town for Flathead home opener
A tough beginning set up Flathead for the fall last week, but now the Braves get to play a football game at home, against a similarly young opponent.
Eureka, Bigfork reload in chase of Falcons
The Eureka Lions have been a power in the Western B and Class B football landscape for a while now, with three state championships in the last five years.
Whitefish boys, C-Falls girls sets sights high
Whitefish cross country coach Richard Menicke is well aware Hamilton returns just about everybody from its dominant 2020 State A boys’ championship team.
COLUMN: Highlighting a not very long ago era
It has been 20 years since the Montana Grizzlies won the Football Championship Subdivision title, and that’s a decent interval even if, at least for me, it has gone by in a blink.
Flathead girls strongest of local AA harriers
As the Class AA cross country season opens up — the Coaches Invitational will bring Flathead and Glacier to Missoula today — it still stands that perennial powers Missoula Hellgate and Bozeman have a few lengths on the competition.
Lions still roaring, but Viking boys could make noise
Eureka has the recent pedigree, with the last two State B cross country boys’ championships safely behind the trophy case at Lincoln County High School.
Pack shakes off rain delay, Panthers
It’s notable that the Glacier Wolfpack waited out a 44-minute weather delay Friday night, and still made short work of the Belgrade Panthers.
Wolfpack comes back more green than blue
A couple dozen seniors populate the Glacier Wolfpack football roster, including All-State running back Jake Rendina and honorable mention tight end Luke Bilau.
Braves’ big hopes rest on big numbers
Alex Cummings has rounded up a staff and nearly 80 football players ready to turn up the fortunes of Flathead football.
Class A: Columbia Falls may break through again
In an always-stacked Western A Division, it’s not often a Northwest team takes home the prize, but it just might happen in 2021.
COLUMN: Crosstown foes start football anew
There’s a new coach on one side of town, the dean of AA football coaches on the other, and Alex Cummings and Grady Bennett have something in common: They’re going to be starting a passel of sophomores.
COLUMN: 2021 Griz have a certain blue and green feel
Jackson Pepe may not have much game tape at the University of Montana yet — he got on the field in a playoff win over NE Louisiana in 2019 and didn’t record a stat — but he has highlights nonetheless.
Class A golf: Whitefish tees off today at Old Works
The Whitefish Bulldogs tee it off today at Old Works, setting a course they hope leads to another state championship.
It's official: Kalispell getting Pioneer League baseball team
The Pioneer League is officially coming to the Flathead Valley.
Glacier boys on course for another high finish
Western AA golf
Glacier kicker Rohrbach commits to Griz
Patrick Rohrbach maintains that years ago he told his parents, if he got football offers from Alabama and the Montana Grizzlies, he’d pick the Griz.
COLUMN: 18 years later, Rocksund hits from the tips
There was a time when Tait Rocksund was a three-sport high school athlete, which wouldn’t be unique if it wasn’t all at the same time.
COLUMN: A coaching legacy returns to his roots
As youth basketball camps go, last weekend’s inaugural Carroll College satellite camp was just what Kurt Paulson ordered: Not too big, close to home and the final one of summer.
Kernan, Lakers seek to build momentum at State AA
The mid-May return of first baseman Danny Kernan gave the Kalispell Lakers a little different kind of Super Senior, in that Kernan spent his year of college at no baseball-playing Montana State.
Twins down Mariners to claim West A District title
American Legion baseball
COLUMN: Slow start and a big finish, pitch by pitch
For Colten Boyle, 32 hours lasted forever and four years went by in a blink. The 2017 Flathead High graduate is a newly minted Scholastic All-American by National Collegiate Rugby, after his senior season at Wheeling (West Virginia) University.
PL president ‘very optimistic’ on Kalispell expansion club
What looked to be a fairly quick process for Kalispell getting the OK for a Pioneer League expansion team has dragged on some, but first-year league president Mike Shapiro remains confident.
Column: American success history
In a lifetime of following and reporting on sports, there have been a few regrets.
The Dogs of ‘91
A look back at Whitefish’s surprising run to a State A basketball championship
In late February of 1991, the Missoulian sent a young(ish) reporter to cover the Western A Divisional boys basketball tournament at Flathead High School.
Lakers’ Diede steady as state tourney nears
Ethan Diede has been a three-sport athlete most of his life, playing a little bit of varsity basketball and a lot of tight end and defensive end on Glacier’s football squad. But the diamond is where it’s at.
Whitefish’s Heavirland gets called to the Tokyo Olympics
The last time the U.S. Olympic women’s rugby 7s team had its jersey ceremony, in 2016, Nicole Heavirland didn’t hear her name called.
COLUMN: Kalispell’s Hanson becomes golfing marathon man
Marlin Hanson is capable of going low on a golf course — he shot 74 at Buffalo Hill Wednesday — but he has once again proven he can also go far.
On a talented Glacier squad, super senior Zach Veneman stands out
Kevin Slaybaugh has been around baseball a long time, and he’s surrounded by like-minded players and coaches with the Glacier Twins.
Pioneer League baseball on way to Kalispell
Newly a MLB “partner league,” it appears the Pioneer League has found a new partner: professional baseball could be coming to Kalispell in 2022.
COLUMN: Quiet run of Black and Blue success
Ahead of a Thursday flight out of Glacier Park Airport, Lance Heavirland took stock of the past high school rugby season and noted the seniors, together for six or seven years, had been really good.
Fairways and greens for Ezra Epperly
It figured that with more court time, dunks and blocked shots on his resume that 6-foot-9 Ezra Epperly might land a college scholarship, and that’s what happened.
COLUMN: Familiar name suiting up for Shrine Game
Ryker McElmurry has a familiar last name around these parts, and if the 185-pounder happened to be born in Reno, he also happens to be former NFLer Blaine McElmurry’s second cousin and is Lincoln County through and through.
COLUMN: A fortunate career by any other name
The first thing you need to know about Lucky Larson is that yes, Lucky is his given name — or one of them.
Twins trying to hit stride as season heats up
The Glacier Twins figured on another very solid American Legion baseball season, and as they head into today’s doubleheader with the Bitterroot Bucs, well, 17-7 ain’t too bad.
Boschee retires as track coach after 20 years at Glacier, Flathead
With about three weeks left in the season, Jerry Boschee turned the corner on a decision he’d been mulling since the start of the 2021 high school track: It was time to hang up the stopwatch.
AA Lakers cruising into league play 18-3
An 18-3 record has the Kalispell Lakers AA feeling good about their American Legion season, but coach Ryan Malmin feels their best baseball is still ahead.
Brisendine’s triple jump bumps her into scholarship
A career day meant everything for Glacier product Taylor Brisendine, who took off at the MCPS Stadium triple jump pit on May 29 and landed on a scholarship to Montana State University.
COLUMN: Weekend deals more memories than celebration
Memorial Day weekend is, as the name suggests, a time for remembrance and, one also supposes, celebration.
Glacier bows out, Belgrade in driver’s seat
The Glacier Wolfpack exited the State AA softball tournament at KidSports Saturday, losing 6-0 to Missoula Sentinel in the last game of a blustery, cool day.
Wolfpack, Western AA falter on windy, record day
The wind blew, records were set, the Eastern AA completed a first-day sweep.
State track: Whitefish girls favored, but Columbia Falls not far behind
The weather should be excellent, and so should the times at this weekend’s state track and field championships, split between Missoula and Laurel.
Leadoff hitter Vanorny sets table for Wolfpack
Credit an older sister, a teammate’s dad and a lineup bursting with big hitters for Kenna Vanorny’s status as a consummate leadoff hitter.
Familiar faces await Glacier at State AA softball
Same story, different year for the Glacier Wolfpack softball squad, which will also be hoping for a different ending: The squad begins its State AA softball tournament against Billings Senior once again.
COLUMN: In Polson, It’s not Field 1 anymore
The last time I’d spoken with Larry Smith, it was 2005 and his Polson softball team was surprisingly bowing out of the State A tournament.
Glacier lacrosse club ends up 2nd in state
A trip to Lockwood had Glacier’s lacrosse team playing on Sunday, and though the state championship game didn’t go its way, the Flathead Valley squad was pretty satisfied.