Sports Archive

August 2008

Sports Whit

Story by Whitney Bermes. Aug. 28, 2008
Montana Kaimin

As a wide-eyed fourth grader on a Sunday afternoon, I was determined to find myself a football team. All my friends were fans. The Steelers. The Cowboys. The Broncos.
I flipped on the TV. And there he was, in all his green and gold glory. Brett Favre. Hooked from the second I laid eyes on him, it was love at first sight.
OK, well it wasn’t quite that romantic. But I have loved the Packers since I was a kid, Brett Favre being the biggest contributing factor to my fandom.
To the chagrin of Packer nation, Broadway Brett put on his big city boots and got the hell out of blue collar Wisconsin this summer after a highly publicized back and forth with the Packers.

Story by Roman Stubbs, Aug. 28, 2008

In the summer of 2006, Portland State hired Steve Ascher to rebuild its tennis program, which had been eliminated in 2002 due to budget restrictions. For a year, Ascher recruited and built community ties to the program, and by 2007, the Vikings’ program was officially a member of the Big Sky Conference, in which it won a combined 11 matches.
Now Ascher will be competing against the program he built, as he was named the Montana women’s tennis coach in June after two-year coach Jen Anderson resigned for personal reasons.
“The resources that Montana brings to the table are phenomenal,” Ascher said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Wednesday was officially Ascher’s first day as the women’s coach, and he will spend most of the next few days meeting and getting acquainted with his players and staff. Next week will mark the beginning of fall practice, where Ascher will start to implement his system.

Story by Roman Stubbs, Aug. 28, 2008

As Montana football coach Bobby Hauck reflected on practice Monday, disappointment lingered in his voice after directing a three-hour session in the soggy August air.
“You know what, it looked like it was the first day of school, and we looked kind of lethargic to tell you the truth. It wasn’t quite enough today,” he said.
Brutal honesty, yes. But also a sign that amid losing nine defensive starters, two NFL draft picks and an entire kicking game, the expectations for Montana football have gone nowhere.
Even more compelling about fall camp is the progressive breath of fresh air for Hauck and his club after a tumultuous 2007 season. This time last year, there were smoky practice conditions, both physically and emotionally. The program faced heat from start to finish, from an impending murder trial to a shocking playoff loss to Wofford

Story by Roman Stubbs | August 27, 2008

The Montana Cross Country teams ushered in a new era last weekend at its season opening camp at Lubrecht Forest east of Missoula.

Courtney Babcock was there as the team’s new coach after Tom Raunig resigned last spring after 12 seasons.

“It’s a huge task,” Babcock said. “He has a great legacy. But I think it’s an exciting challenge.”

Story by Whitney Bermes | August 27, 2008

And all of this comes with picturesque views of Hellgate Canyon, the Clark Fork River and the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area.

As the University of Montana football season quickly approaches, a more than year-long dream is tantalizingly close to becoming a reality as construction workers put the

Story by Roman Stubbs

The Montana Cross Country teams ushered in a new era last weekend at its season opening camp at Lubrecht Forest east of Missoula.
Courtney Babcock was there as the team’s new coach after Tom Raunig resigned last spring after 12 seasons.
“It’s a huge task,” Babcock said. “He has a great legacy. But I think it’s an exciting challenge.”
Montana scrambled to find a coach all summer and finally landed Babcock in August. The Ontario native has no coaching experience, but brings impressive running credentials to the program. She starred at the University of Michigan in the mid-’90s and was part of a national championship distance medley relay team during the 1994 indoor season.

Story by Whitney Bermes

One step out onto the Hellgate Terrace and it’s easy to imagine - Grizzly fans of all ages bundled head to toe in maroon and silver, whipping winds adding an extra bite to the air, and drinks shared among friends while waiting for kickoff.
And all of this comes with picturesque views of Hellgate Canyon, the Clark Fork River and the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area.
As the University of Montana football season quickly approaches, a more than year-long dream is tantalizingly close to becoming a reality as construction workers put the finishing touches on a 2,000-seat expansion on the east side of Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
“People absolutely love it,” said UM Director of Athletics Jim O’Day.

Story by Roman Stubbs | August 26, 2008

While off-season questions have loomed over the Montana football program after graduating 22 seniors, the Grizzlies left no doubt of their big play ability last Saturday in their first scrimmage of fall camp at the Riverbowl field.
Junior wide receiver Marc Mariani provided fireworks in the early stages, following a convoy of blockers on a 93-yard kickoff return for the scrimmage’s first touchdown.

Story by Colter Nuanez | August 26, 2008

A roster full of experienced upper classmen would be a welcome commodity for any coach. But according to Montana Grizzly volleyball coach Jerry Wagner, it is by no means a necessity.
“Every team can be special, no matter if they are old and experienced or young and fresh,” Wagner said. “We worked so hard in the off season, I feel like our girls know what to expect and I think we can achieve any goal we set.”

Story by Colter Nuanez

Montana soccer coach Neil Sedgwick’s off-season was filled with numbers.
Numbers like three, 10, and eight; the numbers of wins and goals, and the conference finish by Montana last year.

Story by Whitney Bermes | April 25, 2008

The University of Montana tennis teams get to escape the cold and unpredictable Montana weather to pursue a conference championship in the warm California sun.

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams begin post-season play today at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Gold River, Calif.

The sixth-ranked men’s team faces off against No. 3 Weber State, while the No. 4 women play fifth-ranked Eastern Washington. Both matches start at 11 a.m. .

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 25, 2008

After spending the past two weekends on the road, Montana track and field will return home Saturday to host the Montana Open at Dornblaser Field.

Meanwhile, 12 athletes from the squad will be competing in the Midwest this weekend, with 11 athletes continuing the four-day Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, this morning. Senior Curtis Bean didn’t qualify for the Drake event, but will compete in the Simpson Open in Indianola, Iowa, today, then at the Nebraska Open in Lincoln on Sunday.

All in all, the mid-season slate is full for Tom Raunig’s team, where he hopes that cooperative weather can help boost more athletes into Big Sky qualifying times.

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 24, 2008

Rugby clubs from near and far away lands will descend on Missoula this weekend to bang heads on the pitch, all the while continuing a 30-year old party.

The Missoula Maggots rugby club will host the 32nd annual Maggotfest this weekend at the Missoula Fairgrounds, and, in doing so, will fashion in yet another year of one of Missoula’s renown social events, a festivity that cannot be described in words according to Maggots captain Pat Ryerson.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 24, 2008

Wood chips will fly, sawdust will fill the air and logs will roll when the University of Montana Woodsmen Team hosts the Association of Western Forestry Clubs Conclave this week at Fort Missoula.

The regional competition for western forestry clubs began Wednesday and continues through Saturday.

Teams from each school will compete in a variety of events such as pole climbing, crosscut sawing, logrolling, chopping and axe throwing.

Story by Bill Oram | April 23, 2008

Muckie Foreman’s final semester schedule as a student at the University of Montana is an enviable one.

He’s enrolled in a diction class, social classical theory, billiards and dodgeball.

But when the former Griz linebacker wraps up each of his school days, he heads over to the football offices in the Adams Center. It’s been 153 days since his playing career ended in a November upset at the hands of the Wofford Terriers in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. But he now embraces a new role within the football program: coach.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 18, 2008

The University of Montana tennis teams will close out the Big Sky Conference regular season this weekend.

The men’s team, currently in the sixth and final playoff spot, wrap up the season by hosting three conference opponents.

The Grizzlies open the weekend against Montana State at 1 p.m. Friday, a match scheduled to be played outside at the Lindsay Tennis Center on campus.

Story by Bill Oram | April 18, 2008

Members of The University of Montana track teams will head to Spokane this weekend to participate in the Duane Hartman Invitational. Well, some of them will.

The meet won’t be scored for teams, and the weather is expected to be predictably unpredictable, so many of the Grizzlies’ top men and women will be staying home for the weekend.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 17, 2008

It is like watching a friend suffer through his or her first breakup.

Sure, maybe the writing has been on the wall for months, and maybe in the end it is best for both involved to go out and see other people. But it hurts, even from afar, to witness the pain of lost love.

Anyone who has experienced heartbreak can empathize with the basketball fans of Seattle.

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 17, 2008

Laura Cote inside Dahlberg Arena was lightning in a bottle, a player defined by her endless energy and smile. She perhaps will be best remembered for everything the box score couldn’t count; the floor burns, the fist pumps, the heart.

So it was no surprise to see a kindred spirit on display Wednesday night at Playfair Park, as Cote transplanted her athletic prowess from the hardwood to her new challenge – learning how to play Ultimate. She was a human grass stain on a windy night, diving and falling all over the field, and even though she slapped the ground when she failed to score a goal early in the contest, Cote cracked a smile shortly thereafter, shedding light on her modest try at a new sport.

Story by Amber Kuehn | April 17, 2008

With the Big Sky golf championship on the horizon, Kaimin sports editor Amber Kuehn chatted with Leslie Spalding, former LPGA golfer and Montana native. Spalding spoke about her first season as head golf coach at Montana State and her experiences as a golfer.

Kuehn: First of all, tell me about how your first season as coach at MSU has been?

Story by Jake Grilley | April 16, 2008

The University of Montana club baseball team doesn’t seek the limelight. Many people on campus don’t even know UM has a baseball team. And that’s OK with them; they don’t do it for the recognition.

“Baseball is a game, and if you love the game you play it anytime you can,” said senior first baseman Match Elliott. It is great to be able to continue playing even without the credit, he said. “To have teachers look at you and say ‘Baseball? We don’t have a baseball team.’”

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 15, 2008

A Missoula-area foundation made a historical contribution to the UM Athletic Department late last week, and in return will have its name etched into Washington-Grizzly Stadium for years to come.

In an announcement that came Friday, the Feist Family Foundation agreed to donate $1 million to the University of Montana Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, which will be contributed over a ten-year period. UM will honor the gift by naming the current Eastside Expansion Project at Washington-Grizzly Stadium the Majestic Plaza. The Feist family owns Sheehan Majestic, a wholesale food chain in the Northwest region.

Story by Ben Prez | April 15, 2008

Early struggles in doubles competition proved to be too much to overcome for the University of Montana women’s tennis team Sunday.

Despite a pristine blue sky and the warmest weather so far this season, the Griz lost to Montana State 5-2 at the Lindsay Tennis Center.

The UM women’s tennis action over the weekend featured a split, as the team beat Eastern Washington University 5-2 on Saturday, before falling to the rival Bobcats on Sunday. Montana now owns a 3-3 record in Big Sky Conference competition.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 11, 2008

The University of Montana track and field teams begin the second portion of the Pelluer Invitational Friday at Woodward Field in Cheney, Wash.

The two-day meet began Thursday with the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon.

Competing for the Grizzlies in the decathlon were sophomore Chris Hicks and freshmen Clark Cranford and Christian Segota. Senior Baily Cox, junior Amber Aikins and sophomore Megan Betz competed in the women’s heptathlon.

Story by Bill Oram | April 11, 2008

With sights set on berths in the postseason, the University of Montana men’s and women’s tennis teams will look to improve their Big Sky Conference standings in matchups this weekend.

The top six teams, for both the men and women, earn tickets to the conference playoffs, which start later this month.

The sixth-place men (5-5, 1-2 BSC) will play at Weber State on Friday and at Idaho State on Saturday.

Story by Ben Prez | April 10, 2008

The University of Montana golf team will come back from Arizona knowing a lot about the future.

The Griz will know where they stand against the rest of the Big Sky Conference, and they’ll know the ins and outs of the same course used for the Big Sky Championship.

After an eighth-place finish out of 16 teams in the Wyoming Invitational on Tuesday in Chandler, Ariz., the team is set to take part in the 18-hole Big Sky preview tournament Thursday in Phoenix at the Foothills Golf Club.

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 10, 2008

When the fluorescent lights come on early in the morning at the Montana State Prison, Shane Savage’s eyes open. He’s returned from a place deep inside his mind where he can go to get away every night, away from the reality of his convict existence. So he puts on his khaki jumpsuit and continues on to the life he has forged for himself.

Just like the thousands of mornings before, he knows what he has to do to survive a day in the belly of the beast. He’s gotten used to his job in the laundry room, where he gets 45 cents an hour for folding tans for new inmates and blues for faculty. He vents his aggression in the weight room twice a day, and lately he’s been playing mid-morning soccer in the yard. Just before noon, he helps out in his neighborhood on the high side of the compound, getting mop buckets out and swamping the floors outside the cells.

Story by Whitney Bermes | April 9, 2008

Brooke Andrus sits in a high school gymnasium, camera at the ready.

She watches the freshman basketball team bumble through the first game. She catches all the action, no matter how messy.
Junior varsity’s turn. She stays, still snapping photo after photo.

Time goes by. One hour, then two. A third passes.

Story by Ben Prez | April 8, 2008

The University of Montana men’s lacrosse team managed to squash several runs by the opposition and overcome a rash of penalties as it defeated the University of Idaho 16-9 Sunday.

A smattering of Montana fans made their way out to Riverbowl Field on the UM campus and looked on as the Grizzlies potent and balanced offense struggled at first, then figured out the Idaho zone defense in time to earn the victory and the chance to control their own destiny as the playoffs loom.

With just one more league game remaining, UM can now seal a playoff spot with a win against Boise State when the Broncos come to town on April 19.

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 8, 2008

As snow fell on the first outdoor meet of the year, two weeks after their coach announced his pending retirement, potential distractions surrounded the Montana track and field teams last weekend.

Instead it was all business, as both the men’s and women’s squads heated up the rubber at Dornblaser Field to open the outdoor season in fine fashion.

Headlined by Curtis Bean’s Midwest Region Championship qualifier in the hammer throw and a decisive win in the women’s 1600-meter relay, Montana’s outdoor track and field teams had 20 Big Sky Conference qualifiers and 16 individual winners at the Al Manuel Invitational.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 8, 2008

Laura Wold, team captain of the University of Montana’s women’s club ice hockey team, thinks people underestimate the toughness of women hockey players.

Late in the second period of Saturday night’s game against the Helena Icepack at Glacier Ice Rink, Wold and teammate Anne Ferry made it clear to the 50-some fans in attendance that the bare-knuckle, gap-toothed toughness of hockey isn’t reserved exclusively for men.

A scuffle involving shoving and jostling of sticks quickly escalated into an all-out fists of fury hockey fight. The referees had to physically intervene and separate the players. Each of the four players involved – Wold, Ferry and two members of the Helena team – was ejected from the contest.

Story by Ben Prez | April 4, 2008

The University of Montana track and field teams are looking to improve after a strong indoor season, and this weekend they will have the chance to continue their success, with hopes of cooperative weather.

The Grizzlies will take on Montana State, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and a smattering of athletes from Carroll College and MSU-Billings for their first meet of the outdoor season as they host the Al Manuel Invitational Friday and Saturday at Dornblaser Field in Missoula.

Story by Ben Prez | April 4, 2008

Tom Raunig is a very busy man. He’s been so busy during the past decade or so that something very important has gone unused.

Last week Raunig announced his retirement from coaching track and field and cross country at the University of Montana in order to put his doctorate to use and pursue a teaching position at the University of Great Falls. The 2007-08 season marks his 12th at the helm.

“I got to the point where I wanted to get out of coaching,” Raunig said. “I’ve had (my doctorate) for 13 years so I finally want to use this thing.”

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 4, 2008

UM’s two rugby squads open their most important month of the year this weekend at the tradition-laden Fools Fest in Spokane.

With a busy April slate in front of them, including the heralded Maggotfest at the end of the month, the Jesters and Betterside clubs will try to dust off some early spring cobwebs starting Saturday morning at the Spokane Polo Grounds.

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 3, 2008

In 1998, Vanessa Nygaard’s basketball career had exhumed the death rattle.

The former Stanford star tore her knee up in the final regular season game of that season, then could only watch as her team became the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No.16 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She was the second-to-last pick in the 1998 WNBA draft, missed her rookie year in New York and was riddled with a shady experience with her agent.

Story by Jake Grilley | April 3, 2008

The University of Montana men’s and women’s tennis teams are heading to the Grand Canyon state this weekend, one of the few weekends this season the two teams will travel together.

The women’s team kicks off the weekend against conference foe Northern Arizona at 11 a.m. Friday. The men’s team faces the Lumberjacks following the women’s match at 3 p.m.

Story by Amber Kuehn | April 2, 2008

Seven trophies sit in a single case, far from the six football cases that line the Hall of Champions in the Adams Center.

Written on the glass is every year from 1966 to 1974, signifying nine men’s conference swimming titles that are long forgotten, lost in the shadows of 10 consecutive Big Sky Championships garnered by Grizzly gridiron greats. Photos of swim teams from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s grace the maroon background. Headlines read “Bruins” rather than “Grizzlies” because that’s what the mascot for the swim team was back then. Articles are posted about a varsity sport that no longer exists at the University of Montana.

Story by Ben Prez | March 21, 2008

As a battle in Oregon looms on the horizon, the University of Montana golf team is beginning to find their swagger at just the right time.

With just a little over a month until the Big Sky Conference Championship, the UM golfers are heading to Junction City, Ore. for the Duck Invitational on March 24 and 25.

Since their ninth place finish in Arizona in early March, the team has been practicing outside, rain or shine.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 21, 2008

The University of Montana men’s tennis team has lost just once this season and is perfect against Big Sky Conference opponents.

But then again, Montana has only played four matches this season. Most of the other teams in the Big Sky have played 10, and some have played upwards of 15.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 20, 2008

If the University of Montana men’s basketball team hopes to improve next season from this year’s fourth-place Big Sky Conference finish, it will have to do it without one of its key players.

Guard Cameron Rundles, the 2007 Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, has asked to be released from his scholarship, head coach Wayne Tinkle announced Tuesday in a press release.

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 20, 2008

For the first time since 2005, the Lady Griz are going dancing. And this time, with their first round partner the same as in their last do-se-do, they hope they can swing a different result.

Ironically, in their return trip to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in Albuquerque, N.M., the Lady Griz will face off against Vanderbilt (23-8), the same South Eastern Conference (SEC) power who drilled them three years ago in first-round action in Seattle.

Story by Kaimin Sports | March 20, 2008

Lady Griz head coach Robin Selvig was named Big Sky Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year for the 12th time since the Big Sky started sponsoring women’s sports in 1988.
He has now received Coach of the Year honors 17 times, including five times when Montana was in the Mountain West Conference.

The Lady Griz garnered a 25-6 overall record this season in Selvig’s 30th year at the helm. Montana captured the Big Sky crown and punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Selvig has coached the Lady Griz to 21 national tournament appearances, 16 NCAA Tournaments and 21 regular-season conference titles. He has a 697-198 record to go with a .779 win percentage at UM, ranking among the top 10 winningest active Division I women’s basketball coaches.

Story by Amber Kuehn | March 20, 2008

This week, sports editor Amber Kuehn spoke with Laura Walden, the media relations director for the Back Softball Campaign. Back Softball is working to get softball reinstated as an official Olympic sport. It was part of the Games in 1996 and 2000, but was recently removed from the 2012 and 2016 programs by the International Olympic Committee.

Story by Kaimin Sports | March 19, 2008

Portland State head coach Ken Bone was named the 2007-08 Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

Bone, 49, is in his third season with the Vikings. He just led them to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after the Vikings defeated Northern Arizona 67-51 last week to capture their first Big Sky Championship.

The selection committee for the award is made up of the Big Sky’s nine head coaches. It is the first time a Portland State men’s basketball coach has won Coach of the Year.

Story by Bill Oram | March 19, 2008

Bring on Jeannette “The Black Widow” Lee. Hell, bring on Minnesota Fats, for all I care.

I’m pumped. I’m stoked. Yesterday I dominated the best female billiards player on the University of Montana campus in a game of 8-ball.

OK, “dominated” may be a bit strong. So may “edged,” even. But thanks to some generous ball-spotting by my opponent and the pool version of a mulligan – a pooligan, perhaps – I was victorious.

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 18, 2008

Montana’s final home game of the season couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Led by electrifying offense and the sensational play of their hobbled star, the Montana Lady Griz punched their ticket to the Big Dance Saturday night with a convincing 101-65 win over Montana State before 5,016 peoples at Dahlberg Arena.

After defeating powerful Portland State Friday evening, Saturday night’s performance was an exclamation point to a perfect 17-0 season at home for the Lady Griz, who will make their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Montana was beaten in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals on its home floor last year after winning the regular season title.

Story by Ben Prez | March 18, 2008

The room was packed. The members of the University of Montana women’s basketball team sat around a rectangular table joking with each other, but taking glances at the TV screens that lined the walls of the Paradise Falls restaurant on Missoula’s south side.

Monday evening, the Lady Griz fresh off a Big Sky Conference Championship victory, gathered with friends and members of the media for the selection show and learned their destiny. In the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament, the Lady Griz will be playing Vanderbilt at the famed Pit (Bob King Court) in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 22.

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 14, 2008

For the first time since 2004, the Montana State Bobcats are advancing in the Big Sky Tournament.

Seniors Rebecca Mercer and Krislyn Wallace both scored 19 points, and freshman Sarah Strand added 13 as Montana State defeated Northern Arizona 84-78 in a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena.

Montana State will now face Idaho State in the tourney semifinals tonight.

Story by Bill Oram | March 14, 2008

The Portland State Vikings thought beating the Lady Griz was so nice, they’re going to try to do it twice.

The semi-final matchups were set Thursday night at the Big Sky Conference tournament in Dahlberg Arena, and the University of Montana women’s basketball team will be paired up against Portland State, which knocked off the Lady Griz in Portland last weekend.

Clare Faucher recorded her second consecutive triple-double Thursday as the fourth-seeded Vikings poured it on in the second half to win 82-69, ending the fifth-seeded Northern Colorado’s season.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 14, 2008

The University of Montana men’s and women’s tennis teams are both on the road this weekend. Each squad is looking to build some momentum to carry them into the bulk of their Big Sky Conference schedule, which begins next week.

The men’s team plays Air Force at 1:30 p.m. today in the first of a dual match. The Grizzlies play Dayton at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The men’s team is 1-1 so far this season splitting its season opener with a loss against Portland and a win against conference opponent Portland State Feb. 22 and 23.

Story by Ben Prez | March 13, 2008

All the ingredients are there: pressure, drama, rivalry, intensity and possibly even revenge.

From the top-seeded Lady Griz squad looking to avenge last year’s disappointing postseason, to the thorn in their side – Portland State – to tough heavyweights Montana State and Idaho State. Storylines abound, and the pot is ready to be stirred.

Story by Amber Kuehn | March 13, 2008

Sports editor Amber Kuehn spoke with Idaho State center Natalie Doma about her stellar senior season, the upcoming tournament and life after basketball. Doma was named the Big Sky Conference MVP earlier this week.

Kuehn: You’ve had an incredible year. Tell me what it’s been like for you.

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 12, 2008

As Lady Griz head coach Robin Selvig demands offensive balance in Tuesday morning’s scrimmage, junior guard Mandy Morales can’t be the one to give it to him.

A freshly sprained ankle suffered Saturday night in Portland has her lounging in the south end seating, her toes taped and her ankle suspended on a chair, heavily wrapped in ice.

“The story of my life,” said a half-smiling Morales.

Story by Bill Oram | March 11, 2008

For many in Missoula, with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s, Monday represented the beginnings of spring.

However, in the late afternoon, Washington-Grizzly Stadium had more of an autumn atmosphere. There, members of the University of Montana football team, clad in shorts, officially gathered for the first time in 127 days. That was when Wofford eliminated the then-undefeated Griz from the playoffs, and Washington-Grizzly was an icebox.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 11, 2008

The University of Montana men’s basketball team’s season ended on the same note as so many of its games along the way – just out of reach.

The Grizzlies came up short against Idaho State 67-65 in the Big Sky Conference quarterfinals Saturday night.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 7, 2008

The University of Montana women’s tennis team is competing in Logan, Utah today, the team’s second non-conference dual match of the season. The Griz face Utah State at 1 p.m. today and the University of Utah at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Junior Liz Walker said these non-conference matches are important because the team can experiment with things it otherwise would be hesitant to try against a conference opponent.

Story by Ben Prez | March 6, 2008

The Lady Griz can slam the door on the rest of the Big Sky Conference with a win tonight.

With just two games remaining on the regular-season schedule, Montana (22-5, 12-2 BSC) can clinch an outright Big Sky title and gain the rights to host the postseason tournament if the Lady Griz beat the Eagles (4-23, 1-13 BSC) tonight at 8 in Cheney, Wash.

Story by Bill Oram | March 6, 2008

Montana’s Andrew Strait was named Wednesday, for the second time in his career, to the All-Big Sky Conference first team.

Strait, a 6-foot-9, 280-pound senior forward from Yakima, Wash., averaged 14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in conference play to lead the University of Montana men’s basketball team to an 8-8 league record and the fifth seed in the conference tournament.

Story by Bill Oram | March 6, 2008

The path the University of Montana men’s basketball team followed to reach the postseason was anything but a direct one.

Tabbed by the media as the preseason favorites, the Grizzlies started the Big Sky Conference season in a 1-4 funk before ripping off wins in five of their next six games. The Griz finished the season 8-8 in the league.

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 6, 2008

For the first time in her life, Dvera Tolbert’s big play ability is being illuminated by the little things. The way she comes off a pick on a flex cut. The way she manipulates a box out on a missed foul shot. The way she goes up and under, always trying to get the bucket and the foul. The little things.

But Dvera Tolbert’s freshman season has been anything but little. It has been a year of colossal proportions for the people of Hardin and Crow Agency, but not only because one of their daughters is playing on a full ride, within her. It’s because of what she has played without.

Story by Jake Grilley | March 5, 2008

Andrew Strait is a basketball player, always

Sports Archive

August 2008

Story by Whitney Bermes. Aug. 28, 2008 Montana Kaimin

Story by Roman Stubbs, Aug. 28, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs, Aug. 28, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | August 27, 2008

Story by Whitney Bermes | August 27, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs

Story by Whitney Bermes

Story by Roman Stubbs | August 26, 2008

Story by Colter Nuanez | August 26, 2008

Story by Colter Nuanez

Story by Whitney Bermes | April 25, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 25, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 24, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 24, 2008

Story by Bill Oram | April 23, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 18, 2008

Story by Bill Oram | April 18, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 17, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 17, 2008

Story by Amber Kuehn | April 17, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 16, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 15, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | April 15, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 11, 2008

Story by Bill Oram | April 11, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | April 10, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 10, 2008

Story by Whitney Bermes | April 9, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | April 8, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 8, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 8, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | April 4, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | April 4, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 4, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | April 3, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | April 3, 2008

Story by Amber Kuehn | April 2, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | March 21, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | March 21, 2008

Story by Jake Grilley | March 20, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 20, 2008

Story by Kaimin Sports | March 20, 2008

Story by Amber Kuehn | March 20, 2008

Story by Kaimin Sports | March 19, 2008

Story by Bill Oram | March 19, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 18, 2008

Story by Ben Prez | March 18, 2008

Story by Roman Stubbs | March 14, 2008

Story by Bill Oram | March 14, 2008

Story by Whitney Bermes. Aug. 28, 2008
Montana Kaimin