SENTINEL WRESTLING 

On January 26, three Missoula High School wrestling teams went head to head to compete for the Garden City Duel trophy. The Spartans came out on top beating Big Sky and Hellgate, dominating both teams and winning by over 30 points for each match. 

 

  The Spartans hold the best record out of the three schools for the dual trophy with this being their 4th consecutive win and 18th win overall since their first win in 99. The final score was 57-15 against Big Sky and 54-15 against Hellgate.

 

SENTINEL BASKETBALL 

 

GIRLS RUNDOWN 

The Sentinel varsity girl’s basketball team went against the Butte Bulldogs on January 30th, shutting them out by winning with a lead of 14. Emily McElmurry led the Spartans in scoring with an impressive 21 points. The final score was 51-37. 

 

BOYS  RUNDOWN 

 

The Sentinel varsity boy’s team traveled to Butte for their game, but lost to the Bulldogs at the end by 8. Grady Walker was the Spartans’ scoring leader with 24 points. The final score was 54-62. 

The Spartan girls have been doing well, only losing 5 of the 12 games they have played. They are 3rd in class AA standing, trailing right behind Helena. The boys are having a good season so far by winning 7 of their last 13 games. As of right now, they are 5th in Class AA standings.  

MONTANA’S GATORADE  RUNNER OF THE YEAR

Bozeman Hawks cross country star Nathan Neil was chosen to be the Montana Gatorade Boys Cross Country runner of the year on January 26th. 

Neil was this cross-country season’s state champion, with a new personal record time of 14:45.47. Astoundingly, this time put him an entire 41.47 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. 

Neil continued his cross-country training into November by winning the Nike Cross Regionals in Idaho. He ran a time of 14.46.6, leading by 16 seconds and coming in at one second over his PR. Neil also broke the course record that was set last year, which was 14:51. 

 After winning the Cross Regionals, in December Neil was named an All-American in Oregon when he placed 3rd at the Nike Cross Nationals with a time of 15:18.6 (only 2.1 seconds behind the winner). Nike Cross Nationals is a national cross country meet that serves as the unofficial team national championship of United States high school cross country. 

Neil is an outstanding athlete who has become the 7th boy from Bozeman High to get the Montana Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award; he will continue to run at the University of Washington in the Fall of 2024.

 

LADY GRIZ BREAK 3-POINT RECORD 

On January 27, the Lady Griz set a new 3-point record against the Sacramento Hornets. The Griz took the Hornets to town, beating them by 27 points and making 19 3-pointers (which breaks the previous 2006 game record of 16 3-pointers). 

Graduate student Camron Gfeller opened the game up by dropping the first 2 points of the game; overall she scored 17 points  ( including two 3-pointers). Super Senior Maggie Espnmiller-McGraw was the highest scorer of the night with 19 points and five 3-pointers. Junior Dani Bartsch tied Espnmiller-McGraw with 5 3-pointers of her own (as well as putting 15 points up). 

This game was the Grizzlies first out of two N7 games. Montana teamed up with the Nike N7 Program to showcase the Native American people on whose traditional land the university resides. Their uniforms also change for the N7 games to a turquoise color instead of the regular maroon and white. Turquoise is a symbol of friendship and fellowship in Native American cultures. 

The Lady Griz stood out in their jerseys and left a statement on the court, breaking the almost two decades-standing record and keeping their winning streak. The final score of the game was 84-57.

 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SKIERS

On January 29, Rocky Mountain’s Battlin’ Bears ski racing team placed in the top ten at the Predator Cup at Red Lodge Mountain. They placed 6th in the men’s and women’s slalom after three days of racing. Leading the women to their victory was senior Hilde Sato, who had a time of 1:44.52 that earned her a second individual victory. Her first victory came on Friday with a time of 1:36.49. Coming right behind just a second later was senior Bergitte Varne with a time of 1:45.34. Coming in 3rd and having a time of 1:47.91 was sophomore Synne Kvinlong.

For the Men, their leader was freshman Felix Besser who earned his first-ever individual victory. He had a time of 1:31.53. Senior Gusten Berglund came right behind Besser to get second at 1:32.87, and Junior Zackary Bion trailed by a little over one second to take third place with a time of 1:33.27. 

The Battlin’ Bears will travel to Idaho’s Lookout Pass on February 10  to continue in the conference. They will return to Red Lodge on February 22 for the USCSA Western Regional Championship. 

 

MONTANA NATIVE OLYMPIC-BOUND

Shooting is not a sport you usually think of when you think of the Olympics, but if you’re Ivan Roe it’s all you’ve been thinking about. Ivan Roe is from Manhattan, Montana and qualified for the Men’s Air Rifle on January 7th after the third air gun trials in Anniston, Alabama.

Roe has been a part of a few different shooting sports teams. He first competed in the Championships of America  in 2022 where he won a gold medal and an Olympic quota for the U.S. Roe was also a part of the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation World Championship team. 

Not only is Roe going to the Olympics, he is also a sergeant for the U.S Army Markship Unit at Georgia’s Fort Moore. Roe will join returning qualifiers Mary Tucker, Sagen, Maddalena, Alexis Lagan, and Katelyn Ablen. You can watch Roe compete this summer in the 2024 Paris Olympic summer games.