SPORTS

Tuesday’s Regional Briefs

UGF signs Belt star

University of Great Falls volleyball coach Arunas Duda has announced the signing of Emily Stoker to the Lady Argonauts program.

Stoker was an All-State performer as well as an Academic All-State honoree while competing for the Belt High Huskies. Belt reached the Class C state tournament in 2014 and was the Class C state runner-up in 2013.

“We are extremely to add a local standout to our program for the fall of 2016,” Duda said. “Emily comes from a wonderful family, has had great coaching in both high school and club, and has many years of high level volleyball experience. She is an accomplished student-athlete and we look forward to Emily coming to campus next fall and competing with the Argos.”

Stoker was an All-Conference pick in 2013 and was a team captain as a senior. She was also the Montana State DECA champion in 2013-14 and competed at the National DECA competition.

Yeisley announces 10-man class

First-year University of Great Falls men’s soccer coach Joseph Yeisley has announced his initial recruiting class as practices begin this week at Siebel Soccer Park.

The 10-player recruiting class includes goalkeepers Tom Chesterman and Marc Girones, defenders Sam Howard, Cole Myers, Oskar Waldebrink and Edgar Ortiz, midfielders Luis Macias and Christian Esparza, and forwards Mohamed Oulare and Ian Ooko.

Chesterman, of York, England, comes to UGF from Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota, where he played two seasons for head coach Brady Eichhorn-Hicks in-between the pipes. Another goalkeeper, Girones, of Barcelona, arrives in Great Falls as an International recruit from Spain, where he grew up training in the academies and has competed against such clubs as Barcelona and Real Madrid.

From Rockville, Md., the forward Oulare competed at Montgomery Community College, where he played for head coach Pedro Braz for two seasons. During his time at Montgomery, Oulare helped lead his team to consecutive NJCAA National Tournament appearances and garnered multiple awards including making the NJCAA National Tournament Team. Oulare joins Ooko — they were teammates back in Maryland — as future Argonauts.

Howard, a defender, is from Victor Valley Community College in California, where he played for head coach Mike Bradbury for two seasons. During his time at Victory Valley, Howard won multiple awards including All-Conference and Team MVP.

Myers played as a center back for the Rustlers at C.M. Russell High and is expected to do the same for the Argos. He also competed for Montana United under former Argo head coach, Paul Zazenski.

Waldebrink is an international recruit from Sweden. He played center back for his club teams in Sweden and is expected to do the same for the Argos.

Ortiz, from Long Beach, Calif., played two seasons in the backline for head coach Jose Garcia at El Camino College-Compton Center, where he was an All-Conference performer at left back.

Esparza was teammates with Howard from Victor Valley Community College. He played two seasons in the midfield for head coach Mike Bradbury and also spent this last year as a student assistant coach for the program.

Macias, of Las Vegas, is from Canyon Springs High School and the Downtown Las Vegas soccer club. He was coached by Camilo Valencia in the club and had much success winning multiple tournaments.

Amateurs mount big lead at Montana Cup

BILLINGS – The amateurs got off to a fast start at Hilands Golf Club on Tuesday and never looked back as Day 1 of the Montana Cup concluded.

The annual tournament matches 12 of the top amateurs in the state — determined by their finish at the State Amateur — against 12 professionals who qualify through a season-long points system.

The amateurs, highlighted by the likes of Missoula’s Tom Swanson and Billings’ Brandon McIver, won the morning session, a two-man best ball competition, by a score of 10.5-7.5.

Three points are distributed for each match, including one point to the winner of the front nine, one to the winner of the back nine and an additional point to winner after 18 holes. If there is a tie, a half a point goes to each team.

Bill Dunn of Great Falls and McIver were the only amateur duo to take all three points in the morning round.

Swanson, the recent State Amateur champion, and Ryan Porch, the Idaho University golfer from Kalispell, took all three points in afternoon — chapman format — as the amateurs won that session 11.5-6.5 to take a commanding 22-14 advantage to the final day of competition.

Twelve singles matches will culminate the event on Wednesday.