Tuesday’s Regional Briefs: GFH’s track coach Dan Brady steps down

Brady steps down as GFH’s track coach

Great Falls High head track and field coach Dan Brady has resigned from his position, according to a release sent out by the Great Falls Public Schools on Tuesday.

He was the head coach on the boys’ side for 16 years, and mentored both squads for the last six. Brady was also an assistant coach (sprints/hurdles) at C.M. Russell High from 1993-2000.

Brady’s son, Keaton, a pole vaulter at Carroll College, just completed his freshman year with the Saints.

“I want to spend more time with my family,” Brady said. “I want to have the ability to watch Keaton pole vault next year.”

The Bison boys’ team totaled 18 points, good for a ninth place at last week’s State AA Track Meet in Kalispell, while the girls’ squad, behind two state titles from Morgan Evans, claimed eighth with 34.5.

Evans broke the school record in the 300 hurdles en route to a state title, running the race in 43.79 seconds, topping Kris Schmitt’s old mark, set at 43.97 seconds back in 1985. Parker Sanford, Hannah Collins, Gabby Fought and Evans also established a new standard in the 400-meter relay, which they finished in third. The group rounded the track in 48.89 seconds, eclipsing the previous time of 49.08, set back in 1981.

The GFH boys haven’t won a state title since 1990, while the girls last triumphed in 1985.

Those interested in the position can contact the athletic office at 268-6082 or complete an application on the district website at http://www.applitrack.com/greatfalls/onlineapp/

UGF adds lacrosse recruit

The University of Great Falls men’s lacrosse team has signed 2017 recruit Tommy West.

From Huntington Beach, Calif., the 6-foot-4, 190-pound high school junior has been playing lacrosse since the seventh grade and, in his first game with Edison High School this season, West helped limit the league’s leading scorer to one goal and zero assists, earning him MAX LAX OC’s Defensive Player of the Week. His team finished the 2016 season ranked 20th out of 43 teams in the OC US Lax Coaches Poll.

West spent his childhood in Kalispell.

“The main reasons I picked the University of Great Falls is because I did grow up in Kalispell and I absolutely love it out there,” West said. “The coach for UGF is a great guy, and the career I’m pursuing is out in that region.”

Ryan, Noctor earn academic awards

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that 147 men’s golf student-athletes have been named 2016 Daktronics-NAIA Men’s Golf Scholar-Athletes. Campbellsville (Ky.) led all institutions with six individuals on the list. Montana Tech placed two on the list.

Senior Sean Ryan and junior Cole Noctor were the Orediggers that made the grade. This is Ryan’s second time receiving the scholar athlete award.

In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved junior academic status.

UGF track athletes honored

The men’s and women’s University of Great Falls track teams each placed five members on the the Daktronics-NAIA Indoor & Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete list.

Student-athletes of at least junior standing with a 3.5 grade point average or higher are eligible.

Two of the five Lady Argo Scholar-Athletes were 2016 national qualifiers and all five are seniors. The national qualifiers were senior throwers Taylor Statton and Ashley Thoeny. Both Statton and Thoeny held UGF school records during their time as Lady Argos, and Statton still holds the school record in the javelin. The other three female Scholar-Athletes are Annamaria Aguilino, Nicole Brist and Erin Langdon.

While the women’s honorees were all seniors, four of the five males to be named Scholar-Athletes were juniors. Jace Kalbfleisch, Caydon Keller, Marc Klimas, and Matt Robb will return to UGF next season, while Kristian Slater is the one Argo senior to be named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Lewis named head volleyball coach at Western

Brent Lewis has been named University of Montana Western head volleyball coach, Athletic Director Russ Richardson announced Tuesday.

Lewis, whose hire will need approval from the Montana Board of Regents before he starting in August, takes over the Bulldog volleyball program after spending the past season as the head coach at Ranger College in Ranger, Tex. During his only season, Lewis led his team to a program-best 14 wins.

“I am very excited to become the next head coach of Montana Western volleyball,” Lewis said. “I see a lot of potential in this team and I am looking forward to meeting the players and getting things going this fall.”

Prior to Ranger College, Lewis spent two seasons as assistant coach at Iowa Western Community College. In his first season at Iowa Western, the team finished with a 44-5 record and earned a seventh-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I National Tournament.

A native of Marshall, Tex., Lewis received a master’s degree in kinesiology from Hardin-Simmons University, where he also worked as an adjunct instructor in the fitness and sports sciences department. He received his bachelor’s degree in mass communication from East Texas Baptist University, where he played as a right side hitter on the men’s club volleyball team.

All-Star football game set for Saturday

The Six-Man All-Star football game is Saturday night at 7 in Highwood.

The Red Team, coached by Denton-Geyser-Stanford’s Scott Sparks, features many standout athletes, including three from the defending state champion Bearcats: Kendall Carpenter, Conner Bokma and Kade Woodhall.

The West Team, meanwhile, mentored by Savage’s James Kessel, has five players from Box Elder, with the likes of Brandon The Boy, Shane Ketchum, Bodis Duran, Elias Duran and Jerrod Four Colors taking the field. The Bears finished second to DGS in the 2015 state championship game. Valier’s Tristan O’Neal and Darin Habel, Tri-Cities’ Chance McAllister and CJ Stevenson, and North Star’s Payton Peterson and Gavin Spinler will also suit up for the West.

Annual hoops day is Saturday

Montana’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament is Saturday at Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls.

It’s the 22nd edition of the poplar event, the Spring Fling Hoop Thing, which features a 3-point shootout, a dunk contest, plenty of food and exciting activities for kids.

Universal Athletic, a signature sponsor of Spring Fling, like it does every year, is holding a warehouse sale of all of its surplus goods, including shoes and apparel, at the Family Living Center, also on the Montana ExpoPark grounds.