SPORTS

UGF qualfies three for NAIA National Tourney

Play-In games to decide Eastern C berths

CULBERTSON – The Bainville Vikings boys and girls teams will have their playoff lives on the line here Monday night, as District 2C determines their No. 5 seeds to this week’s Eastern C joint divisional tournament at Wolf Point.

The girls will start at 6 when they battle the Circle Wildcats, and the boys’ game will follow, with the Vikings going against the Richey-Lambert Fusion.

The Eastern C girls’ tourney starts Wednesday, while the boys tip off Thursday.

Argos second in West, qualify three for Nationals

REDDING, Calif. – The eighth-ranked University of Great Falls qualified four members to advance to the NAIA National Championships in two weeks while taking second Saturday at the West Region Qualifier at Simpson University.

The Argos rallied for 117 points as a team, second only to No. 10 Southern Oregon. Embry-Riddle of Prescott, Ariz., was third, followed by Menlo (Calif.) and fifth-ranked Montana State-Northern.

Reshirt freshman John Hensley took the top spot at 197 pounds, downing Eric Fan of Eastern Oregon by 15-8 decision in the final.

Shonn Roberts took second in the 141-pound class, while another redshirt freshman, former Great Falls High star Randy Keesler, took third at 174.

Several other Argos could join their teammates at the National tournament March 3-4 in Topeka, Kansas, including Casey Dobson (fourth at 149), senior Khaldoon Rashid (165), and 125-pound junior Isaac Wilson.

Lady Argos off to best start ever

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The University of Great Falls softball team is off to the best start in program history, sweeping its games on both days of the Presentation College Dome Classic to start the year 4-0.

The Lady Argos battled College of Saint Mary in a close game, winning 4-3 in eight innings, then rolled to a 7-2 rout over Dickinson State.

Against Saint Mary, Makaylee Jaussi led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple and scored one out later on a bunt from catcher Jocelyn Kaufman.

The Lady Argos took control of Dickinson State early in the second game. Paige Bodner drove in a pair of runs with a single, and Hali Gruntowicz snapped a 2-for-12 season-starting skid with a solo home run that virtually sealed the deal.

UGF will stick around in South Dakota for a doubleheader against the host of the tournament, Presentation College on Monday, February 20 at 10 a.m. and 12 noon Mountain Time.