Lady Beavs net fourth at NW/SW Tipoff
By J.P. Plutt
Dillon Tribune staff
The Dillon Lady Beavers opened last week with a loss to Livingston at home on Tuesday night, but rebounded with a strong showing at the Southwestern “A” versus Northwestern “A” Tipoff tournament at Anaconda.
Against Livingston, Dillon faced the obstacle of a height disadvantage and the Lady Rangers took full advantage in a 3-1 nonconference victory.
“Livingston is probably the biggest offensive team we’ve seen all season so it was a good opportunity to match up against big hitters,” said Dillon coach Megan Conrow. “Our defense was learning very quickly that you need to transition a lot quicker than we had been so it took us a little while to get into the rhythm. They’ve got two hitters that swing hard with the ability to hit almost anywhere on the court.”
At Anaconda, the Northwestern “A” showed they were a stronger league at this point in the season than their Southwestern “A” counterparts, but Conrow felt her team needed the experience against talented teams. The format pitted each team from the North against each team from the South in two game matches. Standings were by the total of game wins and losses. Dillon placed second to Anaconda on the South side and in their final match played Libby for third place, losing 25-23, 25-11.
“For us it is about consistency,” said Conrow. “We put together some really nice moments throughout the matches, and then we’d lose our focus. We’ve got to establish consistency from the beginning of matches to the end.”
The Lady Beavers take to the road Thursday at Belgrade for a nonconference match and then visit Corvallis on Saturday for a league battle.
DFL ALERT...DFL ALERT...DFL Alert
If you’re wondering about the Dillon Football League, Kids’ Flag Football the big thing right now is DON'T PANIC. The coaches’ meeting is set for Thursday night at 7 p.m. at B.W. Lodge Gym. That is the first time anyone will see a roster of any kind. I will try to get the meeting over by 8 p.m. so coaches can start contacting players, but it could be Friday before coaches are contacting their players.
Yes, we do play this Saturday. Games start at 9 a.m. and the last one concludes at 1 p.m. This first week is always hectic but then things smooth out and run pretty good through the end of the six-week season. Don’t panic, a coach will call you.
If you or your child are curious, rosters and schedules will be posted at Mary Innes School, Parkview Elementary, Dillon Middle School and in the window of the Dillon Tribune. The rosters and schedules will be up as soon as possible on Thursday. The rosters will have the coach’s name and phone number.
No it is not to late to register a player for the DFL. The league office is located at the Dillon Tribune and is the best place at this time to pick up a registration form and turn it in.
If you have any questions, call J.P. Plutt (W 683-2331 or H 683-5411).
Beaverhead Invite tees it up Friday
By J.P. Plutt
Dillon Tribune staff
The Dillon golf teams enjoyed two meets last week and will host the Beaverhead Invitational this Friday with a 9 a.m. tee time. The Dillon meet will be an eight-team affair.
Last Tuesday Dillon played Bozeman’s Riverside Country Club in the Belgrade Invitational. On the girls’ side, Dillon freshman Randi Lewis fired a score of 90 to place seventh on the individual board. Shelby Lake, 108, and Kassade Lemhouse, 111, turned in good scores for the difficulty of the course. No team scores were kept.
Brett Creger continues to lead the Dillon boys team. At Bozeman he fired an 18-hole total of 82 for fifth place and Thursday at the Anaconda Country Club, despite greens that were plugged and sanded, scored 77 for third place. Lewis broke 90 for the first time as a Lady Beaver with an 87 for third.
#5 Locos upend #4 Beavs, 38-20
By J.P. Plutt
Dillon Tribune staff
Speed kills and Laurel had the ingredient across the board Friday night and mixed in a healthy dose of experienced players to defeat the Dillon Beavers 38-20 in a nonconference matchup of playoff contenders.
“I thought that for most of the game our kids executed well,” said Dillon coach Terry Thomas. “It just seemed that whenever we made a mistake Laurel was able to take advantage of it and turn it into something big, be it either offensively or defensively.”
Statistically, Dillon held their own against the Locomotives of the Eastern “A.” The Locos have a number of seniors who have paid their dues in the rough Eastern A, starting since they were sophomores. Laurel played with the full confidence of a title contender while Dillon still needs to find that traditional swagger. Despite the score, Dillon totaled 233 yards of total offense to 279 yards for the opponent.
The difference in the game came in the momentum Laurel drew from a pair of third quarter interceptions returned for touchdowns. In between, the Locos added a field goal for a 17 point spurt that turned a 14-14 game at the half to a 31-14 lead.
Dillon answered late in the quarter with an 11 play, 69 yard scoring drive capped by a sweet Pete Walde to Makenzie McGrath touch pass. The ball floated over a defender into McGrath’s hands as the speedy wideout headed to the corner of the end zone on a flag pattern.
Dillon missed the point after kick and didn’t threaten the red zone again.
The Beavers opened the scoring with an eight-play, 74-yard drive capped by Walde’s one yard scoring dive. Laurel answered with a pair of scoring drives fueled by the running game which contributed most of their offensive output.
Dillon countered with the passing game but the two picks for scores and a number of dropped passes denied Dillon an opportunity to win the game.
Dillon visits Columbia Falls Friday.
Homestanding Western Bulldogs fall to Eastern Oregon, 45-24
By Gary Oram
Dillon Tribune sports
The University of Montana Western Bulldogs lost a Conference football game, at home, against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, this past weekend--final score 45-24.
Tied at 17, with 4:14 left on the clock in the second quarter, the Mountaineers moved down the field on a offensive barrage. After a Chris Ware quarterback scramble for fifteen yards, the Bulldogs quickly called a timeout. Once play resumed, Ware hooked up to Kevin Samson, with thirty seconds on the clock, leading the Mountaineers into the locker room up by seven, at the half.
Early in the third quarter, on Montana Western's first possession of the second half, starting quarterback Micah Mamiya took a rough shot, sacked for a loss, and was eventually put out of the game with a shoulder injury.
"They think it's a slight strain, so I don't think he'll be out for that long," commented Montana Western head coach Rich Ferris.
After a quick exchange of possessions, and a Bulldog punt return out over the 40 yard line, a miscue between center and quarterback caused a Western turnover. Then, on their next possession, Western's backup, true freshman, Jeff Logan led the Bulldogs into the end zone, hooking up with Kahai Sevilla from 55 yards out. It was all Eastern Oregon from there, after Ware scrambled in with 7:34 left in the fourth, then he hooked up to Jordyn Jackson with 5:50 remaining.
In all, Western rushed for 140 yards on 37 carries, and threw for 273. While Eastern Oregon ran for 122 in 41 carries, and threw for another 338 yards.
Western punted six times while the Mountaineers punted 5; yet, with 140 yards returned after interceptions, the Mountaineers ran away from the Bulldogs.
Saturday, Sept. 19, the Bulldogs travel to Harve, where they face MSU-Northern.
"We were able to run the ball a little more, we're hopefully trying to make it a point of emphasis to pound the ball a little more than we have," said Ferris.
Western hosts golf triangular
By Gary Oram
Dillon Tribune sports
The University of Montana Western golf team hosted an 18-hole triangular tournament this past Friday at Beaverhead Golf Course, hosting Montana Tech and the University of Great Falls.
The Western men’s team shot cold at 321 and received second place, behind Montana Tech, who shot an almost clean 308. Great Falls rounded out the triangular, receiving third with a score of 339. Wes Southard of Tech, topped this category with his solo score of 73.
On the women’s side of the event, Montana Tech again topped the competition, scoring a team total of 372. Western was close on Tech’s heals however, and with a difference of seven points, the Lady Bulldogs came in at second scoring 379. Great Falls took third with a team total of 394. Nevertheless, Great Falls Argonaut, Chelsea Kenner, won the singles event with a personal score of 77 points.
There were five players on each team, but tournament directors only score the four best to calculate team totals.
“The reason we have these these little triangulars is because some schools can’t travel to some places at certain times, and it was really cheap,” commented Western coach Mike Crosser.
Next week, Western travels to Helena, where the team will compete against every team in the Frontier, during a two-day, 54-hole tournamentat Green Meadows, Sept. 21-22.
Montana Western women take early Big Sky Region lead
By Gary Oram
Dillon Tribune sports
The Bulldog rodeo team traveled to Cody, Wy, to compete in two different Big Sky Region College rodeos, hosted by Northwest College out of Powell, Wy. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11-12, at the Cody Stampede Fairgrounds.
In the first rodeo both teams, from the University of Montana Western, took second, out of the competing schools, with the boys scoring 496 points, while the girls scored 333.
The College rodeo circuit is sort of fickle in its team scoring. All Big Sky region schools can bring as many contestants as they want. These contestants can compete for individual scoring potential in the National standings. However, it is a gambol in College rodeo, because team coaches have to pick 6 boys, and 4 women, preferably their top contestants, to compete at the event for team scoring totals, and this decision has got to be made before rodeo action begins. In other words, as Olie Else stated, "When you enter the rodeo you enter your team, 4 girls and 6 boys, and you can't change them up." So if a cowboy or cowgirl has an off day it severely affects the team's total. Because, even though Else took 54 cowboys and cowgirls to the Cody Stampede Fairgrounds, she could only use the scores of 10 of them to tally Montana Western rodeo team totals.
The top three in each event, from each region, get invited to the CNFR at the end of the year, and the top two teams get an automatic entry. Yet, with the potential of off days, or rank stock this makes it a topsy-turvy battle for College cowboys and cowgirls as rodeo teams.
As for the second rodeo, Sept, 12, in Cody. Montana Western girls downed the competition, winning the event with a team total of 303. As for the Montana Western boys, they again placed second with a score of 601.1.
Next week, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Montana Western cowboys and cowgirls travel to Harve, Mt, to compete in the MSU Northern College Rodeo, Sept. 18-21.
Dillon distance runners get ready for flatlands transition
By Dick Crockford
Dillon Tribune staff
It’s out of the hills and onto the flatlands this Saturday for the runners from Beaverhead County High.
Heading into their third weekend of competition – this time on the relatively flat course at Corvallis – the young Beavers are working this week on skills aimed at getting them from start to finish efficiently and effectively.
Cross country coach Betty Iverson says last Saturday’s Belgrade Invitational at the Bohart Ranch, high above Bozeman, gave her teams a tough workout over beautiful – but up and down – trails. She described the course, which in winter plays host to cross country skiers, as “a nice place to run,” and said the team performed well.
For the Corvallis run, Katie Hawkins, Abbi Morgan, Morgan Peterson, Emily Gary, Janet Moore, Ellen Hollifield and Alex Brammer will represent Dillon’s varsity girls.
Hawkins, a freshman, was Dillon’s top runner at the Belgrade meet, finished in 22nd place with a time of 23:38.55. The race was won by Lewistown’s Brook Rodgers, who crossed the line in 20:57.33.
From the boys’ roster, those who will run varsity at Corvallis include Tyler Kelly, Morgan Larson, Jamie Schumacher, JW Henningsen, Gabe Cleverley, Neal Jenne and Michael Wiggins.
Kicking through the finish with a time of 20.10.25, Larson, also a freshman, was lead runner for the BCHS boys at Belgrade, with Dan Osborne, Helena High, winning the event with a speedy 16.06.13. Helena High and Helena Capital tied fir first in points, with the outcome decided by the No. 6 runner for each team. Helena High prevailed.
The first runner from a Class A school to finish was Joey Vaughn of Belgrade, in 17.12.70.
The Beavers have been handicapped by sickness in the opening weeks of the season. This Saturday, Hollifield, who had an excellent season as a freshman in 2008, returns to varsity. She finished as the third runner for the girls’ junior varsity team at the Belgrade meet.
Iverson said in an interview Monday that she is pleased with the enthusiasm of her team, which features a big stable of freshmen and talented senior leadership for both the girls’ and the boys’ squads.
She said that by comparison with the Bohart course, she expects times at Corvallis to come down by virtue of the relatively level terrain there. The real key to success, she added, will be getting the runners healthy and keeping them that way.
“We have to try to get everybody healed up,” she said. With only five meets remaining in the Beavers’ schedule, another challenge for Iverson is making sure her runners focus on continual improvement with each outing.
“Everybody’s got to learn to be patient,” she said.
Lady Bulldogs drop conference home openers
By Gary Oram
Dillon Tribune sports
The Lady Bulldog volleyball squad squared off against defending Conference Champions Lewis-Clark State College, Friday, Sept. 11, then turned around Sept. 12, and faced Westminster College. Losing this pair of Conference confrontations, “You know, I think technically we can do everything that we need to do, it’s just in terms of putting it together at the right time,” commented University of Montana Western head coach Katie Howells.
Western came out against Lewis-Clark State fired up, and played tough after losing the first game. Yet, after defeating LCSC in the third, LC came out with vengeance. “We definitely had moments of great things happening, and if we could have just put it together a little bit more...” said Howells.
Coming off the near miss with LC, the Lady Bulldogs moved on to Westminster the next evening. With an initial crushing defeat, Western seemed to lose momentum, in the second game. Then in the third, behind one team captain Theresa Bennett, and team assist leader Maria Peterson, the Ladies nearly toppled Westminster. “Whenever a match, or a set, or a game is on the line, then we seem to play really well,” Howells stated, “but when we get ahead we don’t know how to play yet.”
This pair of conference matches will be followed by another conference match against Carroll College, in Helena, next Friday, Sept. 18, then a non-conference match against Rocky Mountain College, in Billings, the following day.
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