by Scott Sacry
The Bitterroot Valley has six high schools and in the fall they play volleyball, football, golf, soccer, and cross country. In the winter and spring they play basketball, wrestling, golf, tennis, track and field, softball, and baseball.
Needless to say, at any given time during the school year there’s a plethora of high school sports being played here in the Valley. Within this abundance of activities, the following sports stories stood out above the rest in 2023.
Florence wins third straight football title
One of the biggest Bitterroot Valley sports stories from 2023 was the Florence football team. On November 18th, the Falcons traveled to Manhattan and defeated the Tigers 21-14 in overtime to claim the 2023 Class B State Championship.
With the win, the Falcons won their third straight Class B state title – the first time in Montana history for a Class B school. The Falcons were undefeated this season, going 13-0.
Florence dominated teams all year, but faced their toughest challenge in the title game. In overtime, Florence senior Ben Kivela stripped the ball from a Manhattan runner and Florence recovered the fumble in the endzone to end the game and vault Florence into the history books.
“To be able to do what no other team has done is amazing,” said Florence head coach Pat Duchien. “Our seniors deserve so much credit, they led the charge in every aspect of the game.”
Corvallis wins state track title
Corvallis track & field dominance is one of top stories of 2023. Both the boys and girls teams won the 2023 Class A State Track & Field Championship in Laurel on May 27th. This was the eighth state track title for the Corvallis girls – the last coming in 2016. This was the seventh state track title for the Corvallis boys – the last coming in 2018.
The race for the 2023 state title for both the boys and the girls came down to the final event of the meet, the 4x400m relays. And in both cases Corvallis prevailed. In the final tally for the team scores, the Corvallis girls edged Whitefish 84-83, and the Corvallis boys scored 63 points to Hamilton’s 62.
“It was really remarkable how tight the team races were this year,” said Spencer Huls, Corvallis’s head coach of 20 years. “To have both races come down to the wire was remarkable.” When asked what will stand out about this year’s teams, Huls said, “I’m going to remember the joy. The final races were so tight, so when we won, there was just this explosion of joy. In years past, there had been a sense of relief when we won, but this year, at the end, everyone was just so hyped up and pumped up.”
Hamilton excellence
Hamilton didn’t have any one team win a state championship this year, but the overall strength of the Broncs sports programs in 2023 makes them one of the year’s top stories.
The following is a list of how the different Hamilton teams finished the year:
The boys track team took 2nd at state, the boys tennis team took 2nd at state, the volleyball team took 3rd at state, the girls cross country team took 3rd at state, the girls golf team finished 3rd at state, the football team made the state playoffs, the boys and girls basketball teams made the state tournament, the girls soccer team made the state playoffs, the softball team made it to the state tournament, and the baseball team made it to the state tournament.
The previous list is a credit to the collective hard work from Hamilton students, coaches, administrators, and parents.
First high school baseball season
It took many years and much hard work, but in the spring of 2023, high school baseball had its first season in Montana. Each Montana high school had to independently decide if they had the funds and resources to play. And in the Bitterroot Valley four schools competed in this historic first season: Corvallis, Hamilton, Stevensville, and Florence. The season culminated with the state tournament in Butte on May 18th-20th. Florence and Hamilton both qualified for state.
Individual state champions
Anytime anyone wins an individual state championship it’s a big story. In 2023, the Bitterroot Valley saw a handful of individual state champions and their accomplishment makes them, collectively, one of the top stories of the year.
Bitterroot Valley athletes in Track and Field won the most individual state titles in 2023. Leading the way was Corvallis’s Olivia Lewis. Lewis had a historic 2023 state meet where she won the Class A State Championship in the 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles, and the 400m. She set the Class A state record in the 300m hurdles. At year’s end, Lewis had the fastest times in the state of Montana for all three of those events.
Also for Corvallis, Alana Auch was the State Champion in the discus.
From Hamilton, Andrew Burrows was the State Champion in the shot put. Taylor Searle was the State Champion in the boy’s pole vault. Chesnee Lawerence was the State Champion in the women’s pole vault. And Tyson Bauder won the State Championship in the javelin.
Stevensville’s Claire Hutchison was the State Champion in the high jump.
From Florence, William Wagner was the State Champion in the 400m and Kyler Harris was the State Champion in the 3200m.
The only other non-track State Champion was in tennis, where Hamilton’s Andy Purcell won the Class A Boys Singles State Championship on May 26th.