Sports Talk - This, that and the other
Basketball season is over and with that brings some change to the face of a few teams in the valley. Basketball fans had the opportunity to watch some great seniors this year and they now look forward to the next crop of ‘ballers.’ There are some exciting younger players that will step into the shoes left behind to give fans and coaches new moves to watch.
But the people on the bench are changing. After having one of the more successful seasons of his coaching career, Stevensville’s girls basketball coach Cody Omlid has elected to step down. Omlid brought his team a long way over the past few years, from maybe one or two wins a season to the championship game this year. Omlid, who recently opened another restaurant in Hamilton with his brother, said his businesses were growing and he needed to focus on them.
Another girls basketball coach is also stepping down. Mark Albert of Hamilton has tendered his resignation, according to Hamilton Athletic Director Darrell Holland. Albert has coached basketball for the past 22 years and has been the head girls coach in Hamilton for the past four years. He wishes to spend more time with his family and concentrate on teaching for a few years. The board has not accepted Albert’s resignation as yet because they haven’t met, but Holland didn’t expect any problems.
Speaking of basketball, another big shout out to Hamilton High School, Darrell Holland and his staff of many who work so long and hard to put on the finest tournaments around. From the ticket takers to the guys who do the laundry, these tournaments are smoothly run and a pleasure to attend. The statisticians do a marvelous job on every game. The announcing is top notch. Everyone does a great job for the teams, the spectators, and all of those whose jobs involve covering the tournaments. I hear nothing but praise from people on the media desk and after attending a few out of the area tournaments, I can attest, you Hamilton guys are great!
So next up is spring. Spring sports officially began on Monday but Hamilton softball is without a coach at this time. Jesse Wilson is being transferred to Wyoming and has tendered his resignation as head softball coach. The position has been advertised and is still open this week. Holland said the team began practice on Monday with some of the assistants from last year helping out.
Still in the coaching field, Stevensville has hired a new football coach. Hank Praast will take over as head coach of the Yellowjackets. He was an assistant at Stevensville for six years before taking a couple of years off the previous two years. Praast played football at Seeley-Swan on the line and was an All State player. He graduated from UM-Western and was a four-year letterman there. He also made the Frontier All Conference team.
Moving on to ‘the other’. The Northern Rodeo Association held their 2009 finals in February in Billings. The valley’s young cowgirls and cowboys did the Bitterroot proud. Becky Toavs of Stevensville repeated as the barrel racing champion. She earned $8,675 running the cloverleaf pattern this year in arenas around Montana.
Duston Stephens of Corvallis earned a buckle as the top rookie tie down roper in the association. He also finished sixth in team roping as a header and was second in rookie steer wrestling standings.
Raegan Tracy of Victor finished fourth in the Junior All Around standings. She was 13th in junior breakaway as well. Her sister, Ryanne Tracy, was 14th in Junior Break Away. Another young cowboy, Brandon Yerian of Corvallis, finished ninth in that event also. The final top 15 finisher from the valley was Callie Roberts of Hamilton. She finished in eighth place in the junior barrel racing. The high school rodeo spring season begins in two weeks.
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