Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sports at a Glance

All stories by Jean Schurman

Lady Broncs just getting started

Florence, Darby, Victor compete at Seeley meet

Nagel headed to North Dakota State

The Hamilton Lady Broncs have only played eight games and have 14 remaining in the season but they definitely are finding their groove on the softball field. After defeating Stevensville on Thursday, they went on to stop Anaconda and the always-tough Butte Central in a 1-0 win.

"We’re playing pretty well right now," said coach Steve Weston. "We lost a couple of close games in the late innings (earlier in the season). We’re learning how to win a little better."

Hamilton has five seniors on the team but not all have seen a lot of playing time. Weston went on to say Terry Bryan was hitting the ball well. She had a double against Stevensville and one against Anaconda. Power hitter Jessica Huseby is beginning to find her rhythm batting and Weston expects she will be a force as the season progresses.

A game against Butte Central is always tough and Saturday’s game was no different. With the venue changed due to snow from the Butte/Anaconda area to the Bitterroot, the Lady Broncs didn’t have to travel but they knew they would have a tough game anyway.

The two teams battled back and forth before Hamilton got down to business in the third inning. Amanda Hood started off the inning with a single. After a throwing error by Butte Central’s pitcher, Kelli O’Leary, Cierra Smith was safe on first and Hood had advanced to third on the error. Terry Bryan hit a pop fly to first for the first out of the inning while Smith stole second base. Up stepped senior Chelsey Krueger. With two balls and two strikes, Krueger grounded out to second and scored Hood.

Butte Central had their chance to come back in the top of the sixth inning. Brooke Pokomy singled and the advanced to second an a sacrifice bunt by Kylie Orizotti. The next batter, Keici Thatcher was hit by a pitch. However a double play by the Broncs ended the inning and any chance of a score by the Maroons.

Hamilton hit the ball well against Anaconda. They scored 10 runs off nine hits in the first inning to power their way to a 14-0 victory. The monster first inning was followed by lead-off batter Nicky Koning knocking a home run in the second inning.

Hamilton 17, Stevensville 2

Nicky Koning and Sarah Callaghan. Izzy Miller, Kirsten McCowan (3) and Ami Fey. W - Koning. L - Miller.

2B - Terry Bryan, Jessica Huseby. RBIs - Bryan, Huseby 2, Wood, Koning 2, Lokken 3, Hood 2, Smith, Roebke, McCowan.

Hamilton 1, Butte Central

Butte C 000 000 0 - 0 3 2

Hamilton 001 000 0 - 1 5 0

Kelli O’Leary and Brooke Pokomy. Nicki Koning and Sarah Callghan. W- Koning. L - O’Leary

Hamilton - Terry Bryan 1-3, Chelsey Krueger 0–2; Jessica Huseby 1-2; Rachell Wood 1-3; Callaghan 0-2; Koning 1-3; Kelly Lokken 0-3; Amanda Hood 1-3; Cierra Smith 0-3.

2B - Huseby RBI - Krueger.

Hamilton 14, Anaconda 0

Anaconda 0 0 0 000 - 0 1 3

Hamilton (10)11 20x - 14 13 0

Maddy Walker, Kristen King and Brianna Orrino. Nicki Koning and Sarah Callaghan. W - Koning (602). L - Walker.

Hamilton - Terry Bryan 2-3, Chelsey Krueger 1-3, Jessica Huseby 2-3, Rachell Wood 1-3, Callaghan 2-3, Koning 2-3, Kelly Lokken 1-2, Amanda Hood 0-3, Cierra Smith 2-3.

2B - Bryan, Huseby, Wood, Koning. HR - Koning. RBIs - Bryan, Huseby, Wood 2, Callaghan 2, Koning, Lokken 2, Smith.

Corvallis split their games on Saturday against Butte Central and Anaconda. Corvallis scored nine runs on 10 hits against Anaconda while holding the Copperheads to only one run. Kasie Conder pitched the three hitter for Corvallis. She had a double. Brianna Brawley celebrated the day with a triple and RBI while going 2-for-3 at bat.

Butte Central, smarting a bit from their loss to Hamilton, came back strong against the Blue Devils. The Maroons defeated Corvallis, 3-0.

Butte Central 3, Corvallis 0

Butte C. 021 000 0 - 3 7 0

Corvallis 000 000 0 - 0 2 0

Kelly O’Leary and Brooke Pokomy. Kasie Conder and Sam Nelson. 2- O’Leary. L - Conder

Corvallis - Kylynn Pelkey 0-2, Jessica Adair 1-2, Markie Gurley 1-3, Conder 0-3, Nelson 0-2, Megan Auch 0-3, Danielle Murray 0-2, Amber Bradshaw 0-2, Angie Henderson 0-2.

2B - O’Leary. RBIs - O’Leary, Peoples 2

Corvallis 9, Anaconda 1

Anaconda 000 001 0 - 1 3 0

Corvallis 303 003 x - 9 10 1

Kirstin King and Brianna Orrino. Conder and Nelson. W - Conder. L - King.

Corvallis - Pelkey 1-1, Adair 0-3, Gurley 1-4, Nelson 0-3, Conder 1-2, Henderson 1-4, Auch 2-3, Bradshaw 1-2., Brianna Brawley 2-3.

2B - Conder, Bradshaw, Henderson. 3B Brawley. RBIs - Gurley, Conder 2, Henderson 2, Bradshaw, Brawley.

With the Class A schools having the weekend off due to the Music Festival, Class B and C schools converged on the Missoula County Stadium for the Seeley Swan Invitational. Twenty schools, including three from the Great Falls area, competed in the meet.

There were some scoring issues on a couple of races in the boys team scoring which led to some confusion. The junior varsity 1,600 run was scored in place of the varsity. This meant that the times of two of the top Class B runners, Donnie Farrin of Fairfield and Paul Abrahamsen of Darby, who finished first and second, did not count. The two battled in the 3,200 as well with Ferrin coming up the winner.

Bryan Slingsby of Florence once again dominated the shot put ring. His effort of 53-5 was four feet farther than second place.

The Frenchtown girls edged Florence by one point in the team scoring. Katie Neimeir won both hurdle races, turning in one of her fastest times yet in 100 hurdles with a time of 16.01. Her time in the 300, 46.92, is currently one of the top in the state.

Cortney Reynolds also had a great day for the Falcons. She won the 400 and anchored the 400 relay. Florence won both the 400 and 1,600 relays.

Darby’s Heather Demorest continued to excel in the 800 meter race. She broke the tape five seconds in front of Florence’s Brooke Zeiler. Demorest was second in the 1,600.

Florence also competed Thursday at the Thompson Falls Invitational track meet. The Florence girls won, securing the lead in the team scoring with 10 event wins. Katie Neimeir again was the one to beat. The speedy sophomore clocked a 13.76 to win the 100. She also won the 300 hurdles. Cortney Reynolds won the 200 and the 400 for Florence to pick up the Falcons third and fourth wins. Rachel Warr finished almost a minute faster than second place in the 3,200 meter race. She also won the shot put with a toss of 31-2. Sara Schertenleib won the high jump with the bar set at 4-10. She also won the long jump. Rae Baerlocher won the javelin with a throw of 100 feet.

Florence won the 400 relay on the heels of Neimeir and Reynolds and finished second in the 1600 relay. Other Falcons who placed were Brooke Zeiler, second in the 400 and the 800; Sara Schertenleib, third in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles; Brandy Crews, second in the 200 and third in the 100.

The Falcons came in fourth in the boys scoring behind Thompson Falls, Noxon and Eureka. Sam Fernandez won the 200 and 400 and was second in the 100 meter race. Bryan Slingsby also picked up two wins, taking the shot put by over nine feet and the discus by eight feet.

Seeley Swan Invitational

Boys

Team Scores: Loyola 64, Seeley-Swan 62, Cascade 50, Fairfield 45, Frenchtown 44.5, Superior 34, Florence 30, Drummond 28, Ronan 28, Deer Lodge 23.5, Darby 23, Charlo 20, Valley Christian 18, Plains 16, Victor 13, Valier 11, Alberton 6, Lincoln 4, Arlee 4, Philipsburg 3.

100 - Bo McGurran, Cas, 11.08; 3. Joe Redfern, Flo, 11.50;

200 - 1. McGurran, Cas, 22.34, 4. Joe Redfern, Flo, 23.70.

800 - 1. Donnie Ferrin, Fair, 2:03.59; 2. Chris Mai, Vic, 2:08.59.

3,200 - 1. Donnie Farrin, Fair, 10:36.0. 2. Paul Abrahamsen, Dar, 10:37.02; 3. Seth Gilbert, Dar, 10:54.75; 4. Matt Stout, Dar, 11:04.32,

300 hurdles - 1. Tyson Lucier, Sup, 41.84; 5. Sam Fernandez, Flo, 44.74.

400 relay - 1. Seeley-Swan 45.10; 5. Florence 46.10

1,600 relay - 1. Seeley-Swan 3:36.11; 5. Victor, 3:44.78

Javelin - 1. Adam Skogen, Ron, 170-0; 4. (Tie) Michael Wemple, Vic, and Lenny Kobylenski, SS, 158-10.

Shot put - 1. Bryan Slingsby, Flo, 53-5.

Team scoring: Frenchtown 78, Florence 77, Ronan 56, Cascade 52, Charlo 40, Darby 335, Loyola 30, Deer Lodge 29, Valley Christian 27, Seeley-Swan 22, Lincoln 20, Philipsburg 18, Plains 15, Drummond 10, Fairfield 6, St. Regis 4, Alberton 4, Superior 2, Arlee 1, Hot Springs 1.

100 - 1. Briana Malmquist, Ron, 13.24; 2. Katie Neimeir, Flor, 13.29.

200 - Briana Malmquist, Ron, 26.72; 3. Cortney Reynolds, Flo 27.19;

400 - 1. Cortney Reynolds, Flo, 63.55; 6. Brooke Zeiler, Flo, 66.31

800 -1. Heather Demorest, Dar, 2:29.22; 3. Brooke Zeiler, Flo, 2:35.14;

1,600 - 1. Caitlin Stone, SS, 5:11.96; 2. Heather Demorest, Dar, 5:30.30.

100 hurdles - 1. Katie Neimeir, Flo, 16.01, 4. Sara Schertenleib, Flo, 17.68

300 hurdles - 1. Neimeir, Flo, 46.92; 6. Sara Schertenleib, Flo, 53.32

400 relay - 1. Florence (Neimeir, Amanda Heffner, Brandy Crews, Cortney Reynolds) 52.71;

1600 relay - 1. Florence (Reynolds, Brooke Zeiler, Katie Neimeir, Odessa Conley) 4:18.48. 5. Darby 4:25.38.

Long jump - 1. Holly Matz, VC, 15-4; 4. Rachel Wetzsteon, Dar, 15-0; 5. Christina Bender, Dar, 14-11.

Triple jump - 1. Stephanie Salomon, Ron, 33-1; 2. Missy DeWalt, Dar, 31-10; - 1. Bo McGurran, Cas, 20-2. 3. Danny Lombardo, Flo, 18-10.

Corvallis senior Taylor Nagel has signed a National Letter of Intent to wrestle for North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. North Dakota State is a member of the Western Wrestling Conference and finished with an 8-5-1 record overall. The Bison became eligible for NCAA Championships in the 2006-07 season, qualifying three wrestlers in their first year.

Nagel is the reigning champion in Class A at 145 pounds. He placed third in 2006, sixth in 2005 and fourth in 2004. Taylor is the son of Jeff and Lisa Nagel of Corvallis. He intends on majoring in pharmacy.