Against all odds: Kevin Criswell
by Trent Makela, MontanaGrizzlies.com |
It’s easy to get lost in the plains of eastern Montana. Golden waves of grass stretch endlessly in every direction and the faint blue mountain tops of the horizon seem equally worlds away to each side. Solitary deer and antelope paths often provide the only break in the scenery. A sole wanderer has little choice but to follow the trampled strips of earth for the possibility of direction they offer.
The story of Kevin Criswell's high school days follows one of those hardened trails. Four state titles, seven all-state selections and 11 varsity letters had earned him the title of hometown darling and a spot in state high school history. Like most of eastern Montana’s best players, however, respect came from few other places.
A countless number of Colstrip Colts, Forsyth Dogies and Sidney Eagles had been gloriously paraded away from the basketball courts of the region before Criswell. Others have and will come after him. Colleges rarely join in the praise of such heroes, though, and most celebrated prep careers end all too quickly in a local saw mill, coal mine or junior college.
Criswell’s path appeared to be headed in the JUCO direction. Late in his senior year, Wyoming’s Sheridan College was the only school to have offered the spindly 6-foot-2 kid a scholarship to play basketball. The lack of attention was a disappointment to Criswell, who had led Colstrip to the school’s first-ever state title during his junior year.
“After we won the title I really started to feel like I had a shot at playing in college,” Criswell said. “I was just in an area that isn’t really recruited. It was the kind of position I was in and I just had to deal with it.”
Nearly 500 miles away at The University of Montana, assistant basketball coach Todd Schmautz was receiving some disappointment of his own. Schmautz had become one of Criswell’s biggest fans during previous summer camps and was lobbying to get the in-state recruit a scholarship. Grizzly head coach Don Holst had his doubts about Criswell, though, and had already given away the team’s final free ride for the next year.
Finally, with nothing left to offer Criswell, Holst allowed Schmautz to scout one of Colstrip’s final games against Laurel. Criswell caught wind that a scout from UM was going to be at the game, and dominated the overmatched Locomotives to the tune of 46 points and 27 rebounds.
Unfortunately, Criswell’s godly statistics could do little to convince Schmautz and Holst of his ability to play for the Division I Grizzlies. The actual talent of players at Montana’s smaller high schools can be easily lost in the blur of arbitrary numbers that are capable against inferior opponents.
Luckily, Criswell’s leadership, hustle and picture-perfect shot release were impressive enough for Holst to invite him to walk on to UM’s team. The team could only promise Criswell a chance at earning a scholarship for his second year, though, and the possibility of never playing for the Grizzlies was still very real.
The choice was easy from Criswell’s end. Chances to shine on a large stage are few and far between on the plains. He decided that his path was going to fork off of the normal road and he agreed to enroll at UM in the fall.
“I really didn’t have any [expectations]. I didn’t know what to expect coming in,” Criswell said. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to play with the team.”
Questions about how the walk-on from Colstrip would handle the transition were laid to rest early in practices if nowhere else. Nervous himself, Criswell found his stride in the team’s constant early scrimmages and decided that he belonged.
Then, tragedy struck in one of those early scrimmages when Criswell suffered a severe ankle sprain that required surgery. The injury required him to stay off the court for six months. Criswell was redshirting the season anyway, but it cost him valuable time in practice and with his teammates.
For most redshirt, walk-on freshmen, the injury would have likely ended their careers. Not for Criswell, though, who said the injury was a blessing. The time off gave him an opportunity to get stronger and to watch the game and notice the small things.
“I got a chance to just sit and watch and see the differences from high school,” Criswell said. “The biggest challenge of playing at this level for me was the strength factor. I think it let me get physically strong enough to play here.”
When Criswell returned he was so impressive in practice that Holt signed him to one of the team’s valuable few open scholarships before the end of the year. The timing couldn’t’ have been better as Holt was fired after the season despite the team’s run to the NCAA tournament.
Holt’s replacement was Pat Kennedy, a respected coach nationally who had guided teams such as Florida State and DePaul to NCAA tournament runs. Kennedy came with expectations as well, though, and a walk-on from Colstrip likely would not have made the cut if Criswell did not already have a scholarship.
Criswell earned Kennedy’s respect early in practice, though, with his relentless defense and impressive shooting. The freshman even surprised many by making the starting lineup. Then, he surprised everybody by dominating.
“I sat out for so long that I had that built up motivation to try to prove people wrong,” Criswell said.
Criswell scored 30 or more points twice in his first season, and 20 or more eight times. He demolished the school’s freshman scoring record by more than 100 points and was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year. He quickly became one of the most recognizable faces on the team.
Montana was abuzz about the shaggy-haired kid who was pulling up for three-pointers from three feet behind the line and playing defense like a schoolyard bully. Word spread like wildfire among Griz fans and so did the questions.
Where did we recruit him from? Did he transfer from another school? Why didn’t we play him last year?
The simple answer was a hard one to comprehend for many. A kid from some one-horse town over on the plains could not have been so good. Word would have spread. There would have been some sort of warning.
After the disbelief came the shock. Then, when reality set in, the love affair began. Criswell became the hometown hero again. The pure stroke of his three-pointers, the tireless defense and the surprisingly athletic drives became reassuring bragging rights that Griz fans were cheering for The University of Montana.
The bombardment of fearless three-pointers continued in Criswell’s second year, as teams began to key in on him as a main scorer. The attention merely gave the beauty of his all-around game an opportunity to shine through. He ranked among the top 15 in the conference in five different categories. He started every game and averaged more minutes than any other player, yet he still played with a reckless abandon.
Perhaps most impressively, he was 10th in the league in rebounds per game with more than five per contest. These rebounds weren’t against the Laurel Locomotives, though, and he was no longer one of the tallest players on the floor.
Criswell was at the top of his game and finished the season strong, but his relentless approach to the game began to wear on his teammates. The mounting losses also eluded to a better, alternate path.
“If I could change anything about my career I would be more patient when I was younger,” Criswell said. “I always wanted to be the man during my first couple of years. I think there were times when I got defensive on guys and I wish I would have been more patient and had more trust.”
Change was in the air, though, and Coach Kennedy left the program after the season to accept another coaching job. Criswell was going to have to prove himself again, but the new coach was just what the doctor ordered for the maturing guard.
Larry Krystkowiak, a former Grizzly great and NBA veteran, had agreed to become the team’s new coach and he brought the team-oriented style of play that Criswell was beginning to covet.
In “Coach K’s” new style, Criswell was forced to give up his role as the team’s designated gun-slinger. Teams still keyed in on the shaggy-haired veteran, but he began to hurt opponents in more areas than just scoring. The team struggled early in the season, but Criswell became one of the league’s assist-leaders and maintained his identity as strong rebounder. The team’s struggles began to raise questions from Montana fans, though.
Why isn’t Criswell shooting more? Is he just being used as a defensive specialist? Why not let him loose?
All the doubting ended, though when the team gelled within Coach K’s system at the end of the season, however, and stormed through the Big Sky Conference tournament. The conference title set UM with an NCAA tournament birth and a first-round match-up against top-seeded Washington.
Criswell and the Grizzlies surprised many by playing the Huskies tough in one of the closest No. 1 versus No. 16 games in recent memory, but were eventually edged out in the game’s final minutes.
A new sense of pride had been established in Grizzly basketball, as a home-state coach and a hometown star had turned the team into an emerging power.
Criswell had earned a new sense of pride of his own, as he emerged as a leader
“I don’t think [my role on the team] has ever changed. It was just me learning how to adjust with it,” Criswell said. “The first couple of years I kind of wanted to be the go-to guy and these last couple of years Coach K has taught me to rely on my teammates and play that team kind of basketball. Becoming a team player is probably what I’m most proud of.”
When Criswell and the Grizzlies returned to start the 2006 season, he found that his teammates had noticed the change as well. The respect in the locker room was there. Other players were looking to him, not to shoot, but to lead them.
Before the team’s first game, however, Criswell’s fellow senior and starter, center John Seyfert, was knocked out for the season with an injury in practice. The Grizzlies, already thin on post players, had to adopt a new persona as a severely undersized team.
“I mean it affected us a lot. We had to change our whole offensive and defensive schemes,” Criswell said. “It would have been nice to have John because he’s a big presence inside but we had to move on from his injury.”
The Grizzlies moved on in a big way, as Criswell and sophomore forward Andrew Strait spearheaded a quick, disciplined style of play that has led the team to an amazing 21-6 overall record and considerable national respect.
The season has been a fairytale for Criswell, as he has seemingly made all of the right moves. He still has the lightning-fast release on his three-point shot and he still coasts through the lane with his tongue-wagging, reckless style. More importantly, he has done more than enough to help his team win. This fairytale has an ending to match it.
Prior to the season, Criswell told friends that before his career was through, he was going to have his first dunk in a game. In his final game in Missoula – his final game in Montana – Criswell did just that. With roughly three minutes left in a 96-83 shellacking of Northern Arizona, Criswell ran the floor, was met in mid-air by a defender and threw it down. He hit the accompanying free throw with a typical Criswell-style snap of the net and walked off the floor to a standing ovation of everyone in attendance. Dahlberg Arena shook one last time for the shaggy-haired kid from Colstrip. (Click here for Montana-Northern Arizona video highlights)
As Criswell walked from the floor, he extended a hand towards the stands to thank the fans one last time.
“Just the fact that [the Montana fans] have been with me for five years now means a lot,” Criswell said. “That they’ve been behind me since my freshman year and have been really supportive of me - I have a lot of respect for that.”
So, Criswell’s path has reached its inevitable fork. As he leaves Montana, the Grizzlies and basketball behind to follow his dream of becoming a physical therapist, he is once again surrounded by an endless expanse of waves. The grass no longer surrounds him, though, and instead the entire nation of Grizzly fans are returning his final wave with something he has offered them all: a hope that the dream comes true.
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
Tale of the Tape: Lady Griz seniors
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information |
This season The University of Montana women's basketball team will say good-bye to a pair of seniors who have left their mark on the program. Katie Edwards will close her career as Montana's all-time leader in 3-pointers, while Jody McLeod approaches UM's top 10 career rebounding list.
Here is how the Lady Griz seniors match up in the Grizzly Times' Tale of the Tape.
|
| Name: |
Katie Edwards |
Jody McLeod |
| Year: |
Senior |
Senior |
| Major: |
Business Admin. & Political Science |
Sociology & Business Admin. |
| Hometown: |
Lewistown, Mont. |
Prospect, Ore. |
| Most important thing you'll take away from being a part of the Lady Griz program: |
Without a doubt the friendships. |
The friendships and experiences, which are the best part. |
| What are opposing coaches are saying about you to their teams in the locker room before games: |
"She’s slow. Make her dribble." |
”Make sure to box her out, don’t let her get the rebounds.” That’s usually what I hear on the sidelines. |
Career highlight: |
The NCAA tournaments. |
The NCAA tournaments. |
Career lowlight: |
Losing to the Bobcats as a freshman. |
Losing big in the NCAA tournament (Vanderbilt, 2/19/05; L, 44-67). |
Coach Selvig's influence on you: |
There are not enough words to describe that one. |
He’s had a tremendous influence on me. He stresses academics and basketball while teaching us life lessons. |
Immediate post-college plans: |
A whole lot of nothing for now. |
To stick around Missoula and hopefully get a job |
Ten years from now: |
Hopefully I'm not in school, still. |
Hopefully I’ll be rich and successful |
Comment on your fellow senior: |
She’s a great person and I can’t say enough about her. She’s the best senior I could have ever asked to play my career with. |
It’s been an amazing four years playing with her. She’s a great player and a great person. |
What you'll miss most once your career is over: |
Being able to hang out with the girls and the friendships that you make. |
I’ll miss the gameday atmosphere at Dahlberg Arena. It’s amazing to play in front of these fans and to receive their support. |
One basketball skill you don't have, but wish you did: |
Quickness, dribbling, defense – I could go on forever. |
Dribbling. |
What it took to get here: |
A lot of hard work and support from my family and friends. |
The most important thing is family and the support you get from other people. |
[Back to the Grizzly Times]
|
Griz runner takes on best
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information |
Remember that Saturday afternoon last fall when Grizzly linebacker Tyler Joyce posterized Heisman Trophy-winner Reggie Bush? How the quiet hush came over the fans at the Rose Bowl when Joyce planted his helmet on Bush’s numbers and laid him out on the turf, immortalized by the photo that landed him on the front cover of the Sporting News with the screaming headline: Take That Trojans!
Remember the hype and build-up for that game and how you made plans months in advance because Montana finally had the opportunity to go up against the best in the nation? What was it that Keith Jackson said on the national broadcast after Joyce stayed home on the reverse and took Bush down with no other defenders within 20 yards? “Whoa, Nellie. Folks, it looks like these boys from Montana have come down to play some football.”
Satellite parties, daily newspaper coverage state-wide, a flocking of Griz faithful to southern California, a tailgate party that rivaled Sturgis. Didn’t that game have it all?
Wait. That didn’t happen.
Maybe we’re getting confused because of all the residual excitement from three weeks ago when Coach K and the boys went and faced Duke at Cameron Indoor in a made-for-ESPN classic.
It wasn’t Tyler Joyce against Reggie Bush that sticks out in our collective memory, but Kevin Criswell defending J.J. Redick, the best player in all of college basketball.
Remember the key play, with Montana up one with under 10 seconds to play? Who could forget? Remember how Redick came off the staggered screen, the Cameron Crazies doing their thing and Dick Vitale at his usual frantic level of commentary?
Remember how Redick caught the ball on the right wing, fully expecting to have created enough space to get off the game-winner? And remember how Criswell fought through not one, but two screens from former McDonald’s All-Americans, to get to Redick just as he was letting his jumper go? And how Criswell got a piece of the shot, grabbed the ball out of the air and dribbled the length of the court as the clock wound down?
What was it that Vitale said? “Kevin Criswell, you’re a PTPer, baby!”
The publicity machine was in overdrive pumping up that head-to-head match-up. Even President Dennison made the trip to Durham, N.C. But why wouldn’t he when someone from his school was going up against the very best in the nation?
OK, maybe neither one of those happened, except in the dreams of Joyce and Criswell. Maybe as a fan you’ve resigned yourself to watching the Griz play Division I athletics, just not that Division I. You know, the one that schools like USC and Duke enjoy. The ones with the very best players in the nation.
But before nodding your head in agreement, let’s not use such a broad brush when painting the scene for all UM athletic teams. Last Saturday, while you were paying attention to the Lady Griz playing at home against Portland State and the Griz on the road against the Vikings, someone wearing the maroon and silver was going up against the very best in the country. And only a few people took notice.
Montana sophomore Allie Brosh, a standout runner for the Grizzly cross country and track teams, will admit that blossoming into an athlete was anything but preordained. The Brosh gene pool would maybe provide enough to dabble in some recreational sports, and even then only on the weekends, but a standout Division I athlete?
“I don’t come from a very athletic family,” Brosh says, with a slight hint of perplexity in her voice. Even she seems to be surprised that she got here. “No one in my family really does anything athletic.”
But something got wired just right, because no one was faster on the grade school playground and for sure you didn’t want to be the one in her sights when a pig-tailed Brosh was on the hunt when a game of tag broke out.
Luckily she had a teacher in grade school who recognized that maybe this talent for chasing down giggling classmates could someday be put to greater use, like on the cross country trail.
Fast-forward a couple of years and you find Brosh at the starting line of her first cross country race.
“I’d never even heard of cross country (prior to taking up the sport in eighth grade),” Brosh said, “but I was too small to keep playing soccer.”
Brosh lined up that day as her team’s No. 7 runner, a freshman on the varsity team. And the preternatural calm that you hear of so many athletes having amidst the chaos and intensity of competition? Brosh didn’t have it.
“I was so nervous,” Brosh said. “I didn’t know what I was doing there. I was just this naďve little kid.”
Every athlete who becomes something special has that one seminal moment in their athletic careers, usually very early on, when they do something that makes even casual observers go slackjawed and mumble, “Did that really just happen. Did you see that?”
Maybe it’s the kid playing pee-wee football, who as a fourth grader is making cuts and forcing defenders to tackle air, when he’s never been taught any of it.
Maybe it’s the fifth-grade volleyball player who’s packing a jump serve in her arsenal when all her teammates are trying to master the art of tossing up an underhanded serve and hoping the ball doesn’t end up going backwards.
Maybe it’s the sixth grader hitting ropes off the pitching machine, going to left field, to center, and to right, when his older brothers struggle just to make contact.
Whatever it is, they’ve been blessed with it.
And Brosh had it. But it took an inauspicious start in her first race for it to come to fruition.
One wonders what would have happened if that race had had a clean start. What if Brosh hadn’t gotten her feet tangled with those other runners at the start? What would have happened in that race if she hadn’t fallen down and skinned her knee as all the other racers left her behind? That’s what set it off.
“I was so mad that I was falling behind,” Brosh said. “I just took off and ended up winning the race.”
And that’s how it all began. And you could see it even then. Behind the cover-girl looks beat a heart with the competitive drive and unwillingness to yield of Seabiscuit. The good-natured spirit everyone saw before and after the race belied her machine-like engine that would pick a heart-pounding pace and drive her fellow racers into submission, falling off the pace as this blond-haired pixie raced on relentlessly.
It brought her third-place finishes at the Idaho state cross country meet as a freshman and sophomore and state championships as a junior and senior.
When it came to picking a college, academics weighed just as heavily as athletics.
“Allie had an interest in Montana because she had an academic interest in psychology and journalism, both of which we’re real strong in,” Grizzly cross country and track and field coach Tom Raunig said. “And she was contacting us, too, because of our proximity to Sandpoint (Idaho, Brosh’s home town). There was a mutual interest.”
She matriculated, and the potential she brought down from Sandpoint with her was hard to ignore from her very first cross country season. Brosh finished as Montana’s top runner in the team’s final four meets and earned All-Big Sky Conference honors at the BSC championships with an eighth-place finish.
That success carried over to the 2005 indoor track and field season, with Brosh running to a seventh-place finish in the 5,000 meters.
An injury cut her outdoor season short, but Brosh came back strong for last fall’s cross country season.
She was Montana’s top runner at all six fall races, including overall victories at the four-kilometer Montana Open in September and the five-kilometer Eastern Washington Invitational in October.
Allie Brosh (right) leads WSU's Haley Paul (middle) at the Montana Invitational last fall. |
Brosh also had a memorable battle with Washington State’s Haley Paul at the Montana Invitational in early October. Brosh and Paul went head-to-head in a small pack that had broken away before Paul pulled away late for a 28-second victory over the second-place Brosh.
Paul would go on to cap her season with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA cross country championships, putting Brosh’s talent-level into perspective.
Which brings us to the 2006 indoor season and the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, which were held last weekend in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Brosh was scheduled to compete in the 5,000 meters on Friday night, then the 3,000 meters Saturday afternoon. In the latter race, she would be going up against – cue up the Evil Empire music from Star Wars – Northern Arizona junior Johanna Nilsson, who entered the race with a longer list of career highlights than the aforementioned Reggie Bush.
In the last four months alone, Nilsson won the Big Sky Conference cross country title, then for good measure merely added first-place finishes at the NCAA Mountain Regional and the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Oh yeah, she won the NCAA title in a course-record time.
Needing something fun to do in December, she raced at the European cross country championships and, representing her native Sweden, placed third, trailing the winner by six seconds and second place by a mere second.
Need more convincing? She was the NCAA indoor national champion in the mile in 2003 and has won the Big Sky outdoor title in the 800 and 1,500 meters the last three years. And she placed second at last summer’s NCAA outdoor championships in the 1,500 meters.
The perfect antagonist for our protagonist if Nilsson wasn’t so … likeable?
“She’s really a nice person,” Brosh said. “We had a chance to visit a little. She comes from a family of runners in Sweden, so she’s been running since she could walk.”
It’s hard to build Nilsson up into the enemy, but it doesn’t change the fact that Brosh was faced with the prospect of competing against the top collegiate distance runner in the country.
Where were the satellite parties to watch this epic race unfold? Did anybody tailgate outside the NAU Walkup Skydome before the race? This was Montana-USC on the football field and Griz-Dukies on the basketball court, but even better because in track and field there is nowhere to hide and every weakness is exposed.
In football, play-calling and defensive schemes can make stars. And if you don’t have success on first down, there is always second down.
In basketball if you get beat defensively, there is usually a help defender who has your back.
In the 3,000 meters, you enter with a race strategy, but, for better or worse, you are on your own, pushing the very upper limits of the human body. It doesn’t get any more pure than that from an athletic perspective.
I’m going to push myself to the limit, you do the same, and we’ll see who gets from point A to point B the fastest.
Brosh warmed up for Saturday’s 3,000 meters by finishing second in Friday night’s 5,000 meters, getting out-kicked by Nilsson’s teammate Nicole Gueldemeister down the stretch.
“It’s a credit to Allie that she was able to run the 5,000, then bring it again the next day in the 3,000,” Raunig said. “Gueldemeister out-kicked her, but she was nowhere to be seen in the 3,000. Allie was able to come back well and compete in both races.”
Nilsson had a warm-up jog Saturday morning in the mile, winning the event by over 16 seconds and breaking the BSC indoor championships record. To put it in perspective, Nilsson’s margin of victory over the second-place finisher was larger than the gap between the second-place and eighth-place runners.
Maybe the Joyce-facing-Bush comparison doesn’t even do this justice.
Brosh knew exactly what she was up against in the 3,000 meters.
“Nilsson was originally a 1,500-meter runner, so when she switched over to the 3,000 meters, she brought some killer speed,” Brosh said. “She can really crank it up when she needs to.”
Though it’s hard to admit, Brosh knew she wasn’t going to beat Nilsson in the 3,000 meters, so she had to do what she could to at least finish second.
“A strong finishing kick definitely isn’t one of my strengths,” Brosh said. “I knew I wouldn’t beat Johanna, so I had to push the pace from wire to wire. I needed to wear everybody out.”
“We knew Allie had to take it out hard so she would at least get second place,” Raunig said. “If they jogged the entire way, that would only allow other runners to stay in the race.”
On the 300-meter track, Brosh let things play out for a lap.
“Her goal was to go out and run 82s (82-second quarters), which would equal her 3,000-meter PR,” Raunig said. When Brosh heard her 300-meter split was about four seconds slower than she wanted it to be, she gradually put the hammer down.
She got to the lead and pushed the pace back to what she knew would thin out the field and give her the best chance for success.
She held the lead from the 400 meter mark until there was 800 meters to go, all of it with the menacing figure of Nilsson just off her hip, the inevitable finishing kick almost a foregone conclusion.
With 800 meters to go, Nilsson put her speed on display for the home fans, eventually winning by just over 22 seconds. Brosh finished second, over nine seconds ahead of the third-place runner.
Brosh’s two second-place finishes earned Montana 16 points in the team competition. She scored over a quarter of UM’s 57.5 total team points.
Maybe the match-up didn’t have the cachet of Montana-USC on the football field or Griz-Blue Devils on the basketball court and maybe track and field is a niche sport that doesn’t enjoy the attention, popularity and publicity of football or basketball, but Montana sophomore Allie Brosh recently went up against the very best in the nation in a head-to-head meeting and did Griz Nation proud.
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
Grizzly Spotlight: Jasi Acharya
by Tim San Pedro, MontanaGrizzlies.com |
Senior golfer Jasi Acharya has been a major asset to the Grizzly golf program since joining it in 2002. The Columbus, Mont., product carried a team-best stroke average through her first three seasons. She was also named to back-to-back All-Big Sky teams as a sophomore and junior. As a prep Acharya won four consecutive individual state championships, and now she's looking for a Big Sky title to add to her resume.
Acharya recently sat down with Grizzly Times to answer a few questions.
GT: What’s the next step after you graduate in May?
JA: I plan to stay here through the summer and play in some tournaments. Then I’m planning on moving down to Phoenix (Arizona) and I want to keep golfing and try to make it onto the LPGA Tour.
GT: What’s the process for making it onto the tour?
JA: There’s a new tour that just opened up in the Phoenix area. It’s called the Futures Tour and its just a step below the LPGA, so a lot of players start out there first. I’m going to try to qualify for that first and then move up to the LPGA.
GT: If professional golf doesn’t work out, what else would you do?
JA: If that didn’t work out, I’d still like to have a job in a golf-related marketing position where I could travel around. I know that business is where golf comes in a lot too.
GT: How has golf impacted your life?
JA: It’s pretty much become my life if you ask anybody around me. I got into it with my brother and I just kind of got hooked. I can’t think of life without golf.
GT: When did you first pick up a golf club?
JA: You know I don’t know the age, but my dad would take us out on the course when we were seven or eight, not often, just a couple of times. I started playing tournaments when I was twelve or thirteen.
GT: Describe what the perfect shot feels like for you?
JA: If I had to give it one word, I’d say effortless. It’s hard to explain because it’s just a feeling.
GT: What is your typical practice routine?
JA: In the summer, I would spend all day out there if I could. I usually will get some friends together and play in the mornings or else I would go to the course and practice chipping maybe for an hour and then go to the range and practice for an hour, then putt for awhile and then go play. If I had a day off I’d pretty much practice and play all day. I don’t have any strict regiment that I follow as far as how I practice.
GT: How do prepare mentally for a tournament?
JA: I’ll usually sit down for like five minutes before I even start practice the day of a tournament. I’ll sit there and try and not think about the day ahead, just try and relax and have no big thoughts. Then I go out and practice certain shots that I will need to use on that certain course. Then I just get up to the first tee, find a target and fire away.
GT The old golf saying goes, “Drive for show, putt for dough.” That said, which do you enjoy more and what’s the farthest you’ve crushed a drive?
JA If you ask my teammates, not very far. I’m not the longest hitter on the team. I’m usually pretty straight, that’s what I’m more known for. I enjoy the short game more. I don’t know about just putting, but I like being able to be creative on shots. The longest drive? Probably downhill, downwind, hard ground, 300 (yards) maybe, but not even close to that on average. A good drive for me is like 250 yards.
GT: How does it feel to be selected to back-to-back All-Big Sky teams?
JA: It’s a great honor. I’m just looking to do that again this year. I just hope our team comes away with some wins.
GT: If you had the chance to play any course in the world and with any person in the world, which course would it be and who would it be with?
JA: I’m going to be boring and say Augusta National and with Tiger Woods. That’s so boring.
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
| A letter from Director of Athletics Jim O'Day |
Montana A.D. Jim O'Day |
It’s been a wild ride the past month in Grizzly Athletics.
First of all, the men’s and women’s basketball teams are contending for Big Sky Conference crowns – and possible berths in the NCAA basketball tournaments. As league schedules come to a close, the men will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz., which starts next Tuesday. The women, meanwhile, are battling for the top spot in the league and travel to Idaho State and Weber State this weekend. Thursday’s game in Pocatello will probably decide the regular-season champion and host site for the tourney, which will be held March 9-11.
Both the men’s team under Larry Krystkowiak and the Lady Griz guided by Robin Selvig have already recorded 20-win seasons. As of this writing, the Griz are at 21-6, while the women sport a 20-6 record. The men are among the leaders in the Division I mid-major polls, while the Lady Griz are ranked in the top 30 in attendance. These are remarkable accomplishments.
Golf, tennis and track and field are also in full swing as they head into the busy spring months. All have been in action the past few weeks with impressive results. Things only look to get better as we head into March, April and May.
While is seems as though football season just came to an end, the start of spring ball is only a few short weeks away. The Griz, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Bobby Hauck, will practice two weeks prior to spring break (March 27-31), take a week off, then resume practice and have a scrimmage in Kalispell on Saturday, April 8, and a final one in Missoula on Friday, April 14.
With the infusion of a few talented newcomers from the Division I-A level and a great returning nucleus of players, things look bright on the gridiron for 2006. Season ticket invoices go out in early April, and if 2006 is anything like last year, there won’t be many extra season tickets available to be purchased – so get orders in early. Also, because of the heavy order load on our ticket office, ticketing deadlines will be strictly enforced this year. This has been a problem in the past, and has resulted in many unfortunately delays – both internally and for our many season ticket holders who are waiting for their tickets to arrive.
In addition to our other programs, women’s soccer and volleyball have been extremely busy with their respective winter strength and conditioning programs. Both are looking forward to exciting seasons in the fall. Neil Sedgwick will begin his third year leading the soccer program, while the new head women’s volleyball coach will be named around May 1.
While it may seem to be the start of a slowdown period for Grizzly Athletics, it is just the opposite for many closely associated with intercollegiate athletics. For example, the Grizzly Scholarship Association under interim director Greg Sundberg is busy preparing for an ambitious spring fund-raising travel schedule around the state. Coaches will also be heavily involved in spring recruiting, and others on our staff will stay busy planning for the Big Sky Conference Spring Meetings to be held in Missoula on May 21-23. All-in-all, it’s a great time to be a Griz.
Jim O'Day - Director of Athletics
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Head coach Bobby Hauck |
Griz to host a spring scrimmage in Kalispell April 8
The Flathead Valley Chapter of the Grizzly Scholarship Association is hosting the 2006 University of Montana Grizzly Spring Football Scrimmage in Kalispell on Saturday, April 8th. The scrimmage will be held at Legends Stadium (formerly Rawson Memorial Field) starting at 12:00 noon.
General admission is $5 for adults and $3 for kids. The festivities begin with a pre-game booster function at Fatt Boys Bar and Grille (1307 Highway 2 West) on Friday evening, April 7th, at 5:30 p.m. and into the night.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
Montana-NAU Golf Challenge set for March 27
The second annual University of Montana-Northern Arizona University Golf Challenge will take place Monday, March 27, at the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Ariz. The event, which places coaches, administrators and supporters from each school against the other in a two-person scramble format, is a fundraiser for both schools, with UM and NAU splitting the proceeds equally.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
Montana summer sports camps and clinics registering now
University of Montana coaches have a full slate of sports camps for the summer of 2006. Football, basketball, soccer, volleyball and track and field all provide camps or clinics for those who want to learn the sport from Griz coaches and players. The UM Athletic Performance Center's Performance 101 camp is a great way to improve personal training. Click below to see what camps are offered and when they are scheduled to take place.
CLICK HERE FOR THE UM SPORTS CAMPS WEBPAGE
GSA "Driving the Griz" car raffle winner announced
The Grizzly Scholarship Association’s lucky winner of the third annual “Driving the Griz car raffle was announced at halftime of the Griz-NAU basketball game on Monday, February 27, 2006. This year’s winner is “Otis” from Missoula. The GSA raised over $20,000 from this raffle which helps provide UM student-athletes with scholarships. The 1998 Ford Mustang Cobra SVT Convertible is 1 of 542 made and was painted and detailed in Griz spirit by Blue Ribbon Auto Body. Special thanks to Blue Ribbon Auto Body for their support of the G.S.A and “Driving the Griz” program.
Griz Nation wristbands on sale
All proceeds from the Griz Nation wristband will go to the Grizzly Scholarship Association at The University of Montana. Help Support the Griz by wearing the wristband and showing your pride in being the best fans in the country, which is now known as “Griz Nation." Thanks you for your support! Go Griz!
ORDER
ONLINE AT
THE GRIZ SHOP
GSA apparel available
Grizzly Scholarship Association apparel is available at the GSA
offices in the Adams Event Center. There is an open invitation to all Griz
fans to check out the selection and help support the Montana
Grizzly Scholarship Association.
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