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September 2006
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Volume 3, Issue 1 |
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Coming up big from sideline
Injured running back Lex Hilliard is optimistic about his backfield replacements, team ... MORE
UM football sets sights high
The 2006 football season is just getting started and the Montana Grizzlies expectations are once again very high ... MORE
UM soccer looks to rebound
In 2004 first-year head coach Neil Sedgwick inherited a Grizzly soccer squad that was coming off its worst regular season in program history... MORE
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Volleyball finds new direction
Montana volleyball is ready for action with a new mentor and a new attitude ... MORE
Griz runners ready for 2006
The University of Montana women's cross country team exceeded expectations in 2005, placing third at the Big Sky Conference championships.
... MORE
Department announcements
See what else is going on in the world of Griz Athletics ... MORE
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Spring break in Great Britain
by Trent Makela, MontanaGrizzlies.com |
The University of Montana women’s soccer team faced a burning question entering its 2006 spring scrimmages: where does the program go from here?
Head coach Neil Sedgwick |
The Griz, who finished 3-13-1 a year ago, look to return to the high level of play which their fans have come to expect. The players needed to mature and grow within the system, but there was more to it. The team needed to be inspired towards unity and devotion, and they needed to do it fast. So Sedgwick and company booked a team flight to a place where those values are established in soccer players as soon to birth as possible; England.
Actually, the trip was less spur-of-the-moment and more a result of good timing and hard work. The NCAA allows soccer teams to take a European tour as long as they are at least four years apart. The timing of UM’s open window just happened to be when the young team was in need of a bonding experience. Head coach Neil Sedgwick and his assistants had kicked the idea of the trip around for roughly a year when they approached the team at the end of the 2004 season and received unanimous support from the players.
The hard work portion of the trip came when the players agreed that each of them would have to pay their own way. While certain members of the roster worked together, the effort was made even more impressive because the team never held any joint fund-raising functions.
“It definitely came together faster than we expected,” senior-to-be Lindsay Winans said. “We sold a lot of T-shirts. We were supported by a lot of our friends that way and we sold them at basketball games. I know some girls also worked extra jobs and brought in donations from their parents and family. We really had a lot of help from the community in Missoula and friends to make it happen.”
By the time March 23rd rolled around, most teams across the country were gearing up for bus trips to local opponents for their five allotted days of spring scrimmages. Sedgwick and company were marveling at the endless expanse of the Atlantic Ocean as they flew overhead.
2006 Griz soccer team |
The team’s first stop was in London, where many of the players experienced the bustling traffic and thin, winding roads of the historical city for the first time. The team’s bus was even involved in a minor accident as a passing car literally scraped by them through one turn in the road. The vehicle simply continued on its way after the incident, Winans said, because “the road was too tight for them to really do anything else.”
From London, the players traveled via bus to and through Wales and Bath. The tour continued to Liverpool and Manchester, even making a stop at Stonehenge before returning to London.
The trip was more than a sightseeing event, though, and the Griz scrimmaged notable women’s teams such as Arsenal Academy, Chester Lady and Bristol Academy.
“The teams matched up really well against us competitively. They play at a decent level over there that is comparable to our college level,” Sedgwick said. “There were strong players on each team, and athletically our players matched up really well.”
The Griz finished their scrimmages with a perfect 3-0 record, despite some less-than-favorable weather and field conditions. The matches were played in parks and smaller stadiums, whatever the opposing teams could line up. Those locations, combined with England’s infamously dreary weather, resulted in playing surfaces that were constantly rough and muddy. The adaptability of the UM players to the conditions was, perhaps, the most impressive aspect of the matches according to Winans.
2006 Griz soccer seniors |
The team’s inspired play may have stemmed, at least partially, from a Manchester United game that the UM players watched live, mid-way through the trip. United, one of the premier clubs in Europe, also allowed the Griz to meet the players and watch the team’s practice. Both Sedgwick and Winans pointed to the passion and knowledge of the players and fans in Manchester as an eye-opening experience. Meeting and watching world-famous players that they had only seen previously on TV was also an invaluable experience, as Winans said fans in England would “kill just for a ticket to the game.”
“I think [the players] learned a lot about the history and culture of the game as well as the country,” Sedgwick said. “On the soccer side, they saw the standard of the British games … they were able to see that intensity. They had seen it on TV, but to see it live was just a completely different experience.”
The 11-day trip eventually wound down as April 3rd sprang up on the calendar, and the team and coaches were once again in a plane above the Atlantic. Both Winans and Sedgwick believe the trip was a major success, and the Grizzlies' impressive showings through a handful of spring scrimmages thus far seem to verify that assessment.
“I think we’ve made some huge strides this spring on and off the field [because of the trip],” Winans said. “I think it will definitely carry over because we have gotten so much closer this season. We just played four [spring scrimmages] and we’re definitely a stronger team already. As long as we can continue the friendships and lessons we learned, I think we’re going to have a great team next year.”
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
An apt student
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information |
Everybody wants to learn from the best. That’s why college students sign up for a particular professor, the best piano teacher in town has a waiting list for lessons and “how I got here and how you can do it, too” books written by successful individuals are almost always somewhere on the New York Times bestseller list.
Freshman Ryan Grinnell |
And it’s the reason Montana freshman jumper Ryan Grinnell is soaking up everything he can this year, his lone chance to learn everything he can from eight-time Big Sky jumps champion, UM senior Jas Gill.
Gill’s resume needs no embellishing. He’s won six Big Sky high jump titles, plus two more in the triple jump. He owns the Montana indoor and outdoor high jump records and has advanced to three NCAA meets.
Grinnell must certainly be paying attention to the instruction he’s receiving.
While Gill was picking up 18 points for the Grizzlies at the 2006 Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships with a title in the triple jump and a second-place finish in the high jump, Grinnell, who came to Montana with an Idaho Class A high jump championship to his name, was adding six points of his own with a third-place showing in the triple jump. He just missed adding points in the high jump, finishing just out of the scoring in ninth place.
The outdoor season has seen even more improvement for Grinnell. Gill currently tops the Big Sky Conference performance list with the best triple jump (48-6) and high jump (7-0.5) in the league this year, while Grinnell ranks second in the triple jump (47-8.5) and third in the high jump (6-8).
To find out more about this mentor-protégé relationship, Grizzly Times tracked Grinnell down at a recent practice while he was doing triple jump warm-ups.
GT: What’s your relationship with Jas been like?
RG: He’s been a really strong influence on me. With me being new and a freshman, every meet has been a learning experience. Just coming out to practice every day and getting his advice has really been helpful. There are so many little things in the high jump that I never would have thought of.
Coming through high school I didn’t have a lot of experience, and I was pretty much new at the event, but coming to Montana and competing with Jas has given me a lot of confidence. He builds me up a lot and has helped me in so many ways that he doesn’t even know.
Senior Jas Gill |
GT: What’s the most useful thing you’ve learned from Jas this year?
RG: Probably in the high jump, and that’s to be aggressive and confident. Just watching him, he showed me that he attacks every time and is very aggressive coming off his jumps. Through my high school career I was pretty much flat. I didn’t have any enthusiasm. He’s showed me that if you’re aggressive, you’ll get a lot more height on your jump.
GT: What do you think Jas’s greatest strength is?
RG: His greatest strength is definitely his confidence. There have been times when I’ve gone into an event not completely focused, and he’s shown me that being focused and prepared for the high jump is going to put you in a position to do your best.
GT: If Jas wasn’t a track and field athlete, what sport would he be best at?
RG: His best sport would probably be basketball. He definitely can jump high, and I think he could have a pretty nasty dunk.
GT: What’s capable for you at the Big Sky outdoor championships?
RG: I really think that both Jas and I can finish one-two in both the high jump and triple jump. That’s my goal anyway.
I want to finish around Jas, because you know if you do that, you’ll be near the top. Right now I’m second overall in the triple jump (in the Big Sky) and third overall in the high jump, and Jas is leading them both, so I’d just like to finish around him and score some good points for the team.
GT: What is Jas capable of at the Big Sky meet?
RG: I think he has a good chance of winning the Big Sky title in both the high jump and triple jump. And I think he has a good shot of making the NCAA regional in the triple jump. The regional mark for the triple is 49-5.75 and he jumped 48-6 in his only try this season, so he’s close. He’s already qualified for regionals in the high jump, and I think he can get there in the triple as well.
GT: What’s your favorite thing about track and field?
Freshman Ryan Grinnell
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RG: I really like the relationships you gain. You get a lot of new friends, and it’s such a learning experience, just going to meets and going to hotels and staying with your teammates. Most of all, you learn from every trip. I see it as a great opportunity to come out and compete with your teammates.
GT: What’s your least favorite thing about track and field?
RG: It definitely has to be the weather during the early part of the outdoor season. Coming into the outdoor season you can’t really expect a lot, just because of where we’re located in the mountains. You always hope for the best, but sometimes it isn’t great weather. I guess the main thing is to have warm clothing and do the best you can since everyone is competing under the same circumstances.
GT: What’s one thing you’ve learned from track and field that applies to other areas of your life?
RG: I think one of the most important things is being confident. Being confident in track helps me be confident in the classroom when giving presentations or speaking to the class. They all relate in one way: you need to be confident. You have to be confident to present things to the class, and you have to be confident to compete on the track in your events.
I think the whole track experience has helped me a tremendous amount.
GT: What’s the toughest thing about your sport that people probably don’t realize?
RG: Going out every week and jumping your very best. Jumping takes a lot out of your legs, so to jump consistently at a certain height every week is difficult. There are weeks when you struggle to perform because your legs are a little bit flat.
Many people think if you went 6-8 in the high jump the week before, you should be able to do at least that height every time after that. But that’s really not the case because there’s only so much your legs can take. Coming out strong every week is tough. You want hope for the best, but you just have to battle through.
[Back to the Grizzly Times]
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Office linebacker
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information |
If you haven't seen Reebok's Terry Tate Office Linebacker promotional ads please watch the following video to better understand this Grizzly Times feature story.
Video: Terry Tate's World (broadband recommended)
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It was the sound of Larry Krystkowiak's collarbone being broken cleanly in two that grabbed everyone’s attention. Snapping bones aren’t something you expect to hear when working in the UM Athletic Department. Interests were piqued, and heads popped out of office doors to see what was happening.
Just minutes before, Coach Krystkowiak had been walking down the hallway, passing by offices like it was a ceremonial parade, being congratulated left and right on his team’s NCAA tournament win over Nevada just a few days before.
Then the unmistakable sound of a collision, man on man, no pads.
All that remained from the confrontation was Coach K lying on the floor, with the Grizzlies’ interim Assistant Athletic Director for Fiscal Operations straddling and reprimanding the coach, waving some papers in a wild, accusatory fashion.
“I’ve told you for the last time, all expense reports need to be handed in with actual receipts! You took the team to the Olive Garden? I need the receipt! Even Pat Kennedy understood that much, Larry!”
Aware that he now had everyone’s attention, the guy who could once bench press 225 pounds 24 times turned and looked at the coaches and administrators who were peering out from their offices in horror as Krystkowiak struggled to get to his knees after the unexpected hit.
In his best Eddie-Murphy-as-Reggie-Hammond voice and with a sly smile, he gave the warning, “And I want the rest of you cowboys to know something. There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Lance Allen. Y’all be cool and do things the right way and we shouldn’t have any problems. Right on.”
And that was how the department was introduced to its newest staff member: Lance Allen, Office Linebacker.
When the department’s normal financial guru, Ed Windgard, was called away by the National Guard for a two-year stint in Afghanistan, the call went out to the University’s Business Services Department for a suitable and temporary two-year replacement.
Allen, a four-year letterwinner (1990-93) and two-year starter for the Grizzly football team, was the natural choice.
The department figured it would get the stereotypical accountant: a docile numbers guy who would come over from the Lommasson Center packing a calculator and some sharpened pencils, not rock-hard shoulders that were going to pile-drive UM’s coaches and staff to the training room.
The department just needed someone to crunch numbers and tackle financial problems. Instead what it got was someone who crunches ribcages of coaches who insist on hotel room upgrades and tackles unsuspecting administrative assistants who forget to put printing jobs up for bid, then leave the coffee-pot burner on overnight.
Million dollar debts? Loose accounting practices? Ruined coffee pots and messy break room sinks?
Not under Allen’s watch.
Lance Allen joined the Grizzlies after an all-state prep career at Butte High. And he wasn’t the only one from his high school team to line up on the defensive side of the ball for Montana.
“It’s not very often that three people from your high school class move on and play on the same team (in college),” Allen says. “It was me and Chad Lembke and Todd Ericson. We were all 1989 grads from Butte High.
“It was always the same. I was on the line, Chad was a linebacker and Todd was a safety. The continuity was just incredible. It was neat to be in the huddle and have familiar faces. (The three of us) played against each other in seventh and eighth grade, then played together from freshman year of high school through our college careers.
“That made it extra special. We had a very proud tradition at Butte High.”
Allen’s playing career at UM followed a predictable path. After redshirting the 1989 season as a true freshman, Allen played in four games as a redshirt freshman in 1990 and had nine tackles from his spot on the defensive line. He played in seven games in 1991 and finished with 11 tackles.
Lance Allen |
Both of those Griz teams finished the season with 7-4 records. The 1990 team went 4-4 in Big Sky play to finish fourth. The 1991 team went 6-2 in league play, placing second behind Nevada’s 8-0 team.
Allen became a full-time starter in 1992, starting all 11 games during Montana’s 6-5 season. The Griz went 4-3 in conference play, tying for third behind co-champions Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Allen finished with 31 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.
That season was also responsible for some of Allen’s many memories that bring a gleam to his eye in the re-telling.
“I remember playing in Washington-Grizzly Stadium as a junior,” Allen says. “There was a big third down, third and short, and Montana State was marching about mid-field.
“I was the nose tackle. I swam over the center and tackled Si Ryan for something like a four-yard loss. It just changed the complexion of the game from that point on. At least in my mind it did.
“But that’s really only half of the story. Fast-forward one year (to 1993) and we’re playing the Cats at their place. They had the same people on their line, and we had pretty much the same people from my junior year. And … they … ate … my … lunch,” Allen says, with each word being emphasized, letting the interviewer know that all of Allen’s memories aren’t remembered through rose-colored glasses. “I think Coach Paulson pulled me mid-way through the third quarter because I was so ineffective.”
And another memory from that junior year.
“I also remember playing Washington State,” Allen says. “Chad Lembke was calling the huddle, and I look over and his chin strap is broken. He’s got blood just pouring out of his mouth, because once the chin strap is broken, a helmet doesn’t have any stability. Every time he got hit or made a tackle, his face mask was smashing against his face.
“We were in the game (which was an eventual 25-13 loss), but I told him, ‘You’re getting beat up. You need to tap out and go over to the sidelines and get that fixed.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I’m not f------ tapping out of this game for anything.’ ”
Allen’s senior season in 1993 went just as every player would dream their final season would be capped. It ended with the Grizzlies’ first outright Big Sky title since 1970. Montana went 7-0 in league play that season, winning all seven Big Sky games by an average of over 16 points per game.
Allen played and started in 11 games his final season, totaling 44 tackles, three tackles for loss and three sacks.
Despite the success during the regular season, it was Allen’s final game in a Griz uniform that he remembers most vividly.
“Another memory, and it almost always brings a tear to my eye, is the last game I ever played, the Delaware playoff game that we lost 49-48. Whenever I tell people my last game was the Delaware game, they say, ‘Oh yeah, that was a great game!’ ”
In that game, Montana had a 48-42 lead with just under a minute to play. Delaware had the ball at UM’s 32-yard line.
“I came around the corner and the quarterback was back to pass,” Allen says, almost jumping out of the chair in his office at the memory, “and I had him. I had him.
“I just got a hold of his shoulder pad when I got pushed by an offensive lineman. If I could have just held on he wouldn’t have got the ball off. That was the pass that went for a touchdown that won the game for them.
“I was that close,” Allen emphasizes by putting two fingers in front of his face a fraction of an inch apart. “That close!”
Like almost every player who talks of playing for the Griz during the Don Read era, you can count Allen as another who considers the former coach as one of the most influential people in his life.
“Playing here did me an awfully lot of good,” Allen says, “primarily because of Don Read, who I consider the second biggest influence in my life (behind my father).
“He taught me so much just by being around him. I just really liked the way he handled himself, how he dealt with the media and how he handled himself around his team. He always tried to create a very positive environment for me and for everybody else.
“He wasn’t fiery, win-at-all-costs. He did it different ways. You wanted to play so hard for him.”
Allen was also a success in the classroom, graduating with a degree in accounting and a GPA over 3.1. That led directly to a job in the field of … fishing guide?
“Right after I graduated, I tried being a fishing guide for a little while,” Allen says, “but I realized that I like to fish more than I like to guide. So I took a job with a small CPA firm in Ketchikan, Alaska (in southeastern Alaska).
“I worked there for a year and a half, then I moved to the small native village of Klawock on Prince of Wales Island. I was the city treasurer at the age of 24. I didn’t know anything, but I somehow made it work.
“We didn’t implode the city, and we didn’t sell off all the assets. It’s still there.”
Lance Allen |
His fishing jones finally satisfied from the great Alaskan fishing that he pursued before work, at lunch and after work, Allen gave in to the call to return back to Montana.
“Right after my stint in Alaska, I came back and married my college sweetheart and eventually got on with the University of Montana.”
He was working in UM’s Business Services Department as the Manager of Investments Cash and Capital Assets when the call to return to UM Athletics came.
“I was given the option (of taking the job or staying where I was), but it was an outstanding career opportunity,” Allen says.
“And I wanted to give back to Athletics. Without University of Montana football, there is no way I could have gone to college. It feels good to be back down here, giving back to the program that really got me started.”
In his current role of being behind the scenes and seeing how the Athletic Department works from the inside, he’s found out some unexpected things and a surprise or two.
“The most unexpected thing for me was finding out what it takes to put on events,” Allen says. “I’m constantly amazed at the event staff and how it’s become so big.
“The games are competitions, for sure, but they are also entertainment. When people come to a football game or a basketball game, they expect to be fully entertained. Behind the scenes, what you don’t see, are the people on the radios that keep everything rolling.
“And I’d say the biggest surprise for me has been the pace of things. I didn’t have any understanding of that. Business Services is more of a 9-to-5 environment.”
His current task is working with budgets and planning for the 2007 fiscal year for the entire department and its multi-million dollar budget.
“There are roughly 50 different areas in this department,” Allen says, “everywhere from football and its budget to sports information and its budget to corporate sponsorship to event management. There are a lot of different pieces, and bringing all of those together is a complex task. It’s not easy.
“Right now I’m talking to coaches and talking to department heads (about what they need in 2007 in comparison to 2006). They all pose their unique challenges. There’s inflation, especially now with travel, and they all want their budgets to go up commensurately.
“There is intense competition.”
While he was once part of the Grizzlies as a student-athlete, he’s now trying to join the team again. As a first-year football player, he needed to prove himself on the field. Allen has found it’s not that much different in his current job.
“The biggest challenge has been trying to be one of the team,” he says. “It takes a while to join the camaraderie within the department. If you’re new, and this probably applies whether you’re in this position or a new volleyball coach, there is some professional skepticism. You need to prove to the masses that you can toe the line.
“As Don Read used to say, you need to show that you’re pulling the wagon and not riding on the wagon. The more people that are pulling the wagon, the faster it goes.”
And so the story comes full circle. Lance Allen quoting Don Read, from whom he learned the game of football.
While the college lineman may have moved to the role of Office Linebacker, he still brings the same intensity to the office that he brought to the football field.
I guess you can take the man out of Grizzly football, but you can never remove Grizzly football from the man.
A suggestion: If you are visiting the Athletic Department offices and you hear someone charging down the hallway, get out of the way.
Lance Allen, Office Linebacker, is on the prowl.
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
Volleyball finds new direction, coach
by Joel Carlson, UM Sports Information |
2005-06 Big Sky Champions |
First year Montana volleyball coach
Jerry Wagner has big goals and a clear
vision of where he wants to take the
Grizzly program.
“We want to be one of those teams that
has year-in and year-out success,” Wagner
said recently, “and that makes annual runs
at conference championships and the program
that other teams in the conference
look at as the model of how to do things.”
But Wagner also knows that the journey
to that destination won’t be an overnight
process, and that it starts with the first day
of practice of the 2006 season.
“It’s tough to talk about long-term goals
right now, because those long-term goals
start with what we do right now,” he continued.
“We need to restore the confidence
in the players and build that sense of pride
that we’ve had in the past, not only
amongst the players and coaches, but in the
eyes of our fans, the coaches around the
state and prospective student-athletes.”
Few coaches have a better sense of the
pride Griz volleyball enjoyed in the NCAA
tournament days of the early 1990s than
Wagner, who spent three impressionable
seasons as Dick Scott’s top assistant.
Wagner was hired in May to replace
Nikki Best, who spent six years at
Montana, but whose teams missed the Big
Sky Conference tournament the final five
of those seasons. The Grizzlies went 14-15
in 2005, 3-11 in league play, and graduated
starting setter Diana Thompson and middle
blocker Audrey Jensen.
The first step toward reaching Wagner’s
lofty goals is a small one: be one of the six
teams to make the 2006 Big Sky tournament.
“The talent is definitely in place for us
to make a push to get into the tournament,”
Wagner said. “Coming into the program,
one of the things I thought that was needed
was to diversify the offense. I think this
team was a little too predictable in the past,
so we hope to up the tempo and create a
different atmosphere offensively.”
As most first-year coaches do, Wagner
will rely heavily on his senior class of outside
hitter Claudia Houle, middle blocker/
outside hitter Emily Sakis and middle
blocker/outside hitter EvaLyn Whitehead.
“The seniors on this team are an
extremely determined and physical group
of players,” Wagner said, “and we’re going
to rely on them heavily. I plan to put them
in positions where they are going to have a
big say in what we do this year. They are
going to be the cornerstone of turning this
thing around.”
In her third season at Montana, Houle,
who has twice earned second team allleague
honors, is one of the Big Sky’s top
outside hitters. She has led the team in kills
the last two years and her 23 double-doubles
in 2005 tied for the conference lead.
Houle was named the Collegiate Volleyball
Update national player of the week last
August after leading the Grizzlies to a title
at Maine’s tournament.
Sakis, one of two team captains, is
entering her second year with the Grizzlies.
One of the most efficient hitters in the Big
Sky, Sakis led the Grizzlies in hitting percentage
in her first season (.301) and her
.293 hitting percentage in Big Sky play
ranked seventh in the league.
Whitehead, the lone senior to have
spent her entire career at Montana, provides
the team with a dominant physical
presence in the front court, where she is
one of the team’s top returning blockers at
6-4. She has played in 215 career games
and recorded 441 kills and 171 blocks.
Montana’s junior class is made up of
setter Shelley Boyd, middle blocker
Jessica Petersen and libero Jackie White.
Boyd, the team’s other captain for 2006
along with Sakis, returns to the court after
redshirting the 2005 season. Boyd, who has
852 career assists, was the Grizzlies’ starting
setter as a freshman in 2003 before
splitting setting duties with Thompson in
2004. She’ll contend for playing time in
2006 with freshman Taryn Wright.
Petersen started 20 matches for UM in
2005 and tied for second on the team in
blocks with 66. She finished sixth on the
team in both kills (1.63 kpg) and hitting
percentage (.162).
White is one of the Big Sky’s top
liberos and Montana’s most passionate oncourt
player. She led the team in digs (5.19
dpg) as a sophomore, and her average of
6.31 digs per game in league play led the
conference. White’s 46 digs at Weber State
last fall broke the 18-year-old Big Sky
record of 45 and the 14-year-old Montana
record of 43.
UM’s sophomore class includes libero
Julie Faulk, outside hitter/middle blocker
Lauren Gustafson, outside hitter Micaela
Parker and outside hitter Jade Roskam.
Faulk and Roskam both played for the
Grizzlies in 2005, with Faulk ranking fifth
on the team in digs (1.92 dpg) and Roskam
finishing as the team’s third leading hitter
at 2.26 kills per game.
Gustafson and Parker join the Griz
under different circumstances. Gustafson, a
Billings, Mont., native, transferred to
Montana after spending the 2005 season at
Louisiana Tech, where she had 78 kills and
36 blocks while playing in 26 matches for
the Lady Techsters.
Parker rejoins the team after electing to
sit out the 2005 season. She is an established
outside hitter who led the team in
service aces and was third in kills as a
freshman in 2004.
Montana has a four-player incoming
freshman class: outside hitter Theresa
Bennett from Dillon, Mont., middle blocker
Stephanie Stromath from Manhattan
Beach, Calif., outside hitter Stephanie
Turner from Dayton, Wash., and Wright, a
setter from Fair Oaks, Calif.
“(Being hired in May), the freshman
class is still a little bit of an unknown to
me,” Wagner said, “but I see them adding a
lot of energy and athleticism to the team.”
With the addition of Northern Colorado
to the Big Sky in 2006, the Grizzlies will
play a 16-match conference schedule,
which will allow for pre-conference tournaments
at California, Nevada and Portland.
The Big Sky schedule opens Sept. 15,
with a home match against Montana State.
That will also serve as Montana’s home
opener.
“During the non-conference season
we’re hoping to accomplish the goals we
have of remaking ourselves and establishing
a new identity,” Wagner said. “It will
take each one of those matches to tell us
where we’re at in the process.”
After 18 years as an assistant coach at
Montana, Oregon State, Montana State and
Gonzaga, Wagner is ready to not only get
his own head coaching career rolling, but
getting the Griz back to where he remembers
them being on an annual basis: near
the top of the Big Sky standings.
“I’ve been preparing myself 18 years
for the opportunity to come back to Montana
and coach,” Wagner said. “Almost all of
my special volleyball memories were here.
“The success and the pride that were
instilled in me during the time that I was
here have never left me, and we need to
return those things to the program. This is
the team that I want to start establishing
those things with, because I think it’s capable
of achieving many good things.”
[Back to the Grizzly Times] |
| A letter from Director of Athletics Jim O'Day |
Montana A.D. Jim O'Day |
It’s been a great run for Grizzly Athletics the past few months, and an even brighter future is on the horizon.
Following a successful football season where our Griz participated in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs for a record 13th consecutive year while compiling an 8-4 record, our men’s and women’s basketball teams had stellar winter seasons as well.
The men went 24-7 on the year, with wins against powerhouses such as Stanford, Drake, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara and Oral Roberts. Along the way, the Griz swept the season series against cross-state rival Montana State and ended league play in second place with a 10-4 record. A 73-60 victory over host Northern Arizona in the championship game of the Big Sky Conference tournament rewarded UM with a second straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
In their first game in Salt Lake City, the No. 12 seed Grizzlies upset No. 5 seed Nevada, 87-79, to give Montana its first NCAA tourney win in 31 years. In the next round, Boston College proved to be too much for the Griz during a 69-56 setback. The national exposure and excitement over winning a game in the NCAA tournament continues to be the talk of Griz Nation as it prepares to follow coach Larry Krystkowiak and his team when the 2006-07 season opens in November.
Seniors Kevin Criswell and Virgil Mathews will be sorely missed, but with much of this year’s team still intact and a talented new recruiting class, a promising future is in store.
Robin Selvig and his young Lady Griz squad also had a great run in 2005-06. The team, with only two seniors and one junior, posted a 21-7 record and finished second in the conference standings at 10-4. Freshman Mandy Morales was an honorable mention All-American, the first in many years for the Lady Griz. Next year, she will have a talented group of returning letterwinners as they make another run at a Big Sky championship and NCAA tournament appearance.
Selvig, who will begin his 29th season at the helm of the women’s basketball program at The University of Montana in 2006-07, has a career record of 645-188, one of the best marks by any coach in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
Another item of note: The Lady Griz once again finished among the top 30 leaders in the nation in attendance this year, averaging 3,855 fans per game.
As we make our way through the final quarter of the 2005-06 academic calendar, the Griz have continued to make us proud.
Under the direction of 10th-year head coach Joanne Steele, the UM women’s golf team captured the school’s first-ever Big Sky Conference title in April. The Griz shot a 54-hole team total of 904 to win the tournament by eight strokes over second-place Northern Arizona. Pacing the way for UM were senior Jasi Acharya and junior Krista Swanson, who finished first and second at the league championship.
Acharya’s title was only the second individual championship ever won by a UM golfer, matching Katie Jacobsen who achieved the feat in 2002. Swanson finished as the individual runner-up for the second consecutive year. Days after the team and individual championships, Steele was named the 2005-06 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year.
Due to the team’s conference title, Montana advances to an NCAA regional tournament, which is scheduled for May 11-13.
The men’s and women’s tennis teams, under the direction of Kris Nord and Jen Anderson, have also made positive strides this spring. Both programs defeated rival Montana State in dual match play this spring. The men won their regular-season finale, 4-3, over MSU, marking their first win over the Bobcats since the 1999 season.
Senior Jan Steenekamp and junior Stuart Wing paced the men’s squad this year, with both having recently earned all-conference recognition. Montana’s men ended the regular season with four consecutive wins to post a 9-10 overall mark (4-2 BSC).
The UM women tallied a 5-2 win over the Bobcats this spring. All-Big Sky performers freshman Liz Walker and sophomore Mari Castello helped lead the Griz to a fourth-place regular-season finish at 9-11 overall (3-3 BSC).
All of this was accomplished despite the absence of an indoor practice facility to call their own.
Coach Tom Raunig’s track and field teams also suffer from the lack of an indoor practice facility, but have been posting impressive results this spring nonetheless. Sophomore distance runner Allie Brosh, senior high jumper Jas Gill and junior javelin thrower Alicia Mills have already qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will be held May 26-27 in Austin, Texas.
In personnel news, the Grizzlies lost assistant men’s basketball coach Brad Huse, who took over the Montana State program in April, and the volleyball program will have a new coach the first week of May. The three finalists for the position were all interviewed on campus in late April. They included Chris Riley, the coach at Towson, Allison Weston, the current interim coach at Montana, and Jerry Wagner, an assistant coach at Gonzaga.
As for support staff, Greg Sundberg steps in as the new Executive Director of the Grizzly Scholarship Association. Previously, Greg served as the assistant director of the GSA, and prior to that, the department’s marketing director. His enthusiasm and dedication for the job are unmatched, and he has demonstrated to all of us that he will continue to be an asset to the department as he moves up the career ladder. We are fortunate to have him in this capacity.
Also, Brynn Molloy has been named the new Special Projects Coordinator for the GSA, assuming the job previously held by Sundberg, but with some job description changes. Molloy had been an administrative assistant for Montana’s Olympic sports, and that position will be filled in the near future.
We are also fortunate to have Colleen McChesney and Kim Shay on the GSA staff as administrative assistants – and they are the real conduits for the success of the organization. They keep everything organized and in order, and are the friendly voices answering many of our supporters’ phone calls. The GSA would be lost without them.
The addition of Colleen Marks as the assistant to the athletic director serving as the liaison between UM Athletics and the Adams Center Ticket Office was invaluable this past year, as was the One-Stop Shopping program. Colleen had a major hand in the success of that program. Her value to our department can not be understated.
Longtime Griz sports information director Dave Guffey has been elevated to the position of Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations/Internal Affairs. His new duties will include overseeing the recently assembled sales force for the department and selling advertisements for the football and basketball game programs, which are being brought in house for the first time in many years. He will continue to cover Grizzly football, while Joel Carlson and Chris Geraghty will provide coverage for UM’s other 13 sports.
Finally, UM Athletics and the UM Foundation were fortunate to attract Kent Haslam to take the job as Assistant Athletic Director for Development. Kent has been on board as our major gifts officer since February, after having served a similar capacity at Northern Arizona University. I hope you have an opportunity to meet with Kent in the near future. He will be a real asset to our department.
As you can see, things are going well at UM Athletics. With your continued help and support, it will only get better. Thanks for being a big part of our team! I look forward to seeing you at spring tour events – or in the fall.
Jim O'Day - Director of Athletics
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| UM Athletic Department and GSA announcements |
Monte tryouts to be held May 2-3
The University of Montana Athletic Department Marketing Director Christie Anderson announced Wednesday that current UM Sophomore, Dane Reis, will resign from the mascot position of Monte the Bear to attend Boston Conservatory. The current mascot program enlists participation of two UM students therefore auditions will be held for only one mascot position.
The mascot audition will be held Tuesday, May 2nd and Wednesday, May 3rd.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
UM student-athletes honored at annual banquet
The University of Montana women's golf team and three student-athletes were honored Monday night at the 14th annual Robert O. Lindsay Scholar-Athlete Banquet. The banquet was a recognition dinner for the 159 UM student-athletes who have maintained at least a 3.0 grade point average for their academic careers while at Montana.
In comparison, 132 student-athletes were recognized at the 2004 banquet and 150 in 2005.
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. Click below to see what camps are offered and when they are scheduled to take place.
CLICK HERE FOR THE UM SPORTS CAMPS WEBPAGE
26th annual Conoco Grizzly Golf Tournament set for June 16
The 26th annual Conoco Grizzly Golf Tournament will take place at the beautiful Phantom Hills Golf Club in Missoula on Friday, June 16, 2006. Get your teams together early as space will be limited.
Proceeds from this event will benefit student-athlete scholarships at The University of Montana.
If you would like to sign up or have any questions, contact Brynn Molloy with the Grizzly Scholarship Association at 243-4749 or stop by the GSA offices in the Adams Center at The University of Montana.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
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
Griz athletics looking for team posters
The University of Montana athletic department is in the process of accumulating and framing year-by-year team posters for all Grizzly sports for display in the concourse of the Adams Center/Dahlberg Arena. There are a few posters missing from the archives and the Griz Nation is being asked to help track down these selected posters. If someone has a poster from the specified sport and year and UM athletics invites you to donate it to the cause.
OFFICIAL RELEASE
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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