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It's that time of the year! Friday Night Lights are back! I love fall and the start of football season. I was excited to sit down with Larry Jappe, the head coach of last year's state champs, the Big Sandy Pioneers! I visited with him during Junior High Football Practice. It was a morning practice for them, the weather was wonderful, and the football field was green. I wanted to know after coming off of a state championship last year what it was going to be like this year. Larry said, "I've...
Barracudas Bronze in Class B State Excitement filled the air as nearly 20 teams gathered around deck in Conrad on July 29 with coaches, parents, and children alike buzzing with anticipation at the opportunity to showcase their hard work and dedication to the sport this summer. With each team dressed in their own theme, the Parade of Athletes kicked off the collision of the East and West Divisions in their battle to sort out the ranks. Dressed as "The Flintstones" on land and known as Barracudas...
Barracudas invade Gator Waters The Barracudas scored 311 points leading them to a 7th place finish in Fort Benton July 15&16. Although they were missing a few of their usual top scorers, there were 25 little fish that attended day one of the meet. MacKenzie Werk proved she is a force to be reckoned with, putting up 32. She was followed closely by consistent top contributors T'Gan Ketchum and Harley LaBuda whom had 30 points each. Astrid Ketchum was a strong contender with 29 points, Lila Butler...
Barracudas 3rd in Harlem, 4th in Columbia Falls It was an especially exciting meet in Harlem for a handful of Barracudas July 1&2, beginning with eight year old Ruthie Boyce who made her debut on the blocks. She gave it her all with some guidance from Harley LaBuda in the 25m and 50m freestyle, as well as the 25m backstroke. Cassia Butler captured her first-ever women's high point award following a nail-biting finish in the 100m freestyle. After losing her goggles and getting them back in to...
Braydon Cline, Kody Strutz, and Rusty Gasvoda represented the United States in the XXV Canam Bowl played on July 8th in Hanna, Alberta, Canada. The USA team comprised the three Big Sandy boys and kids from Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. The USA won the game 84-16. According to Tracy Schuster, who sent me the information, someone from Big Sandy was always on the field for every play. Braydon was quarterback, and Kody and Rusty played defense. The first CanAm Bowl began in July of 1997...
The Omoksee is always a family activity. It's interesting to watch. I had to ask why some horses ran faster, and others ran slower. I was told it really isn't a race. It's working to the horse's ability and the rider's ability. Sometimes the smaller children ride the horse while someone in front of the horse reins the horse. Even one of the horses with an adult male was led into the arena. I was told it's because the horse is nervous in the waiting area, but the horse does his job in the arena....
It was an especially exciting meet in Harlem for a handful of Barracudas July 1&2, beginning with eight year old Ruthie Boyce who made her debut on the blocks. She gave it her all with some guidance from Harley LaBuda in the 25m and 50m freestyle, as well as the 25m backstroke. Cassia Butler captured her first-ever women’s high point award following a nail-biting finish in the 100m freestyle. After losing her goggles and getting them back in to their rightful position as she came out of the first turn of the race, she adjusted them once a...
It was an exciting weekend in Shark water as two little Barracudas made their debut on the blocks in Cut Bank. Eight year old Brookelyn Cline and four year old Lena Ray (with the guidance of Jai Baumann) were all smiles as they dove head first in to their first-ever swim meet. The Barracudas placed fifth out of eight teams, collectively scoring 370 points. Leading the charge was Harley LaBuda with 42 points, earning herself high point honors for the women's division. Darrell Sunchild with 33...
Braydon Cline and Kody Strutz were selected to play in the Montana East-West Shrine Game in Butte, Montana. Kody was called up on Monday after a player from the East was sidelined with an injury. Both boys played wide receiver for the East. The West won in a one-sided affair, 45-13. This was the 76th annual Montana East-West Shrine Game. It was a closer game at the half, but the West got four touchdowns in the second half. However, it is an honor to be selected and to play with the best...
The Bitterroot Swim Team hosted in Hamilton over the weekend with the Barracudas placing 6th over all. After just one solid week of practice in the books and with only 8 kids from the team in attendance, the Barracudas still managed to make a name for themselves with a combined team score of 174 points. Henry Merrill led the way for the Barracudas with 40 individual points, followed by Harley LaBuda with 30, Raea Pansch, Dorothea Merrill, and Levon Myers each chipping in 22, Waylon Myers with 13, Eden Pansch with 11, and Astrid Ketchum with an...
Big Sandy had four seniors at the six-man all-star football game played Friday night in Highwood. Big Sandy boys all played on the Red Team, they won 38-12. Lance Rutledge made the game's first touchdown, and Kody Strutz ran for the longest touch town. Rusty Gasvoda was selected as MVP on defense. Braydon Cline was selected as MVP on offensive., and Larry Jappe was the Red team head Coach. Big Sandy shined!...
The Pioneer tracksters headed to state this last weekend in, where they faced opponents from 75 Class C teams. Wendy Taylor, head coach said, "It was a fantastic year with lots of growth and success. Couldn't be prouder of all the hard work and effort from the kids to become the best they could be." The Pioneers put in a valiant effort and worked hard. There unfortunately were a few scratches in events, but there were several Pioneers in the top 25 in each event. Making it to the top 25 in the...
Coach Wendy Taylor said, "I'm super proud of all these kids. They have worked hard this season and saw great results today!" The Pioneer tracksters headed to Great Falls this last Thursday and Friday for Northern C Divisional Track. There were 24 teams that compete in the Northern C Divisional Track Meet. The boys team placed 9th overall, and the girls team placed 12th. The Pioneers had a great track meet, with several athletes with a Personal Record (PR) for the day. Most events had prelims on...
The weather was perfect for the Big Sandy Pioneers. The Pioneer track team traveled to Havre to compete in the District 9C track meet. The District track meet had eight teams that participated. The Girl's track team placed 2nd overall and actually only lost to 1st place by Three points. The boys' track team placed 3rd overall. The top 5 finishers in each event move on to Northern C Divisional in Great Falls Thursday the 18th, with most final events on Friday the 19th. The Pioneers had an...
The Pioneers had two track meets this last week. On May 1st, they traveled to Rudyard for the Jason Groseclose Memorial. There were 13 teams at that track meet. Big Sandy attended the track meet without those who were competing at the Top 8 track meet. The boy’s team placed 9th place, and the girl’s team placed 6th at the Jason Groseclose Memorial track meet. Then on May 2nd, the invited Pioneers traveled to Great Falls for the Top 8 meet with 22 teams. The boys placed 6th overall, and the girls placed 8th overall. The district track meet is...
The weather was perfect for a track meet on Saturday at the Memorial Invitational in Great Falls. The Pioneers faced 31 teams. The varsity boys placed 8th overall, and the girls placed 21st overall. The results are below: Boys Varsity In the 100m race, 114 athletes participated. Cooper Taylor, with a time of 11.6, took 5th place. In the 200m, 87 athletes participated, and in 7th place, Cooper Taylor, with a time of 23.9. Those who got the PR were Kody Strutz at 24.3 and Ryder Galbavy at 36.03 40...
The Pioneer track team was in Fort Benton and Havre this last week/weekend. At the Fort Benton meet, which had 13 teams present, the girls' varsity took 3rd place overall, and the boys' varsity took 2nd overall. At the Cal Wearley meet in Havre, which had 30 teams present, the boys' varsity took 5th place, and the girls' JV took 6th place. The Cal Wearley meet also included Unified athletes. Below are the results of those track meets: In Fort Benton, the Men's Results in the100m: 1st place...
The Pioneers had their first track meet of the season in Cut Bank this last weekend. Head Coach Wendy Taylor said, "We had a great first meet which was our first practice out on a track, so we dubbed it our "first official practice" There is only so much that can be done inside where so many kids have limited practice. Some were nervous. Everyone got times and marks, so it was a great start for our season." The Cut Bank Pre-Easter Invitational hosted 29 teams. Since this is the first track...
The 2023 All-State selections are, for girls basketball, Sophomore, Eva Yeadon, she also is first team All Conference. For the boys, Senior, Braydon Cline, he also is first team All-Conference with Senoir, Kody Strutz also on the first team. All -Conference girls 2nd team, Senior, Eva Wagoner, and Sophomore, Jai Baumann. Boys All-Conference 2nd team, Senior Issac Pedraza. Congratulations to all the Pioneers!...
To step onto the mat as an 8th grader, Harley LaBuda has become one of the first girls with the opportunity to become a 5 time All American as one of the newest members of Team Montana. To earn the title of All American, competitors must place in the top 8 for their bracket at Nationals. Harley stepped onto the mat in Omaha, Nebraska representing Team Montana at the USAW Nationals in the 14U girls division. She ended up taking 7th at Nationals with 2 wins by pin and 2 losses. From a young age,...
I knew that adding the 8th-grade wrestlers to the high school wrestling program had helped the team this year, but I was curious to know if the statewide changes were as effective. Head coach Tucker Taylor said, "For our high school, we had two 8th graders. We had Harley Labuda, and Quinn Rodewald, both of them placed at state. In our program alone, quite a few eighth graders were able to be quite successful throughout the wrestling season. I know there was a kid from Hardin that placed in the...
The Pioneers' season ended at the State C Boys Championship in Billings this weekend. The Pioneers took 2nd place after a loss against Manhattan Christian in the Championship game, losing by just 9 points. The Pioneers finished their season like they started, working hard, giving it their all, and being strong mentally and physically on the court. The Pioneers will go down in Big Sandy history for being the runners-up at State for the 2022-2023 season, which is something to be proud of. The Big...
They had two weeks to rest, heal and prepare. I wanted to ask the Pioneer team if they were ready for state. Kody Strutz said, "Yes, Ma'am! After playing eight games in two weeks, I've been working on getting my health back to where it needs to be. He is "Getting locked in mentally in the last weeks in practice." Lustre doesn't scare him. Kody believes being from 9C will help them. Wylee Snapp said, "Yes, of course! The way we played at divisionals, I know we can get state too. I think it was...
The Pioneers started divisional play against Great Falls Central Catholic Wednesday night, winning 74-50. Senior Braydon Cline dominated the first half of play, and GFCC did not have an answer for him. The Pioneers came out with their famous 3/4 press, and GFCC defended with a zone. The Pioneers picked apart the zone with a drive to the basket and kick out. The Pioneers took an early lead of 13-2, with Cline having 10 points. But GFCC started knocking down their shots and outscored Big Sandy...
The Pioneers started their District play, winning against Chinook Thursday night. Senior Kody Strutz set the tone with great passing, which led to several assists to his teammates. He also hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Braydon Cline, Issac Pedraza, and Cooper Taylor all contributed offensively. Big Sandy had great ball movement on offense, which resulted in them beating Chinook in the 1st quarter by 5 points with a score of 13-8. The second quarter was all Wylie Snapp and Pedraza. Board after board, block after block, hustle play after hustle...
