Sorted by date Results 327 - 351 of 617
Big Sandy is set to host play in the first two rounds of the District 7C volleyball tournament Oct. 29 and 30. "That's huge," Pioneers coach Brittany McKenney said. "We've never hosted tournaments here." The bottom half of the bracket, featuring the second-seed facing off against the seventh and the third-seed against the sixth, would begin Oct. 29 with subsequent semifinal and consolation matches featuring those teams in the Big Sandy gym. In the final rounds, the remaining teams would join...
Eighty three (83) youth from ages 5 to 13 participated in the 17th annual Rotary Punt, Pass & Kick competition at the Big Sandy High School football complex on Friday October 9th. "Weather conditions for this year's event were perfect", said Richard Roth who has helped put on the event since its inception. "It is great to see kids, parents, teachers and volunteers getting out to help and enjoy the fun and sun." The Big Sandy Pioneers football team was on hand to help with the event too. "It's a...
SAND COULEE — The Big Sandy Pioneers are seeing improvement as their regular season on the volleyball court nears completion. Big Sandy 3, Centerville 0 The Pioneers went down to Sand Coulee and swept Centerville on Tuesday, Oct. 7 for their second consecutive win in thrilling 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 fashion. “I definitely think we’re going up,” junior Tavie Wortman said in an interview after the match in which she led her team with 9 digs. “Winning two games in a row is really going to send us up and give us some encouragement, I think.” T...
The football season at Big Sandy is playing out like a great drama. In Act I, the Pioneers were matched with bit players and the action lacked suspense as they rolled to 3-0. After a three-week long intermission, Big Sandy met opposites with whom they could have some give-and-take. And the second act climaxed Friday with a second consecutive North Division title for the Pioneers, won 46-29 on their home field against Power/Dutton-Brady. Finally, the Big Sandy starters were challenged to play...
It just took a bit of time to soak in oil country before Big Sandy could be free of the rust of three weeks without football and claim a 74-34 win Friday night in Sunburst. A mistake-filled end to the second quarter left the Pioneers only a touchdown ahead of the host Refiners at the break. Seniors Parker Proulx and Kade Strutz returned to their usual form and helped their team pull away with 20 unanswered points in the first 3 minutes, 7 seconds of the third quarter. "I took a lot of it...
A little home cookin’ got the Big Sandy spikers back on a winning track Saturday. Coming off three straight away matches, the Pioneers took advantage of a homecourt edge at last and beat Dutton/Brady, 25-18, 25-15, 25-6. “It was an exciting night both individually and as a team. The girls brought a lot of energy and fun to the court,” said Big Sandy coach Brittany McKenney. “It felt good to win. We still have a lot of areas to improve on but I am proud of the progress we are making.” Individual team records for a match fell in the dominant...
As Yogi Berra said, "It's like deja vu all over again." For the first time in 2020, Big Sandy matched up on the volleyball court Saturday against an opponent they had seen earlier in the season. This time on the road, they ended up with a remarkably similar result against the North Star Knights. That's good and bad. On the plus side, again the District 7C foes played a marathon set for the ages after a fairly close one, while another went disastrously for the Pioneers in a 3-0 sweep. They just...
The Big Sandy Pioneers’ varsity volleyball squad collected its first victory on the road in District 7C play Friday in Hays before dropping a hard-fought match Saturday at Chester. The Pioneers won their second match of the season much as they did their first: convincingly. Big Sandy swept away the host Thunderbirds of Hays-Lodge Pole 25-17, 25-18, 25-23. The Pioneers’ previous win had been in straight sets on their home floor against Box Elder. Big Sandy got another strong performance from Alicia Bjornestad, the team leader with 10 ass...
Two weeks after it started, the Big Sandy Pioneers football regular season is halfway done. In yet another 2020 oddity, the home slate is two-thirds complete following Friday’s 68-13 romp over Bear Paw country rival Box Elder. Fourteen days after the season kicked off, Big Sandy improved to 3-0 and faces two of its last three scheduled contests on the road before a likely fourth consecutive trip to the state playoffs. The Pioneers’ dominance against their guests from just 10 miles north became evident from the opening drive. Brady Ple...
There’s no night like Parent Night to pick up a win. Upon recognizing the support of their folks, the Big Sandy varsity and junior varsity volleyball squads each swept visiting Box Elder Thursday night. The victory is the first on the season for the varsity girls after a harrowing start against the division’s top contenders. Senior Amiya Griffith led the Pioneers with 7 kills and underclassmen Caydence Pleninger and Malaysia Baumann each served up 4 aces in a 25-19, 25-9, 25-17 varsity victory. “That was pretty exciting for Malaysia becau...
The new kids on the block might just be the toughest kids on the block. The Fort Benton Longhorns left no uncertainty on the floor Friday night that they will challenge for a district crown, as they swept away visiting Big Sandy, 25-3, 25-5, 25-12. The Pioneers fell to 0-3 in league play and could salvage little more optimism for the ride home than that at least it made for a short trip. “It was just disappointing because, obviously, last week we didn’t win but we showed up to play,” said Pioneers head coach Brittany McKenney. “To turn around...
Big Sandy made quick work of North Star, Saturday afternoon in Rudyard, beating the hometown Knights 42 -7. Overall it was a solid day of football for the Pioneers with Seniors setting the tone and young leaders like Kody Strutz stepping up big with flashes of greatness. The pioneers showed some creativity early on the offensive side of the ball with Kade Strutz starting the afternoon with a 12 yard completion (yes I said completion) to Parker Proulx, before pounding his way in from 20 yard out...
The rumpled appearance of new wrinkles in the Big Sandy offense ironed out smooth in the second half of a 47-6 win against visiting Valier in Friday's football season opener. "It was very sloppy," said Pioneers head coach Larry Jappe. "I was not happy in the first half." Three consecutive seasons of state playoff appearances and a combined 26-7 record during that run can make for a 29-0 halftime lead that isn't up to snuff. "We kind of figured out what was working against them," Jappe said, in...
An opening week against upper-tier league foes Chinook and North Star sent Big Sandy volleyball to the school of hard knocks. The defending league champion Sugarbeeters swept the host Pioneers, 25-15, 25-17, 25-22 Thursday to begin the 2020 season. Big Sandy grew in confidence and competitiveness throughout the match despite the sweep. "I told the girls right away I don't think we have anything to hang our heads about," Pioneers head coach Brittany McKenney said. "Chinook is a strong team. It's...
The more things change, the more they stay the same for the powerhouse Pioneer pigskin program. Big Sandy left unfinished business on the field after a 10-1 2019 season ended with a semifinal loss to eventual state champion Jordan in the Montana 6-man semifinal. The Mustangs' lone blemish for the year wound up being a season-opening 44-28 loss to Big Sandy. In 2020, it's a whole new ballgame. The Pioneers replace more than half their starting lineup. But so does Jordan. So do many teams in the...
Before a single set is played, chalk one up in the "win" column for Big Sandy volleyball. With all the chaos and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the squad is well aware every match, every practice, every spike, every drill, every day they can suit up in purple and gold is a privilege. "We are grateful just to be playing," said senior Alicia Bjornestad."Because it can be taken away at any time. I hope we can cherish this time together as a team." The Pioneers are guided by second-year...
The Big Sandy Barracudas’ 2020 swim season came to an end in late July with a final meet in Shelby on the 25th. This season was unlike every other year for Big Sandy because of the challenges posed by the Covid shutdowns. Fewer meets, many towns simply not participating, and smaller teams from the towns that did compete changed the year dramatically. Coach Travis Baumann describes the challenge as it related to the meet in Conrad: “There were other teams there, but not very many. So, in Conrad there was us, Conrad, Chester, a couple kids fro...
Preparations for a Big Sandy Pioneers fall sports season are geared toward maintaining as regular a program as the COVID-19 pandemic will allow, according to state and local authorities. At press time, Big Sandy Schools Athletic Director Melanie Schwarzbach told the Mountaineer the Montana High School Association, the statewide governing body for interscholastic activities, is developing a tiered system for conducting athletic play. The five tiers are roughly akin to the three phases of re-opening outlined by Gov. Steve Bullock’s office. ...
The Big Sandy Barracudas swam the final meet of their abbreviated 2020 season in Shelby on Saturday. They placed second, behind the hometown Shelby Stingrays. The team swam at half-strength, as COVID kept 11 of the team's swimmers from being able to leave their homes in order to attend. Other swimmers chose not to attend due to concerns of possible exposure to the virus. While the team is disappointed to have their season end early, they were grateful for their opportunities to compete and are...
Let’s talk about clean eating. What is it? Is it beneficial? Or is it just a fad diet that will soon phase out? Clean eating is defined as consuming Whole Foods and avoiding processed foods and foods with preservatives, added sugars, and coloring. “Clean eating” became a fad diet in the U.S., really starting back in 2007 when a Canadian fitness model wrote a book talking about how she lost 75lbs just by eating “clean,” by taking processed foods out of her diet, mainly white flour and sugar. Now, just like any diet, there are pros and cons. The...
The 2020 swim season has proven to be an interesting one, with most meets canceled throughout the federation. Conrad received approval to host a 7-team meet this last Saturday, in which the Barracudas swam in the closest thing to a traditional swim meet they've competed in this summer. Missing were the touch-pads, relay events, a timer for each lane and approximately 300 swimmers that would normally attend a Conrad-hosted meet. Teams that host are being required to host smaller, more local...
Stephanie Overbay accepted the 365-day challenge I want to take the time to give a shout-out to my friend Stephanie Overbay in this week's article. She's been on her journey by walking AT LEAST a mile every day for the last 345 days! She's committed to doing this for a full year! 365 days! And she's almost there! I asked her to answer a few questions for me. Question 1: Me: Why did you choose to do the challenge? Stephanie: I choose to do this challenge to help motivate me to get outside every...
Mother Nature provided a perfect day for the first-ever Big Sandy Swim Meet. Warm temperatures and a gentle breeze made for an enjoyable day outside minus the mosquitoes. Thirty-three Barracudas took to the water for some friendly competition against their teammates in what would be considered a scrimmage for other sports. This was definitely not a typical meet for our team. They overcame the obstacles of a shorter than regulation pool, a pool too shallow to allow flip turns on one end and no...
Ryan and I exchanged E-Mails to visit about his chance to play college basketball. Mountaineer: You were first going to go to Butte, correct? Why did you decide to go to Rocky? Ryan Roth: "Yes, I had made plans to attend Montana Tech and major in geological engineering, but one day while working, the head coach from Rocky called me. Thankfully, I had the service to return his call because he told me that the program was interested in picking me up. I decided to go to Rocky because it was the...
“Congratulations to the Fort Benton-Big Sandy Wrestling Team on their 3rd place Class C Trophy! This was only recently awarded after an appeal to the MHSA executive board after the team was placed in Class B at the state tournament. That decision was reversed and our team took 3rd place! Way to go, Coach Tucker Taylor and Bayley Genereux!” The Mountaineer could not get any further information prior to printing....
