Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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Literally hitting a cold streak in Anaconda last Thursday and dropping two games there, the Thompson Falls-Noxon Blue Hawks warmed up considerably Monday, taking a two-run lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before dropping a 6-5 decision to the Plains-Hot Springs Trotters in softball action at Plains Monday. Still hoping to be one of the Western B-C teams to qualify for the upcoming divisional tournament in Florence May 20-22, coach Jared Koskela and his Hawks host Loyola for a...
Hoping to set a precedent for Tuesdays to come, the Easy Street Autoworks foursome of Dave Garr, Rusty Haggard, Charlie Hooten and Ron Beaty carded a 33 to win the Tuesday Night Men’s League kickoff scramble last week. In other highlights of the first Tuesday of the 2021 season, Sean Kelly made the long putt on No. 3, Dave Petteys was closest to the pin on No. 5, Howard Morkert converted the long putt on No. 6, Shawn Wilkinson was closest to the pin on No. 8, Cody Mosher smacked the long drive on No. 9 and Bill Nolen hit the long 55+ drive o...
First Security Bank had the golfers with the scores needed to win on play-night, but will they still have the goods when shooting with live ammo in the coming weeks? Starting out Wednesday Night Men’s League play with a traditional play-night, First Security golfers Mike Baxter, Bill Nolen, Ben Mummert, Dan Whittenburg and Michael Scharfe took their maiden voyage for 2021 around River’s Bend last week and came out on top with the low team score of 30. In hole play, Ryan Ostwald was closest to the pin off the tee on No. 5 and clobbered the nig...
Seeming to be getting stronger every day, the Thompson Falls track and field teams surged to an impressive pair of second place finishes in the Seeley-Swan Invitational at Frenchtown Friday. Keyed by great performances from their senior team leaders, Cody Burk in the throws and Justin Morgan in the distance runs, the Hawk boys scored 86 points to finish right behind Fairfield's 89. Paced by event wins from freshmen – Hattie Neesvig claimed first place in the high jump and Fatih Palmer ran to v...
Big Country has conquered Sanders County; now it is time for Cody Burk to move on to the state of Montana and beyond. A multi-sports star during his time at Thompson Falls High School – Burk, nicknamed "Big Country" early on in his high school career, was named first team Western Conference and All-State B in football and second team District 7B All-conference in basketball this school year – the soon-to-be graduate has decided that track and field is his first love, and has signed a nat...
It is another level of wrestling at the National High School Association's annual National High School Championships, a level of excellence where Trae Thilmony fits right in. Taking his talents to the mat yet again in the 2021 NHSA Championships in Virginia last week, Thilmony went 2-2 against national quality competition before being eliminated Saturday. Trae's high school coach and father, Mike Thilmony accompanied his son to Virginia last week, as he did to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the...
It was a long time ago since it was last held– two years to be exact – but the Thompson Falls Invitational track and field meet was back in business for 2021 at sun-splashed Previs Field last Thursday, and all four Sanders County schools (plus a few others from around western Montana) took advantage of the opportunity to compete. Joining the Hawks to compete on Previs Field on one of the best weather days yet this spring were athletes from Troy, Lincoln, Plains, Hot Springs, Arlee and St. Reg...
It was blooming softballs in Deer Lodge and the Blue Hawks came out smelling like roses. Coach Jared Koskela and his Hawks swept a Western B-C doubleheader 23-14 and 18-0 from the homestanding Wardens in Powell County Saturday. In other action last week, the Hawks dropped both games of a doubleheader to Florence in Thompson Falls Friday. Looking to gain momentum as the season winds up, the Hawks were to have played Mission-Arlee-Charlo in Mission Tuesday (results were not available) and are set...
PLAINS – Golfing gone wild at Wild Horse Plains. Plains High School hosted its annual Plains Invitational at Wild Horse Plains Golf Course Friday and several teams from around western Montana competed. More importantly for the Plains golf team, coaches Lisa Brown and Don Stamm were able to get three of their girl golfers qualified for the State C tournament later this season. For the record, Kade Pardee of Thompson Falls shot the day's low score of 78 to win the individual boys title, edging o...
To be the best, you need to test yourself against the best. And the more tests, the better. Considered one of the best high school wrestlers in Montana – with two State B-C titles and a third place medal already locked into his personal trophy case – Trae Thilmony will go to great lengths to make sure he is receiving the best competition possible, even now, in the high school off-season. A junior at Thompson Falls High School, Thilmony has kept quite busy these past several weeks, working in wrestling practices with high school track and fie...
It was just the kind of game that Hawk softball coach Jared Koskela wanted – one that got away from his team and went south in a hurry – a game that his girls can learn valuable lessons from. The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks hosted the Bonner Ferry Badgers for an intrastate doubleheader in chilly northwest Montana Saturday. Playing in between and through intermittent snow flurries, the Badgers won the first game 19-7 and the Hawks led 7-2 in the second before that game was called due to snow. Koske...
Time to tour the scenic fairways and greens of Sanders County. Plains and Thompson Falls will play host to a pair of high school golf tournaments next week as the Plains golfers host the Plains Invitational at Wild Horse Plains Golf Course Friday and the Blue Hawks host the Gary Thompson Invitational at River’s Bend next Tuesday. Both tourneys are set to tee off at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. The tournament namesake for the Falls event, Thompson Falls coach Gary Thompson will guide the Hawks into the Bigfork Invitational Thursday. Plains co...
Megan Baxter's intent is clear – she wants to play basketball at the next level, and has played it well enough so far to earn that opportunity. Arguably one of the best prep players in Thompson Falls hoop history, male or female, Megan signed on the dotted line, putting that commitment in writing last week. Baxter, a three-time All-State B player for the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks, signed her NLI (National Letter of Intent) to play ball for the Carroll College Fighting Saints in a special s...
When it comes to the Frenchtown Invitational, track and field teams should probably pack a lunch, and maybe even dinner. Competing in the ultra-large Frenchtown Invitational Friday, coach Trenna Ferris broke her team into varsity and junior varsity competition, taking advantage of the opportunities presented during a very long day of track and field competition. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the meet was moved up to Friday to better catch the fleeting good weather of spring in Montana and...
The Plains-Hot Springs Trotters swept a doubleheader from visiting Deer Lodge in Plains Saturday, winning both games by scores of 16-1. Sophomore Piper Bergstrom pitched the first game and helped her own cause at the plate by driving in two runs. Kassidy O’Keefe also drove in two runs and had two hits in the game, as did Kaylah Standeford and Madison Elliott. Junior Celsey VonHeeder pitched the other 16-1 win and also drove in two runs to help her own cause, with Elliott and Standeford adding a pair of RBIs each. Izzy Crabb and Jolena C...
Call it “Pirk’s Place” from now on; after all it was one of Randy Pirker’s favorite places on earth and he deserves to have his name emblazoned on it for all to see, appreciate and, most of all, remember. The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks will re-christen the TFHS softball field as Pirk’s Place in honor of the late great coach Saturday at 1 p.m. before a doubleheader with visiting Bonners Ferry. Randy’s daughters Arikka and Stephanie, who both played for their dad as Lady Hawks, will be on hand for the dedication and first-pitch ceremony. T...
Seeming to get stronger every inning, the Thompson Falls-Noxon Blue Hawks erased an early deficit and moved to an 11-6 win over the rival Plains-Hot Springs Trotters in season-opening softball action in Thompson Falls March 30. Encouraged by his team’s grit and determination in the face of an opponent they have struggled mightily with over the years in Plains-Hot Springs, coach Jared Koskela gave his team credit for a job well done. “It’s been a while since Thompson Falls has beaten Plains,” Kos...
Cade VanVleet is making up for lost time. Not just time lost to COVID-19 either. He is making up for lost time due to a devastating injury suffered early in his sophomore season on the football field which cost him all of the 2019-2020 basketball season and last spring’s track and field campaign as well, with or without the advent of the pandemic. Wasting no time this spring, VanVleet, who is now nearing the end of his junior year, has already pre-qualified for the May 27-29 State C meet in Missoula in the shot put and discus based on his m...
Call it softball string theory, and new Plains-Hot Springs coach Dani Crowe wants her Trotters to master it. The Trotters opened season play in Thompson Falls March 30, falling to the hometown Thompson Falls-Noxon Lady Hawks 11-6. Crowe thinks her Trotters played well enough to win, they just did not string together enough plays to make a victory happen. "Statistically we played pretty well," she said. "We were patient at the plate, had some really good at-bats. We just didn't string enough...
The ups and downs of early-season track and field competition. Coach Trenna Ferris took her Thompson Falls track and field teams to Bigfork Saturday and the girls finished fourth in team scoring and the Hawk boys seventh in the big early-season meet from Bigfork's scenic field overlooking Flathead Lake. "We had some ups and downs but overall an exceptional day," she said. "When we go out and compete amongst all classes and still place – it's a good day!" Having one of the best days of all, s...
After the year of nothing, something to finally look forward to – a real-life track and field season. Not a virtual competition, but actual almost face-to-face confrontations that we had become accustomed to seeing over the years. Until last year, that is. Twenty-twenty, the year of COVID-19, will certainly go down in the books as one we will want to forget but likely never will be able to completely erase from memory. In the meantime, 2020 has thankfully passed and Montana spring prep sports a...
When you have a tournament named after you, you are considered a living legend. Long-time Thompson Falls golf coach Gary Thompson, who was honored when officials declared Thompson Falls’ annual high school golf tournament the “Gary Thompson Invitational” back in 2019, is back to coach the Blue Hawk girls and boys golf teams once more this spring. Although he has attempted to retire from his Falls golf coaching position a few times, Thompson always seems to get lured back in. And he is liking the looks of his 2021 team, although he would like...
It's been a long time between games, but the Thompson Falls-Noxon Lady Hawks are finally ready to play some softball again. Robbed of their 2020 season like everyone else due to the pandemic, coach Jared Koskela and his Lady Hawks were set to open the 2021 season Tuesday hosting Sanders County rival Plains-Hot Springs Tuesday for a single game Tuesday, but results of that game were not available at press time. Not knowing a whole lot about the other teams and just learning about his Lady Hawks...
The new head coach for Hot Springs track and field, Andrew Leichtnam already knows a thing or two about Savage Heat sports. An assistant coach for the powerful Heat football team for the last five years and an assistant in other sports as needed during that time, Leicthnam was also a legendary athlete during his playing days in Hot Springs, winning a State B-C wrestling championship for Plains-Hot Springs, starring for the football team and winning a third place medal in the State C shot put as a senior for the Heat in 2002. Now he gets his...
Noxon track and field teams began season action competing in the Eureka Time Trials Saturday. Leading the way for the Red Devil boys, junior Cade VanVleet enjoyed a banner day, tying for first place with Thompson Falls’ Cody Burk in the shot put, winning second in the discus and 100 meters, and claiming third place in the javelin. Josh Baldwin won third place in the shot put and fourth in the javelin for the Noxon boys, and Wyatt Lackner went the distance in placing third in the 3200 meters, fifth in the 800 and sixth in the 1600. For the L...
