Plains coach adjusts to new reality

It took her a couple of weeks to reach peace with this interrupted season, but Plains track and field coach Denise Montgomery says she has.

The veteran of eight years of working with her Trotter and Horsemen athletes each spring until now is finally good with 2020, not coaching and maintaining social distance with her beloved kids and all.

Even though it drove her crazy for a couple of weeks arriving at this point of peace of mind.

A lot of people know exactly what Montgomery is going through as life in this country has changed significantly these past several weeks given the COVID-19 restrictions we have all been living.

"I was kind of depressed those first few weeks after we were stopped from practicing," Montgomery admitted. "It took me a while but I feel like I have finally adapted to it.

"I am trying not to lament too much," she added hopefully, "trying to stay positive. We have got to push through this. We can control only what we can control."

Besides doing lots of reading and trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle during this hiatus, Montgomery can't help but think about her track and field team a lot, too.

Four times the Montana Coach of the Year (three times at the Class B level and the fourth in Class C) after guiding the Trotters to the team titles in the twenty-tens, Montgomery was truly looking forward to this season as she had a bunch of new eager people – both on the coaching staff and on the 2020 team itself – waiting and raring to go.

"I was really excited, we had a bunch of new kids out and a new team of coaches," she said, not quite ready to give up on the season just yet. "We still have hope that the season can resume. If it does, we will be ready to go."

Montgomery says she has encouraged her charges to stay in shape and try to work on their specialties as much as they can, but that she has not arranged training sessions due to liability concerns. She has been busy learning how to teach her class the online way however, even as she keeps a hopeful eye on PHS track and field.

Rumor has it that the prep spring sports could start back up if schools are allowed to go back to normal business by early May. The Montana High School Association (MHSA) has not announced the final decision as of yet.

"It would be different for sure, heading right into district meet, then divisional and then state," Montgomery added. "It would be different, but it would sure be nice to get back out there."

The list of reasons Montgomery loves and now misses her job so much all have names. Names like her seniors Kylee Altmiller, Audrey Brown and Cree Lulack with the girls and Nathan McNulty and Charlie Rehbein with the boys.

Juniors Inez Alberda (a Spanish exchange student) and Tucker Foster, sophomores Adele Ercanbrack and Dave Worrall, and a flock of freshman including Alexis Helterline, Lillian McDonald, Shelby Scribner, Mason Elliott and Brady Schrenk round out the team that might have been and might still be for Plains.

George Sherwood, Charity Jermyn, Robin Jermyn, Jaron Laws and Evelyn Laws had signed on to be the assistant coaches and were developing good relationships with the PHS student athletes in the short time they had together so far.

Altmiller, who has signed with Providence College in Great Falls to play volleyball beginning next fall, reportedly suffered a broken leg and would have missed the first several weeks of the track season at any rate.

Brown recently signed with the track and field team at Carroll College in Helena, where she plans on furthering her career as a distance runner.

The mood in practice had been great those first few days of April.

"It was looking like a lot of fun," Montgomery said. "We had a lot of enthusiasm going, everybody was really positive, we were really looking forward to getting going."

Also a legendary elementary teacher in the Plains school system, Montgomery particularly likes seeing her grade school students become her high school track and field athletes. Several kids on this year's teams have now seen both sides of their famous teacher/coach.

"I call it the second round and I love it," she said. "It's so much fun to see them as kids and watch them grow up, literally in front of your eyes."

Perhaps not giving herself the proper share of credit in that transformation, the truth is that Montgomery has played a big part in helping every one of those "second round" kids of hers do that growing up she is so proud of.

And she should own up to, and be very proud of that fact of life, too.