Fall Sports are in the air!
Author: Eliza McLaughlin, MT43 News Correspondent
Fall Sports are in the air!
Eliza McLaughlin
MT43 News Correspondent
Fall is in the air, school is back in session, and you know what that means Bulldog fans: high school sports are back!
The football season kicked off — literally — on Aug. 25 in Cut Bank, followed by yet another away game on Sept. 1 against Florence-Carlton. Both face-offs resulted in a loss: 0-29 against Cut Bank and 0-47 against Florence.
The Bulldogs have this week off, offering them the chance to prepare for an upcoming face-off with their local rivals, the Whitehall Trojans.
The Trojans have so far split their wins and losses, with a 7-46 loss in Red Lodge followed by a narrow win of 37-25 on their home field against Fairfield.
The Bulldogs, Trojan showdown will take place in the Bulldog’s Dog Park — Townsend’s home field — on Friday, Sept. 15 with kick-off at 7 p.m.
The Lady Bulldog volleyball players have only faced competition once this season so far, taking on the Whitehall Trojans.
The first set was neck-and-neck with the Lady Bulldogs coming out with a narrow win of 25-20.
The second was even closer with the Lady Bulldogs scraping through to the third set 25-23.
In the third, the Lady Bulldogs showed they still had some bite left in them, sweeping the Trojans 25-8.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Noyes led the Bulldogs with seven kills, assisted by senior Reese Wolfram, sophomore Aspen Slyker, junior Cassidy Flynn and senior Emily Bird each with four of their own.
Bird also held up the team’s defense with 10 digs and 19 assists, tailed by senior Luci Horne with nine digs and one assist.
Horne also earned two aces during the match, tying herself for the most serving success with senior Liz Collins.
The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to once again hit the road on Thursday, Sept. 7, again headed for Jefferson County. Only this time, the target was the Jefferson Lady Panthers. C-team will start the night’s competitions at 4 p.m.
Following the showdown with the Panthers, the Lady Bulldogs will bring the Lone Peak Rams into the Dog House on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. for the first home match of the year.
Bulldog cross-country runners have also made their season debuts, taking off first in Boulder on Aug. 26 at the Jefferson Season Opener.
The Lady Bulldogs were the first to hit the trail, but freshman Kyla Meissner looked less like a bulldog, and more like a greyhound. Meissner finished the course in first in 21:17, followed by junior Kaelyn Sangray in sixth place in 23:08. Fellow junior Scarlett McDaniel finished the course in 27:35 taking 15th overall.
Next came the boys.
Junior Nolan Flynn was the first of the Bulldogs to cross the finish line in sixth place with a time of 19:02. Next came seniors Aidan Easter and Connor Lamb in 16th with a time of 20:29 and 21st with a time of 21:08, respectively. Junior Ross MacDonald claimed 26th overall in 23:19.
The Bulldogs then ran at the BXC Invitational in Gallatin County on Friday, Sept. 1, hosted by Belgrade.
The Lady Bulldogs earned 167 points and finished in seventh place. Meissner placed fifth in the varsity run with a time of 21:29. Sangray took 26th in 23:13, followed by junior Abigail Wickens in 46th with a time of 24:47. McDaniel finished in 62nd in 26:46, improving from her previous run’s time.
Senior Melania Lambott was next, finishing in 95th in 31:23, followed by junior Grace Kroeger in 96th in 32:22.
For the boys, Flynn finished 34th in 19:22, Lamb in 72nd in 21:23 and Easter in 88th in 22:17. Junior Kaden Bruins trailed in 92nd in 22:25, followed by MacDonald in 100th in 22:43. Freshman Rylan Hoveland also finished the course in 109th in 23:08, sophomore Wyatt Coker in 132nd 28:04, freshman Luke Tullos in 133rd in 28:17 and sophomore Keaton Cavasos in 134th in 30:26.
The Bulldogs will run their next race on Saturday, Sept. 9 in Bozeman.
