Best All Time Montana Athletes

[PapaG]

Baseball: Jeff Ballard
Football: Corey Widmer, Kirk Scrafford, Casey Fitzsimmons
Decathalon: Dave Johnson
Golf: Leslie Spaulding
Skiing: Scott Schmidt
Figure skating: Scott Davis

Good one on the Scot Schmidt.

Those were awesome days at Bridger. I remember Glen Plake had a big RV in the parking lot for a few weeks one year.

[PapaG]

Shannon (Cate) Schweyen should be on any list for Basketball. Injuries cut short her chance at pro ball, but she even made the final 20 for the 1992 women's Olympic team.

All three of their girls are already very good basketball and volleyball players for Sentinal.

[Marana CAT]

Was there a wrestler at Northern that was a 4 time NAIA Champion? I think he was up there around 2000 - 2004?

[Joe Bobcat]

Was there a wrestler at Northern that was a 4 time NAIA Champion? I think he was up there around 2000 - 2004?

There was and his name is Turk Lords. I believe he is the last person to be a 4 time NAIA champion having done that in the years 1998 - 2001 (that's quite a while ago which kind of tells you it's hard to accomplish. If there were any doubters)
IIRC he was from belt MT.

[JDoub]

Who was the MSU shot put dude in the 80's that looked like Mr. Universe? I know he went 'pro' and did well, maybe 3 Olympic teams? Name escapes me at the moment, but I think he was ranked in the top 10 in the world for some time. I pretty sure he was from Montana.


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[bobcat99]

Who was the MSU shot put dude in the 80's that looked like Mr. Universe? I know he went 'pro' and did well, maybe 3 Olympic teams? Name escapes me at the moment, but I think he was ranked in the top 10 in the world for some time. I pretty sure he was from Montana.


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Last name Black?

[webdav]

There's Dave McNally, then there is everyone else.

[PapaG]

Forgotten because injuries derailed his promising MLB career but Les Rohr of Billings was the #2 overall pick in the 1965 draft, which I believe is the highest pick in any sport for an athlete who played HS sports in Montana. He was injured but was on the roster of the 1969 Mets and had a dugout seat for that run. He was also our pitching coach for the Billings Scarlets and still lives there I believe.

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7ed496e5

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Rohr

[LIBBYCAT]

Who was the MSU shot put dude in the 80's that looked like Mr. Universe? I know he went 'pro' and did well, maybe 3 Olympic teams? Name escapes me at the moment, but I think he was ranked in the top 10 in the world for some time. I pretty sure he was from Montana.


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Lance Deal, probably a better Hammer Thrower(that sounds weird).

How about Terry Maki, from Libby- 3 time state champ in wrestling 86-1 dislocated his elbow his senior year for his only loss.
He played football for Air Force, playing running back, nose guard and linebacker in the mid eighties. He played both ways for the Falcons in probably their best bowl game showing. He was runner up to Chris Spielman for the Butkus award. I believe he was a team captain for three years also. Unfortunately his football career was cut short due to nagging injuries and a career in the Air Force.

[bcats]

Ryan Leaf went #2.

[PapaG]

Ryan Leaf went #2.

I blocked him out. That never happened.

[lutecat]

There's Dave McNally, then there is everyone else.

Aw you're just partial to another Dave.

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[webdav]

There's Dave McNally, then there is everyone else.

Aw you're just partial to another Dave.

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Yep. He is also part of the reason I go by Dave. He was a very good guy.

When I was a little kid, he let me wear his World Series ring.

So yes, it may be a bit of hero worship.

I caught Ballard in the bullpen when he was rehabbing once. Made me realize how good the pros are.

I'll also throw out another name - the best baseball player I had the pleasure of playing with: Jeff Gjerde. One of the sweetest swings ever.

[PapaG]

There's Dave McNally, then there is everyone else.

Aw you're just partial to another Dave.

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Yep. He is also part of the reason I go by Dave. He was a very good guy.

When I was a little kid, he let me wear his World Series ring.

So yes, it may be a bit of hero worship.

I caught Ballard in the bullpen when he was rehabbing once. Made me realize how good the pros are.

I'll also throw out another name - the best baseball player I had the pleasure of playing with: Jeff Gjerde. One of the sweetest swings ever.

I played with Todd Hollandsworth during his sophomore year in Billings Legion before he moved to Seattle to finish school. He was very good but wasn't anyone who we thought would go on to become a major leaguer, let alone NL Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers.

[Camo_Cat]

Baseball: Jeff Ballard
Football: Corey Widmer, Kirk Scrafford, Casey Fitzsimmons
Decathalon: Dave Johnson
Golf: Leslie Spaulding
Skiing: Scott Schmidt
Figure skating: Scott Davis

Good one on the Scot Schmidt.

Those were awesome days at Bridger. I remember Glen Plake had a big RV in the parking lot for a few weeks one year.

Scot just took extreme skiing to the next level, and one of the reasons I used to try some really scary, stupid stuff on the hill. Always used to love Plake's mohawk when he was out filming with Warren Miller and Greg Stump.

[Camo_Cat]

Baseball: Jeff Ballard
Football: Corey Widmer, Kirk Scrafford, Casey Fitzsimmons
Decathalon: Dave Johnson
Golf: Leslie Spaulding
Skiing: Scott Schmidt
Figure skating: Scott Davis

Good one on the Scot Schmidt.

Those were awesome days at Bridger. I remember Glen Plake had a big RV in the parking lot for a few weeks one year.

And for those who don't know about Scot Schmidt (born in Helena), he was a pioneer in extreme skiing. Check out this video of him with a little background. And he's still tearing it up in his 50's.

[lutecat]

Was there a wrestler at Northern that was a 4 time NAIA Champion? I think he was up there around 2000 - 2004?

There was and his name is Turk Lords. I believe he is the last person to be a 4 time NAIA champion having done that in the years 1998 - 2001 (that's quite a while ago which kind of tells you it's hard to accomplish. If there were any doubters)
IIRC he was from belt MT.

But Turk went to high school at CMR. Great falls must be a good place for good athletes. More than any other town it seems almost.

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[BozeCatsFan]

Northern had a Hodge Trophy winner in Emmett Willson but I don't remember if he was a Montana kid or not.

[armingtonbobcat]

Was there a wrestler at Northern that was a 4 time NAIA Champion? I think he was up there around 2000 - 2004?

There was and his name is Turk Lords. I believe he is the last person to be a 4 time NAIA champion having done that in the years 1998 - 2001 (that's quite a while ago which kind of tells you it's hard to accomplish. If there were any doubters)
IIRC he was from belt MT.

But Turk went to high school at CMR. Great falls must be a good place for good athletes. More than any other town it seems almost.

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Turk also won a Greco National Championship while in high school, absolute beast

[Reddevil66-MSU]

JDoub, you are right, his name is Dennis Black, from Great falls. Went to Arizona to start his college career, finished at MSU, went 60' in the Shot Put. After his college career he kept going and made it to the Olympic qualifier. Ended up going over 70' in the shot, 16 lb., for his career. Lance Deal was the hammer thrower, silver medal in the '96 Olympics, but, he threw for MSU but was from Wyoming.
I will throw out the name Shannon Butler though, he was an NCAA champion in the 5000? I believe. From Eureka.