2014-15 MSUB Sports Feature Stories

Contents

MSUB Feature Stories | 2014-15 Name, Year, Sport Page Chelsey Walter, Senior, Volleyball....................................................................................................................... 2 Thorge Jess, Sophomore, Men’s Soccer................................................................................................................ 6 Chelsea Shuman, Senior, Women’s Soccer......................................................................................................... 10 Matt Brink, Senior & Kyle Emerick, Senior, Men’s Soccer................................................................................ 15 Krista Norris, Senior, Volleyball........................................................................................................................ 20 Jennifer Johnson, Senior & Jessie Mancilla, Senior, Women’s Soccer............................................................... 24 Sam Butterworth, Junior, Men’s Soccer............................................................................................................. 28 Krystal Daniels, Senior, Women’s Soccer........................................................................................................... 32 Ashlynn Ward, Sophomore & Mataia Roderick, Freshman, Volleyball........................................................... 36 Grady Bryson, Senior, Men’s Soccer................................................................................................................... 40 Nocona Frame, Senior, Women’s Cross Country.............................................................................................. 44 Monica Grimsrud, Senior, Volleyball & Women’s Basketball........................................................................... 48 Andres Moreano-Enriquez, Senior, Men’s Soccer............................................................................................. 52 Kayleen Goggins, Senior, Women’s Basketball.................................................................................................. 55 Emmanuel Johnson, Junior, Men’s Basketball................................................................................................... 61 Annie DePuydt, Senior, Women’s Basketball.................................................................................................... 66 Tyler Nelson, Senior, Men’s Basketball.............................................................................................................. 71 Jace Anderson, Sophomore & Kendall Denham, Freshman, Men’s Basketball................................................ 75 Quinn Peoples, Senior, Women’s Basketball...................................................................................................... 77 Taylor Hoke, Senior, Softball............................................................................................................................. 84 Emily Osborn, Senior, Softball.......................................................................................................................... 89 Jake Mills, Senior, Baseball................................................................................................................................ 94 Jessyka MacDonald, Senior, Softball................................................................................................................. 99 Trevor Nix, Senior, Baseball............................................................................................................................. 104 Mariah Cleveland, Senior, Women’s Golf........................................................................................................ 109 Mary Grace Bywater, Senior, Softball.............................................................................................................. 115 Jake Campeau, Senior & Conner Holbrook, Senior, Baseball......................................................................... 121 Jessica Campbell, Senior, Softball.................................................................................................................... 126 Renae Hepfner, Senior, Women’s Cross Country............................................................................................ 131 Jake Hedge, Senior, Men’s Golf......................................................................................................................... 135 Brittney Sanders, Senior, Softball.................................................................................................................... 141 Emily Paffhausen, Senior, Women’s Tennis..................................................................................................... 146 Aubrey Conceicao, Senior, Softball.................................................................................................................. 151 Brady Muller, Senior, Baseball......................................................................................................................... 156 Brody Miller, Senior, Baseball.......................................................................................................................... 161

All stories written by Evan O’Kelly, MSU Billings Athletics Director of Communications

Walter’s MSUB volleyball career defined by genuine, positive attitude September 1, 2014 One of the most well-respected and appreciated student-athletes at Montana State University Billings, senior volleyball star Chelsey Walter gets ready for her final collegiate season.

MSUB SPORTS – Born in Simi Valley, Calif., Chelsey Walter’s family relocated to Billings when she was three years old and she called Montana’s most populous city her home throughout her childhood. When Walter began her college search, she initially felt an urge to move far away from home and follow an unfamiliar yet exciting path.

Always maintaining an active lifestyle as a kid, Billings is where Walter started out playing soccer and basketball as she discovered her passion for sports. It’s where she picked up a volleyball around the eighth grade and ignited what would turn out to be her biggest passion.

“At first I wanted to move away and see something big and new,” Walter commented regarding her search for the right college. “When I got closer to making a decision, it got really hard to think about moving away from my family. I wanted to be around my sister and brother and to be able to see and hang out with them.”

By then Walter had excelled on the volleyball court, earning second-team all-state honors at Billings Senior High School. Standing at 6-foot-2, Walter was built to serve an invaluable role as a middle hitter and blocker, but it took a keen eye for talent to unlock her full potential. Noticing Walter’s ability when she first began playing club volleyball, Senior High head coach Jeff Carroll helped mold Walter into one of the state’s premier prep players.

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“Jeff was a great coach that I really looked up to and respected,” said Walter. “I excelled in volleyball a lot faster than I had in other sports, and Jeff was my club coach also so I knew I would have him again in high school. He was really intense, and he made the game fun to play.

“I also look up a ton to my parents because they’ve always worked so hard,” continued Walter regarding her mother Chris and father Otto. “I definitely look up to them, and they taught me everything I know.”

By her junior year of high school, the prospect of taking her game to the next level came into focus, as a collegiate career became more and more realistic. “My junior year I had a club coach who coached at MSUB, and that’s actually how it started,” remembered Walter. “I looked at some other places, but I had the best offer here and it was a big deal for me. The campus wasn’t too big and I felt like I would fit in well here.”

Not only did Walter fit in as a Yellowjacket, but she made a name for herself immediately as a freshman and hasn’t looked back since. Dating back to her first season at MSUB, Walter has played in every single match and has developed her game offensively and defensively.

Now a senior captain for the ‘Jackets, Walter overcame adversity as a younger player in the program as she learned what it took to become a leadership figure. “I went through a bad stretch my sophomore year of college, and I lost all of my confidence,” Walter commented. “I started most of the games my freshman year, but my second season it was a little bit tougher. It was a hard slump to break out of, and it was the first time I’d really ever had to face anything like that.”

Being a starter for the entirety of her volleyball career, Walter used the setback as an opportunity to grow and regain the confidence she needed to perform at her highest level. As a junior in 2013, Walter ranked seventh in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in hitting percentage at .275 and No. 14 in kills per set with 2.76.

By the end of the season, Walter was playing with newfound inspiration, and her teammates recognized her leadership capabilities by voting her a captain for her final year.

Carrying those responsibilities into the 2014 season, Walter is determined to help her team play at a high level from Day 1. “I don’t really care personally how I do, but I just want our team to do well as a whole,” commented Walter. “Along with Monica (Grimsrud) and Krista (Norris), I’d like to help bring our younger players into a good situation and start them off strong, so they can have a positive time for the rest of their careers. I didn’t really have that kind of inspiration from the seniors my freshman year, so I really want to be a role model for them.”

Having coached Walter over the past two seasons, current MSUB head coach Lisa Axel recognized the senior’s growth and ability to adapt to different situations. “It is never easy to go through a coaching change during your college career,” said Axel. “Chelsey had such a positive outlook from the minute I met with the team on Day 1. She has kept that positive attitude and created a culture of hard work and dedication in our gym.”

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Also playing a major factor in Walter’s development as a student-athlete has been co-captain Kyndal Williams, who is a junior setter. “I really look up to Kyndal,” said Walter. “We played against each other in high school, and I even thought she was a leader back then. Having her there as a captain with me makes me comfortable and I’m confident that she’ll always back me up.”

Williams, a graduate of Helena High School, also remembers the now-teammates’ high school encounters. “We never really liked Senior (High) because they were really good,” said Williams. “It’s funny how we went from being rivals in high school to best friends now, and I didn’t really know her personality until I met her in person. She is an intense person on the court, but I never would’ve guessed that she’d end up being one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

Now with two years of experience playing with one another, Williams and Walter will consistently combine as one of the Yellowjackets’ best attack duos this season. “We weren’t that close my freshman year, but we have been able to spend more time together and gotten much closer,” said Williams. “I’ve never looked up to someone like I look up to her. We aren’t that far apart in age, but I respect her so much and look up to her as a person and as a player. I’ve never quite seen an attitude like hers before.”

Axel agrees that Walter’s overwhelmingly positive attitude has a profound impact on the team. “Chelsey has really grown into a leadership role over the past year because she is an extremely positive person and is willing to do whatever is asked of her to help make our team successful,” said Axel. “Chelsey is one of the most unselfish players I have ever coached, and she is always looking to put the team’s needs in front of her own.”

“Since my freshman year, this is the team where I get along with every single person,” Walter commented on the 2014 squad. “It’s really nice and refreshing to have a team that I absolutely love, and it’s also really cool that two of the girls – Kierney (Findon) and Annie (Bowers) – were my past teammates.”

As Walter prepares for her final collegiate season, her sister Sammy prepares for the first of her career as a golfer for the Yellowjackets. “When it came to Sammy deciding on college, she was definitely looking to go away too,” said Walter. “I just talked to her about how MSUB has a small classroom setting, and how the teachers and the whole atmosphere are great. I wouldn’t have traded my experience here for anything.”

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“We are pretty much best friends,” Sammy Walter said regarding her older sister. “She’s been my role model with sports growing up and I’ve always tried to be as good as her. Her passion and determination to always better herself with her game inspires me to do the same with mine.”

“I know that having me here will help Sammy a lot and will make her more comfortable,” said Walter. “We have always been close, and I’m very excited for her. I’m the older sister, but I’ve always looked up to her.”

With the final chapter of her volleyball career still to be written, one certainty is that Walter will approach her senior year with a contagiously positive mindset and an intense desire to be the best volleyball player she can be.

Considering she is a health and wellness major with a motive to pursue a career in promoting peoples’ wellbeing, it comes as no surprise that her attitude is transferrable between the court and the classroom. “I know I am in the right major, because I really want to help people in some way,” Walter commented regarding her career hopes.

“Whether it be wellness coaching or personal training, I think it would be really cool to help people learn to live healthy lifestyles. I’ve had such a good experience here, and learned what is important.”

“The impact she has already had on this program is huge, and she is leaving a legacy of helping change the program into a winning one,” said Williams. “No matter what, her presence will be remembered for a long time for Coach Axel and myself. You never forget playing with someone like her.”

“Chelsey has really become one of our go-to players this season,” said Axel. “We are still a fairly young team, and our younger players really look to her for leadership. She will be remembered in our program as a major contributor in laying the foundation for a successful program this year and for years to come.”

MSUB kicks off its 2014 regular season by hosting the Jackets’ Classic in Alterowitz Gym from Sept. 5-6. The five-team tournament will showcase some top talent and will provide the Yellowjackets with a strong test to open the season.

From the moment she steps onto the court, opponents, teammates, and spectators alike will feel the strength of Walter’s presence. For opponents, it will strike doubt into their confidence. For Walter’s teammates, it will spark positive energy and a winning mindset. And for some spectators, like Sammy Walter, it will bring a smile, signifying the beginning of four more years of the Walter legacy.

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Thorge Jess emerging as a leader for MSUB men’s soccer September 4, 2014 Known as T.J. to his teammates, sophomore forward Thorge Jess is a key offensive weapon for the Yellowjackets’ men’s soccer team, and is a representative of MSUB’s most diverse roster.

MSUB SPORTS – Within the context of the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team, the fact that sophomore forward Thorge Jess hails from Kiel, Germany hardly makes him unique among his teammates. With players from seven different countries – including four from Germany – the roster is by far the most international of any Yellowjacket team.

Where Jess does stick out from the crowd is on the soccer field, as he gets set to follow his performance as the team’s leading scorer his freshman year with an even stronger campaign in his second season. “Soccer is a team sport, and I could never score goals on my own,” Jess commented regarding his five goals as a freshman in 2013.

“We could’ve done better as a team last year, but this season we are even stronger. We want to keep building on the strong spring and preseason that we have had, and I think we can achieve good things this year.”

Head coach Alex Balog recognizes Jess’s unique ability on the soccer field, as well as the strength of character he displays as a citizen in the Billings community. “Thorge has a rare ability to feel where the ball is going to be, and he finds a way to put himself into a scoring position,” said Balog. “He is also a very good student. He’s a very reliable guy, he’s always on time, and he is extremely polite.”

While Jess, known to his teammates as T.J., has had an immediate impact on the program, his journey towards playing soccer in a foreign country began when he first kicked around a soccer ball as a child. A city of around 250,000 people, Kiel is located along the northern edge of Germany, bordering the Baltic Sea. When he wasn’t learning the game from his father, Sven, a former club soccer player in Germany, Jess would make the three-hour journey north to the Ringkobing Fjord in Denmark to escape from civilization.

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“It is really nice to live in Kiel, especially when you’re a child,” Jess commented on the town he still calls home in the summer. “It’s a big enough place where you still meet new people, and you’re right there on the beach.”

For as long as he can remember, soccer has been a fundamental part of Jess’s development and has shaped who he has become as a student-athlete today.

“I started playing soccer when I was four years old, and have continued up through now,” said Jess. “We had different sports in school, but I didn’t play any of them competitively besides soccer.”

Jess excelled in school, while discovering that his passion for soccer was growing on a daily basis. By the time he played on his first club team, he knew that he had found a passion that was worth devoting himself to.

But with the intense structure of education along with meticulous soccer workouts, the combination of the two began to take its toll on Jess. “Around the age of 15 or 16 I had some trouble psychologically and in school,” Jess remembered. “I was practicing every day for several hours along with all of my course work and it became too much. At that point I switched to another club that allowed me to focus more on school while sticking with soccer.”

Even as an adolescent in Germany, the stress of being a student-athlete was sometimes intense for Jess. Finding an outlet to relieve tension when he felt overwhelmed, Jess took to a hobby that many athletes pursue as a means of stress relief as well as technical training. “I started dancing when I was around 13,” said Jess. “We learned most of the standard dances like the waltz and samba. I still like to do it now, though it is a bit tougher to keep up with during the season. When I’m back home I dance a lot, and I still use it as a balance.”

As Jess began to prove on the pitch, the footwork associated with dancing goes hand-in-hand with the footwork associated with finding the back of the net.

“I saw Thorge play in Germany in the winter of 2012 at a showcase and thought he performed extremely well,” Balog commented on his first encounters with Jess. “I spoke to him afterwards, but there were several dozen other schools interested in him at the time and I thought he might be out of our reach.”

Balog returned from the recruiting trip somewhat disappointed not to have landed the blooming talent of Jess, but he tucked away the name and the impressive skillset he had witnessed in the back of his mind.

“MSUB really came onto my radar in February of 2013, and Alex was really convincing about the program when he talked to me,” said Jess. “He showed me the different things I could study here, and I looked online and found some of the different majors here. I liked the school and the area and it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.”

“All of a sudden I received an email from Thorge’s recruiting agency indicating that he was still available,” said Balog. “I explained to him what we’re trying to achieve here and how we run the program, and he was very interested. We kept communicating, eventually made him and offer and he accepted.”

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The move across the Atlantic Ocean was a major step for Jess, but when he packed his bag to become a Yellowjacket, it was not the first time he had made the journey to the United States. “I started learning English in the fifth grade, and in 10th grade I came here on an exchange trip to Albany, New York,” remembered Jess. “I practiced with a high school team and they told me I had an opportunity to combine sports and an education in America. I went home to Germany after the three-week camp and started looking at different schools in the United States with a good combination of athletics and academics.”

As the college decision drew closer for Jess, the opportunity to extend his athletic career while continuing his education made MSUB the perfect fit. “Everything here is more personal, and we have completely different relationships with professors than we had in Germany,” Jess commented on his studies at MSUB. “I definitely enjoy the trips our soccer team goes on as well, and it’s cool to see and play in different places like Seattle. I feel very supported here, and Krista (Montague) and everyone in the athletic department are doing everything they can so that we have a good time here. It is really impressive.”

This season, Jess is one of four Germans on the Yellowjackets’ roster, and one of 11 players hailing from outside of the United States. The global combination of different styles has had a positive impact on the team’s structure in Jess’s eyes, as each player has a unique set of skills to bring to the table. “This year it is interesting with all of the different styles of players we have,” commented Jess. “In Germany, we play a completely different style than in South America, and it is cool to see all these different aspects combine. It takes time and it’s not always easy, but it’s really nice playing with all of these guys from different places.”

Also calling Germany home are sophomore goalkeeper Tom Lohmann (Berlin), freshman midfielder Niklas Schregel (Freialdenhoven), and sophomore midfielder Julian Toenges (Hessen). “I didn’t know any of the other Germans personally, but I think it’s really helpful to have them on the team with me,” said Jess. “In Germany, we learned a lot of tactics and a lot of technical skills. In the U.S., it is pretty physical and I’ve never experienced playing with people who can run like some of the guys on our team can. Here there is definitely a focus on the technical side of the game as well, but we also work on getting fit a lot more than in Germany.”

“The reason why we recruit German players is that often times they have played at a high youth level,” Balog commented on the impact of soccer’s popularity in Germany on younger players’ skills. “In many cases, they add a lot of physicality, experience, and maturity. American soccer still has to catch up with European soccer a little bit, and because of that it helps some of the foreign players to read certain situations better.”

Emerging as one of the Yellowjackets’ youngest but brightest stars, Jess will be looked upon to combine his nose for goal with his uncanny leadership ability for MSUB this season. “Thorge didn’t always get the support he should’ve gotten last season, and some early injuries broke his rhythm a little bit,” Balog commented on Jess’s freshman year. “Then again, he did score five goals, and in the spring he came back and hit the ground running.

As a sophomore now, we will look to him for more leadership, while balancing the attack and providing him with a strong cast of support to play off of.”

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As Jess continues his college journey, he is quick to look back at his roots and remembers his biggest role models in life. “My parents both support me whenever I make a decision, and they are the most important part of my life,” Jess commented on his father Sven Nommensen and mother Karena Jess. “My father brought me into playing soccer, and they are both always there for me to help in any way that they can.”

“We look a lot at our recruits not just as players but who they are as students and people,” Balog commented.

“Personality wise on and off the field as well as in the classroom, it is important to have a strong core. As a coaching staff we feel that Thorge is a big part of that for us.”

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Chelsea Shuman stands tall as inspiration for Yellowjackets September 9, 2014 Senior women’s soccer captain Chelsea Shuman carries her passion for soccer into a key leadership role for the Yellowjackets in 2014.

MSUB SPORTS – Setting up for a corner kick in the Montana State University Billings women’s soccer preseason alumni game, senior captain Chelsea Shuman had every intention of serving another high-arcing cross into the box like she had done thousands of times before.

This time, when her foot met the ball it took off at a tighter angle, with just the right amount of loft carrying it towards the box. When it reached the goal mouth the ball continued its unlikely trajectory, bending perfectly into the side netting of the goal on the far post.

Shuman had accomplished one of the most unlikely feats in soccer by scoring directly on a corner kick, but considering the type of player she has become over her first three years at MSUB, it’s no surprise that of all players, she was the one to find a way to put the ball into the net.

MONTANA GROWN Shuman grew up in Kalispell, Mont., where she started playing soccer in kindergarten and hasn’t looked back since. “My parents never put me into any other sport except for soccer,” Shuman said. “It is something I have always loved, and it has always been an escape from the world for me.”

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Though Shuman participated in swimming up until she reached high school, it was more as a background activity to keep in shape around her busy year-round soccer schedule. Attending Flathead High School, Shuman excelled on the field and began to develop her game.

As a senior, Shuman scored 19 goals and had seven assists, leading to all-state honors and the title of Gatorade Player of the Year for the Western Conference. While the honors were well-deserved, it took motivation and reassurance as a younger player for Shuman to reach the level she had by the end of her prep career.

“One person who has been an incredible role model is my former coach Marcus Riley,” Shuman commented citing one of her early soccer influences. “He watched me play when I was younger and saw something in me that no one else saw and that I never saw.”

Most likely, it was Shuman’s combination of intelligence and the ability to produce an immediate burst of energy that captivated Riley from the start.

“Every coach I had told me that I wouldn’t continue on with soccer because I was too small,” said Shuman, who stands 5-foot-1. “Marcus took me under his wing, coached me through high school, and helped make me the person I am today. He believed in me when no one else did and when I didn’t believe in myself.”

THE LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP “It is really hard coming into a program as a freshman and not knowing anyone,” said now-senior defender Jenny Johnson as she remembered the start of her collegiate career. “We were all from really different places, and there is definitely a unique bonding experience you make with people because of how hard everything is.”

Johnson, a native of Wenatchee, Wash., quickly gravitated towards Shuman and fellow senior Jessie Mancilla of Aliso Viejo, Calif., when the three first suited up as Yellowjackets in 2011.

“Two teammates that have been by my side through everything are Jenny and Jess,” Shuman said. “We came in together, we are going to leave together, and we have been through some of the hardest times of our lives together, in school, soccer and everything. They are two people that I aspire to be like and I aspire to always be there for them. I don’t think I would’ve lasted through my college career if it wasn’t for those two.”

One of the more valuable experiences the teammates shared as sophomores was a trip to the inaugural Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championships, where the Yellowjackets defeated Seattle Pacific 1-0 to advance to the championship game. It was a goal in the 66th minute by Mancilla that proved to be the deciding factor in the semifinals, but a 2-0 loss to Western Washington in the title game ended MSUB’s season one game shy of qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

“That was our shot, and we went at it with all of our force,” Shuman commented on the 2012 appearance in the conference championship game. “In 2010 the program made it to the NCAA tournament and beat Cal State L.A. 1-0. We are a big-time program, and we are going to come out and show opponents that every game will be a fight to compete with us.”

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Mancilla noted Shuman’s ability to rebound after a tough freshman year was part of the reason the ‘Jackets nearly made it back to the NCAA tournament in 2012. “She was injured part of her freshman year, and that really affected her,” said Mancilla. “As a sophomore, she came in and did well, and she had really grown up a lot. She has definitely made an impact on where we are as a team today.”

Where the Yellowjackets are today is a positive place, having started the 2014 regular season with a strong 2-1 victory over the University of Mary. Johnson provided the assist on the game-winning goal in the victory, and the ‘Jackets are fueled by a combination of making the GNAC Championships in 2012 and just missing out on the tournament a season ago.

“Above all else, it is my senior year, and this is it,” Shuman said. “I need to make sure that I’m making memories with all of the girls on the team that will carry on for the rest of my life, and especially with Jenny and Jess. What we are doing now is something we will go on and talk about for years to come, and not many people get this experience. It has been a blessing to be a part of this program.”

FIVE AND ONE While Shuman has overcome her lack of physical size and become an all-conference caliber player, she recognized that the task was not easy and great mental strength was required to become the player she is today.

“When I was young, I had a coach at a U-12 camp come up to me after practice and tell me that I wouldn’t play much that season and I wouldn’t go far in soccer because I was too small,” Shuman remembered. “At first I remember getting into the car and crying and I wanted to quit and be done with soccer. Ultimately, I didn’t give up, and that was around the time that Marcus came into my life. He helped me take on an attitude that nothing could stop me if I put my mind to it.”

It took a sense of creativity and courage to stick with the game she loved despite the harsh criticism, but in possessing the rare ability to persevere through the doubt, Shuman emerged as a more mature and well-rounded player.

“I am proud of overcoming that insecurity, and I feel like I’m not just the 5-1 girl who sits the bench,” Shuman said. “Despite all of the doubt, I am playing college soccer for a top Division II program.”

“Chelsea has matured as a person and an athlete as well, and she has had an enormous impact on this program,” said fourth-year head coach Wojtek Krakowiak. “When you come out of high school, some players think that things will be given to them at the college level. In this program, you have to earn every minute on the field, and Chelsea has done a wonderful job of doing that. She possesses all of the skills to be a good leader, and she never settles for second place. What I like most about Chelsea is her competitiveness, and she does not take losing lightly.”

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As a junior in 2013, Shuman was a second-team all-GNAC selection, further solidifying her status as a successful college athlete. Despite the accolades at a conference level, Shuman acknowledged the fact that finishing in fifth place and missing the GNAC Championships made 2013 a difficult season.

“When we are doing well, it’s easy and when we aren’t – like my junior year – that’s when the true colors show,” said Shuman. “This year my motivation is just that. I remember the feeling of sophomore year and I want to have that again, and I remember the feeling of last year not having a successful season, and we are not going to let that happen again.”

“Chelsea is an amazing girl, and it is really cool seeing how much she has grown up and how much we have all grown up,” Johnson commented. “Whatever she lacks in height she makes up for in personality, and she has never seemed small in our eyes. From the beginning she has had this fire in her, and she is fast and tough, not small.”

A CREATIVE ESCAPE While Shuman has noticeably overcome some of the most obtrusive barriers towards her path to becoming a successful soccer player, she admits there have been times where the stress of being a student-athlete has taken its toll on her. Working towards a degree in finance, Shuman is tasked with balancing workouts for her team with the most analytically-intensive concentration within the business department.

“I have always been hard on myself mentally, and sometimes I used to let exterior things affect me,” Shuman said.

“A lot of the time those were things I couldn’t control, and sometimes I wanted to be in control of everything. I am still like that a little bit but I’ve definitely calmed down. I have learned over the last three years that things and situations are going to happen that I can’t always control. As long as I am being the best person I can be then it will be ok.”

Part of Shuman’s escape from the field and her schoolwork is another creative characteristic in her skill as a musician. Playing the violin since the sixth grade, Shuman has a knack for picking up songs by listening to them and translating them into her own interpretations through her instrument.

“Outside of soccer, I play violin and I took private lessons through high school,” said Shuman. “I always take my violin with me to school, and when I have time it’s something that I like to play.”

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The ability to decipher complex melodies is a rare gift, one known as relative pitch within the world of music.

It requires the ability to intake a specific pattern of notes, and then mirror the sound by playing it on an instrument. “Sometimes I hear a song and I try to figure out how to play it,” Shuman said. “It’s cool to be able to hear something and then try to transpose it in your head.”

The skill of relative pitch draws several parallels to Shuman’s ability on the field and dedication to her studies in finance. All require the intake of specific data in a particular sequence, and the ability to analyze and produce a unique, individualized result from the input. In the context of music it means creating a song, and in the context of finance it means giving a report on an income statement.

On the soccer field it translates to reading another team’s defense and scoring goals.

THE FINAL CHAPTER “I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, ‘Because of you, I didn’t give up.’” – Chanda Kaushik “Sometimes I read that quote once a week or every few weeks,” Shuman said on the words of motivation. “I’d like to leave behind a legacy not necessarily having players play for me, but for the freshmen to find that strength within themselves. I’d want them to say, ‘because of what Chelsea’s done, I don’t want to give up.’”

As Shuman’s senior year gets underway, she has already paved the road less traveled and been a living example of perseverance and endurance for all of the MSUB student-athletes she has called teammates.

“Chelsea has become an awesome person since she joined our program,” Krakowiak said. “She has a great attitude and always has a big smile on her face. It is very important in life in general to always try to stay positive no matter what you end up doing after your college career. Chelsea is a very smart individual and I am confident that she will do some amazing things in her life.”

With the confidence of her coach and teammates alike, Shuman’s never-say-die attitude certainly has her poised for a successful life after college. But with one season of college soccer left to play, her time on the field is far from over.

“I was still young when we got to the conference finals as a sophomore, and now I understand more how the seniors felt,” Shuman said. “We fought all season and made it to that game, and only two teams in the conference can say that. In 2012 we got a taste of what it’s like to be that big-time D2 school that everyone talks about. Now my motivation is that I want that feeling I had as a sophomore for every girl on this team.”

“Chelsea cares about this sport more than anyone that I know, and she portrays that in everything that she does,” said Johnson. “People will remember that about her and want to be like that.”

Look for Shuman to excel on the pitch this year. With the motivation from reaching a conference championship, and her creative ability on the ball and more importantly analyzing the game away from it, the Yellowjackets have an invaluable leader to rally around.

“She is good at everything she does on the field, and this year her presence will make an impact on the team and how far we go,” said Mancilla. “She has the ability to shoot and score from anywhere on the field.”

Considering the person Shuman has become over the past three years, and her recent, thrilling corner-kick goal, no one can argue with that.

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Emerick, Brink pave the way for Yellowjacket men’s soccer September 11, 2014 First meeting in middle school, Billings natives Kyle Emerick and Matt Brink are now senior captains on the MSUB men's soccer team and have been two of the program's most valuable players.

MSUB SPORTS - During one of their first encounters at Lewis and Clark Middle School, Kyle Emerick and Matt Brink shared a moment inside the cafeteria during lunch that would go on to define what has become a lifelong friendship.

Finding himself with an extra peanut butter cookie, Brink decided it would only be right to share it with one of his newest friends. Emerick remembers the story slightly differently.

"We were at lunch and Matt shoves this peanut butter cookie down my throat," Emerick said with a smile. "At the time he didn't know that I had a nut allergy, and I got sick and had to go home."

Now both senior soccer players at Montana State University Billings, neither of them knew at the time that the seemingly-innocent incident would ultimately represent the tough love, competitive relationship that has made the pair inseparable, on and off the soccer field.

YOUNG MAGICIANS Emerick and Brink both grew up in Billings and have been soccer players for as long as they can remember. "The only sport I played was soccer," Emerick said. "My dad made a goal out of PVC pipe in the backyard and my younger sister Maddy played with me. I have a lot of good memories playing soccer in the ditch bank behind my house."

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It wasn't until Emerick experienced his first year of competitive soccer at age 13 that he knew it was the sport for him. "I remember that year was when I really grasped onto it," Emerick said. "My head coach was Dan McNally, and he really made the game interesting and made me want to continue on with it. My passion just grew from there, and I didn't want to do anything else except play."

While Emerick had played soccer for several years beforehand, it wasn't until he made the jump onto McNally's Magic City team that he began adopting the mindset of a future collegiate player. One of Emerick's newest teammates was Brink.

"I remember practice at the Magic City tryouts when Kyle first joined our team," said Brink. "The team was already pretty much made, but Kyle came on and fit in right away. The way it went for me was I always moved up each year with the same group of kids throughout youth soccer. I never had to transition to a new team like Kyle did."

The two connected immediately, forming a bond on the field through their unique but compatible playing styles.

"It kind of just happened right off the bat," Emerick said regarding his friendship with Brink. "We were at the same school and were playing for the same club. We would always go right to practice together after school."

Part of their natural camaraderie had to do with the parallels Emerick and Brink drew with the way they played the game. Specifically, Emerick remembers a trademark of the duo being their connection on set pieces. "On our set plays Matt would always get up in the box and we connected for around 10 goals," Emerick remembered.

"We had a really good team," Brink said referring to the Magic City squad. "We won state three or four times and took second most of the other seasons."

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FROM SENIOR TO SENIORS Moving on to Billings Senior High School, the profile of the rising stars across the state elevated each season of their prep careers. "Going into high school, I always had ambitions of playing collegiately," said Emerick. "I always wanted to play at the highest level that I could and learn new parts of the game. One quote I remember is, 'the day I stop learning about soccer is the day I quit.' A coach named Anthony Latronica said that to me at an Olympic Development camp and it always stuck with me."

Now both seniors in the Yellowjacket program, the two remember the path they took to end up at MSUB. For Brink, it was a simple decision as MSUB presented itself as a natural fit geographically and in terms of soccer.

After all, McNally was the head coach for the Yellowjackets and had been preparing players in the Magic City program ultimately for a career in his own college program.

"It was just really easy for me, and I liked Dan a lot," Brink said. "I always knew I was going to come here."

For Emerick, however, it was a different story.

"Initially I was thinking about Seattle U, and I was actually deadest on going there," Emerick remembered about his college search. "Dan and Matt both talked to me about the thought of representing my home town and being close to my family, and that is ultimately what made me change my mind and come to MSUB." "I remember when we were looking for colleges he wanted to go away, but I tried extremely hard to get him to come here," said Brink. "I asked him every day, and I don't know if I would've had the same experience here if he had gone to Seattle U." Looking back on the progression of the pair over the past three years, the decision to stick together through college could not have turned out better. "Kyle grew, literally," Brink said drawing a laugh from both of the friends.

"He has always been a creative player, but he has only gotten better. On the field, we don't treat each other like best friends, but that is how we better one another. We go after each other because that's how it is going to be in a game. It has only made us try more things on the field and give more effort."

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LEARNING TO BE A LEADER At times for Brink, the heat of competition proved to be overwhelming. Keeping his composure and displaying leadership during pivotal moments in games was a challenge, and changing his mentality has been one of the most noticeable transformations he has undergone as a player.

"I met both Matt and Kyle on the same cold, damp afternoon in May of 2011," said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. "Matt had a strong physical presence and was very vocal, and I especially noticed his body language on the field."

"For me, consistency in terms of the mental aspect of the game is something I have struggled with in the past," said Brink. "One day I'd have good game, then next it would be bad, and that was hard for me."

The passion Brink plays with is intense, and is a major factor behind why he has been a fixture on the Yellowjackets' back line since his freshman year. According to teammates and coaches alike, it has been Brink's ability to harness his emotions and channel them into leadership qualities that has earned him a captain's arm band for the 2014 season.

"As coaches we knew he wanted to be a leader and wear the captain's band last season, but we didn't think he was ready for it," Balog said. "To see him on the field now and the way that he talks to his teammates, opponents and referees is entirely different than in the past. He is able to keep his head in the game and that makes him play so much better. Now Matt is one of our three captains, and that is something I feel he has earned."

"I think Matt has grown a ton from freshman year to now, and he has become a very reliable person," said Emerick, who is also a 2014 captain. "His composure and everything about him has changed, and he is very professional now."

BLEEDING NAVY AND GOLD "The first thing that comes to my mind is that they bring knowledge of the program to the other players and an understanding of the team philosophy," Balog commented on the tandem's strongest qualities. "These are both guys who have decided to stay and play for their hometown school, and they have both been through the ups and downs over the last four years."

Both starting as freshmen in 2011, Brink and Emerick were part of a team that began its season losing seven of its first nine games. Foreshadowing the type of resiliency each of them would come to possess, the Yellowjackets lost just one of their remaining nine contests, and finished the season with a record of 8-8-2.

"It is extremely rare for a team to finish a season that strongly after starting off 2-7," Balog commented. "Kyle and Matt were an integral part of the team that year and they really helped us turn things around."

The strong finish carried over into the 2012 season, when MSUB posted a solid 11-5-2 record and fell just shy of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. After last season's frustrating 3-10-5 record, Brink and Emerick are both fueled by their history of success to elevate the program once again in 2014.

"In terms of goals we really want to make it to the NCAA tournament," said Emerick. "We just need to come together and really have a family atmosphere where everyone is close to each other."

"I'd love for us to at least make it to the national tournament, that's probably our biggest goal," Brink said in agreement with his teammate.

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AN UNBREAKABLE BOND "It was my brother Levi that first helped me get into sports and kind of shaped who I was going to be," Brink said remembering his early childhood competition with his sibling. "But Kyle was the one that really got me into soccer and made me want to play the game. I remember jumping Rocky's fence together as kids to go play on their field since it was closer, and we hung out all the time after school from middle school to now. I would consider him to be my brother."

"Matt is someone I can talk to about anything and he is definitely unique from other friends," said Emerick. "His family is like my family and mine like his, and they are all great people. They've helped me along the way through everything."

Both student-athletes note the tremendous support lent by their parents, from the long road trips associated with year-round club soccer to sticking by their sides through their college careers. "My parents especially have supported me through everything, and have given me everything I need to play," Emerick said regarding his father Scott and mother Cecilia. "I owe them so much, and we never took vacations because of the travel. Our summer vacation would be going to a tournament, and they have sacrificed so much for me."

"Matt and Kyle are each different guys but I think bringing them here is one of the best recruiting decisions that has been made in this program within the last four years," Balog said.

"Kyle has never looked back, becoming one of the true leaders of this program. He's someone who has stuck with the coaching staff, and he is a guy that leads by example every single time he steps on the field. As a coach I am very grateful that he is part of our program, and he exemplifies everything that we try to stand for in terms of character, commitment, work ethic, and especially in terms of being a good person."

"Our motto that we usually say before every game is 'family,' and that's a big reason why I came to MSUB," Brink said. "Over the course of my time here I have made a lot of friends, and soccer especially promotes a family atmosphere very well. It's my home away from home."

"Throughout your coaching career, sometimes there are players who make you look at yourself in the mirror," Balog said. "Matt is one of those guys because he is someone who made me realize how much players need to feel the support and love of a coaching staff. Matt is the kind of person you love to have on a team because of his passion, but mainly because he's a player who has made me better as a coach."

For one final season, Brink and Emerick will inhabit the turf at Yellowjacket Field on the MSUB City College Campus, regularly putting on display the phenomenal growth and development of two of Billings' finest athletic products in recent memory. Their level of play is uncommon, and the maturity and progression they have embodied through their time at MSUB a rarity. Most importantly, the commitment of Emerick and Brink to their hometown MSUB program has shaped who they have become as people, and set an example of excellence for all future Yellowjackets.

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Norris fuels energetic leadership role for MSUB volleyball September 24, 2014 MSUB volleyball senior Krista Norris exemplifies an invaluable leadership figure, helping the ‘Jackets to an 8-4 start to their season and acting as a premier role model along the way.

MSUB SPORTS – Beginning the 2014 season with an 8-4 record, the Montana State University Billings volleyball squad is off to its best start since the 2007 season. Not only are the ‘Jackets 3-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, but they are a perfect 6-0 at home inside Alterowitz Gym. The early success has been a product of a variety of different players stepping up at various times. Defensively MSUB has made adjustments to reduce its errors, and on the attack a steady supply of different looks has helped keep opponents on their toes.

Most recently, senior Krista Norris has elevated her game as a key outside hitter for the Yellowjackets, and has exemplified the essential elements of senior leadership that have helped this season’s team thrive.

“This team is different than any of the other teams I have played on,” Norris said. “We all see things so similarly, and feel comfortable talking to each other about anything. We are always there for each other, and we can go to anyone on the team whether it’s a freshman or a senior. I know that everyone is there for me, and it’s just an awesome team chemistry.”

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One of three seniors on the team this season, Norris is a leader by example whose experience within the program has proven invaluable to her teammates. “I look up to Krista because she is always so determined and always gives it her all,” said freshman Mataia Roderick. “She is so strong and is willing to do anything for the team.”

Norris’s persistence in sticking with the game explains how she has become such an important role model to her current teammates, and her passion for the game developed at an early age.

“I first started school volleyball when I was in eighth grade, and then I joined a club volleyball team for two years,” Norris remembered. Hailing from Vail, Colo., Norris faced a difficult decision when her first club team fell under and she was left without a team. “I had to decide what to do since the team fell apart, so I went to play for the Colorado Performance Volleyball Club team in Denver,” Norris said. “We had to drive two hours to practice three times a week.”

The time commitment was significant, but the atmosphere of club volleyball grabbed Norris’s attention immediately. “The big thing for me was the club team I joined, because it was just so competitive and fun,” Norris said. “I got to meet new people from around the valley, and the traveling was a really neat part of it.”

As her club squad ventured across different states for tournaments, Norris first had considerations of continuing to play volleyball in college in her first years as a high-schooler. “I knew I wanted to play college ball when I was a sophomore in high school,” said Norris. “We did so much traveling and everyone was starting to get recruited.

One of my former high school coaches, Brian Doyon, got ahold of me and said that I had the talent to play in college and that I just needed to put myself out there.”

It was at a tournament in Spokane, Wash., when Norris first grabbed the attention of the MSUB program, and the similarities between Billings and her hometown helped pique her interest when she visited the campus as a high school senior. “I really liked the school and the education program, and as soon as I found out about it I kind of knew I wanted to go here,” Norris said.

Since becoming a Yellowjacket, Norris has grown and excelled into an invaluable team player, maximizing the potential that she had possessed from a young age. “Krista has become one of our steady and consistent players on the court,” said head coach Lisa Axel. “She has really developed her defensive skills in the past couple of years.

Krista can play in the outside hitter position for us, as well as fill in as a defensive specialist or libero.”

While Norris’s technical skills have been consistently solid for the ‘Jackets throughout her career, she credits developing her positive attitude and sense of caring for her teammates to those that she looked up to as a freshman.

“I really respected Brooke Tolman, who was a senior when I was a freshman,” Norris said. “She worked really hard, had a great attitude and brought the team together.”

Tolman was a setter for the Yellowjackets, but the fact that she and Norris didn’t play the same position didn’t hinder their ability to connect as teammates. Now as a senior, Norris has carried that mindset to this season’s team and become a major support for the younger players. In particular, Roderick remembers Norris’s positive attitude even before the two became teammates, and respects her as a major role model on the team today.

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“I met her when I came here with Ashlynn (Brooke) on a visit a few years ago,” Roderick recalled. “I actually stayed the night with Krista on that trip. She was very nice and confident, and it was helpful for me having her as a host when I was here.”

A defensive specialist who has seen significant action so far this season, Roderick explained that a big part of her confidence and adaptation to playing volleyball at the collegiate level has come thanks to the example Norris has set. “She has taught me just to always go for it, and not worry about making mistakes,” Roderick said. “I’ve learned not to think about it as much and just to play off of my reactions.”

“Krista is doing a great job this year on and off the court,” Axel said. “She provides so much energy to her teammates and is extremely supportive to all of our younger players.”

Norris’s leadership permeates through the entire team, but her skill and knowledge of her individual position has been a major resource for those who share her position. Fellow outside hitter Stormy Siemion has witnessed noticeable growth within Norris over the past season, and credits Norris with the development of her own game.

“Watching Krista play and hit outside, she never gets down on herself and I try to take that into consideration,” Siemion said. “She is just out there to play volleyball and not to worry about the other stuff, and I have tried to take that away from her. She plays the game that she knows how to play and I try to do the same things that she does.”

“Individually, I just try to never give up and work as hard as I can all the time,” Norris said. “As a team I hope we have a successful season, and we definitely have the players, the work ethic and the attitude we need in order to have one.”

As a student, Norris is an education major with a focus on elementary and special education. With the strong skiing community present in her hometown, the area of study is a natural fit for Norris. “I am a ski instructor in the winters when I am home over break, and I enjoy being outdoors and hiking,” Norris said regarding her interests off the volleyball court. “I do enjoy working with children, and that’s why I’m going into teaching.”

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“Krista is a great student and is always looking to learn,” Axel said. “She is an elementary and special education major, and will be extremely successful after she graduates. Krista has so much energy and enthusiasm when it comes to working with younger children.”

In addition to the transformation she has undergone as an athlete, Norris notes some of the important values and experiences she has had at MSUB that have helped shape the person she has become. “The biggest thing that being away from home has shown me is that I can handle things on my own,” Norris said. “I am capable of being independent in my life.”

With the hot start the ‘Jackets have produced so far in 2014, the prospect of one of Norris’s biggest team goals of having a successful season is more than promising. Much of the Yellowjackets’ success comes from within the player Norris has become, and how she has taken a firm grip on being an unbreakable role model.

“We are kind of the same person, and I’ve seen her take what she’s been given and make the best situation out of it,” Siemion said regarding the duo’s similarity within their position. “Krista is one person I know that can come up to me and tell me I need to do something, but I also know she has confidence in me and I have the same for her.”

For now, Norris’s focus will be on helping the Yellowjackets protect their perfect 6-0 home record and increase their winning margin throughout the season. When her playing days are over, she has ambitions to carry her passion for teaching and interest in traveling overseas to begin a new adventure.

“I have always loved traveling, and I went to France and lived there for a year when I was in Kindergarten,” Norris said. “I think that teaching overseas someday would be a long-term goal for me.”

“For me, she will always be one of my best friends, and she’ll always be there in my mind,” Siemion said. “When I’m struggling I will remember how Krista would deal with things, and how poised she was. She kept it all together instead of letting certain things get her down.”

When asked how she’d like to be remembered within MSUB volleyball once her playing career is over, Norris replied modestly with, “by never giving up, and working as hard as I can all the time.”

With the impact she has already had on the players around her, and while she continues to write the final chapter of her playing career, there is no doubt her contributions to Yellowjacket athletics will stand strong for years to come.

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Yellowjacket experience yields lifelong friendship for Johnson and Mancilla September 25, 2014 MSUB women’s soccer seniors Jennifer Johnson and Jessie Mancilla have grown inseparable during their time as Yellowjackets, uncovering a true friendship through the game of soccer.

MSUB SPORTS – On a brisk November evening in 2012, the lights shone down on Starfire Sports Complex, showcasing one of the premier matchups in NCAA Division II women’s soccer, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.

Located in Tukwila, Wash., the facility is widely considered state-of-the-art among the soccer community in the Pacific Northwest, and for teams like the Montana State University Billings women’s soccer squad it is considered the promise land.

For then-sophomore Jennifer Johnson, a native of Wenatchee, Wash., Starfire was a brief three hour journey from home and a familiar site. For her teammate Jessie Mancilla, it was a brand new scene and experience, but it was one that she made the most of.

Facing Seattle Pacific University in the first round of the tournament, Mancilla put away a goal in the 66th minute that proved to be the game-winner, pushing MSUB through to the championship match with a 1-0 victory.

“It is the reason why you work so hard, sometimes just for one game,” Johnson said regarding the appearance in the championships. “Jessie and I have a different kind of friendship that makes you want to put one person in front of the other. As much as you want it to be yourself scoring that goal, you couldn’t be happier that it was her.”

The fact that Johnson and Mancilla both played the same position meant they weren’t both on the field at the same time as sophomores in the program. The competition for playing time was intense between the two, but the friendship that blossomed out of it has become stronger than either could’ve ever envisioned.

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CONVERGING ON BILLINGS Hailing from Aliso Viejo, Calif., Mancilla filling out a recruiting questionnaire on a whim and her neighbors moving to Bozeman, Mont., were the factors that brought her to Billings. “I was slow on the whole process of going to school, but my dad came in one day and gave me this MSUB questionnaire,” Mancilla remembered. “He said, ‘here, this school is two hours away from where the neighbors moved,’ so I filled it out and went from there.”

For Johnson, the notion of moving to Montana had always been towards the top of her radar, and considering the Division II level was the best fit for her coming out of high school, she chose to become a Yellowjacket as well. “I heard great things about Montana, and I knew I didn’t want to try to go D1,” said Johnson. “MSUB was the only place I really looked at, and it was an open door for me. It was the one I wanted.”

Two different scenarios ended up bringing the two together, but the moment they met is an unforgettable one in both of their eyes. “Jenny came into town on a late flight, and looked like the biggest goofball I have ever seen,” Mancilla said with a laugh. “She was wearing Birkenstocks.”

“Jessie had her makeup done, her hair was down and she was in jeans and a nice shirt,” Johnson responded. “I could tell she was cool and from Cali, and I thought to myself, ‘I don’t fit in.’”

It didn’t take long for the pair to grow together, as competition for a starting job as an outside back heated up as soon as training camp got going. “It was between me and Jess to get a starting spot, and she got it,” Johnson said regarding their freshman year in 2011. “We still became close even though we were competing against each other. We each knew what the other was going through, but we each put one person’s happiness in front of the other.”

Johnson and Mancilla pushed one another throughout their freshman campaign, and they credit upperclassmen within the program with providing a strong role model presence. “We had Bigs and Court who were both outside backs, and Jaucelyn Richter too, and now we are too and we kind of resemble that,” Mancilla said regarding 2013 MSUB women’s soccer alumni Adrienne Biglow and Courtney Harvey. “After being so close on the field, you really develop a connection. In the championships I scored, and Jenny came up to me after the game and we were both crying. She told me she was proud of me.”

“Jenny and Jessie have grown tremendously throughout their time at MSUB,” said head coach Wojtek Krakwoiak.

“Watching them grow as people and as players has been a great pleasure for me.”

ROLE MODELS “My biggest fans have always been my parents, but for different reasons,” Mancilla said regarding her mother Charlotte and father Sergio. “My dad is one-of-a-kind, and if it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be here playing soccer.”

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Mancilla’s father juggled duties as a police officer working a graveyard shift and taking his daughter to soccer tournaments so she could enhance her game.

“Sometimes he would sleep in the car in between games to catch up on sleep,” Mancilla recalled. “Then I would come home and my mom would always be there for me with everything else. She was my best friend growing up, and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for both of them.”

Emerging as the most likely to pursue athletics among a family of five children, Johnson also credits her father with the development of her game. “My dad was always the athletic one in the family, and he was always doing something active,” said Johnson regarding her father Jay. “He would go mountain biking after work, come home for dinner, then go on a run. He was the one who wanted me to see how far I could go with soccer.”

While her father pushed her towards becoming a college athlete, Johnson credits her trainer Blaine Davidson as another influence when she reached the Division II level. “Once I got to college, I had a trainer when I’d go home,” said Johnson. “He was a huge influence on how good I could be, and even after getting to college he’s the one that made me work hard and get even better. He saw so much more potential for me to grow over four years, and I did because of his help.”

While college soccer turned out to be one of the most important parts of Mancilla’s life, there was a time during her youth where she had thoughts of abandoning athletics all together. “When I was 13 or 14 I actually didn’t want to play sports at all,” Mancilla said. “My parents both told me that one day it would be really helpful to me in terms of growing up, so I stuck with it. After playing for so many years you don’t really know anything else, and it is a part of your life that you don’t want to give up until you have to.”

STARFIRE QUALITY After a taste of the top level of soccer across Division II in 2012, the Yellowjackets fell short of the tournament a season ago with a fifth-place finish in the GNAC. For both Mancilla and Johnson, a return to the top stage in the conference is what continues to drive them to become better players every day.

“You know what it’s like and the feeling of going into a huge game,” Mancilla said regarding playing in the tournament. “You try to think of it like it’s any other game but it’s not. It was definitely the best soccer moment of my life, just because of the atmosphere and the group of girls that we had that year.”

Now both starting as outside backs for the ‘Jackets, the notion of returning to Starfire is one that the duo has their sights set on. “We want to win, and we want to be people that our teammates can look up to,” Johnson said.

“Sometimes there are moments that seem bad, but in the end you don’t remember those, and it is worth all of the hardships.”

“We really want to emphasize after last year that we want to be a family through the ups and the downs, and always find a positive,” said Mancilla. “We definitely want to leave a mark of having stayed here for the entire four years, and even though it gets hard sometimes you can’t let that get to you.”

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The leadership qualities that Johnson and Mancilla have developed have become a staple for the ‘Jackets this season, as the two help anchor MSUB’s back line and set an example for the younger players. “They are great leaders on and off the field and they play a huge part in our team’s success,” said Krakowiak. “Jenny’s work ethic is endless. She worked very hard to become the player she is, and she kept getting better each year and never gave up. I really respect that as a coach.”

For Mancilla, the spark of talent was there from her freshman year, and she has displayed moments of heroics along the way such as her goal in the GNAC Championships. “Jessie is excellent in reading the game and is very calm on the ball,” Krakowiak said. “She is not afraid to push forward and score goals as she did against SPU in the GNAC semifinals in 2012. Her decisions on the ball are very intelligent.”

THE YELLOWJACKET EXPERIENCE Through the incredibly intense lifestyle of being a student-athlete, Johnson and Mancilla have both witnessed noticeable growth in their lives both on and off the field. Entering a new scene as a college freshman is often times difficult, but both agree that sticking with MSUB turned out for the best.

“Coming here was the hardest decision I have ever made, but I think it’s the best one I’ve ever made,” said Mancilla. “Everything I went through, the good and the bad, has all been worth it. Chelsea Shuman and Jenny have become my closest friends here, and I couldn’t have gone through these four years without them.”

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it makes you grow up so fast,” Johnson said regarding moving to Billings and becoming a student-athlete. “You learn lessons so quickly, and the people I have met through soccer that I never knew I’d meet have become my best friends. It really brings you close with a lot of different people that you never would’ve gotten the chance to know would be like you.”

Now as seniors, Johnson and Mancilla are fearlessly attacking their final season as student-athletes together, and with the confidence of the entire program behind them. “The expectations here are always high, but I am very confident that they will both live up to them,” Krakowiak said. “I am positive that they will guide us to a successful season and will set an excellent example for the younger players. So far, they have been playing the best soccer that I have seen and fulfilling their roles as seniors.”

With GNAC play already underway this season, the Yellowjackets face a pair of tough opponents in their home opener this weekend. On Thursday, MSUB welcomes in Central Washington, and on Saturday, Seattle Pacific comes to town.

While the game on Saturday at Yellowjacket Field against the Falcons won’t feature a stadium atmosphere or the dramatic effect of lights, the memory of the teams’ encounter in 2012 will certainly be looming in the seniors’ minds. “We were sophomores that season, and there was a lot of pride riding on that game,” Johnson said. “It showed us how far we could go in years to come, and seeing Jessie score that goal showed us how exciting soccer can be.”

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Butterworth supports the ‘Jackets, and that’s the way he likes it October 9, 2014 Maturing into one of MSUB’s most vocal and valuable leaders, junior Sam Butterworth wears his pride for Yellowjacket soccer and athletics on his sleeve.

MSUB SPORTS – When the gates at Yellowjacket Field are locked tight and the turf is empty, the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team is far from disbanded and quiet.

While the team’s pride for its school shows more than ever in the midst of Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer matches, the dedication and commitment the players display towards MSUB off the field is at a similarly-high level.

Their presence can be felt when the MSUB women’s soccer team takes the pitch at the City College campus, as well as back on the main MSUB campus inside Alterowitz Gym at home Yellowjacket volleyball games. The MSUB men have even been known to break into chorus inside the main cafeteria, serenading unsuspecting diners with positive cheers signifying their passion for the navy and gold.

Not only is the group vocal – their antics perhaps best described as organized chaos – the men’s soccer ‘Jackets never lack for creativity while displaying their school pride.

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Leading the charge every time, whether MSUB is taking the field or taking charge of the Hive student section in Alterowitz, is Sam Butterworth, the most vocal and passionate figure of them all.

Considering he grew up within the culture of European soccer, cheering on his beloved Manchester United for as long as he can remember, the fact that Butterworth’s passion is transferrable to his college team is no surprise.

“When I grew up I first started playing football when I was three, so that’s when I really watched them and got into it,” Butterworth said regarding former Manchester United heroes David Beckham and Eric Cantona. “I have been to Champions League games, and I’ve always worn predators because of Beckham.”

As it is referred to in Butterworth’s native town of Maidstone in Kent, England, football is very much a generational game that springs deep roots within his family. “My great grandfather Ken taught me how to kick a ball, and my dad and his friend started a team that I played on when I was younger,” Butterworth said regarding his father David Butterworth.

Splitting his time between dawning Manchester United red and honing his own game on the pitch, Butterworth progressed as a strong technical player to the point where soccer at the next level began to present itself as a realistic opportunity. Partnering with a scouting company in England, Butterworth worked his way through a multifaceted player development process designed to pick out the best talent from the equivalent of the British prep ranks.

“We went for an interview at Stamford Bridge, which is Chelsea’s stadium, played three games that were videotaped, and then went to a showcase which picked out the top players,” Butterworth remembered about the recruiting process. “That’s where the US coaches see you, and that’s when I first spoke to the head coach here at the time, Dan McNally.”

McNally, also a native of England, liked what he saw in Butterworth and the decision was made to bring him into the Yellowjacket family. “My first time (in the United States) was my freshman year in 2012,” Butterworth remembered. “I have always been to smaller schools where football has been the main focus. Scholarship wise it was a great fit and it was also a completely different culture.”

Having never even visited America before, Butterworth was unsure what to expect as he prepared to begin his college experience. It was not long before he began to draw parallels between Billings and his home town, citing the similarity in size as one of the main factors making the transition seem more natural.

On the pitch however, the differences were numerous, and Butterworth went through a shift in mindset to help him adapt to the American game. “At home, we would end at 90 minutes if it was a draw, and playing 110 minutes shocked me when I first got here,” Butterworth said regarding the NCAA rule of an overtime period if a game is tied after regulation. “I’ve had to adapt to be more fit because of weather as well. At home I live at 80 feet (above sea level) and now I am at 3,000 feet.”

Not only has Butterworth made the transition, he has embraced the American game and begun to thrive within an entirely new system of soccer.

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“Sam has undergone tremendous growth as a person in his time at MSUB, and I know that the structure of the program has helped him with that,” said current MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “He has gone through the ups and downs of the program and has experienced a losing season and a winning season. He has the ability to relay those experiences to the younger players and explain to them the importance of what we as a coaching staff try to tell them.”

Among a team of a dozen international players, Butterworth is one of two players from England. Tom Saltwell, who hails from Essex in London, has adapted to the game in a similar way as he starts along the Yellowjackets’ back line next to Butterworth. “Tom’s freshman year he played left center back and I played on the left,” Butterworth said. “Coming from England, you just know straight away how to play with one another.”

Despite living just 40 minutes apart, the two never crossed paths as youth soccer players growing up. Now they are roommates, further tightening their bond off the field as friends. “Friendship wise, we both relate to our home and we talk to each other about the same things,” Butterworth commented. “We have the same sense of humor and he understands me.”

Now in his third season as a starter within the Yellowjacket program, Butterworth cited several role models who he looked up to as a younger player on the squad. “My freshman year I didn’t think I’d come in and be a starter, but to play next to a senior captain it was nice because he was a very good player,” Butterworth said regarding former captain and now assistant coach Conner Moe. “Thomas Chameraud, who is now an assistant coach, was another player I looked up to because he created everything on the field and took responsibility for players. He battled in every game and put his body on the line.”

Having former teammates as assistants has helped Butterworth hone his game, as the philosophy of MSUB soccer has been embedded into him and reflects within the way that he plays the game. “The fact that Sam has been a starter since his freshman year is something for our current freshmen to strive for,” Balog said. “He can give them pointers to help them achieve the same type of success he has experienced.”

Since starting the 2014 season with a record of 0-3-2, Butterworth and the Yellowjackets have embarked on a four-game unbeaten streak and have won three games in-a-row to bring their record to an even 3-3-3. Additionally, MSUB is 3-1-1 in conference play and currently sits in third place in the GNAC standings.

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“We started the year poorly, but I think the change from last year is that all of the boys have character and the will to win,” Butterworth said regarding the transformation in attitude. “We need a team that stays together no matter what, and that’s how we will push forward this week and the week after on the road.”

With four-straight conference road games coming up, there is nothing simple or easy about the task facing the ‘Jackets. “Seattle Pacific is going to be very hard this week, but we have the confidence of everyone on the team to gel together,” Butterworth said regarding Thursday’s match against the No. 6 team in the NCAA. “That character showed when we fought back to tie Simon Fraser, and now we are pushing on, unbeaten in our last four games.”

While Butterworth holds strong as a defensive anchor for MSUB, a significant part of his value lies within his ability to push forward and bolster the team’s offense. Having started seven matches this season, Butterworth leads the team with three assists out of the back.

“Sam’s instincts push him forward, so we expect him to contribute offensively from both the left back and left midfield positions,” said Balog. “Above all else, I want and expect him to give one hundred percent for the program day-in and day-out, and to take up more leadership responsibilities.”

Midway through his third season of American soccer, Butterworth explained that the largest transformation has not come within his style of play on the field. “My footballing hasn’t changed, and I’ve always been that person who is loud on the field,” Butterworth said. “As a student-athlete, you really have that name ‘student’ and you have a responsibility to represent MSUB in the right way. We have to show others that if we can do well in school as student-athletes, then they can do well also. We are role models and they look up to us in a way.”

“Coming in, Sam was used to a completely different scholastic system back home in England,” Balog commented.

“It took him a little while to adjust to the American educational system, but I feel he is on par now.”

Now relied upon as a leader by example both on and off the field, Butterworth will undoubtedly continue to have an impact on team chemistry as he further strengthens the bond that is the trademark of MSUB’s program. As for his passion for MSUB athletics as a whole, his unwavering support and commitment to the university relates back to his roots. The MSUB hooligans are alive and well contributing in a positive manner towards the game environment at all Yellowjacket home events, and no one cheers louder than Butterworth.

“Culture wise, coming from Europe, that’s just what you do,” Butterworth said. “You go to the professional stadiums, and hear 60 thousand cheering. We give all of the other teams support, because we are all part of MSUB at the end of the day. We are all student-athletes and we know what that takes, and it is nice to help other teams strive forward in their seasons as well.”

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Daniels keeps the ‘Jackets on track between the pipes October 16, 2014 Senior MSUB women’s soccer goalkeeper Krystal Daniels has burst onto the scene as one of the top keepers in the GNAC, and has developed into a crucial leader for the ‘Jackets this season.

MSUB SPORTS – Guarding the net is arguably the most pressure-filled and intense of the 11 positions comprising a soccer team. The goalkeeper is the last line of defense, and often times her performance can dictate the outcome of a game. Requirements include physicality, confidence, vocal, and organizational skills as in many ways she is the commander of the entire field.

Above all else, however, being a goalkeeper requires the utmost trust from the teammates and coaches around her. For the Montana State University Billings women’s soccer team, that trustworthy leader has emerged in the form of senior goalkeeper Krystal Daniels.

Most recently, Daniels was awarded Great Northwest Athletic Conference defensive Player of the Week, after helping the Yellowjackets shut down Seattle Pacific 0-0 and defeat Central Washington 2-1, both on the road. The award is just one example of the payoff for her dedication to the sport, the position, and most of all her team.

MSUB’s back line has defended spectacularly this season, limiting opponents’ attempts towards goal and establishing itself as a force on aerial balls. The Yellowjackets’ midfield has consistently remained well organized and shown the ability to push forward and score, and the offense has gotten the job done as MSUB has outscored its opponents 11-7 this season.

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While each separate position is unique, perhaps none quite have the perspective of the goalkeeper. “There is definitely a lot of responsibility, and you are the base of your team,” Daniels said regarding being a keeper. “They are all dependent on you, and you have to know the game pretty well to be successful. You have to make sure everyone trusts you and you can either be a silent or a loud leader.”

Considering her call for the ball or for her team to adjust its positioning is audible throughout the entirety of whichever soccer facility she happens to be playing in, Daniels has certainly embraced her role as a vocal leader. “Krystal is a great leader for the younger players and always tries to help them either on or off the field,” said MSUB head coach Wojtek Krakowiak. “She works extremely hard and sets a great example for her teammates.”

Part of Daniels’ success stems from her background as a diverse soccer player growing up, as she was not confined to a single position until well into college. “I have played goalie for as long as I can remember, but I was both a field player and a goalkeeper through high school,” Daniels commented. “Once I got to college, I played on the field and in goal my first year, but my second year I only played keeper.”

Daniels began her career at Peninsula College, a junior college located in Port Angeles, Wash. Beginning her college search, Daniels was unsure of the level that would best fit her abilities as a soccer player. One thing she was sure of was the desire to pursue the game at the next level.

“I always knew that I wanted to play college soccer, but I had some adversity that I had to deal with along the way,” Daniels said regarding a club soccer coach that discouraged her from continuing to play. “He told me I wasn’t good enough to play at a higher level, and that brought my confidence down a bit. I figured a JuCo would be a good place to start out, and after talking to the coach I decided that Peninsula was the best school for me.”

As it turned out, Daniels ended up fostering a close connection with Peninsula head coach Kanyon Anderson, who ended up reshaping her perspective on the game of soccer. “He was an amazing coach and was very philosophical,” Daniels said regarding Anderson. “He didn’t just grow me as a player, he grew me as a person as well.

He helped me improve my game and my confidence, and our second year being a program we took second place in the NWAACC.” Daniels had joined the Peninsula program in its first year of existence, and the immediate success she experienced as part of the team opened her eyes to the potential that she could reach as a collegiate player. “After my sophomore year I started looking for schools, but I didn’t want to rush the decision,” Daniels said regarding the inevitable move from the two-year JC level to a different school. “I came to MSUB on a visit, and in the time I was here the girls on the soccer team were really nice. I stayed with Jenny (Johnson) and Chelsea (Shuman) and they really solidified my decision to come here.”

Perhaps another aspect factoring into Daniels’ decision was the fact that MSUB was fresh off of a GNAC Championships appearance, as the Yellowjackets advanced to the title game of the conference tournament during the 2012 season. Fast-forward a year later and Daniels had become the starting goalkeeper for the Yellowjackets, a team destined to fight their way back to the conference championships after a near-miss in 2013.

The numbers Daniels has posted this year have been outstanding to say the least. Her goals-against average of 0.67 and four shutouts both rank third in the conference. She has made 23 saves in 10 games this season, but beyond the figures that appear on the stat sheets her presence within the box has been one of the most valuable factors for the Yellowjackets.

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“Krystal brings a lot of energy, competitiveness, hard work and determination to the team,” Krakowiak said. “She always has a great attitude in training and makes everyone around her happy. She plays a huge part on the team’s chemistry because of her positive attitude, amazing personality, and kindness towards her teammates.”

During a homestand against Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington in early October, the Yellowjackets surrendered just three total shots over a two-game stretch. MSUB became only the fifth team in GNAC history to prevent an opponent from taking a single shot in a game, completing the feat in a 1-0 victory over NNU. Daniels played a key role in the win over the Crusaders by commanding the aerial game in the box and organizing her team, but she is the first to pass the credit along to her stalwart back line.

“I love my defense,” Daniels said with a laugh. “We have the perfect balance between dedication, height, and work ethic, and I feel like my defense has been incredible and allowed me to be successful. When they are able to bring it down to zero shots on goal, it doesn’t even give the other team a chance to score.”

Joining Daniels in having played every minute of the season so far for MSUB, seniors Jennifer Johnson and Jessie Mancilla, and sophomores Haley McFarlane and Kari Kastelic have tremendously helped to reduce the stress landing on Daniels’ shoulders.

“To be a successful keeper it’s amazing to have a good back four, but for me I see them as my front four,” Daniels commented regarding her unique perspective as the lone player behind the defense. “Haley is awesome and reads the game so well. She is dominant in the air.”

In her first year in the program, Kastelic has not only contributed defensively but has pushed forward to score a pair of goals for the ‘Jackets. “Kari’s height and strength allow her to be dominant as well,” Daniels said.

Anchoring the two outside back positions, fellow seniors Johnson and Mancilla have emulated the consistency displayed by the inside defenders. “Jenny and Jessie on the outside are a bond of their own,” Daniels said. “They work amazingly with the center backs, and they know when to go forward and when to drop back. They listen well, are good at shifting back-and-forth, and I have seen them grow so much. They are reaching their peak as seniors and both are incredible at knowing what to do and when to do it.”

While Daniels credits much of this year’s success to MSUB’s defense, she also noted another figure within the program who has helped her develop on a personal level both mentally and physically.

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“Stephen Cavallo so far has been a great part of this team and this family,” Daniels said regarding the first-year assistant coach who was formerly a goalkeeper as a player. “He’s just made sure that everyone stays positive and he has changed a lot of the attitudes and definitely my own a lot. He has made sure I’m a positive leader and he’s pushed me as a player. Stephen is always there to stand by his word and make sure I understand what’s going on.

He keeps me honest, he’s been a good role model for me this year, and a great addition to the team.”

Pursuing a degree in business management, Daniels explained that it wasn’t until she arrived at MSUB that she fully began to understand the concept of academic excellence and athletic success in the same sentence. “I never understood the idea of being a student-athlete until I came here,” Daniels said. “I was never the best with school, but Wojtek has really pushed me to be a better student than I have ever been before. I used to only focus on soccer with school on the back burner. Here, school is the main priority right next to soccer.”

“Krystal works very hard in the classroom,” Krakowiak said. “She spends a lot of time in the library, at study halls, and always brings her books with her on road trips. She understands that being a great student is very important in our program.”

Daniels’ motivation to succeed as a student-athlete also stems from her own childhood experience, growing up in Kent, Wash., with her older brother and his friends. “I grew up in a neighborhood full of boys and there were no kids my age so I was forced to hang out with older kids all the time,” Daniels remembered with a smile. “I have played sports since I was really little, and I started out playing whatever games the boys were that day in the middle of the street.”

Taking a stab at everything from wrestling, gymnastics, dance and figure skating, as well as organized sports like soccer, basketball, and track, Daniels enjoyed the diversity in activities.

Standing behind Daniels from Day 1 has been her mother Sonia Daniels. “I grew up with a single mom and she was a strong reason why I succeeded so much,” Daniels said. “She never missed any kind of game or competition I’ve ever done, and she has always been there for me pushing me to do better. I only grew up with one parent, but she gave me the support of four.”

Now as Daniels witnesses her dedication to the game pay off in the team’s success on the field, she recognized how soccer has helped shape who she has become and influenced her as a person. “Soccer has always helped me push past the challenges,” Daniels said. “Only having a mom growing up shaped my drive and always taught me and my brother to push through things and to be strong, independent people. I think that growing up the way I did shaped my independence even on the field.”

Serving as her backbone, her rock, her last line of defense, her own keeper in a way, it has been her mother Sonia who has truly had the most important impact of all on Daniels becoming the player she is now. “My mom taught me to just be strong for the people around me and to care about others,” Daniels said. “That has allowed me to be a better player and to take a ‘mom’ role of my own.”

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The queens of Rexburg October 17, 2014 On the court inside Alterowitz Gym on the main MSUB campus is where Ashlynn Ward and Mataia Roderick play volleyball together now, but it’s not the first time they’ve shared the floor.

MSUB SPORTS – “Ok ladies, go ahead! One for eight.”

It’s the call of the floor official at least a half dozen times per game when the Montana State University Billings volleyball squad is in action, but it’s one that holds a much deeper meaning than simply a substitution for the Yellowjackets.

The well-rehearsed cadence signifies sophomore outside hitter Ashlynn Ward and freshman defensive specialist Mataia Roderick exchanging places with one another, and more importantly, a friendship rooted more deeply than within volleyball.

Ward and Roderick both graduated from Madison High School in Rexburg, Idaho, where the two developed into a formidable duo as complimentary players on the court honing their volleyball skills. The prior connection is a big reason why the two are finding immediate success at the collegiate level, and no one finds this more apparent than MSUB head coach Lisa Axel.

“The fact that Mataia and Ashlynn have such a tight bond between them has really helped both of them feel comfortable on the court,” Axel said. “They are always cheering for the other when they make a big play, and I think the team feeds off of that.”

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Both players have emerged into starters for the ‘Jackets this season with Ward providing the team with a powerful option as a hitter and Roderick fostering MSUB’s defensive depth. Ward’s 2.25 kills per set is the second-highest total on the team, as is her total of 29 block assists so far in 2014. “Ashlynn has become someone that the team can count on in pressure situations to take a big swing for us,” Axel said. “She is very steady on the court and keeps the team focused during the match.”

Roderick has been a weapon both defensively and while serving, as her 13 aces and 168 digs are both the second-most on the team. “Mataia has come in and done a nice job raising the bar for us defensively,” Axel said. “She is extremely quick and pursues every ball on defense. Mataia has also really improved her serve receive since we started in August.”

The connection has turned out as good as Axel and the Yellowjackets could have hoped for, and with youth on their side the duo figures to be a key building block for the MSUB program over the next several seasons.

Born and raised in Rexburg, Ward was shoehorned into a life of sports as she grew up with two older brothers and was always active as a kid. “I started playing club volleyball when I was in the fourth grade mainly just because it was something to do,” Ward recalled. “I played a little bit of basketball and soccer when I was younger, but I started to get more serious about volleyball when I got to junior high. I let go of the other sports then, and I’ve been playing volleyball ever since.”

Middle school also marked decision time for Roderick, as she determined that the entirety of her athletic focus would be directed towards enhancing her skills on the court. “In seventh grade I narrowed it down to volleyball and track, but in high school I wanted to focus more on volleyball,” Roderick said. “I continued playing club ball in the offseason, and volleyball has always been something I wanted to continue with after high school.”

Roderick’s college aspirations came to a screeching halt during a practice her senior season at Madison. “I had played one game of my senior year and we were doing hitting lines at the end of practice,” Roderick remembered.

“I came down and fell when I landed, heard a pop and I just remember laying on the court bawling.”

The anterior crucial ligament – emphasis on the middle word of the term – had given out in Roderick’s left knee, and she began the recovery from one of the most hindering injuries in the world of sports. “I had surgery a week later but at some times it was a really hard struggle, especially when I couldn’t walk,” Roderick recalled regarding the injury. “The whole time, my dad did my rehab and he helped me learn some patience. I knew I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to if I wanted to recover quickly, but I just felt like I needed to be on the court again.”

Roderick’s father, Jeff, applied his expertise as a chiropractor towards getting his daughter back up to playing speed. After watching her high school team from the bench, Roderick returned to the floor five long months later. “Once I got to start playing again, it felt like all the hard work and tears were worth it,” Roderick said. “My family and my religion really helped me to stay strong and focus on the positive and never let myself get down.”

While having the fortune to avoid an injury as serious as a torn ACL, Ward related to Roderick’s frustration as she has dealt with a chronically sprained ankle. “I have sprained it about three times and it just takes you out of it,” Ward said. “You just want to get back up and play as soon as you can, but you feel pretty restricted.”

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Despite the recurring injury to her ankle, the most difficult obstacle Ward has overcome throughout her career is a lack of confidence. “Within myself I’ve always had a difficulty of feeling like I’m not good enough and that nothing I ever do on the court will ever be enough,” said Ward. “Having my friends and family around me, they have always been really encouraging and supportive, and over time I have gotten better with myself. It’s nice to come into a college team where we are so family like, and I have 12 more sisters who never give up on one another.”

Roderick, who stands at 5-foot-3, recalls facing similar insecurity as a younger player. “A lot of people told me that I was too short and that I’d never be able to play at the next level,” Roderick said. “When I tore my ACL I thought that my dream of playing college volleyball was shattered, but I didn’t want to give up. I pushed myself to return and play again.”

With a roster of just 13 players, the bond that has developed between the Yellowjackets has proven to be unbreakable. The support of their teammates is a big reason why Ward and Roderick have already taken strides as young players within the program, and both explained how much they have learned about the game through playing with their peers.

“I look up a lot to Monica Grimsrud, as we are very similar players,” Ward said regarding her fellow outside hitter. “She has taught me to just go in and get the job done, and that if you do it well things will get done faster and simpler. She has the mentality of not getting frustrated at anybody or herself. I like to carry that into how I play, but also into life as well. I try not to get stressed out ever really, and I don’t let things get so far into my head that it kills me.”

Naturally, Roderick has always looked up to Ward as a mentor and a player to strive to be like despite the difference in position. “Since we started playing together my freshman year of high school, she has always been super nice, positive and relaxed on and off the court,” Roderick said. “She has helped me to be okay with everything, and if we have a bad point it’s always, ‘we will get the next one.’”

“Both Mataia and Ashlynn are such team players,” Axel said. “They are always encouraging their teammates and a lot of times they get more excited for a teammate’s great play than their own great plays.”

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Axel’s comments are a testament to each of their personalities, which are fittingly as opposite as their positions on the court.

“When I first met her she was quiet and shy, and I’m not a very quiet person,” Roderick said with a laugh as she recalled meeting Ward. “Once you get to know her she comes out of her shell and she is a character.”

“I noticed her hair and her crazy, colorful designs on her spandex right away,” Ward remembered. “She had the shortest hair and I remember thinking, ‘this girl is a spark!’ She was nothing like me at all.”

Since the two first teamed up on the junior varsity squad at Madison, Roderick has always played up onto Ward’s team as the two have remained side-by-side over the past five years. “We have had this connection, and people used to call us the ‘deadly duo,’” Ward said drawing a laugh from both players. “No matter where she was on the court she would throw it back and I’d get there. Having that bond on the court where she could trust me to put the ball away carried over into real life. We have a trustworthy friendship, she has gotten me out of my shell, and we have become very close.”

“When we played together in high school I always knew that I could give her the ball, and I would do it any time we had a close game or a tight match,” Roderick said. “She was my go-to no matter where I was, we just had a connection.”

Road trips during club volleyball further helped develop the bond between the two, as their antics and mannerisms began to draw more and more parallels.

“Off the court we were always doing silly things,” said Roderick. “Once when I asked her what her middle name was, I thought she said ‘Roman,’ but she really said ‘Robin.’ We ended up calling one of our plays in high school Roman. We have grown together so much over the last few years, and I consider her to be one of my very best friends.”

Ward and Roderick have grown into lifelong friends, and their connection is one representative of the Yellowjacket program as a whole. “This year the team is so close, and we all get along and have an incredible bond,” Ward said. “We really care about one another. To get back to the family aspect, those are your sisters out on the court and you would do anything for them. This year we are playing for each other and we just have a lot of heart.”

“We all have the ability to play at such a high level,” Roderick said. “Playing in college is just so much more fun than any other level, because it is so fast and intense and you’re giving it your all in every game. When we are off the court we do so much together and I feel so comfortable with everyone on the team. To come to a new place I have never been and have 12 instant new friends I can do anything with is pretty special.”

The unmistakable presence on the court that is comprised of Ward and Roderick has quickly emerged as a prime factor for MSUB this season. Each time Ward takes a powerful swing from the side, she is blasting away any lingering doubt that she was ever not good enough. Looking on in a crouched ready position is Roderick, sporting a bright yellow knee brace providing her with a daily reminder of what it means to never give up. The connection and friendship between the two is never more noticeable than when they converge, whether it be for a substitution or a postgame victory celebration.

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Bryson finds home with Yellowjacket men’s soccer October 30, 2014 After attending Pacific University out of high school, Montana City, Mont., native Grady Bryson transferred to MSUB last year and has fit in with the Yellowjackets’ men’s soccer team.

MSUB SPORTS – When Grady Bryson was in eighth grade, he traveled to Las Vegas with his club soccer team for a regional tournament. The opportunity to travel away from home to play the game he loved captivated Bryson, and it was this tournament and club team in particular that marked the realization that soccer had become his true passion.

“Soccer hadn’t really entered the equation yet for me,” Bryson said regarding the time leading up to the trip in eighth grade. “My coach Paul Patterson pulled me aside and asked me what I was planning to do for high school.

He told me he saw a real future for me in soccer and that I had a lot of potential.”

Bryson grew up in Montana City, Mont., where he developed skill in both soccer and football as a kid. When the time came to make a high school decision, Bryson had numerous factors weighing on his mind. “I had to choose between Boulder, Capital or Helena High,” Bryson said. “For a long time I thought about which football team I wanted to play for and where my friends were going to go.”

In the end, it was the Las Vegas tournament that swayed Bryson’s decision away from American football as he elected to pursue soccer at Helena High. It didn’t take long for Bryson to realize his potential to continue his playing career past the high school level, as the decision to play soccer instead of football paid immediate dividends.

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“There wasn’t any question in my mind that I wanted to keep playing competitively as long as I could,” Bryson said. “The college search kind of came up quickly, and coming from Montana you have to really recruit yourself to coaches. I ended up finding a place where I thought I would be happy, and I met a lot of good people there.”

Bryson packed his bags for the West Coast, heading to Forest Grove, Ore., to play for Pacific University of the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. The idea of changing scenery influenced Bryson during his initial college search, but after two seasons in the program he decided to return closer to home.

“I liked the team a lot (at Pacific) but it just wasn’t quite the right fit,” Bryson remembered. “I looked for a different school and that’s how I ended up here.”

Part of Bryson’s decision to make the switch hinged on his ambition to see if he could play soccer at the next level and move up to Division II. A former high school teammate encouraged him to come to an MSUB ID camp, and in March of 2013 Bryson impressed the Yellowjacket coaching staff enough to garner an offer.

“Grady is a player that I greatly respect because he transferred from Pacific and took a chance by coming here,” said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “He came to one of our ID camps, did well enough, and we signed him.”

“I liked what I saw of the program when I first came here, and being closer to home has been a big perk,” Bryson said regarding the transition. “My parents have come to all of our games this season, even when we are on the road.”

While Bryson faced uncertainty as his high school career wound down, he cited inspiration from his coach that encouraged him to never stop aspiring to be the best player he could be. “My high school coach Carl Straub really developed me as a person and as a teammate,” Bryson said. “I definitely learned a lot under him, and he was the only coach I had for consecutive years growing up. He always encouraged me and my teammates to pursue our playing careers as far as we could go.”

Bryson helped Helena High to the 2010 state championship title, a moment that stands out as one of the finest in his playing career. Comparing a more recent victory to his top achievement from his prep career, Bryson recognized a 2-1 win over Western Washington this season. “We were long overdue for a victory against Western Washington, and playing that game in front of more than twelve hundred people was really rewarding,” Bryson said. “We had played so well in previous games but had lost to them numerous times. This year it was nice to get the win, it was really satisfying.”

While Bryson hasn’t stolen headlines as a starter at MSUB, he plays a crucial role as a midfielder off of the bench for Balog’s program. Most importantly however, it is the value Bryson makes out of his minutes on the field that elevate him and display his highest abilities.

“Grady is a player who has a very accurate idea of where he is on our team,” Balog said. “Without settling for the time he gets or ever being content, he never stops asking how he can improve and become a better soccer player. What I like about that is he understands where we are as a team, and that is rare for a guy even in his senior season.”

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Being a member of the MSUB squad has helped Bryson open his eyes and gain a more global perspective regarding the game, as this year’s team features players from 11 different countries. “It has definitely been great talking about the sport with the foreign players, because they’ve grown up understanding the game at a much quicker rate than I did,” Bryson said. “I never really watched soccer growing up, because it was always football or baseball on TV.” The diverse culture at MSUB has helped shape Bryson’s view of the game, but at the same time he draws inspiration from the most domestic of his teammates. “I played against Kyle and Matt growing up, and I have known them for a long time,” Bryson said regarding fellow seniors Kyle Emerick and Matt Brink who are from Billings.

“We didn’t play against each other in high school, but in club soccer Kyle and I went head-to-head because he was a right forward and I was a left back. He and Matt have both been awesome and we have grown pretty close over the last year and a half. It has been nice having them as two of the leading figures on the team and having been here for four years.”

“I am glad that Grady is another one of our seniors who is from Montana, because he knows exactly what it means to represent the state and do as well as he can,” Balog said. “When we go on trips outside of the state, it is important to him that we represent Montana properly. He has the pride of representing MSUB in everything that he does, and he is someone that I have very much appreciated having on our team.”

Just as Bryson has dedicated himself to the men’s soccer program and to MSUB as a whole, he is thankful for the opportunity he received in becoming a Yellowjacket and is grateful for what the experience has taught him.

“One of the main reasons I came here is because Alex wanted to coach the style of soccer that I wanted to play,” Bryson said. “This year we have seen that be adopted by the team, and we are passing the ball around really well.

The experience has also opened me up to the world community, and there are so many international people here, not just players on the team.”

Graduating from eighth grade with a mere 40 people in his class, Bryson’s friendships now extend to corners of the globe he never imagined he would connect to. “It has been nice getting to know people from all over, especially people who aren’t even on the team,” Bryson said. “There are a lot of different countries represented at this school, and it is nice making friends with all of them and hearing what they have to say.”

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While Bryson’s initial stay in Oregon was temporary, he enjoyed his time there and foresees a potential relocation out west after his time at MSUB. Bryson commented on the rich, thriving soccer cultures in Portland and Seattle as the type of environment he’d like to embed himself within, as he gets set to pursue his dream of coaching upon the completion of his playing career.

“Billings has been a great place for me, but I never saw myself coming here out of high school,” Bryson said. “I really liked Oregon and I could definitely see myself living in the Portland or Seattle area in the next five years.”

As his career winds down, his journey throughout the world of soccer has just begun. In less than two years at MSUB Bryson has developed an international perspective of the game, and learned what it truly means for a team to come together and play as one. The fact that he has limitless inspiration to nourish his understanding of the game into a coaching career will undoubtedly carry him towards success in his life after college. More than likely, his path will point the same way it did after high school, with an open door and his next life experience beckoning.

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Back on track, Frame takes to the course as MSUB’s top runner October 31, 2014 Senior cross country runner Nocona Frame enters Saturday’s GNAC Championships as the Yellowjackets’ top runner, with her sights set on leading her team to a strong finish.

MSUB SPORTS – As the day breaks Saturday in Monmouth, Ore., the atmosphere surrounding Ash Creek Preserve on the Western Oregon University Campus will be heavy, thick and bogged down. Not by overwhelming humidity or inclement weather. Rather, it will be the nerves and anticipation of more than 100 runners preparing to take their first steps at the 2014 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.

Among the group will be returning all-conference performers and perennial team champions such as the winners of the past five conference championships, the Alaska Anchorage women. Runners from all over the globe will compete as the conference’s cross country teams are as diverse as any other sport in the NCAA. Sporting the navy and gold with the number 191 affixed to her uniform will be Montana State University Billings senior Nocona Frame, who knows as well as anybody the progression and rhythm associated with a cross country meet.

The build-up is intense, with each minute leading up to the start seemingly dripping by more slowly than the last.

When the warm-up for running a race is to do just that – to run – it may seem as though distinction between the preparation and the actual event would be hard to identify.

But when the starter’s gun is raised, dozens of runners leaned forward in athletic ready positions, it is an overwhelming sensation unlike any other.

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“Before the race starts you are really nervous and you just need to keep moving, but when the gun goes up, all of a sudden everything goes calm,” Frame described. “You start breathing hard, but it is calm.”

The few seconds of hesitation after the gun is raised mimic an eternity, and almost as though it were in slow motion the pop of the cap beckons the runners to begin one of the most trying mental and physical journeys that exist in the sport.

MONTANAN AT HEART Frame hails from Glendive, Mont., where she first took an interest in running when she was in middle school. “I wanted to be a sprinter and a high jumper, but I was just awful at it,” Frame remembered with a smile. “I decided to try out distance, and I ended up being ok at that. I kept doing it through middle school.”

Not only was Frame “ok,” she turned heads by placing sixth in the state in cross country as a freshman at Dawson County High School. Each day Frame began to realize more and more that she was a natural runner, as she tried other sports that never stuck. “I played basketball my freshman and sophomore year, but I just didn’t like it as much as running,” Frame said.

Frame’s early success continued throughout her prep career, and her senior season she took third in state in cross country, placed second in the 800 meter and mile races in track, and won the individual title in the two-mile.

Brimming with potential and peaking at the right time, Frame set her sights on competing at the Division II level and committed to becoming a Marauder at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. RIO “Initially, I was saying ‘I’m done, I can’t do this,’” Frame recalled about phone calls she would make to her sister Rio Frame early on in her collegiate career.

Frame’s potential had been put on hold, as she sustained a stress fracture her freshman year before the outdoor track season began. She initially recovered in time for her sophomore cross country season, but a second stress fracture, this time in her foot, once again interrupted her career.

“I tried coming back and to start running again, but it just kept hurting,” Frame remembered. “I had a decision of whether I wanted to have surgery and keep running or to just be done altogether.”

At times, the latter option seemed to be the most practical, as Frame began to wonder whether putting in the unimaginably hard work to recover was worth it only to be let down by a subsequent injury. But through all the doubt and uncertainty, Frame had a rock-solid constant in the form of her sister standing behind her.

“She just told me that I really needed to continue my passion and that she was going to support me in coming back,” Frame said regarding phone calls to her sister back home in Glendive. “She was going to run at MSUB, and she talked to my parents and sort of convinced them to convince me to keep running too.”

“I was recruiting Rio Frame and I ran into Nocona while watching the state high school meet,” said MSUB head coach Dave Coppock. “She was on crutches and in a boot at the time, and I asked how she was doing and if she would be able to run the next fall.”

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Frame informed the 26-year Yellowjacket coaching fixture of her uncertainty about returning to the University of Mary, and even to running cross country again at all.

“I knew I had a good opportunity when I saw her, and told her to get ahold of me if she was looking at other schools,” Coppock said. “I could see that she still had that competitive drive and despite the crutches and boot I thought, ‘she could be a great recruit!’”

Not only was Frame a great recruit, but she is a less common one in that she has proved her worth on the course.

After making the decision to become a Yellowjacket, Frame had to sit out her junior year as she recovered from surgery. Now back on the course, she has stolen headlines and conference recognition as the Yellowjackets’ top runner this fall.

Frame has won two races and placed second in a third so far during the 2014 season, entering the GNAC Championships as MSUB’s top runner with a chance to make the all-conference team with a top-10 finish.

While Frame’s success has reinforced her decision to persevere and continue her career, perhaps the thing she finds the most joy in is running alongside her sister who is now a highly-competitive sophomore for the ‘Jackets. “Running with Rio has been amazing, it is so fun,” Frame said. “Just knowing I have her all the time to support me has helped me so much. We are also very competitive with each other and we don’t want to lose to the other one. That pushes us every day.”

“There’s both a supportive role and a rivalry,” Coppock said regarding having the sisters on the team. “I think it has helped both of them push each other as well as the team. They are very close as sisters, but they will definitely race hard against each other.”

PATIENT BEYOND HER YEARS Frame has not had the luxury that many cross country runners do in terms of continually building upon personal bests and shaving off time as their careers progress. With nonstop road blocks, the task of building any sort of momentum or cadence has been nearly impossible.

Despite the physical limitations, Frame has never lost focus of pursuing her goals, proving this fact by returning to the course better than ever this season.

“Being an upperclassman she demonstrated a tremendous amount of patience and focus in sticking with her rehab schedule,” Coppock said. “She definitely had a goal and a vision of where she wanted to go that year and I think that was a result of the amount of college experience she had acquired over the years. Trent Hooper, our volunteer assistant, spent a lot of time with her while I was with the rest of the team and really helped keep her progressing.”

“Dave was awesome, and he supported me through everything,” Frame said. “He let me take my time and he knew that I could help the team in the future if I just took it slow. That was more beneficial than trying to push me to get back.”

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Not only was Frame receptive to the fresh culture and atmosphere she experienced with the MSUB coaches, but it was the entire change of scenery at the university as a whole that also played a key factor in helping keep her mentally strong.

“After looking at the school here, for what I wanted to go into, MSUB has an excellent education program and a geography minor,” said Frame who is a history major with ambitions to become a teacher. “One of the biggest reasons I want to be a teacher is that I can’t imagine not being in this type of atmosphere, being around students.

The energy that they have is one of the main reasons I want to do it.”

While it was not an opportunity that factored into Frame’s initial decision to transfer to MSUB, the fact that the Yellowjackets will serve as the host for the 2014 NCAA Division II West Region Championships in cross country is certainly a major benefit in its own right.

“For me it is perfect timing with the goals I want to achieve and for the team to achieve,” Frame said about the upcoming race on Nov. 22 at Amend Park in Billings. “We have the best chance of doing well on our own turf and to be able to prepare how we need to and not travel is big. Having our own community and families be at the meet is going to make it an amazing atmosphere.”

THE ZONE Before competing against hundreds of other student-athletes at the 32-team regional meet next month, Frame will focus on the task at hand during Saturday’s GNAC Championships. She has already begun to envision the starting gun raised and feel her senses tighten as she focuses on nothing but releasing her energy into the run.

Mile 1. The pace has been established and the brain takes the reins. “You start thinking about where to make your moves, when you need to surge, and when to get around people and start kicking,” Frame said.

The Late-Middle. Focus reaches a new high, goals begin to fall into place as preparation becomes reality. “Sometimes Dave is there telling you to make a move, and he knows you almost better than you know yourself,” Frame said. “Other times, you might be feeling good and make a move, or it is just based on how long of a race you have left.”

One Thousand Meters to Go. Begin the final kick, make moves around opponents.

“You focus on getting around girls, and really start kicking it in,” Frame said.

The Final 800. Let’s go.

“It hurts. A lot. I don’t know why we do it because we are in pain every day,” Frame said. “When you get done, it is pure exhaustion, and your whole body is weak and limp as people at the finish are just trying to push you through the chute. It is just exhilarating.”

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Grimsrud doubles-up with volleyball, basketball for MSUB November 6, 2014 A rare two-sport Division II student-athlete, MSUB senior Monica Grimsrud not only participates in volleyball and women’s basketball for the Yellowjackets, but excels in both.

MSUB SPORTS – Walk into Alterowitz Gym on the Montana State University Billings campus and there’s a good chance you’ll find Yellowjacket senior Monica Grimsrud with a ball in her hand on the court.

Whether she is timing her jump for a kill on a set by her old high school teammate Kyndal Williams, or she is working on her post play with the women’s basketball team, the 6’ 1” Montana City, Mont., native was born to excel athletically. With that much given, it is still somewhat of a surprise that she is able to do so in two different sports at the Division II level.

“I have always wanted to play both in college,” Grimsrud said about her dual role as an outside hitter on the volleyball team and a forward for basketball. “The thing that let me know I could do that was my sophomore year of high school when I was playing four sports at once. I figured if I could make it through that, then two wouldn’t be that bad.”

Not only is Grimsrud’s time management tested regularly as a student-athlete, but the fact that her two sports overlap makes the task of performing well in both extremely difficult. “Monica has handled the transition between the two sports excellently, as she misses all of our preseason skills and early season practice work,” said MSUB women’s basketball head coach Kevin Woodin, who initially recruited Grimsrud out of Helena High School. “Monica is a wonderful athlete who is very team-oriented and she has made a positive impact on our team both on and off the court.”

While Grimsrud misses early-season activities for basketball, she is working on closing out her volleyball season and competing through the end. Yellowjacket volleyball head coach Lisa Axel reiterated Woodin’s sentiments, describing Grimsrud’s ability to adapt to the schedule of both sports.

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“It is very rare to be able to play two sports at a high level in college,” Axel said. “Monica has done a great job of balancing her academics and her athletics to be able to have a huge impact on both programs.”

Growing up with an older brother and a younger sister, Grimsrud tested her hand at just about every sport she could as a kid. “I started playing basketball in first grade, volleyball in sixth, ran track through high school and played fastpitch softball until I was about 17,” Grimsrud remembered. “My sister and I played basketball together and our dad coached our traveling teams.”

Torn between volleyball and basketball as her college search drew near, one of the things that drew Grimsrud towards MSUB was the notion that she wouldn’t have to choose between one or the other.

“It was one of the few places that would let me play both sports, and that’s the main reason I chose to come to MSUB,” Grimsrud said.

“I initially started recruiting Monica for basketball during her junior season of high school, as she was a tremendous player,” Woodin said. “I was aware that she had Division One volleyball offers and might decide to pursue that, however I thought she might be interested in playing both sports at MSUB.” While the chance to prolong her career in both sports was reason enough for Grimsrud to commit to the navy and gold, the familiar connection to the school and to the city of Billings was another factor that held weight in her decision. “My mom went here when it was Eastern Montana College, and my dad went to Rocky,” Grimsrud said regarding her parents Gayle and Vernon Grimsrud. “I think I was a little better at volleyball but I wouldn’t have given one of them up. It feels good to have stuck with both of them all the way through.”

Now as a senior in volleyball, Grimsrud has moved into second-place all-time in the MSUB record books in kills with 1,421. With four games remaining, she sits 28 terminations shy of tying the career record of 1,449, held by Alicia Cazemier (2004-07). “Monica is close to breaking the all-time kills record here at MSUB,” Axel said. “She has taken a lot of swings for us and has been an impact player all four of her years on the volleyball court.”

Grimsrud is now on the cusp of etching her name into the MSUB record books, but there was a time in high school when the thought of continuing her volleyball career, let alone becoming a collegiate career leader, was brought into question.

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“During my junior year I developed Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and I was told that I might not ever play volleyball again,” Grimsrud said regarding the medical condition that involves severe pain in the neck and shoulders.

After having her first rib removed and working through blood clots in her arm, Grimsrud was determined to make her way back onto the floor for her senior season. “I made it a goal that I was going to prove doctors wrong and get back to playing,” Grimsrud said. “I didn’t play for almost ten months, but then I came back and we won state my senior season and I came here to MSUB to play. That was definitely the biggest thing I’ve had to overcome.”

Helping Grimsrud throughout her entire journey through college has been her father, who she cited as a major role model and an example figure she continuously turns to. “My dad was a dual sport athlete in college as well, as he played baseball and basketball at Rocky,” Grimsrud said. “He has always been there to coach me and help me through everything.”

Serving as a role model and a person Grimsrud could relate to directly, her former teammate at MSUB Brooke Tolman was also a dual-sport student-athlete who played volleyball and basketball. “My freshman year having Brooke helped me a lot,” Grimsrud said. “She helped me figure everything out and how to stay caught up with everything.”

Grimsrud’s teammates in both volleyball and basketball have been widely accepting, helping her to transition smoothly between the two. “It could be really hard but all of the girls on both teams are really encouraging,” Grimsrud said. “It’s really nice to have that family that welcomes you back in.”

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One player in particular who has made the transition to the college game feel natural for Grimsrud is Williams, who also graduated from Helena High one year after Grimsrud. “Kyndal and I played together in fifth grade and she was my setter all through high school,” Grimsrud said. “It has been a really cool experience being teammates with her for all these years.”

After Grimsrud’s first season as a Yellowjacket, she helped capture Williams’s attention and influence her towards playing at MSUB too. “I talked to her some, trying to convince her to come here,” Grimsrud said. “Our last two seasons have been great, and we have upped the chemistry of the team. We have a whole different atmosphere here now than when I was a freshman, and we are a family now. We are one unit, and I love every single one of them like they are my sisters.”

In terms of basketball, Grimsrud redshirted last season and still holds two years of eligibility which she plans to utilize. The 2015-16 season will mark the first for Grimsrud as a one-sport college athlete, and the idea of devoting all of her time to one sport is something she looks forward to. “I am excited to finish out this season with the girls I started here playing with,” Grimsrud said regarding basketball. “I’m also excited to be able to focus on basketball and do the preseason next year. I won’t miss a bunch of games at the beginning, and it will be a nice break to be able to focus on improving in basketball.”

“Our team and I are very excited to have Monica join us soon,” Woodin said. “She definitely would have helped us a year ago but I am very happy to have her for the next two seasons. I believe she will make an immediate, positive impact on our team this year, and next season she will be even better.”

Grimsrud is a human performance major, and while she is keeping her options open in terms of career path, her passion for athletics will undoubtedly come into play at some point. “I enjoy working with kids and I actually recently added a coaching minor,” Grimsrud said. “Another idea I have is going back to school eventually to study occupational therapy.”

For now, teammates, coaches and fans alike will observe as Grimsrud chases the all-time kills record in volleyball, before lacing up her basketball shoes as winter falls upon the Magic City. In the end, no one will have more total career games played on the floor of Alterowitz Gym than Grimsrud. “I’m thankful for my experience and that I have been able to do this.”

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Moreano-Enriquez’s journey leads him to Yellowjacket men’s soccer November 7, 2014 With his parents traveling from his hometown of Quito, Ecuador to be with him on Senior Day, MSUB’s Andres Moreano-Enriquez will reflect on what has been an adventurous collegiate soccer career.

MSUB SPORTS – Upon arriving at the Montana State University Billings campus many student-athletes cite getting used to the high elevation as a significant adjustment. At more than 3,600 feet above sea level, the climate of the city alone can have an impact on athletes’ bodies and performance.

For some, like MSUB men’s soccer senior Andres Moreano-Enriquez however, the adjustment is just as extreme in the opposite direction. Hailing from Quito, Ecuador, Moreano-Enriquez grew up in the second-most populated city in the country and one of the most highly elevated at 9,350 feet above sea level. It is in the mountains and rainforest where Moreano-Enriquez crafted his skill as a soccer player, and partly why he has adapted well to life as a Yellowjacket at MSUB. Moreano-Enriquez grew up going to a Catholic school, and began playing soccer when he was six. “Soccer wise it was completely different over there than it is here, because you had to play in an academy,” Moreano-Enriquez said. “Not all of the players come from the same socioeconomic background, and it provided a chance for some really poor kids to be successful.”

Learning the game as a child under the guidance of his father, Bolivar, Moreano-Enriquez developed his skills on his dad’s team until he was 11 years old. “At that time, I joined the academy where my club team was back home,” Moreano-Enriquez said. “It was called Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito.”

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If the drop in elevation from Quito to Billings is significant, then moving down to Los Angeles at 211 feet above sea level is downright drastic. That is where Moreano-Enriquez got his first taste of American culture, as he stayed with his brother, Jacob, for six months and began to learn English. Soccer was also on his radar as an 18-year-old, as he competed in several tournaments during his time in the U.S. “When I was in California I became friends with one of the players there and he mentioned that one of his brothers was playing college soccer,” remembered Moreano-Enriquez. “He asked me if I was interested in playing for a school, I said yes, and I sent a video of myself playing to some schools.”

While Moreano-Enriquez figured to be a Division I or II-level player, there was a time earlier on in his career where he may have had the chance to take a step towards playing professionally. When he was 16, he was promoted from the U16 academy up to the U20 level, which essentially represented the reserve players for a professional team.

“I broke my ankle when I was 16, going into a tackle against a professional player,” Moreano-Enriquez said.

“When I recovered from that I was never the same player, and after a year and a half I lost my spot on that team.”

Not surprisingly, Moreano-Enriquez faced a significant amount of doubt regarding his chances of returning to the pitch to play again. “At that point I thought that soccer was over for me,” he said. “But I still had a love for the sport. My parents helped me recover a lot, and stories from soccer players around the world inspired me. Martin Palermo was an example of an Argentinian who had six or seven serious injuries during his career, but he always came back and scored goals afterwards.”

Gaining traction with several college teams in the United States, Moreano-Enriquez felt his soccer career be revitalized as he stuck with it through the injury. After spending the first few seasons of his collegiate career at two different schools, he felt that a change was in order as he began to broaden his scope.

“I was online looking at transferring, and on a recruiting website I saw that MSUB was looking for a center midfielder,” Moreano-Enriquez said. “I contacted Alex (Balog), sent him a video of me playing, and I decided to come over here to play.”

“Andres came to America having played at a high level in Ecuador, and his college career has been anything but regular,” said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “He has had to wait a long time for a chance to play but he has never given up. He has kept grinding and kept working, and what he has brought to practice for us even in the middle of the season with limited minutes has been very impressive.”

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Playing in eight games and starting two so far this season, Moreano-Enriquez has proven his value to the team and earned his stripes as a captain through the example he sets as a player. “Last season we only had three wins and we were ready to increase that amount this year,” said Moreano-Enriquez. “I think the main reason we have been able to do that is because we have so many good players and we have learned how to play together.”

While the ‘Jackets have doubled their win total from a season ago, the development Moreano-Enriquez has experienced extends much further beyond the soccer field. “One of the things I really learned how to do is socialize with different cultures,” Moreano-Enriquez said regarding playing for a team with members from 11 different countries. “I have learned how to love different aspects of all of my teammates, and all of their different personalities. Also, I have become a bit more disciplined here, as Alex is strict with time management. I wasn’t used to that before, but being here with him has brought me that discipline.”

“Andres has put himself into the picture for minutes, and he will start against NNU on Saturday as a senior captain for us,” Balog said. “He has shown the younger players to never give up, and that is what senior leadership is all about. If you keep working hard and bring quality, you’ll be rewarded for it.”

Considering his ability to consistently adapt to new environments, the fact that Moreano-Enriquez has had to learn how to incorporate his style of play with the rest of the players on the team has been a fairly smooth transition to make. “It’s a really nice experience because you really learn a lot from all of the different players on the team,” said Moreano-Enriquez. “We all come from different countries and environments, but we really are one big family. That is what is most enjoyable and what makes playing together easy.”

The senior cited several of his current teammates as people he has grown close to and who he has seen grow into role models among the team. “Last year Thorge Jess was my roommate and we became really close, and this year Jesper Fries is my roommate,” Moreano-Enriquez said. “Cameron Lee is the type of guy who brings everyone on the team together.”

“One of the reasons I would have liked to have had Andres for four years is because he really buys into what we are trying to do as a team and our philosophy,” Balog said.

“He cares about his teammates and about the program. Also he is a guy who is a true student of the game, and he is always thinking about how we can get better.”

As Moreano-Enriquez’s playing career wraps up in MSUB’s final game against NNU on Saturday, he would like to remain involved with the game while he continues his education. Currently completing his undergraduate degree in health and human performance, Moreano-Enriquez plans to remain in the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree. “My plan is to get my master’s here but I’m not sure exactly where yet,” Moreano-Enriquez said. “I’d like to look at biomechanics, because with that degree there are lots of ways to stay involved with sports.”

With one more game to play, Moreano-Enriquez will be honored before Saturday’s kickoff along with fellow graduating seniors Matt Brink, Grady Bryson and Kyle Emerick. With his father Bolivar Moreano and mother Grace Enriquez making the journey from Ecuador to stand by his side during the pregame ceremony, Moreano-Enriquez will undoubtedly close his career with a smile on his face.

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Goggins capitalizes on opportunity of a lifetime with ‘Jackets December 4, 2015 From serving as a ball girl and sitting on the MSUB women’s basketball bench as a young child, to becoming an all-conference player, senior Kayleen Goggins truly embodies what it means to be a Yellowjacket.

MSUB SPORTS – Becky Jacobs’ freshman season on the Montana State University Billings women’s basketball team was far from ordinary for a first-year player. The Yellowjackets made history by become the first-ever women’s basketball team from MSUB to win the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships and advance to the Elite Eight.

As she remembers it, now Becky Anderson said that it was the opportunity of a lifetime to play the game that she loved and she is thankful to have made numerous lifelong friends through her experience as a Yellowjacket.

While Anderson was one of the youngest players on the team in that season, she was far from the youngest person involved in the program. While Anderson was suited up, working on her game with the team, it was her young cousin Kayleen Goggins who chased after balls and occupied a spot on the team bench with eager, wide eyes.

“She was little and probably looked up to us the same way that I did when I was young,” Anderson said regarding Goggins’ attendance at Yellowjacket basketball games. “She was at all of the games and sat on the bench once in a while. She loved it, and I think that she hoped to do what we were doing someday too.”

Whether or not Goggins realized it at the time, her early acceptance into the Yellowjacket family was anything but temporary. On the contrary, she went from herding in stray shots as MSUB’s ball girl to becoming one of the team’s leaders in her own career as a student-athlete.

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Now a senior at MSUB, Goggins recently scored her 1,000th career point and has established herself as one of the top players in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and across the NCAA Division II west region as a whole. Goggins stands at 6-foot-1 and is fearless with her post play under the basket, and the toughness she has developed is a testament to the way she was raised and taught by her family.

DOWN ON VERMILION RANCH Goggins grew up in Shepherd, Mont., with much of her childhood spent on her grandfather Pat’s Vermillion Ranch, located 11 miles east of Big Timber. Breeding cattle is the passion of her father, Joe Goggins, whose successful family business produces several thousand registered Angus cattle every year.

Part of Joe Goggins’ work is to sell the stock that his company produces every year, but aside from being an auction owner his roots lie in involving his family with his work.

“We love ranching and we love ball games,” Joe Goggins said. “All of our kids are there when we need them, and supporting our community is a big part of what our family does.”

Among those with a highly-involved role on the ranch has been Kayleen Goggins, who cites her lifelong involvement in helping her family as one of the keys to building a strong work ethic. “The ranch is definitely where I instilled a good work ethic,” Goggins said. “I always had my own steers and sheep growing up, and I would help show them and sell them at fairs.”

While Goggins learned the ins and outs of ranching, sports came naturally to her as she began to develop a competitive edge at a young age. Growing up with her older brother Greg and younger sister Abbie, Goggins excelled in soccer, and she developed skills in softball and basketball as well.

“Since a very young age she has always been a competitive person, and she was a three-sport athlete in high school,” said Goggins’ mother Linda. “She started on a traveling basketball team when she was in fifth grade. We really respected whatever she chose to do for basketball, and it has always been fun watching her play.”

“She didn’t spend a lot of time inside the house, and she got really good at showing steers and lambs when she was growing up,” said Goggins’ father. “One of her best friends growing up was Taylor Lepley, and those two girls spent a lot of time in the gym together.”

As Goggins began to realize her potential as a basketball player through her traveling teams, the idea of seriously pursuing the sport became more and more realistic as she entered Shepherd High School. Playing for the Mustangs came naturally to Goggins, as there was yet another familiar face that influenced her basketball career.

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“I’ve known Kayleen and her family for all her life, and she and my daughter were in almost every class together from kindergarten up,” said Goggins’ high school coach Bill Lepley, whose daughter Taylor played the role of MSUB ball girl along with Goggins. “She comes from a great family and she has become a great competitor. Her desire to be the best is what separates her from the average players, and it has made her awfully special.”

Lepley facilitated the fusion of Goggins’ natural talent and her will to be the best, helping shape her into an extremely promising college prospect. Initially, Goggins considered the idea of continuing her career at the Division I level with the Montana State Bobcats. “I told myself that I didn’t want to just follow the family line and go to MSUB,” Goggins said. “I thought I wanted to go D1, but after a while I started to realize the opportunity I could have playing at the D2 level.”

Somewhere deep down, the blue and gold of MSUB that she acquired as a kid burned bright, and with a little convincing from another influential figure, Goggins committed to become a Yellowjacket.

COACH “I have never met a man who cares so much about his players. He is kind of the team dad – or mom almost.

People don’t realize what he does behind the scenes.

He washes jerseys for us on trips, he just does it all.” – Kayleen Goggins on MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin.

It’s a regular Tuesday evening, and as 11 p.m. rolls around Kevin Woodin reaches for his cell phone. It’s getting late now, and the parent of three is growing anxious as to the whereabouts of his college-age daughter. “Where are you, it’s after 11,” reads the text message, but the reply back is hardly what Woodin is expecting.

“Uh coach, I think you’ve got the wrong Kayleen here,” it reads.

“I always liked that name, Kayleen, and I named my daughter after a Kayleen from Libby, Montana that I knew growing up,” Woodin said. “To recruit a Kayleen spelled the same way was very rare, but I felt like there was some kind of mojo there and maybe that it was meant to be.”

Woodin has since officially changed Goggins’ name in his phone to read ‘K-Gogs’ to avoid further confusion between his starting forward and his 21-year-old daughter.

While keeping tabs on Goggins at all times is not part of Woodin’s job, the influence he has had on her on the court has played a major role in transforming her into one of the conference’s elite. “Coach has put nothing but confidence and trust in me, and I couldn’t ever thank him enough for that,” Goggins said. “He is really big on building relationships. I feel like I could call him and not even talk about basketball. It’s great to have him as a friend.”

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The way in which Goggins and all of her teammates address him is the title Woodin has garnered from his players, a one-word label that says it all. Simply, ‘Coach.’

When Goggins was first learning what it meant to be a Yellowjacket as a young child, Woodin was similarly acclimating himself to the program as an assistant coach. Often times the two would sit next to one another on the bench, a young Goggins all smiles as Woodin’s gaze fixated on his clipboard of notes. Now an 11-year veteran with the program and the reigning GNAC Coach of the Year, Woodin recalled his longstanding relationship with Goggins.

“I have known Kayleen since she was very little, and it was because of the Jacobs and Goggins families that I was able to meet her when her cousin Becky played here and I was an assistant coach,” Woodin said. “Obviously I followed her career at Shepherd very closely, and I made an offer to her the summer after her junior season.”

“I think as a freshman she was a bit starry-eyed but by the end of the season she was fortunate to have played quite a bit,” remembered Goggins’ father Joe about the start to his daughter’s collegiate career. “Her ability to lead has gotten much better, and that is a tribute to both the coaching staff and how hard she has worked for it over the last few summers.”

Now as one of four senior captains on the team, Goggins has emerged as a leader both in the way she plays the game as well as the influence she has in terms of team chemistry. Woodin credited Goggins with being one of the hardest workers he has coached, and has been impressed with how self-driven she has been in terms of working on her own during the off season.

“I have challenged Kayleen to become a better leader, and she has done a great job of improving in terms of becoming a more vocal leader,” Woodin said. “I am also very pleased with the consistency of her play, especially through the final stretch of last season and into this one.”

“I knew that I would have to step into more of a leadership role this season,” Goggins said. “We are only going to go up from here. This team has a lot of potential and I wouldn’t want to be playing with anyone else in my last season.”

‘JACKETS TOGETHER So far this season, Goggins is leading the team in scoring with 19.0 points per game and is also hauling in 6.9 rebounds. The numbers are all-conference caliber, and there is no question that her time spent in the program has turned Goggins into the best player that she can be.

Aside from the impressive numbers and the various accolades Goggins has accumulated during her time at MSUB, the experiences she has had growing close to those around her have had the most significant impact of all.

“I never thought being in this program would have this kind of impact, but it is definitely a big part of who I am,” Goggins said. “A lot of people say the phrase, ‘Jackets for Life,’ but with the friendships I have built, I really will be one.”

Among those Goggins has grown closest to during her time at MSUB, she cited former All-American Bobbi Knudsen and former player and current coach Chelsea Banis as having a major influence on her. While Goggins considers all of her current and past teammates the closest of friends, perhaps the one who she has grown closest to is fellow senior Quinn Peoples.

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“Quinn is the nicest person that I have ever met and I think that people can learn a lot from her,” Goggins said with a tone of genuine sincerity. “She has changed my life, and makes me want to work harder.”

While the two have spent the past four years as teammates, it was at the high school state tournament after both had committed to the MSUB program that they first met. Goggins’ Shepherd team and Peoples’ Butte High School team were each having a pregame meal at an Applebees in Bozeman, when the latter finally worked up the courage to introduce herself.

“Our team walked into the restaurant and I remember Kayleen was sitting on the other side with her sister and the Lepley girls,” Peoples said. “I remember telling some of my teammates, ‘hey I think that is Kayleen Goggins,’ but I was hesitant at first to go talk to her. Eventually I went over and said hi, and we joke about it now because she was too nervous to come say hi to me too.”

Fast-forward four years and the two have grown inseparable, their friendship hinging on everything they have been through as Yellowjacket teammates. In 2013-14, MSUB replicated the historic performance of the 199899 team by making it to the Division II west region championship game. The season was a roaring success, and through it Goggins explained that Peoples became more of a sister than a friend to her.

“She is just a strong woman and I think that makes me want to be better,” Goggins said regarding Peoples. “I don’t think she will ever know how much she has impacted my life, and even after just three years we get along great. People joke that we always accidentally wear the same thing and that we are always goofing around, but we always have each other’s back.”

“At first when I came to MSUB I was pretty homesick, but Kayleen and her family really opened their arms to me,” Peoples said. “I have just always felt open to her, and our families are very similar.”

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CHASING BASKETBALL As Goggins completes her final season as a Yellowjacket in 2014-15, she will do so with the overwhelming support she has grown accustomed to standing stronger than ever behind her. When the Yellowjackets take on Alaska Anchorage on Thursday evening, anywhere from 30 to 40 of the Goggins family faithful will occupy the seating behind MSUB’s bench to watch the daughter of Joe and Linda put her unique set of skills on display.

“He has always let basketball come first,” Goggins said regarding her father Joe. “He is always flying from a bull sale to my game and back to another bull sale.”

“We just love watching her play, and chasing basketball over the past few years has been worth every penny,” Joe Goggins said. “From a parent’s perspective, it has meant so much to see her playing with high-quality teammates.”

Goggins will graduate from MSUB in the spring of 2015 after having studied elementary education and special education. Her plan is to be a student teacher in the fall before pursuing her master’s degree in guidance counseling.

One thing her family, teammates, and coaches alike all come to a consensus on is the fact that no matter what Goggins pursues or where she ends up, she will experience nothing but success. “She will grow to become a good teacher and to mentor kids,” said Goggins’ mother Linda. “She is so kind-hearted and loves teaching and the game of basketball. Her work ethic, and her experience at college and with basketball will carry over into her future. She is a very responsible person.”

That being said, Goggins’ time on the court is far from over, and as conference play begins she is poised to lead her squad of Yellowjackets towards the defense of last season’s regular-season title and Sweet 16 appearance.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is just how Anderson responded when asked what her time at MSUB meant to her. From the time her toes failed to reach the floor while sitting on the MSUB bench as a young ball girl, to the inspiring talent she has grown into today, for Goggins it truly has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

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For Emmanuel Johnson, ‘Never Give Up’ are words to live by December 31, 2014 Basketball has been one thing constant in the life of Emmanuel Johnson, who starts for the Yellowjackets and is a quiet leader by example as a student-athlete at MSUB. MSUB SPORTS – It will get better.

At times it was all Glenert Brown could say to his son to reassure both of them that misfortune and adversity would only be temporary. Living in San Antonio, Texas, Brown lost his job and financial difficulties forced him into an unimaginably tough situation.

“We jumped from house to house for a bit, but we eventually ended up out in the rain,” Brown said. “We were in a homeless shelter.”

At times Brown and his son didn’t have heat when the days were coldest, didn’t have enough food when the days were longest.

Still, Brown pushed through, preaching the same sentiment: It will get better.

At times the only bright spot in the day of a teenage Emmanuel Johnson was when he took to the basketball court, a temporary, blissful escape from a seemingly-permanent, harsh reality.

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Brown himself was never a basketball enthusiast or even a player, but he knew that he needed something tangible to reinforce his promise to his son that things would turn around.

Most times, that something was basketball.

ON THE COURT Growing up on the south side of San Antonio, Johnson remembers being involved in sports from a young age. “I remember being about five and getting into a lot of different sports,” Johnson said. “It was pretty much basketball from the beginning, but I really liked football and baseball early on too.”

Early lessons from his father got Johnson hooked on basketball. Brown taught his son how to dribble, and shoot, and always made time to keep him active on a regular basis.

Without any brothers or sisters growing up, Johnson gravitated towards some of the older kids in his neighborhood. He quickly adopted the nickname ‘EJ,’ one that has stuck throughout his life. While he wasn’t shy about playing with the older kids, Johnson was always more soft-spoken and utilized his ability as a strong observer.

“He was always very quiet growing up, and he never caused any trouble,” remembered Johnson’s grandmother Sylvia Brown. “He has always been well-mannered and a good student as well.”

Without a mother figure in his life, Sylvia Brown (Glenert Brown’s mother) took on that role and became one of Johnson’s biggest supporters. “My grandma is pretty much the reason I am the person who I am,” Johnson said.

“She is really big on manners and she taught me how to treat people.”

Having his grandmother as a neighbor when he and his father lived in an apartment played a big role in shaping Johnson as he developed through middle school. But despite her encouragement and willingness to help raise Johnson, she could not prevent what ended up being the most difficult time in his life.

TURNED UPSIDE DOWN A downtown bus stop awaited Johnson’s arrival on a daily basis beginning his sophomore year of high school. It wasn’t the stop closest to the front doors of Brackenridge High, or closest to the homeless shelter that was Johnson’s ultimate destination, but the 15-minute, round-about walk to reach it was the preferred route of travel for the 15-year-old.

“It was tough being in high school and trying to keep it away from everybody,” Johnson said. “I would go out of my way to catch the bus just so nobody would see me.”

There were sleepless nights along the way, and moments when Johnson felt as though things couldn’t get any worse. In an area infiltrated by gangs and the violence that was associated with them, not a moment passed when Johnson wasn’t alertly aware of his surroundings.

An easy escape could have been for Johnson to stop going to school and turn to drugs. It would have been a convenient way out, quietly drifting off into the crowd unnoticed. But even when it felt like rock bottom, in his ear Johnson heard the voice of his father: It will get better.

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“I was always strict and tough on him as a kid, because I couldn’t see myself losing my only son,” Brown said. “I was going through some rough things myself, but since he was born my whole life straightened up. After all we have been through and all we have lost, that young man kept his head together. He didn’t join gangs or turn to drugs and alcohol, and he didn’t lie to me once. I am very proud of him.”

“My dad is the reason that I always see a positive side to things,” Johnson said. “He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and he was always there to comfort and motivate me. He is pretty much my backbone.”

Instead of giving up hope, Johnson kept getting on the bus every day, determined to stay in school. What he experienced that year was motivation enough for Johnson to find a passion and stick with it. “The highlight of my day was going to work out on the basketball court, and it was how I got away from everything,” Johnson said.

REDEMPTION

By Johnson’s junior year of high school, he had begun playing on a team in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), one of the most populated competitive basketball organizations in the United States. Up until that point, basketball had been simply a game to Johnson, an activity to occupy his time and keep him active.

As he began to fill his now 6-foot-7 frame, the realization of his potential to excel with the sport began to emerge. “Playing on an AAU team, I met a coach named John Collins, who showed me what it would take to play at the next level,” Johnson said regarding a man he cites as one of his biggest mentors. “He started to broaden my game, and it expanded much further from what it was early on in high school.”

Through AAU basketball Johnson had the opportunity to travel – something he had never dreamed of doing as a kid. Competing against players from across the state of Texas and as far east as Orlando, Fla., was an eye-opening endeavor for Johnson. “Being in the AAU circuit was a great experience, and it showed me a lot more than what San Antonio had to offer,” Johnson said. “I started to understand how serious basketball was, and moving into my senior year I started to get very serious myself about the idea of playing at the next level.”

“I first met Emmanuel in the spring of 2011 when I saw him playing in a high-school game,” Collins remembered. “I thought that he had an opportunity to play college ball, but when I approached him he was skeptical at first. As time went on, he found out that he could really play.”

As a junior Johnson began to get offers to play collegiately, which was somewhat of a shock before it became a routine. “I started talking to some coaches that season and at first I felt like my mind was blown,” Johnson said regarding being told he was wanted by college programs. “It was a big deal telling my dad, and it gave me a taste and motivation. I wanted more.”

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Johnson ended up signing late at Frank Phillips College, a two-year junior college in Borger, Texas, in one of the top leagues in the nation, the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. “In high school he was the tallest player, but I told him that he would have to work on his ball handling skills and perimeter game to be successful at the college level,” said Collins. “He is a very smart and skilled kid, and anything you ask of him, he will do. He is a coach’s dream.”

While Collins was excited about Johnson’s ability to adapt his game and mature into a college player, his father reflected on what it meant for his son to finish high school strong and simultaneously continue his education and basketball career. “Emmanuel is a young man with drive and determination,” Brown said. “For him to be successful and carry on like he did tells me a lot about his character, his demeanor, and what he is really made of.”

MOVING TO MSUB As Johnson made the decision to attend Frank Phillips College, he did so knowing that after two years he’d have another selection to make in picking a new school. “MSUB got onto my map late in my sophomore year, and that’s when I started talking to Coach (Brad) Schmit,” Johnson said regarding being contacted by MSUB’s top assistant. “He seemed really energetic with coaching and helping guys to get better.”

Johnson first visited a school in Minnesota that he had his mind set on attending, and although he had the trip scheduled to MSUB as well, he was not looking forward to it. “My dad told me just to come to Billings and try it out,” Johnson said. “When I came here Coach Schmit and I did a workout with just the two of us, and even from that he started teaching me things. My dad helped push me to visit and talking to Coach Schmit and Coach (Jamie) Stevens really sold me on it.”

In perhaps the most spread out conference across all of the NCAA Division II level, the travel student-athletes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference experience is one-of-a-kind. The outer reaches of the conference footprint stretch from Fairbanks, Alaska to Billings, with landmark destinations such as Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia along the way.

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Johnson is one of many student-athletes who take full advantage of the long trips, soaking in new environments and experiencing new cities. Most recently, the Yellowjackets embarked on a three-game road trip to Hawaii, by far marking the furthest west Johnson had ever traveled. “One thing that makes me truly proud is that EJ has had the chance to travel and go to cities that no one in his family has been to before,” Sylvia Brown said. “His whole family is proud and happy that he has been able to travel and see things that we haven’t been able to see.”

Twelve games into his career as a Yellowjacket, Johnson has emerged into a starter and is leading the team with a shooting percentage of 55.6 from the field. Overall he is averaging 5.9 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds, and he has made 6 of 11 3-point field goals so far this season.

“Here he is in his third year of college, and he has come through with flying colors,” Johnson’s father said. “He didn’t let past circumstances get to him, and he has been very dedicated as a student and as a basketball player.”

“One of the things that drives me is that I really do love this game,” Johnson said. “It is one of the things that helped keep me sane and keep my mind right in high school. It’s just good to know that it is always there for me, and I give everything I have to it. For my grandmother and father to be able to say that their son is a college basketball player adds fuel to the fire.”

MY SUPERHERO While the Yellowjackets took a mandatory one-week break from the court over Christmas, Johnson remained in Billings, passing the time in an empty Alterowitz Gym working on his perimeter game. While he could not be home for the holidays, Johnson touched base with his family, sending a sincere text message to his father on Christmas.

“He is a young man full of wisdom,” Glenert Brown said. “The message he sent our family was so enlightening that I couldn’t believe it came from him at first. It made me realize how much my son has matured and that he has become something that I was not. My son is really what helped me and made me the type of person I am now, and I can say that with pride and honesty.”

As Johnson continues his basketball career and pursues his degree, he hopes to one day work with underprivileged families as a counselor or social worker. It is a fitting profession that Johnson aspires to pursue, as he is a living example of what it means to persevere and remain positive no matter the circumstances.

His graduation from high school, graduation from junior college, and current path he is on as a student-athlete at MSUB are all pieces of proof that his father was right all along with the words he continually poured into Johnson’s ear: It will get better.

Late in Johnson’s high school career, his father took a seat in the stands of a gym, watching his son compete in an all-star game. The atmosphere was electric, as some of the top talent from across the state had converged onto the same court. Parents’ faces curled uncontrollably into smiles as they thumbed through the game programs and learned the favorite superheroes of the participants as listed in their short biographies.

“Hey superhero! Superhero!” It was a voice coming from several rows up that finally drew Glenert Brown to turn his head and find his brother-in-law, grinning and holding up a program. Brown picked up his own program and began turning the pages, finding Batman, Superman, and Flash Gordon listed as the popular picks for various players. When he arrived at his son’s page, Brown quickly trained his eyes to the line, ‘favorite super hero,’ before they quickly filled with tears.

Johnson’s response: My father.

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‘Fearless’ DePuydt back in starting role after tackling torn ACL January 9, 2015 One year after tearing the ACL in her left knee, MSUB women’s basketball senior Annie DePuydt is back on the court as a starter for the Yellowjackets in 2014-15.

MSUB SPORTS – With 11 minutes gone in a 2014 Great Northwest Athletic Conference game against Central Washington University last year, then-junior guard for Montana State University Billings Annie DePuydt held the ball at the top of the arc, evaluating whether to take a long-range shot or take a few quick steps and pull up.

She ultimately decided on the latter, except those steps leading to a mid-range jumper never came. Instead, DePuydt collapsed to the hardwood in agony, letting out a scream that forced everything inside Nicholson Pavilion to a screeching halt.

According to DePuydt, the pain lasted just moments before she attempted to pull herself up off of the floor. “It only hurt for a split second, after I screamed the pain was gone,” DePuydt said. “I tried to get up but I couldn’t walk. I had never been injured before and I tried to keep telling myself that it was just a sprain.”

In a state of shock, DePuydt had no way of knowing that she had just torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Athletic trainer Lindsay Sullivan, however, knew the instant DePuydt went down what had happened.

“We call it ‘the scream,’” Sullivan said regarding the one-of-a-kind response athletes have to a torn ACL. “She screamed ‘the scream,’ and you always hope that you’re wrong, but when I went out there and did a test on her there was no ACL.” From nearly 800 miles away watching the live stream of the game, DePuydt’s parents Becky and Brian DePuydt recognized what had happened as well. “We knew immediately what she had done, we could hear ‘the scream,’” DePuydt’s mother recalled.

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In an instant DePuydt had gone from a productive starter averaging 8.1 points and shooting 88 percent from the free-throw line, to facing one of the most difficult injuries to overcome in all of sports.

For many athletes, an ACL tear signals the end of a career. Minimum recovery time for the injury is around eight months, but often times the mental aspect of working to return to the court makes the task seem impossible.

But giving in to adversity and misfortune was not a concept that DePuydt, a 4.0 college student, was familiar with. With the determination she had displayed within everything she had accomplished to that point in her life, she embarked on the most difficult journey she could ever imagine.

STATE FOR SACO DePuydt’s senior year at Saco-Whitewater High School, she had become a leader on the girls’ basketball team. Perhaps it was the fact that she had three older sisters and had been around the basketball court since she could walk, but the role of leading the top team in the town of around 200 people came as a natural fit.

Her final season as a prep player did not begin according to plan however, as a case of mononucleosis (mono) benched DePuydt for the first third of the schedule. It was a trying struggle, testing DePuydt physically and mentally.

When she finally returned to the court, it was apparent that she was not the same player.

“I really struggled at first and I wasn’t up to my standards,” DePuydt remembered. “When the district tournament rolled around, my coach sat down and talked to me, and that really helped me turn it around.”

Amber Erickson, a former student-athlete at MSUB and member of the 199899 NCAA Division II Elite Eight squad, sat down with DePuydt to share a simple, powerful message. “I told her that if she didn’t score in double-digits in every game that we weren’t going to make it to state,” Erickson said. “After that she went into this two-week zone where she was unstoppable, and she took over the game when she wanted to.”

By the time the Panthers had advanced to the state tournament, mono was nothing more than an afterthought for DePuydt. The team had suffered a loss at the divisional level, so the road to the state tournament was through a difficult challenge-game. “We won that game by about 30 points, and then at state every game was pretty close but we were just clicking,” recalled DePuydt.

The run culminated in the first-ever state championship – in any sport – for Saco-Whitewater, and it was DePuydt’s ability to overcome missing the first part of the season and elevate her game that was a key factor.

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THING 1 AND THING 2 Immediately after the completion of the 2011 Treasure State Classic women’s basketball game, MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin took the liberty of introducing two of his new recruits to one another. The annual game serves as a platform to bring together high school girls from across the state of Montana, and it was the first time DePuydt crossed paths with Billings native and soon-to-be Yellowjacket Janiel Olson.

“We were playing against each other and I remember she was just one of those pesky guards,” Olson said regarding DePuydt. “Kevin came up after the game and said, ‘I’d like to introduce you to one of your future teammates,’ and it was her.”

The duo had no way of knowing that they would end up sharing a unique bond and become the closest of friends, but at first it was being teammates as Yellowjackets and sharing the same academic course of study that brought DePuydt and Olson together.

“Sophomore and junior year we started getting really close and by then we were both starting,” Olson said. “At first she was just Innocent Annie who couldn’t hurt a fly.”

Just as the two were beginning to click and help the ‘Jackets assume the top spot in the GNAC standings, DePuydt went down. “I had never heard Annie scream like that, and I knew something was wrong,” Olson said. “The hardest part was playing a game knowing that something terrible had just happened to your teammate. None of us had ever been through an ACL, and in her head I think she thought she was fine.”

Just over one month later, with one second left in a road game against Western Oregon, it was Olson who let out ‘the scream.’ The ACL in her left knee had given out, and the already-close bond she had with DePuydt was about to become a lot stronger.

“The hardest thing was the rehab, and it was a very long, rough road to recovery,” DePuydt said. “After surgery there were days when I would spend six to eight hours in the training room with Lindsay, icing and just trying to lift my leg. Without Lindsay I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Fast-forward four months later and DePuydt had progressed to the point where she could fully support herself and walk normally. “The same day that I got to run was the day that I got to shoot for the first time,” said DePuydt.

“I’m pretty sure I made the first shot and then missed the next twenty. That’s when it got more exciting because I was able to be more active.”

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While Olson was a few months behind DePuydt in terms of recovery, the two were each other’s biggest support throughout the summer, both physically with rehab and handling the mental strain associated with the injury. At times DePuydt would show up at Olson’s house and the two would share tears of frustration as they struggled to cope.

“At the beginning having me there really helped Janiel I think,” DePuydt said. “Even though I was two months ahead of her, we still did our workouts together and held each other accountable. Our relationship strengthened because of it.”

“While we were rehabbing people would call us ‘Thing 1 and Thing 2,’” Olson said with a grin as she recalled the two limping from location to location in synchrony. “We are a perfect balance for each other, and Annie never failed to sense when something was wrong, to pick me up and be my rock.”

FLYING WITH THE ‘JACKETS DePuydt’s decision to attend MSUB hinged dually on the opportunity to play basketball and her earning the most prestigious scholarship the university has to offer in the Chancellor’s Excellence Award.

The award is something DePuydt has represented to the fullest, completing three-and-a-half years of her degree to this point with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

“Academically we have been very successful as a team, but Annie is among the best of the best that we have ever had,” said Woodin. “I can’t imagine how anyone can get a 4.0 while also competing in basketball at this level. It is a tribute to her work ethic, and she has definitely earned all of the academic accolades she has received.”

DePuydt is working on a dual degree in business management and marketing, and cites the influence of her parents as being most impactful towards her academic success. “Both of my parents earned degrees in college and they have always instilled a strong work ethic in me,” DePuydt said. “All three of my sisters were valedictorians before me in high school, and I really benefitted from growing up in a smaller school and getting to know my teachers.”

“Annie has worked hard and it is exciting to see her success within her academics and on the court,” Becky DePuydt said. “I’m sure that she is going to be successful in whatever job she obtains.”

While DePuydt at first did not have her mind made up to become a Yellowjacket, it was with Erickson’s help that she and Coach Woodin mutually agreed that the program would be a good fit. “I knew after about a month during her freshman year that we had made the right decision in bringing her here,” Woodin said. “She just put out this relentless effort all the time in practice and fundamentally she had a really sound base.”

“Coach Woodin is like your second dad, and I could tell that he just cared so much about his players,” DePuydt said. “He was there when we got the news about my ACL, and he just told me he believed in me and that I would come back even stronger.”

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Erickson, who first met Woodin when he was a volunteer assistant during her playing days, encouraged DePuydt to pursue the game at the college level. “I didn’t know at first if she wanted to keep playing but I told her that she would do great and wouldn’t regret it,” Erickson said. “After her phenomenal divisional and state tournament run her senior year it all sort of fell into place. I was persistent in having her go there and was happy that she was able to experience what I was able to when I played at MSUB.” FEARLESS Visit Alterowitz Gym Saturday evening to watch the Yellowjackets take on GNAC opponent Seattle Pacific, and among the starting five for the navy and gold you’ll see a smiling, determined number 34 rise up off of the bench upon her introduction.

“All along I wanted one of my daughters to play college ball, and with Brianne I had high hopes,” said Brian DePuydt referring to his youngest daughter by her given name. “She has always been a hard worker and whatever she has done she’s given it 110 percent. I’m just so glad that she is able to go out and play again, and we were hoping that she would make the most of her senior year. Watching her and the rest of the team and getting to know all of the great parents, it has been a fun four years for us.”

The night DePuydt tore her ACL Brian and his wife received multiple phone calls from parents who were at the game offering to help in any way they could. One even offered to fly their daughter back to Montana that evening after the game.

DePuydt’s options may have been limited immediately following her injury, but leaving her teammates behind was never among them. DePuydt remained with the team for the rest of the road trip, traveling by bus to Northwest Nazarene for a game two nights later before returning to Billings. It was the notion of staying with her family of teammates that displayed her true sense of commitment and loyalty.

“At practice last week, Annie went down pretty hard and it scared her a lot,” Sullivan said. “She was fine, but I sat down with her and asked her what she was afraid of after all of the work she had done to get back to this point.

She couldn’t really come up with an answer, so I said, ‘what does that make you?’ Annie responded, ‘fearless.’”

All along, deep down, it’s a trait that DePuydt has possessed at her most inner core. Never has it shown stronger than now.

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Tyler Nelson’s unique journey from Missionary to MSUB Basketball January 15, 2015 After spending two years as a missionary in El Salvador and returning to the United States to attend MSUB, Tyler Nelson is now a senior starter on the men’s basketball team.

MSUB SPORTS – When Tyler Nelson first stepped foot in Billings, Mont., to suit up as a basketball player for the Yellowjackets, it was somewhat foreign territory. The Roosevelt, Utah native had arrived on the campus of Montana State University Billings to pick up where he had left off on his basketball career two years earlier, this time calling the confines of Alterowitz Gymnasium home.

Playing football and basketball growing up with his five brothers, Nelson developed a competitive edge and learned about teamwork through sports from an early age.

His father Gary Nelson had been a two-sport standout at then-Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, where he played football and tennis.

Athletics were a natural fit for Nelson, and he quickly developed into a promising college prospect moving into his senior year at Union High School. “I was getting recruited a bit for football, but when basketball came around my senior year I realized how much I loved it,” Nelson said regarding his choice to pursue hoops in college.

Today, Nelson is a senior for the Yellowjackets and is the only player on the squad to have started all 16 games this season. His 6-foot-7 presence is a valuable asset to the team, but even bigger are his dedication, commitment and leadership that set an example for all of the players.

That leadership has emerged over the course of Nelson’s three years spent at MSUB, but what truly began to draw it out started with a unique journey before he became a Yellowjacket. After his first year of college at Central Wyoming, Nelson embarked on a mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to El Salvador that forever changed his perspective on life.

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WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE “We were told that when we got there that we were to leave everything behind mentally so that we would be fully engaged in what we were doing,” Nelson said regarding instructions he received before committing to the twoyear mission in Central America’s most densely-populated nation. “It was tough at first but over time I became absorbed in my work and I wasn’t thinking about basketball at all.”

Along with his unwavering athletic background, Nelson also had to let go of the one and only language he understood, and had to completely re-learn how to communicate. “At first I had no language and I had no idea what anyone was saying,” Nelson said. “I’d say I started to gain a general grasp around six months and it became easier and easier after that.”

While Spanish is the native language in El Salvador, it was a wide range of variations within the language that kept Nelson on his toes as he learned on the fly. “You have a companion on the mission who is with you 24/7, and you would switch to a new location and new companion every six weeks to nine months,” Nelson said.

“My first one was from Chile, and he spoke quick, Chilean Spanish that was hard for me to understand. I was able to pick up bits and pieces and it got better after a while.”

Getting up to speed enough to hold a conversation was a task within itself, but considering the overall purpose of Nelson’s mission was to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to foreigners, Nelson had to get to a level with the language where he could impart key concepts of his religion to the people in his new home.

At times, keeping thoughts of his life in the United States out of his mind was difficult. Where he once took clean clothes, running water and smoothly-paved roads for granted, Nelson found himself learning a new way to approach what had previously been every-day luxuries.

“I was living among people who didn’t have anything except for a hut,” Nelson said. “There was no running water or warm water and I had to bathe outside using a bucket. It really changed my perspective and taught me how much I have here (in America).”

Through Nelson’s work, he aimed to aid the natives in terms of their spiritual needs to improve their perspective on life despite challenging living circumstances. “We felt that if people accepted and lived by the message we were preaching that they would be happy in their lives regardless of their physical condition or where they were living,” Nelson said. “I saw that change occur in many people and that was the ultimate goal – to become something better, something more.”

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BACK TO THE STATES “I have a deep love for the Hispanic culture and for Latin Americans after living among them. It changed my perspective on life completely.” – Tyler Nelson.

By the time Nelson’s two years had elapsed and he boarded a plane back to the states, he carried with him a sense of pride and accomplishment. Despite physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion, Nelson felt that he had given it all he had and served the people to the best of his ability. “It was tough to leave, because I grew to love the people there so much and I wanted to be with them,” said Nelson. “I was a bit torn, but I felt like I was satisfied with the work I had done.”

As his life as an American began to come back into focus, clean water and a wide selection of restaurants quickly reminded Nelson of the life he was re-entering. The Spanish language he had worked so hard at to pick up and learn lingered with him, and he remembered having difficulty training his ear back to the English tongue. “I was thinking a lot in Spanish and I was so absorbed in it,” Nelson recalled of his early transition back to U.S. culture. “I almost had to re-learn my English accent. It sounds kind of weird but over time you do start to lose it a bit.”

One-by-one, the fundamental functions of everyday-life came back to Nelson, as he began planning his next step. When basketball began to resurface at the front of Nelson’s mind, it was his former coach at Central Wyoming College, Jamie Stevens, that Nelson turned to for an opportunity to return to the court.

“I really enjoyed having Tyler at Central Wyoming, and I stayed in touch with his father while he was gone,” said Stevens, who had transitioned into the head coaching role at MSUB during Nelson’s time in El Salvador. “I knew Tyler would be a great person to have in our program at MSUB, and he is a wonderful representative of the kind of person we want to have on our team.”

Stevens had been aware of Nelson’s plan to take a hiatus from college to complete his calling, and the sense of familiarity made the transition back to basketball at the NCAA Division II level easier for Nelson. “I had a familiarity with Coach Stevens and his coaching style, and he knew me as a player and how I played so it felt right,” Nelson said with respect to rekindling the relationship.

The first time Nelson laced up his shoes and stepped foot on the hardwood since coming back to the U.S. was in the first week of August, and with games beginning three months later that timeframe would be daunting even for a player who was in shape.

For someone who hadn’t so much as touched a basketball in two years it seemed downright unrealistic.

“I had to go through the grind of the preseason and all of the physical conditioning, and that was tough,” Nelson remembered. “I just felt like it was where I needed to be though, and that I was here for a reason.”

TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS Re-entering the realm of basketball at what would normally be the age of a college senior, Nelson knew that he still had three more years to grow and develop within the game he loved. With the type of maturity he displayed from his first day as a Yellowjacket, Stevens knew Nelson would fill in a valuable role as a leader within the team.

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“Tyler was very mature when he arrived here and I think his personality and ability to communicate have really shown over the past three years,” Stevens said.

Nelson attributes his current position as a senior leader to the perspective he gained and the leadership roles he held while on his mission. Originally beginning as one of around 200 missionaries, by his second year Nelson had progressed into a group leader and eventually became an assistant to the president of the mission.

“When there were problems, I had to be self-sufficient and find solutions, which is a big thing that I learned,” Nelson said. “Within the leadership positions I held during my mission, I can relate them directly to basketball. I had to have people skills, to critical think at times, and I learned how being a good leader effects the people surrounding you.”

Along with Nelson’s ability as a problem solver, it is the work ethic he developed and mentality to earn everything he is given that has made him a model player within Stevens’s program. “Tyler has been the hardest worker on every team that he has been on,” Stevens said. “Nobody practices harder and that effort transfers over into the games. He is completely bought in to doing things right in all aspects of his life, including academics, practice and in the weight room. Tyler gives everything he has in everything that he does.”

While Nelson and Stevens agree that the senior is not the most vocal leader, it is through Nelson’s actions that he commands respect from his teammates and is able to have an impact on their perspective as well. It is not uncommon for Nelson to pull a teammate aside after practice and share words of encouragement.

“I am not the most vocal person, but I feel that I care about my teammates and that they can see that,” Nelson said. “I just like to remind guys that I appreciate what they are doing and that I go out and practice and work hard for them.”

THANKFUL FOR MSUB While the real-world experience Nelson had on his mission taught him many things that can’t be learned within a classroom, he remains passionate about completing his degree and continuing his education as a college student. Nelson is completing his course of study with the communications department at MSUB, and is proud of what he represents as a student and an athlete every time he takes the court wearing navy and gold.

“I feel that MSUB has helped me a lot in academics, and I have had great professors who really care and are always willing to help,” Nelson said. “That has translated onto the basketball court as well, as I want to give back to MSUB and the campus as a whole. I play to the best of my ability because it is important to show that you respect what you have been given. MSUB has definitely helped me for the better and I am grateful for it.”

Playing a major role in shaping Nelson was the way in which his family raised him, as he commented how his parents instilled upon him to always work hard and earn what he gets. Nelson’s five brothers and sister helped challenge him and develop a sense of perseverance.

After returning from his mission, Nelson met his wife Lindsey, and the two have since had a son, Jaiden Tyler Nelson who is now seven months old. “I’ve learned that over time life is a balance,” Nelson said. “Being married and having a kid, playing basketball and going to school full time is a challenge. I have always believed that if you put God first and serve him to the best of your ability that He will take care of you. I have been blessed with great things and I am very thankful for it.”

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The Denham-Anderson connection: From Malta to MSU Billings January 22, 2015 Leading Malta High School to multiple football state championship game appearances as teammates, Kendall Denham and Jace Anderson continue to connect now on the basketball court for the ‘Jackets.

MSUB SPORTS – In the fall of 2011 Malta High School junior quarterback Kendall Denham led his team to a perfect 11-0 record leading up to an appearance in the state championship game. More often than not, senior wide-out Jace Anderson was on the receiving end of Denham’s passes, as the two had grown into a dynamic duo by their final year on the gridiron together.

Today, Denham is still hitting Anderson with passes, albeit within the confines of Alterowitz Gym as the two are now starters for the Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team.

“We played basketball against each other in middle school growing up but not in high school since we were in different classes,” Denham said. “My junior year in football is really when our connection moved to the next level.”

Both two-sport standouts in high school, Denham and Anderson were teammates through the fall before parting ways in the winter. Anderson attended Whitewater High School, which partnered with Malta to form the football team under head coach Scott King.

“As athletes they were both very competitive, and they were as good in practice as they were on Friday nights,” King commented on his former standouts. “If you ask them, they’ll tell you that basketball was their first love.”

Anderson was driven to pursue basketball at the highest level he could, ultimately determining that MSUB would be a good fit. Following Anderson’s mentality, Denham was guided dually by his childhood teammate and another familiar face from his hometown who was making a name for herself as a Yellowjacket.

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“I talked to Jace about it, and my sister played here her freshman year too so I had a good connection,” Denham said. “I also talked to (Malta native) Bobbi (Knudsen) quite a bit, and she was helping recruit me to come down here.”

After both players redshirted in their first year in the program, 2014-15 marks the rebirth of the two as teammates. Picking up right where they left off in high school, the Denham-Anderson connection has proven to be one of the keys to MSUB’s offense this season. Anderson ranks third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 48.0, and Denham ranks seventh in assist-turnover ratio at 1.9. Denham has connected with Anderson for a bucket on eight occasions this season, including two in an 83-78 overtime win against Alaska Fairbanks last week that was a career night for both players.

Anderson posted 27 points and made 5 of 10 shots from beyond the arc, and Denham finished with a season-best 16 points on 3 of 6 from long range. “That game was definitely a stepping stone for us, and we feel like now everything is finally clicking,” Anderson said.

“Seeing Jace get into rhythm helped to get the other guys going and we all fed off of that,” Denham commented. “We are playing good team ball right now, and we just have to dig deep and do the little things right in the last four minutes to find ways to win.”

Next up for the ‘Jackets is a prime-time GNAC contest against Seattle Pacific on Saturday, as MSUB will look to repeat last season’s 72-70, overtime win on a buzzer-beater by Marc Matthews against then-No. 13 SPU. “We have been playing well as a team since Christmas break, and we have been in every single game,” Anderson said. “We are confident that our connection will help lead to more wins.”

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Peoples-to-Peoples: Yellowjacket experience comes full circle February 6, 2015 The college experience for MSUB women’s basketball senior Quinn Peoples is one of the most challenging and unique stories, and she is a prime example of dedication and commitment.

MSUB SPORTS – Two hours prior to tipoff on any given game day, the main floor is completely clear, and the cavernous Alterowitz Gym entirely empty awaiting that night’s inhabitants – spectators, players and coaches alike.

As the clock strikes five, the first two Yellowjackets emerge from the southeast stairwell, as Quinn Peoples and Kayleen Goggins follow the path they have traversed hundreds of times throughout their careers at Montana State University Billings.

The unbreakable routine of shooting early before the game is something the two have adhered to since their sophomore season at Montana State Billings, the year when a bond of lifelong friendship was developed.

To the ordinary passerby, the routine appears casual, with no real rhythm or sense of organization to it. Five shots for Goggins here, a few for Peoples over there; two teammates getting ready to play another basketball game.

But as the two have grown inseparable over the past three years, it has been the sport that has drawn them together and provided a platform to illustrate the exhilarating highs and the unimaginable lows life has to offer.

The pregame routine for Peoples and Goggins is one that requires no planning, no reminder to meet one another at the court at a certain time. Some days the two travel to the gym together, and others the meeting under the east basket is the first of the day between the Montana natives.

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Sometimes the conversation is as simple as talking about what each did that day, and more often than not there are smiles and chuckling.

It’s impossible to know exactly what it is that comes to Peoples’ mind each time she steps onto the court with her best friend, but based on the road she has traveled to becoming a senior for the ‘Jackets in 2015, there’s no doubt there is plenty to say.

PEOPLES TO PEOPLES FOR STATE

ral on the field.

Peoples grew up in Butte, Mont., the daughter of Butte Central Catholic High School football head coach, Don Peoples. Sports were something engrained in the Peoples blood line, and for as long as she can remember Quinn was a natu-

“From the time I can remember, my life has revolved around sports,” Peoples said. “My first memories are probably when I was around three or four going to football practices with my older sister Mairissa and sitting on the sideline while our dad coached.”

Being surrounded by sports was all Peoples knew growing up, and by the time she reached the age of competitive basketball, her father had picked up coaching duties for the high school girls’ team. “Probably around second or third grade is when Quinn really started to get into basketball, and she was extremely competitive even as a young kid,” Peoples’ father commented. “The era where she started being a ball girl for the high school teams is when she really became a gym rat and a kid who loved basketball.”

Side-by-side Peoples and her older sister honed their basketball skills, fantasizing about the day when they would become teammates for the Lady Maroons and lead the team to a state championship title.

“When they were little girls they always used to practice with each other in the yard, and it was always, ‘Peoples to Peoples for state,’” remembered Peoples’ mother Barb. “There was always a competition over who was passing and who was taking the shot to win the game.”

It was a dream the sisters shared with one another, and when Peoples reached her freshman year of high school the two would finally have a chance to turn the fictitious backyard games into a reality as teammates.

The Peoples sisters never got that chance however, as Mairissa was diagnosed with cancer during Quinn’s first year of high school. Don Peoples had to step down from his role as head coach to focus on the care of his oldest daughter, but remained on staff in an assistant role.

For Quinn, the diagnosis given to her sister was a shock, but it was basketball that kept her motor running and motivated her to be strong in support of Mairissa. “Basketball was something for all of us to focus on besides what else was going on,” Barb Peoples said. “It gave us something to look forward to.”

By Peoples’ senior season, she had emerged as a legitimate college prospect, and had led the Lady Maroons to their first state tournament appearance in 28 years in the previous year. In her final prep season, Peoples’ focus turned to just one goal. “My dad always told me that if you can get to state and win it, no one can ever take that away from you,” Peoples said.

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When Peoples and her teammates advanced to the state title game, she carried her sister’s jersey out of the locker room and laid it on the team bench, just as she had done before every other game that season.

Traveling back-and-forth to Seattle to receive treatment, Mairissa was absent for a great deal of Quinn’s prep career. On the most important night of their lives however, not only was Mairissa in attendance, but she had the headset on and was part of the broadcast team for the title game.

Sure enough, the dream came true that evening as Peoples led her team to the school’s first state title in almost three decades. With the freshly-cut net dangling around her neck, Peoples sought out her older sister to share the moment with. “When we won state she was the first person I went over and hugged,” Peoples said with a grin. “I saw her walking over and I sprinted to her and started spinning her around. It was so cool that I got to share that moment with her and that she was a part of that experience too.”

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A FINAL WISH “When you are in love with the sport, it becomes everything that you are and everything that you exemplify. That is something I really took away from and learned from my sister, and she helped me realize my passion and that she would do anything to be in the situation that I was in.” – Quinn Peoples Following a historic regular season in 2013-14, the MSUB women’s basketball team earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships and prepared to head to Pomona, Calif., for first-round action in early March.

The Yellowjackets had stormed to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title, posting a perfect 15-0 record at home in the process. The season was already a memorable one for the ‘Jackets, and the postseason run was just getting started.

“We had just gotten back from the conference tournament in Lacey and after practice on Monday I got a call from my mom,” Peoples remembered.

Barb Peoples informed her middle daughter that she needed to come home right away to see her sister, who had been battling cancer strongly for seven years.

Upon arriving, Peoples found out Mairissa only had days to live.

“I asked her if she wanted me to stay and she just looked at me and said, ‘are you crazy?! You’re going to play in the NCAA tournament and I’m going to watch your game on Friday,’” Peoples remembered about the conversation with Mairissa. “Deciding to never see my sister again and choosing to play basketball was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Mairissa helped me make that decision because she had worked so hard her entire life, and it would have made her so happy just to play two seconds in an NCAA tournament.”

“It amazes me the inner strength Quinn has that she could overcome and play well with her team,” said Peoples’ mother. “It is exactly what her sister wanted her to do.”

YELLOWJACKETS STICK TOGETHER Mairissa Peoples passed away on Thursday, March 13, 2014, but Quinn Peoples didn’t play a single minute of the regional tournament without her older sister and her entire team of Yellowjackets by her side. “It was amazing the way that group of girls came together, and I have never felt something as special as that game,” Peoples remembered regarding a dramatic 60-59 victory over Academy of Art in the first round that Friday. “Every huddle we would break and yell, ‘for Mairissa,’ and I don’t think there was any way we were going to lose that game.”

The ‘Jackets advanced to the regional championship game, where one of the best seasons in program history came to an end with a 75-68 loss to eventual national semifinalist Cal Poly Pomona.

“When Quinn’s mom called her and told her to come home, we weren’t sure if she was going to be able to play at the regional tournament,” said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. “It was Mairissa’s wish for Quinn to play and she really helped us both on and off the court. She just inspired us to work even harder as coaches, players and teammates.”

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“For Quinn to even be at the regional tournament last year showed her commitment to this program and her team,” said Goggins. “There are not a lot of people who, being in her position, would have done that.”

Now in her senior season at MSUB, Peoples has put together a memorable career as one of the most prolific players in program history. She became just the second player in MSUB history to reach 200 career made 3-pointers, and she and Goggins fittingly each joined the 1,000-point club this season.

On paper, the figures speak for themselves and are a testament to a lifetime of hard work and dedication to the sport of basketball. But the milestone numbers also represent something much more than the shots Peoples has made in her career.

“It represents consistency and what Quinn has been able to do throughout her career has been simply amazing,” Woodin said. “I am very proud of her because she has worked extremely hard to become a better defender and passer, and this season her all-around game has definitely improved.”

“Of all the kids I have witnessed in my coaching career, she has worked as hard or harder than anybody I have ever seen,” Peoples’ father commented. “It is very fulfilling as a parent to see her success, and she has truly enjoyed her entire experience at MSUB.” Peoples is completing a degree in elementary education and special education, as her passion lies within helping others and teaching and coaching children. “I cannot say enough about the professors in the College of Education here at MSUB,” Peoples said. “They worked with me so well during everything I was going through with my family, and I feel like I really got to know my professors here. It is really beneficial for students to be considered individually, and Coach does an awesome job of making sure every player in his program graduates in four years.”

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PEOPLES FOR THE FUTURE Family and friends alike are quick to smile and explain how Peoples struggled immensely with being away from home as a freshman at MSUB. “She was so pathetically homesick and I didn’t think she would stay at first,” Barb Peoples recalled. “She and Kayleen became such good friends, and the Goggins family has been so amazing in support of her and all of us. That’s what helped keep her spirits up.”

Four years later, Peoples has become one of the model citizens in Woodin’s program and has served as a valuable leader by example in mentoring the younger players. “Quinn represents the bond she has formed with her sister and family, and she has brought that same bond to her team,” said Woodin. “This year she has done a great job as captain and helping the younger players to develop and realize the ups and downs of playing college basketball.

“I feel blessed that Quinn came to MSUB and I got the opportunity to coach her and to get to know her family on a deeper level,” Woodin continued. “I know that Quinn has helped me become a better person and coach, and I just know that she will be successful in whatever she chooses to do.”

Goggins explained the type of commitment and inspiration that Peoples embodies, and how these are the traits that will live on long after her playing career. “She could have stayed at home but she chose to stick it out and come back this year,” Goggins said. “I hope people will realize what that took, and think of her as being loyal and a hard worker.”

Overall, Peoples believes she is a living example that things do get better and everything comes full circle. “I always thought to myself, ‘why did I choose MSUB?’ It just fit me perfectly academically and gave me the opportunity to stick with what I loved doing athletically,” Peoples said. “I hope that one day people will see me as an example of hard work paying off. It can be hard to stick with things sometimes, but it really means something when you do.”

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FULL CIRCLE In a way, the pregame shooting routine for Peoples and Goggins is a perfect representation of the extraordinary experience they have shared as Yellowjackets. At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a few shots here and there in no particular order.

But look closer and you’ll notice the matching shoes, with Mairissa’s initials M.M.P. inscribed on the tongue. The five made shots at each location, the transition from shooter to rebounder flowing as naturally as the gentle conversation between the two. Before long, each has hit from all of their locations, and their simple warmup routine, just like their careers as Yellowjackets, has come full circle.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Taylor Hoke, SS February 16, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – Ask any shortstop and she’ll tell you that the phrase ‘4-6-3’ is music to her ears. It is code for ‘double play,’ and is a number combination universally recognized but rarely uttered on a softball field.

Few moments on the diamond compare to turning a double play defensively, and it is for situations like this that Montana State University Billings senior Taylor Hoke lives for.

It is a culmination of several elements that makes a double play possible, some of which take years of tireless repetition honing skills and focusing on minute details. Others are traits that lie within someone, abilities that cannot be taught.

The footwork utilized by the shortstop, particularly when receiving a throw around the bag at second is an art within itself. It’s a tangible skill, something that garners countless hours of attention and development. The quick hands and anticipation needed when a split second is the difference between one and two outs however, are rare traits that only come around every so often.

A CHAMPION IN THE FAMILY There was not much time for reaction or preparation when Hoke found out she would be facing her little sister Kayla for the Washington softball state title. Hoke’s Adna High School had won its semifinal game within minutes of a semifinal win by Kayla’s Pe Ell High School, and as soon as the dust cleared from the final outs, the sisters found out they would be squaring off in the championship game.

“We had about an hour in between the semifinals and the finals,” Hoke remembered about the final game of her senior year. “It was kind of weird, we didn’t say anything to each other. We just had to go warm up.”

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Hoke had grown used to her father Troy standing behind her at the beginning of every game, offering suggestions and minor adjustments to her swing. This time when she turned around for his consultation, she received a shake of the head, as if he were saying, “this one is between you and your sister, that’s all.”

A diving play by Kayla prevented her older sister from reaching base the first time up, and as Hoke remembers it the emotions were visible on the freshman’s face. “The first play of the game she dove and got me out as the leadoff hitter,” Hoke said. “She was crying pretty much that whole inning.”

The out was the only one of the game Hoke made, as she finished 3-for4 and helped Adna to a big 10-0 victory. With nearly their entire home town rising in applause in the stands after the game, the Hoke sisters met at home plate, and shared a final embrace.

COLLEGE BOUND With the taste of victory fresh in her mouth, Hoke packed her bags for Billings, Mont., as she set out to pursue her career at the NCAA Division II level. She had visited MSUB on a recruiting trip the previous year, and right away the coaching staff knew they had a player who could contribute.

“We knew how important Taylor could be to this team, so we made sure we kept in contact with her,” said MSUB head coach Lisa Allen. “Her most impressive traits were her arm strength and how quick her feet were defensively, and we knew we had a good base to work with.”

Hoke had mainly played catcher through her high school career, but her natural ability with the glove prompted Allen and her staff to move her to third base. “The transition wasn’t all that difficult, and I remember Nicole (Colpron) helped get me really prepared for what I needed to do,” Hoke said regarding a senior mentor on the team her freshman season. “When she got hurt and I started, I was really nervous but she kept encouraging me.”

Not only did Hoke start 36 games during the 2012 season, she batted .340 and drove in 18 runs in her very first college season. The Yellowjackets finished 32-18 overall, winning the GNAC regular season title and advancing to the NCAA West Region Championships.

“The atmosphere in a regional game doesn’t compare to anything,” Hoke remembered of the playoff games in Seaside, Calif. “That is definitely a moment that stands out, and we were the top team that whole year all through conference play.”

“Taylor was definitely humbled by the experience of starting a regional game for us,” Allen said. “In a way it was her first look at how important she could be to this team.”

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Despite losing both of their games at the regional tournament, Hoke and the Yellowjackets returned to Billings with determination to once again reach the postseason. Though MSUB has not returned to the regional since Hoke’s freshman year, the experience is something that has transcended classes and is a big reason why this year’s players look to Hoke and the seniors for leadership.

“She always talks about how incredible that experience was and it is exciting for all of us because we all want to be in that position,” said sophomore center fielder Bella Rovens.

“All of the seniors want to get there again and just them talking about that environment makes you want to be there. It is definitely our goal.”

AROUND THE HORN After starting at third for her first two college seasons, Hoke shifted one position to the left beginning last season, and developed an unbreakable partnership with MSUB second baseman Aubrey Conceicao as the two became double play partners. Against Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game last April, Conceicao fielded a ground ball, and fed it to Hoke who fired a strike to Emily Osborn at first base. It was the first connection for a double play between the three seniors, and was a moment that brought three years of bonding and teamwork to life.

“It gives me chills knowing how hard Taylor and Aubrey work and how much extra time they put into those double plays,” Allen said. “Turning two in softball is not an easy feat, and when they are able to make it happen it is motivating and inspirational for the entire team.”

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“We actually met on our recruiting visit when we were high school seniors, and I just remember thinking how good she was at her tryout,” Conceicao said regarding Hoke. “We all just thought, ‘she has a cannon!’ Then we met again our freshman year and we have always been close.”

During a practice their freshman season, a hard slide by Conceicao resulted in a collision that broke Hoke’s nose.

“We always joked that I had gotten mad and punched her,” Conceicao said with a laugh. “She had to wear this big facemask and she hated it.”

Now a four-year starter for the ‘Jackets, Hoke is one of seven seniors on this season’s team who experienced the regional tournament together in 2011. Along with Conceicao and Osborn in the infield, catcher Brittney Sanders and pitchers Mary Grace Bywater, Jessica Campbell and Jessyka MacDonald have progressed through the Yellowjacket program together.

“I have never been part of a team that has been so close before,” Hoke said. “We are all just as close off the field, and it is really nice to all be familiar with each other in that way.”

From the high of reaching the NCAA playoffs to the low of missing out on the GNAC tournament and everything in between, Hoke and the seven seniors have stuck together and grown into the role models that they are today.

“The biggest benefit to having a senior class of seven is obviously their experience, and most have been four-year starters,” Allen said. “They each have a unique leadership style, and each of them affects their teammates differently and positively. Taylor is a caring, consoling type of leader, and she always finds a way to turn any situation into a positive.”

HOKE HANDS “The kid has incredible hands. It is something that is super hard to teach. Being an infielder, one of the biggest compliments you can get from a coach is that you have good hands.” – MSUB assistant coach Taylor Nelson on senior shortstop Taylor Hoke.

Whether it is picking a short hop out of the dirt on a throw down to second or seamlessly removing the ball from her glove on a double-play transfer, Hoke’s hands are lightning-quick. They are assets that have caught the attention of MSUB graduate assistant Taylor Nelson, who has primary responsibility as an infield and defensive specialist.

Through her three-plus years as a Yellowjacket, Hoke has progressively cut down on the number of errors, with 10 her freshman year, seven as a sophomore and only six last season. She also currently ranks fifth all-time in career assists with 189 through her first six games of 2015. “We can’t even imagine her at third base anymore because of the way she has thrived stepping into her role at short,” Allen said. “Having her there and having her teammates know how good she is with the glove helps make the defense relax and trust in each other more. If she is out there she is going to get the job done.”

While Hoke is the first to admit that defense has always been her strong point, she credits Nelson with helping transform her swing this season as she fills the crucial third spot in the lineup. “I have never been that big on hitting but Taylor came in and changed my whole swing this year,” Hoke said. “It is feeling a lot better than it was before.”

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Evidence of the strides Hoke has made offensively surfaced at the 2015 Desert Stinger Classic, where she earned all-tournament honors after hitting .529 with three home runs in her first five games of the season.

“It has been really fun to see the growth Taylor has had from her freshman year to now,” Allen commented.

“This year she has the best range defensively since she has been here, and she has become a much more consistent hitter.”

“Having Lisa as a coach has been better than I could have imagined,” Hoke said. “She and (assistant coach) Bekah Gasner are always there to talk if we need anything at all. They really look up to us.”

While the on-field example that Hoke sets is one that all of her teammates can strive to achieve, the role model she has become is something that stands out to those who are closest to her. Considering she is majoring in psychiatric rehabilitation, Hoke has naturally assumed a role as a mentor within the team.

“Taylor is easy to look up to because she always gives 110 percent in everything she does,” Rovens said. “It has been awesome watching her grow into a leader. Everyone looks up to her and she leads by example.”

“Taylor has always been such a sweet person and so kind-hearted,” said Conceicao, who shares the same academic major as Hoke. “Everyone respects her and looks up to her, and she is a talented person on the field and a genuine person off of it.”

After her playing career, Hoke has aspirations of pursuing a master’s degree with the ultimate goal of becoming a child psychiatrist. A career focused on helping and serving others falls right in line with the person Hoke has developed into during her career at MSUB, and she gives credit to a role model of her own who has had the biggest impact of all.

“My dad is the reason that I got into softball, and he has taught me everything I have ever done,” Hoke said. “He and my mom (Hillary) get all of the credit, they have always helped me through everything.”

When asked what she hopes to take away from her experience at MSUB and leave behind for the next generation of Yellowjackets, Hoke spent little time considering her response. “I wouldn’t pick anywhere else to go to college, just because of the friendships I have made and the people I have met,” Hoke said. “I just hope people always think that I gave 110 percent and had the mindset that losing is never an option.”

When the ‘Jackets make their home debut in March at Avitus Group Stadium, the team’s energy will be sky high as they compete for a return ticket to the NCAA regional tournament. Whether it’s a diving stop up the middle, a back-hand snag in the six hole, or best of all a 4-6-3, chances are it will be Hoke’s hands that bring out the loudest cheers from the crowd and teammates alike.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Emily Osborn, 1B February 24, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – Kelly Glass rarely has a moment to breathe, let alone watch any softball when the Desert Stinger Classic rolls into town every February.

The head coach at Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas is too busy jumping from field-to-field, ensuring her squad of Panthers is appropriately stationed to help with scorekeeping during the largest softball tournament in the NCAA Division II. The 31-team congregation plays 80 games that span over eight fields in a three-day period, and Montana State University Billings serves as the host school.

Every so often, Glass will pause to soak in the action at Majestic Park. This year, that moment came during one of MSUB’s games, when a familiar face stepping into the batter’s box captivated Glass’s attention. It was senior Yellowjacket first baseman Emily Osborn, a Las Vegas native and one of Glass’s former players with the Rage club team.

“I can’t remember which game it was, but I stopped what I was doing when I realized that she was up,” Glass said regarding Osborn. “On the second pitch of the at bat she hit a home run and I just remember smiling and clapping. It was the one moment of softball I got to capture all weekend and it just so happened to be Emily hitting a home run.”

It was a fitting representation of the path Osborn has journeyed from her days as a youth player to her current status as a four-year starter at MSUB. Glass surely felt a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, witnessing a reassuring example of Osborn’s success at the college level.

For Osborn, the swing represented something she has been crafting since well before her time with Glass.

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THE LIFE OF A LEFTY Many a young ballplayer would consider throwing left handed somewhat of a curse, a natural hindrance forever limiting her options on a field defensively. Most end up either in the outfield or just getting “stuck” at first base, the only positions conducive to southpaws other than pitching.

Difficult is the task of finding a comfortable spot as a left hander, but harder still can be tracking down a quality piece of leather that is custom made to outfit the right hand rather than the left. “We signed her up as a left hander and I went out and found a first baseman’s mitt at a garage sale,” remembered Osborn’s father, John. “I tried to go out and help her the best I could, and we were lucky to get her with some good coaches along the way that helped her a lot.”

While Osborn knew she would never be a shortstop or catcher, she tested the waters everywhere that her specialized lefty glove would allow as a young player. “I started in the outfield and then moved to pitcher,” Osborn remembered. “When I was around 12 years old I stopped pitching and then moved over to first base.”

With softball being the only sport Osborn played growing up, by the time she reached eighth grade the commitment to the diamond began paying off. Her freshman year of high school, Osborn was slotted directly onto her local Under-18 team, completely skipping the U-16 level as a 15-year-old.

“When Emily was first trying to get onto the team she was considered too young so we had to get approval from the commissioner,” Glass remembered. “Once that happened however, it was obvious that she belonged on the U-18 squad.”

Traveling to play the sport she loved consumed much of Osborn’s time in high school, as tournaments in California constantly beckoned her through the summer months and into the fall ball season.

“Travel ball was always my favorite type of softball,” said Osborn. “We would play tournaments in California for six weeks in-a-row and we would go to recruiting tournaments in October. We never really had a break from softball, it was year-round.”

By Osborn’s side every step of the way were her parents, who never shied away from making the long road trips to watch their daughter develop into a college-level prospect. “My parents have always been there for me, and they have been my biggest influences and supporters no matter what,” Osborn said regarding her father and her mother Caryl. “Almost every single game, they have been there.”

WELCOME TO FABULOUS MSUB When Osborn had reached her junior year of high school, the thought of continuing her career at the next level was starting to become a reality. It was also the inaugural year of the Desert Stinger Classic, and little did Osborn know that what seemed to be just another volunteer effort at a tournament would end up connecting her with her future college coaches.

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“I specifically remember putting Emily on the field MSUB was playing on so that she could watch them,” Glass remembered. “I wanted her to see what good softball looked like, and at that time I was trying to get her recruited as her club coach. I wanted her to see first-hand what the program was all about.”

More than anything, Glass was simply trying to give one of her top players a front-row seat for competitive collegiate softball. While Osborn may not have directly connected with MSUB when first working at the Stinger games, the fact that she was made aware of the program influenced her ultimate decision to commit to becoming a Yellowjacket.

“Emily was at a recruiting camp over Halloween weekend in Las Vegas called the City of Lights, and it was kind of ironic that I ended up being her coach at it,” said MSUB head coach Lisa Allen. “She was excited to work with me, but also nervous that I would be seeing every move she made during games.”

“MSUB was the only school I ever went and looked at, and I actually ended up verbally committing at that showcase in Vegas,” said Osborn. “I knew I wanted to go into education, and the fact that MSUB had a really good program for that is what geared me towards it.”

IN GOOD HANDS “Emily makes crazy plays. I don’t know how she picks some of the balls she does at first base. She saves a lot of people from bad throws.” – Shortstop Taylor Hoke on Emily Osborn.

California served as tournament central for high school softball players throughout the west, and it was at a tournament after she had committed to MSUB that Osborn made her first connection with one of her soon-to-be teammates.

Suited up behind the plate in catching gear was Adna High School senior Taylor Hoke. Although it is not uncommon for the umpire to call timeout and pause briefly before resuming action, it caught Hoke by surprise when he stopped the game mid-inning to share some important information with Hoke.

“He said to me, ‘so do you want to meet your future teammate?’” Hoke said.

Unsure how to respond, Hoke rotated her baffled expression 180 degrees and accompanied the umpire to the backstop, where she was introduced to Osborn’s father who was observing the game. Osborn herself was warming up in the outfield.

“After the game we kind of met each other for the first time,” Osborn remembered with a smile. “The umpire had known me and my coach from Vegas, but I had no idea that Taylor and I were at the same complex.”

The introduction of the two was unexpected, and little did they know that they would connect immediately and become roommates together for their freshman year at MSUB. Thousands of throws across the diamond later, and the two have melded into best friends and developed a deep trust in one another.

“Emily stops everything that comes her way, and it makes it a lot more comfortable for the rest of the infielders,” Hoke said. “She is an all-around good player, is always consistent, and never really gets down on herself.”

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Jordyn Roark, a fellow infielder, is used to the target Osborn displays at first base having played with her on Glass’s travel ball teams in Las Vegas. “Emily always seemed to take the younger kids under her wing and help them have the same work ethic as her,” Roark said. “She is a very disciplined player, and she has a goal in mind and works towards it. She has really helped establish that within the younger players like me and instilled it in us.”

Osborn admits that defense has always been her favorite part of the game, and she has grown comfortable understanding her role in picking up her teammates at first base.

“Emily’s best quality as a first baseman is she knows when to come off of the bag and she is very good at reading the ball out of infielders’ hands,” Allen commented on Osborn’s defensive prowess. “The biggest thing she has improved on is her range to her glove side.”

The example that Osborn sets for her teammates extends off the field as well, with her accomplishments in the classroom and willingness to counsel players standing out as unique traits. Carrying a 3.6 grade point average Osborn has always recognized the importance of her academics and has tried to instill that within her teammates. “Grades have always been important to me,” said Osborn, who is majoring in education. “Dr. Natalie Bohlmann in the education department has helped me a lot throughout all of my classes and has been there whenever I have had questions or needed help.”

“Academically, Emily has shown people that it is possible to maintain a high GPA while being a student-athlete,” Allen said. “With the extensive travel and busy schedule that we have, we all know this is not easy to do.”

AROUND THE HORN As Osborn competes in her final season for the Yellowjackets, her name will continue to rise through the rankings within the MSUB record books. She is currently ranked fourth in career RBIs (102), third in career putouts (744), tied for seventh in career home runs (18), and No. 9 in career hits (138). She holds a career fielding percentage of .978, and has started every single game at first base since her first as a ‘Jacket on Feb. 10, 2012 – a string of 139 in-a-row.

The all-around numbers Osborn has put up are remarkable, but they alone don’t tell the full story of what she has given to – and taken from – her time as a Yellowjacket. Specifically, Osborn reflected on the unique experience she has shared with the six other graduating seniors – Aubrey Conceicao, Brittney Sanders, Jessyka MacDonald, Jessica Campbell, Mary Grace Bywater, and Hoke.

“It is amazing to have known these girls for so long, and to see how much all of them have grown,” Osborn said.

“All of the seniors are so kind-hearted and it is amazing how well we fit together on the field. When we get out there, we feel unstoppable.”

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Osborn also credited MSUB’s coaching staff for trusting in her and counting on her to hold down her spot at first base for four-straight years. “I have always looked up to Boomer as a coach, and it is cool to be part of her first full four-year class as a head coach,” Osborn said, referring to her coach by her nickname. “Bekah has been like the mom of the team and she is always there for everyone.”

A significant part of Osborn’s experience at MSUB was reaching the NCAA West Region Championships as a freshman, as she helped the Yellowjackets win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship and advance to the playoffs in her first season.

“It was surreal that whole season,” remembered Osborn. “The experience of going to regionals was really cool, it was a whole different atmosphere.”

It is a level the Yellowjackets are striving to return to in 2015, and after beating a pair of ranked teams in Humboldt State and Augustana at the Desert Stinger, the team has shown it can compete with the best squads in the region.

Osborn and her fellow seniors know what it takes and have the experience of making it to the NCAA postseason.

“We definitely think we have the opportunity to go to regionals again this year,” Osborn said. “The fact that we always play well against top teams in the region proves that we are in it this season.”

In a career that has been defined by consistency and looking out for others, it is Osborn’s father that has cemented this mentality in his daughter since the day she first picked up a softball. Four years into her college career, John Osborn does not miss a single game day text message, with two simple, concise notions that express his love for his daughter.

“Work hard, don’t get hurt,” it reads.

It is what Osborn has done from the time she dusted off her first left-handed glove that her dad retrieved from a garage sale, to her final stanza this season as a Yellowjacket.

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For Jake Mills, passion for baseball stems from unique father-son connection as umpires March 4, 2015 A senior right-handed pitcher for MSUB, Jake Mills has an umpire for a father, and this is what drives his passion for the game and pushes him to pursue the career of an umpire after his playing days.

MSUB SPORTS – Coming set in a high-leverage situation late in the game, Jake Mills prepares to throw arguably the most important pitch of the day. The tying run looms on second base, and the Montana State University Billings baseball team has entrusted him with a precious one-run advantage in the final inning.

The senior right hander studies the sequence of fingers thrown down by catcher Trevor Nix, an unspoken understanding between the two of the necessity to get this call right. The runner begins his curling descent into the base path as he takes a cautious lead off the bag, Mills straining his neck temporarily away from Nix’s target to stop his opponent’s feet.

Fully set now, Mills delivers to the plate, a knee-high fastball that perfectly catches the outside corner, untouchable as it paints the black and meets Nix’s unmoved target. It’s a pitcher’s dream pitch, tempting but unhittable, and the type that suggests such control from its author that more often than not umpires are inclined to reward the pitcher with a strike call.

But this time, there is no such luck out of the man in blue, no raise of the fist or emphatic bellow to signal a game-ending strikeout. He has called Mills’ work of art a ball, pushing the count full and the intensity of the situation to a new level.

Many pitchers would struggle to stifle their emotions in such a situation, throwing up their arms or verbally expressing their disbelief at what, in their eyes, was a perfectly-executed pitch. But as Mills holds his glove up for Nix’s return throw, a stoic gaze covers his face, an expressionless look signaling the fact that he has already forgotten about the missed call and begun preparing to repeat the sequence from the start.

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Mills possesses a perspective that is rare among college players, but it is one that sets him apart and gives him an angle of understanding that even the most successful baseball players usually never come to fully grasp. Mills has been in that umpire’s shoes, wearing the blue and holding the balance of a game within his ability to fairly judge where a 90 mile-per-hour fast ball crossed the plate. After years of work on that side of the game, he knows that a reaction this time will only jeopardize his team’s chance of holding on to win the game.

MONTANA TO IDAHO AND BACK AGAIN Mills was born in Dillon, Mont., but quickly moved to Burley, Idaho where he grew up in the town of around 10,000 people. He emerged into a three-sport athlete by high school, starring at quarterback in football and playing basketball to keep in shape for the spring baseball season. The 6-foot-2 right hander committed himself to pitching his senior year of high school, fitting into a position that draws many parallels from quarterbacking an offense on the gridiron.

“You are in control of the game at both of those positions,” Mills said. “At quarterback nothing can happen unless you orchestrate it, and it’s the same thing on the mound. The game can’t go anywhere unless you throw the pitch. Everything is controlled at your fingertips.”

Mills credits his development as a pitcher to his high school coach Devin Kunz and also to his father Craig. It was those two that taught Mills to have an approach on the mound and transformed him from the mindset of playing catch into being a pitcher.

As college offers began to flow in his senior year, Mills elected to return to the state he was born in and attend Miles Community College in Miles City, Mont. It was then-Pioneer head coach Rob Bishop who initially recruited Mills. “I actually recruited Jake during my last year at Miles CC so I knew of him from his high school career,” commented Bishop who is now in his fifth season at the helm of the Yellowjackets’ program. “I followed him closely during his time at Miles and recruited him from there.”

It was during Mills’s first two seasons as a college player that he took his game to the next level, applying what he had learned from Kunz and his father in high school and enhancing it through another huge role model in his junior college coach, Jeff Brabant. “Jeff is the most intelligent pitching guy I have ever worked with,” Mills said.

“He passed on a lot of mechanical and conceptual stuff on the mound, and introduced me to a couple of new pitches. He definitely refined me as a pitcher and as a player as a whole, and turned me from a thrower into a pitcher.”

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A NATURAL FIT “Jake is a student of the game. He is always looking for an edge either mentally or physically. There is never an excuse regarding his performance and he always competes. There isn’t much more you can ask from a guy.” – MSUB head coach Rob Bishop on senior Jake Mills.

Continuing his career at the junior college ranks, Mills knew it would be a matter of time before he had to transition from the two-year school if he wanted to keep playing baseball. His familiarity with MSUB’s skipper made MSU Billings a natural choice, and it didn’t take long for Mills to realize the difference in level of play in the NCAA Division II. “This is definitely a step up from the junior college level,” Mills said. “Here you are facing older guys who are more mature, and you have to step up, work harder and adapt to a quick learning curve.”

Mills had no problem making the adjustment in his first season as a Yellowjacket, as he led the team in appearances with 20 and had the squad’s lowest earned run average at a stellar 2.98. Mills recorded 26 strikeouts against just 12 walks in 42 1/3 innings, and was a second-team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection as a relief pitcher.

The immediate success Mills enjoyed was not easily attained, as he adapted to a new role moving from being a starter into the bullpen. “I definitely embraced that, and there are quite a few games that are lost in the sixththrough-ninth ‘bridge’ innings,” Mills said regarding his role as a closer. “It is nice to come in, take care of business and close the door when I need to.”

No one appreciates Mills’s ability to handle dual roles more than his head coach, as Bishop feels he has a valuable arm he can use as an experienced starter or pressure pitcher. “One of Jake’s best attributes is his ability to be successful in many different roles,” Bishop said. “He was great out of the ‘pen all of last year for us and has given us a couple of quality starts early in the 2015 season. He is a great competitor and will do anything that helps our team succeed.”

Mills credits Bishop with giving him every shot to be an impact player in different roles from the start, and his ability to shift his mindset from starting to relieving on any given day is perhaps his most valuable asset. “As a starter, you know 25 to 30 minutes before the game that it is time to get going,” Mills said. “There’s definitely a difference relieving because you don’t know when you’re going to throw. You could be in the dugout and the next thing you know you have to throw 10 warmup pitches and get out there.”

As Mills has proven that he excels in tricky situations, he also credits his teammates for making the transition to a new school easy for him. The excruciating road travel the team endures with 15-hour bus rides to the West Coast helps bring the squad together according to Mills. “I wouldn’t have a bad thing to say about anybody on the team,” Mills said. “Everyone wants everyone else to succeed, and we all enjoy each other’s company, especially on those longer trips.”

Sometimes those trips are passed with a three-hand cribbage game rigged across the laps of Mills, Conner Holbrook and Luke Reinschmidt. Others it is watching the “longest movies known to man” and listening to music.

Others they may spend talking of the goals they are striving towards this season.

“All of us seniors are on the same page thinking how nice it would be to end our careers with a conference championship,” Mills said. “That would be something I’d enjoy thoroughly if we could go out on top.”

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BEHIND BLUE EYES Last year when the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College Baseball Championships rolled around, Craig Mills was preparing himself for his game assignments. For the seasoned veteran with decades of experience calling balls and strikes, working the championship tournament was just a routine he had grown accustomed to.

But this time, when tournament coordinators realized they were short umpires, Craig turned his head and looked across the table he was sitting at towards his son. “Jake was sitting there and he said to me, ‘Dad, I can do it!’” Craig Mills recalled. “The assignor had actually worked with Jake in the past and it ended up working out for us to do the games together. As a dad that was a great feeling.”

Umpiring is something Jake Mills has grown up with, as his father’s love for the game has transcended down to him. When Craig chose to pursue an academic scholarship rather than try to be a college baseball player, he made the decision on the condition that he would find a way to stay involved with the game that was his true passion. He began accepting assignments to umpire college games when he was 25, and when Jake was old enough he served as his father’s travel companion.

“I would throw batting practice to him in the cages between games and he got to know a lot of my partners that I worked with,” Craig said. “I managed to get him hungry to start umpiring too, and he has spent a lot of time working American Legion ball.”

More often than not, the father-son combo worked together, developing their craft in tandem while bonding on the road. “We worked quite a bit together, between Idaho Falls and back to Dillon,” Craig said. “It was really great father-son time and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

“My dad got me started umpiring at an early age, I think I worked my first Legion game at 16 or 17,” Mills said. “It is a really cool situation to be in because he passes his knowledge of the game on to me.”

Particularly, Mills remembers umpiring games in which some of his now-current teammates played in. In last season’s NWAACC Championships, now-Yellowjacket middle infielder Corey Morris was standing at shortstop while Mills worked on the base paths. “I remember he kept asking me to take a step left or right in between pitches,” Mills said with a grin. “I’ve umpired for other guys on the team too like Jacob Foley, Landon Peterson, Griffen Pape and Casey Merritt.”

Perhaps the most valuable thing Mills has learned from his time spent on the other side of the lines is the perspective of the officials of the game. He has been able to apply this to his own career as a player, and it is something that has helped him become stronger mentally.

“It’s nice because I am able to put myself in their shoes when I am on the mound,” Mills said regarding umpires.

“There is no umpire out there trying to mess up or make a mistake, and the last thing they want is to catch flak from a 21-year-old.”

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EXTENDING THE LEGACY Similar to his father, Mills recognizes that his days as a player on the diamond are limited. While this is his final season as a Yellowjacket, he is not ready to give up the connection he has to the game as his passion for baseball burns as strongly as his father’s does.

Mills plans to attend the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School, a prestigious academy where the next generation of professional baseball umpires is bred and developed. It is a dream of his to continue his father’s legacy and pursue umpiring for as long as he can.

“For now, my career goal would be umpiring and going to the Wendelstedt School would be the ticket,” Mills said. “It’s something I’m definitely going to pursue after college.”

Craig is fully supportive of his son’s drive to become an umpire, and explained that if there’s any time to pursue a career as demanding as being a professional ump that it must be done at a young age. “Jake is in a perfect situation to pursue this,” he said. “He is going to have a great education behind him and he can always fall back on his accounting degree. My wife and I have always stressed the academic side with all of our kids, and that’s what I am most proud of with Jake as he will graduate on time after transferring schools and being a college athlete.”

With a world of potential in front of him, there is no doubt Mills will one day find his calling on the field as an umpire. For now, he’ll get back to pitching out of tough situations for the Yellowjackets, and giving his team a chance to win.

“I definitely like throwing in uncomfortable situations, first and second and no outs in a one-run ball game,” Mills said.

“We call it ‘trial by fire, sink or swim,’ and there is not a lot of margin for error being a reliever. You have to step up, be good right away, and you can’t waste pitches.”

You also have to realize that no matter what happens when your pitch hits the catcher’s target, whether the call is good, bad, or downright wrong, you have to get back up there, and throw the next pitch.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Jessyka MacDonald, RHP March 10, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – When freshman Megan Dettling first stepped foot on campus as a student at Montana State University Billings in the fall of 2014, she entered as a promising pitching recruit for the Yellowjacket softball team. The right-hander from Sparks, Nev., was expected to be a contributor to the program right away, but coming in as the lone pitcher in the freshman class she lacked a close companion at her position to share the beginning of her college experience with.

Taking Dettling under her wing from the beginning has been senior pitcher Jessyka MacDonald, who recognized the wide eyes of the freshman and easily placed herself in Dettling’s shoes. “I have just always thought of her as a bigger sister and a leader,” Dettling said regarding MacDonald. “I just want to follow in her footsteps this year so that for the next three years I can lead by example like she does.”

The fact that MacDonald entered her freshman season with a pair of companions at the same position is perhaps the reason she sympathized naturally for Dettling. Along with senior pitchers Mary Grace Bywater and Jessica Campbell, MacDonald has shared the last four years in the Yellowjackets’ program and developed into one of the best ever at MSUB. Midway through the 2015 season MacDonald ranks sixth in career strikeouts (274) and wins (23), seventh in complete games (20), eighth in innings pitched (265), and ninth in earned run average (3.95). The numbers do justice to the contributions MacDonald has made to the program over her four seasons in navy and gold, and they are something for younger pitchers with a world of potential like Dettling to strive towards.

“Megan has a ton of potential and I am excited to see where she goes,” MacDonald said. “I hope that she works hard at everything and always pitches her best.”

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In addition to the milestones MacDonald has accomplished, it is the example that she sets within her composure and presence on the mound that is of most valuable in the eyes of her peers. “The way that Jessyka looks when she’s on the mound shows how much confidence she has,” Dettling said. “That’s the kind of confidence I want to have when I’m her age.”

It is a level of confidence and self-esteem that is showing now more than ever when MacDonald steps into the circle, but it is a trait she began acquiring and developing well before her time as a Yellowjacket.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON Thirty years after first taking command as the head softball coach at Billings West High School, Ed Kriskovich has plenty to reflect upon and a lifetime of Golden Bear highlights running through his mind on repeat. Today, his team is the reigning Montana Class AA state champions, after a 3-2 win over Missoula last May that gave him his third state title since becoming the head coach.

won by Billings Senior and take home its first-ever crown.

While last year’s championship remains fresh in Kriskovich’s memory, the first two he won hold a special place in his heart, signifying a much deeper connection through the game of softball. In 1989, it was Kriskovich’s daughter, Kelly Hogan who helped Billings West interrupt a five-year string of championships

More than a decade later, it was MacDonald in the circle as a high-school junior who pitched her grandfather’s team to another state title with a 4-3 win over Charles M. Russell. Early on in the game, MacDonald helped her team snag the lead as she and now-current Yellowjacket teammate Caryn Perrigo manufactured a run with backto-back hits in the first inning. Then with MacDonald pitching to the final batter of the game, it was a ground out to Perrigo that ended it and clinched the championship.

“Caryn threw that ball over to first and when it was caught that was the best moment of my life,” MacDonald said with a smile. “For my grandpa it was really cool for him to win it with another relative.”

“It was kind of surreal, with my daughter playing second base on our first championship team and Jessyka pitching on our second,” Kriskovich said. “It’s exciting, that doesn’t happen to very many people in their lifetime.”

Not much had changed within the coaching style of Kriskovich between the state titles, as consistency proved to be the most resilient aspect of his coaching acumen. Perhaps being able to lean on someone in his family when the state title was on the line had something to do with it too.

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“He was hard on Jessyka just like he was hard on me, but we both had that go hard or go home mentality,” Hogan commented on Kriskovich. “He is an excellent coach who knows better than anybody what it takes to have a winning team. I think that’s where Jessyka first learned to always keep her spirits up and always stay positive.”

MacDonald’s senior year, she proved her athletic excellence by tossing a perfect game in the state semifinals. She also displayed her mental toughness and composure when the Golden Bears lost to Butte in the state title game, marking the end of her prep career and the beginning of her next chapter.

BECOMING A ‘JACKET “From what I remember we became instant best friends. We get along so well because we are kind of the same person – laid back and goofy personality wise. I couldn’t get along with her any better.” Senior pitcher Jessica Campbell on senior Jessyka MacDonald.

The summer after MacDonald’s senior year, her deadline for selecting a college was fast approaching with her decision hanging in the balance. Moving away from home and pursuing her career in Utah or Washington was appealing to MacDonald at first, but ultimately she elected to head to the east side of Billings and suit up for the Yellowjackets.

“She was actually one of the last signees of the year and didn’t commit until July,” remembered MSUB head coach Lisa Allen. “We spent a lot of time talking to her and kept in contact while she was making her decision. We were all so glad she made the decision to stay in Billings.”

Moving to the NCAA Division II level provoked a sense of nervousness in MacDonald, even with the success she had experienced at the high school level. When the Yellowjackets won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA West Region Championships, MacDonald quickly differentiated the atmosphere from anything she had previously experienced.

“It felt like you were playing a new level of softball, and it was something I had never been a part of before,” MacDonald commented on playing in the regional in Seaside, Calif. “The team we had then made it that much better.

We had great senior leadership and people we really looked up to.”

MacDonald got her first taste of the college playoffs, tossing 2/3 of an inning in relief in MSUB’s 12-4 loss to No. 6 Cal State Monterey Bay. MacDonald earned the appearance by putting her potential on display earlier in the year, striking out 11 batters and allowing just one earned run in a complete-game 3-2 loss to Western Washington on March 6, 2012.

“From the beginning we expected Jessyka to do well,” Allen said. “She has been really good at finding a way to still get a good result for our team even when she isn’t having the best days. When she is on the mound, the team looks to her to dominate our opponent with strikeouts or other good results our defense can handle easily.”

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The success she experienced her freshman year, along with missing out on the GNAC Championships the last two years, has impacted MacDonald in terms of her leadership and approach to the game. “Being in this program has really taught me to be more of a team player,” MacDonald said. “In high school I was the only pitcher but now I cheer on the other pitchers and am supportive and happy for them. It has helped me become the leader that I want to be later in life.”

The two that she has grown most accustomed to cheering for, Bywater and Campbell, have combined with her to make a strong trio of core senior leaders. “They all gravitated towards each other when they came in together as freshmen,” Allen said regarding her senior pitchers. “They knew they had four years together to make this team what they wanted, and to do whatever they needed to do to become better pitchers.”

Now as a senior, MacDonald reflected on how being in the program has impacted her and shaped her into the mature pitcher she is today. “As a female wanting to coach later in life, the experience of working with Boomer and Bekah (Gasner) has been really good for me,” MacDonald said regarding MSUB’s head coach and pitching coach. “We have done a ton of team building and mental training, talking about who we want to be as people and how we want people to perceive us. That will definitely help in the long run being out in the real world.”

With aspirations to become a dental hygienist, MacDonald will graduate with a degree through the health and human performance department at MSU Billings and hopes to remain close to home as she pursues her career. “I will apply to hygiene school by next year, and I definitely want to stay in Montana,” MacDonald said. “I would love to live or work in Red Lodge, somewhere like that would be my dream job.”

RETURN OF THE MAC Each time MacDonald toes the rubber at Avitus Group Stadium this season, the loud speakers will blare out the anthem of her arrival: Mark Morrison’s “Return Of The Mack”. It started last season, when the nickname she had adopted so her teammates could distinguish between her and Campbell was brought to life by former Yellowjacket Rosie Harrington.

“Rosie wanted it to be my song, so starting last year they played it when I came out to the circle in the first inning,” MacDonald said with a smile. “People on the team started calling me ‘Mac’ when I got here because Campbell and I had the same first name.”

While the name Mac is a convenient alias, what it represents will remain within the program well after its owner graduates. It suggests a passion for the game, the sense of competition, and striving to remain composed and tough no matter what adversity stands in the way. “I hope that the love for the game never dies within my teammates and future players in the program,” MacDonald said. “I hope they never settle and always want to perform to the best of their ability.”

From the time she idolized her brother John as a child and desired to follow in his footsteps athletically, to leading Billings West to a state title, to returning to the circle now as a senior Yellowjacket, MacDonald has only ever called one house in Billings home. Her family around her has been the biggest line of support, with her grandfather as her coach and her parents encouraging her to pursue athletics.

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“My parents have been behind me in my sporting career my whole life and I honestly wouldn’t be the person I am today without them,” MacDonald said regarding her mother Christie and her father John. “My Aunt Jan is my number one fan and hasn’t missed a home game in forever.”

As the MacDonalds convene at the ballpark to watch Jessyka’s final season this spring, they’ll witness the accumulation of a lifetime of preparation in every pitch. To them it will be a feeling of satisfaction and pride as she mows down opposing hitters, whether starting in the first or coming on in relief.

To her teammates, like Dettling, it will represent a sense of potential, a living resemblance of what they will undoubtedly strive to one day be.

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Number 6 Trevor Nix: From Little League World Series to Yellowjacket baseball March 11, 2015 After the unique experience of playing in the Little League World Series, MSUB baseball senior Trevor Nix finishes his collegiate career this season as a key player catching for the Yellowjackets.

MSUB SPORTS – For most children at the 9-12 age range, Little League Baseball is when the fundamentals of the game are first developed. From throwing the baseball with a four-seam grip to keeping the head down on a swing, Little League is the environment in which boys first learn the ins and outs of America’s pastime.

From parent coaches to free snow cones after games, the atmosphere of a Little League game is one that promotes having fun and enjoying the game above all else.

But there exists a place, even at the most introductory level of the game, which embodies the true spirit of the game. A place where the grass is a little bit greener and the hands crafting the mound and chalking the base lines are a step up from the Average Joe volunteer at a given ball field. A place where boys are treated like celebrities, shepherded from place to place and limited in contact to the outside world – even from their parents. A place where the true international side of the game converges into one, a taste of cultural diversity rarely experienced by boys of this age.

The place is Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Penn., and the setting is the Little League World Series. It’s a reminder that, if your team can bond together and play well enough, there is a promise land even for the most innocent and amateur of participants.

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Tune in to the Little League World Series, and you’ll get a glimpse of the fantasy world these boys live in for a week or two. From the ESPN-like video introductions to the microphones worn by coaches that capture in-game audio, it is truly a world-class production. It is an experience that garners local support beyond belief, with entire states and even regions banding together to back boys who have become hometown heroes.

Step into the mind of someone who has participated in the LLWS, however, and you’ll truly begin to understand just how unique of an experience reaching baseball’s youth paradise is. Step into the shoes of Montana State University Billings senior catcher Trevor Nix, and you’ll find out just how far the game he loves can go, even at its lowest level.

STAR STRUCK When Nix and his teammates from Murrayhill Little League in Beaverton, Ore., first pulled into Williamsport, the top of Lamade Stadium was all that was in their line of sight. The towering light poles and illuminated, white, “Welcome to Howard J. Lamade Stadium” sign commanding their gaze and beckoning them to venture forth towards the most unforgettable experience of their lives.

“I remember turning the corner and there was the stadium,” Nix remembered. “It was unbelievable – the dream field.”

cluded – from getting in.

The team had no more than a few minutes to take in their new surroundings, as they were quickly delivered to what would be their new home for the next few weeks. Teams were stationed in The Grotto, a makeshift dormitory-style setup that was designed strictly for the young athletes and secured tightly to prevent anyone – parents in-

“The only contact we were allowed to have with our parents was for about an hour after each game, right inside the gates,” Nix remembered. “It was like a college experience for a 12-year-old.”

With the setup of the LLWS pitting the top international teams against the top teams from the United States, The Grotto served as home to boys from across the globe. Stationed adjacent to Murrayhill was the team from Japan, and the two got to know each other well throughout the week.

“Each U.S. team was put next to an international team by design, and we were right next to Japan,” Nix remembered. “That was a really cool experience and we learned a lot from them.”

The swimming pool, arcade, table games, and full-service cafeteria hinted that Nix and company were in some form the youngest college athletes in the country. The lanyards they were provided with, along with two sharpies each for autographs, suggested maybe what they were about to be a part of was incomparable to anything.

“I have never seen 12-year-olds sign as many autographs as I saw back there,” said Nix’s coach at Murrayhill Jeff Keller. “They kind of became the darlings back there. Here we were this Podunk team from Oregon and we just kept winning.”

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All Nix’s team had done before arriving in Williamsport was win games, as they entered the tournament undefeated after cruising through the district, state, and regional playoff levels. After winning the Oregon state championship, Murrayhill took off on the road, with the return to their home state undefined. It ended up being a month-long (28 days) venture away from their parents and families, a rare journey for a band of sixth-graders to share together.

One of Murrayhill’s opponents along the way in regional play was the Little League team from Missoula, Mont., which featured another budding young star who would go on to rewrite the record books at MSU Billings in his college career. “I remember we played against Brody Miller and the Missoula team,” Nix said. “We played them twice – in pool play and again in the semifinals.”

Little did Nix know the connection he had made with one of his future college teammates, whom he surpassed as Murrayhill advanced to the finals. “We ended up winning a very close game in the regional finals against Alaska, and from then on it was all a dream,” said Nix. “It was surreal.”

After losing the first game at the LLWS – the team’s first loss of the season – Murrayhill rallied for a couple of pool play wins and advanced all the way to the United States Championship game. It was there that the magical journey came to an end, as eventual champion Georgia knocked off Nix and his team.

“It was a rollercoaster the whole way, but we definitely thought we could win the whole thing,” Nix said. “To lose was pretty devastating, but I told my mom before the game that it didn’t matter what happened from there on out. We had an amazing season and were never going to match it again.”

Upon departing in what seemed like an hour after he arrived, Nix was headed 2,700 miles back to the West Coast and his home town of Tigard, Ore. His bags weighed heavier on his shoulders than when he had arrived, filled with relics of remembrance such as his home run ball signed by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and notable LLWS commentator Joe Morgan. But more than anything else, the dream he had lived and shared with his friends was one that had a permanent effect on the rest of his life.

DOWN, NOT OUT The summer after Nix’s freshman season at Treasure Valley Community College, he began feeling his passion for baseball fade. After everything he had been through in his youth, through a successful prep career under head coach Tom Campbell at Tigard High School, the experience of college baseball left something to be desired.

Nix was considering transferring to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., to pursue his education and remain close to home. A week before classes were scheduled to start, he received a call from Greg Hawk, the head coach at Linn-Benton Community College, who had his eye on Nix since early on in his career at Tigard High.

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“I tried to recruit him out of high school, but he had already signed with Treasure Valley by the time we got to him,” Hawk, who has since retired, said. “I saw him play his junior year and had him in the Class 6A All-Star Series, and I knew by the time I contacted him again that he wanted to go to Oregon State. We were very fortunate to get him for his sophomore season.”

“Coach Hawk called me that night and he was so excited,” Nix remembered with a smile. “I went on to play there and had one of the most fun years of my life.”

It was during his season as a Roadrunner that Nix underwent some of his most important transformations, as his time spent with Hawk taught him much more than just about baseball. “Coach Hawk was incredible, helping us grow up and become real men,” Nix said. “He was very big on responsibility and helping us become the men that we wanted to be.”

Even after helping Linn-Benton reach the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Baseball Championships, Nix was still convinced that his sophomore year would be his last as a student-athlete on the diamond. At the championships, Nix crossed paths with MSUB head coach Rob Bishop, who was impressed by the maturity and leadership potential Nix showed as a catcher.

When it came time to decide yet again if he would say goodbye to baseball, Nix couldn’t help but give it one more shot and venture out to MSU Billings.

BIG CATCH FOR THE ‘JACKETS “You coach for a lot of different reasons, but one is to have an impact on your players and give back to them.

Trevor was one of those kids who saw that even back in Little League. We have always had a good coach-player relationship, but now that has grown into a friendship with love and respect.” – Jeff Keller on Trevor Nix. Nix knew little about Montana before electing to become a Yellowjacket for his final two season of eligibility, but from what he had come to know about the Division II level he felt it would be a good fit. Moving to an environment that was conducive to his biggest hobbies – being outdoors and hunting – was also appealing to Nix. Filling a valuable role for the ‘Jackets behind the plate, Nix has started 46 games over the past two seasons. So far through 15 games his senior year, Nix is batting .328 with four extra-base hits, 10 RBIs and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 71 total chances.

“Trevor has settled in this year and is definitely more comfortable at the plate,” Bishop said. “His numbers early in the year show a drastic improvement in all areas on the offensive side.”

In particular, Nix has fostered a strong relationship with the pitchers for the Yellowjackets, as there is a common understanding between them that carries off the field as well. “I’ve gotten really close with guys like Cody Cooper and Brady Muller, and they both love to hunt and fish like I do,” Nix said. “With those guys being pitchers, there is a certain kind of relationship and we have just meshed especially well together.”

After getting off to a 2-2 start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, Nix has high hopes for the ‘Jackets in reaching the conference championship tournament this season. “I would like to go out with a bang and try to have the best record that Coach Bishop has ever had here at MSUB,” Nix said. “All of our coaches have been great, and Rob has been incredible being there and motivating me.”

“Trevor is a people person,” Bishop said. “He is respected by all of our younger guys and does a great job encouraging and helping guys that need some positive reinforcement.”

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DREAM, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE After starting out his baseball career with an unimaginable run to the LLWS, Nix has had time to consider what the game has meant to him as he completes his career as a college player this spring.

“Baseball teaches you more about life than people think,” Nix said. “It is a game that breaks you down and really teaches you how to deal with failure. It teaches you to be a teammate and have peoples’ backs, because it’s not a one-on-one game and one person can’t win the game by himself.

“I have also learned a lot about school, and that we are here as students first getting our degrees. It is really important to start life off how you want to – on the right foot.”

Nix will graduate with a degree in environmental science, and has spent time in an internship with Ballard Petroleum Holdings in Billings. To those influences in his life, past and present, the level of ambition Nix has displayed towards pursuing his career is not surprising.

“I get the feeling that he has the ability to set his mind and heart on something and achieve it,” Keller said. “No matter what it takes to get there, Trevor is willing to do it, and that is an example of the passion that he has in everything he does.”

Among Nix’s biggest role models are his parents Julie and Dave Nix, who have been by his side and had the chance to experience his baseball life along with him. “My dad has always been my inspiration for baseball and both of my parents in general have always been there for me,” Nix said. “They raised me to be a kind, responsible person, to smile, and to always do the right thing.”

Each time that Nix comes to bat for MSUB this spring, somewhere in the back of his mind he’ll see the bright lights of Lamade Stadium. He’ll remember the sound of the thousands of fans, the signs held up by the Murrayhill parents spelling out the team’s mantra; Dream, Believe, Achieve.

“The way I explained it to those guys is like we were writing a book, and every level of our season was a new chapter,” said Keller. “Every game was a page, and we were going to take it one page at a time.”

For Nix, the piece he co-authored with his Murrayhill teammates was just one chapter of his own book, one that he continues to write today, one page at a time.

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Cleveland chasing happiness on the greens, set to pursue career as athletic trainer March 17, 2015 Recently being accepted into MSUB’s master’s program for athletic training, Yellowjacket women’s golf senior Mariah Cleveland has found her passion on the course and in her work helping athletes.

MSUB SPORTS – Upon the arrival of a brisk Monday afternoon, Mariah Cleveland and the Montana State University Billings women’s golf team take to the driving range at Pryor Creek Golf Club, getting off some quite literal warm-up shots before a dual match against Rocky Mountain College.

A thick overcast layer teases at preventing pairings from playing, peppering the course and its inhabitants with harmless, white, Styrofoam-like pellets of half-snow, half-hail.

Despite the uncooperative elements, it is business as usual with three men’s foursomes leading the pack and two women’s foursomes following suit. Cleveland is in the same group as MSUB’s Haley Shackelford, a sophomore brimming with potential and playing at the team’s No. 1 slot.

As the two make their way through the course along with their counterparts from RMC, Cleveland begins to tell her own story. It’s not one that starts at Point A before being led predictably through to a picturesque ending. It’s not her soft, cheerful voice bringing it to life.

Rather, she carves a complex narrative, best exemplified through the strokes she takes. Each club represents a different layer, the decision to use each made with expert care – and a little help from her yardage scope.

Winding through the front nine, the trail group finally reaches the ninth tee, taking a brief reprieve as the previous group pushes its balls beneath the earth’s surface 418 yards in the distance.

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After driving her tee shot to the right, Cleveland’s approach shot curls left, skipping wide of the narrow avenue to the green and displacing several thousand grains of sand as it comes to rest in a shallow bunker. It is a fitting result for a player whose self-admitted weakness is her midrange approach shot, but who thrives in her chipping game.

While the club selection for her next shot is not a difficult one to make, as she draws out her 56-degree Cleveland wedge it holds somewhat of a deeper meaning.

“It’s my name,” she says with a smile, a hilariously brief yet fitting comment as she keeps the mood light before striking the ball.

It is with her self-titled iron that she’ll calmly step into the sand, and dig herself out of a tough situation – a perfect metaphor for what she has overcome throughout her life.

GETTING UP TO PAR WITH COLLEGE GOLF A native of Laurel, Mont., Cleveland had her sights set on attending Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., up until the spring of her senior year at Laurel High School. A two-sport standout in basketball and golf, it was the desire to pursue the latter that drew Cleveland’s attention towards MSU Billings.

“I think it was about two weeks until graduation when I first contacted Shawn about potentially playing here,” Cleveland said regarding her first correspondence with MSUB head coach Shawn O’Brien. “The school had the education program I wanted and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play a game that I loved.”

“At the time, I knew very little about Mariah, but people around the community said she had a strong work ethic, strong academics and a good attitude,” O’Brien said.

“When we look at adding a student-athlete to our program, those are three really strong traits that we desire and Mariah fit all three.”

The transition to college was relatively simple for Cleveland, whose father Cory is an MSUB alum. The level of competition she witnessed on the course stood out most, as stories of then-senior Kalli Stanhope making it to the NCAA National Championships as an individual in 2011 illustrated just how serious the game was.

Cleveland herself was coming off of the best performances of her career, both in golf and basketball. After helping the Locomotives to their first state championship game appearance in four seasons in the winter basketball season, Cleveland placed third as an individual in the Class A golf state championships in the spring of 2011.

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Standing 5-foot-5 and a natural guard on the hardwood, it wasn’t until her sophomore year of high school that Cleveland picked up golf. “My dad was my biggest influence with golf and he thought it was a good opportunity for me,” said Cleveland. “In high school a lot of people play golf just for fun, but here you have awesome athletes that you get to compete with. It makes the experience that much more exciting.”

One of those athletes she had grown up competing with and against was Janiel Olson, who set out to pursue her career as a basketball player at MSUB after graduating the same year as Cleveland. The two had met through their experience together with the 4-H organization selling steers as kids, and played on traveling basketball teams together up until high school.

In a game between Olson’s Billings West Broncs and Cleveland’s Locomotives their senior season, a particular play remains fresh in their memories four years later.

“I was on a full-blown fast-break towards the basket, and there was Mariah getting set to take a charge,” Olson remembered with a laugh. “It was too late for me to change my path so I plowed her into the bleachers. She ended up getting called for a block, and I have to admit it was the most terrible call I have ever experienced but it went my way.”

Cleveland responded to her good friend’s tough-love gesture on the ensuing possession, burying a 3-pointer despite Olson’s determined hand in her face. “We just looked at each other and started laughing,” Olson said.

Continuing their friendship as house mates at MSUB, Olson has drawn inspiration from Cleveland as an athlete and within her daily life as well. As the 2013-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year fights to recover from a torn ACL, Cleveland has been there by her side every step of the way offering support.

“Mariah was one of the first people to get in touch with me and offered me help with anything she could do,” Olson said regarding her injury. “She has been such a good friend and she has truly helped me get back on the court and get my mind right.”

Cleveland’s role as a friend and inspiration to Olson is one that was drawn from her own experiences through tough times. While there were times during her injury that Olson felt helpless and down, Cleveland was one who could relate directly.

LIVING UNDER A VAIL Showing rapid improvement on the course, it wasn’t long before Cleveland became a major contributor for the Yellowjackets. “Mariah went from averaging around 90 to averaging around 80 in less than 12 months,” O’Brien commented. “One of the biggest things that she will leave behind is that if you work hard and buy into a system, you will be rewarded for your effort.”

One would be hard-pressed to recognize Cleveland’s stroke as being just four-years in the making by her sophomore season, but while her scores were dropping, she began to struggle on and off the course mentally.

What had grown into being much more than a game, golf slowly became a task, something Cleveland was required to go to regularly. Her passion began to slip, not just on the course, but within school in general. Homework assignments became incompletable, the routine of going to class seemed pointless.

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“I wasn’t happy, and I just felt stuck,” she said. “I became distant, and I didn’t know what to do.”

Cleveland found herself trapped in a way, unsure of herself and the experience she was having on a daily basis.

By the summer after her sophomore year, one of her close friends at the time recognized the struggle Cleveland was going through and offered a refreshing opportunity that ended up helping to change her perspective.

“Krista Norris and her family welcomed me to spend the summer with them in Vail, Colorado, and it was the perfect escape and something completely different than I had ever experienced,” Cleveland recalled. “I was so fortunate to be welcomed by them.”

The chance to get away from her home town for a few months and forget about the stress and uncertainty she faced gave Cleveland somewhat of a fresh start. When she returned in the fall for school however, she began to feel herself slip back into the same negative routine and she lost confidence.

Taking Cleveland under her wing was MSUB assistant athletic trainer Lindsay Sullivan, who slowly talked her through her struggles and helped Cleveland realign herself. “I just told her that I know it gets hard sometimes, and little-by-little she started making progress,” Sullivan said.

Cleveland also sought condolence from her coach, as she felt that through her personal struggles she had let her team down. “I met with Shawn and he reassured me that I was still important to the team and that I had his support,” Cleveland said. “That spring during my junior year was one of the best of my career.”

REMOVING THE TRAINING WHEELS Bouncing back in a big way as a junior, Cleveland once again found the passion for golf that she always had deep within herself. Taking to the greens continued to be her escape from everyday life, but practicing and competing was no longer a chore or something Cleveland felt she had to do.

Her desire to learn and grow as a student came back in full force, as she went from being uncertain of whether or not she would complete a bachelor’s degree to recently being accepted into MSUB’s athletic training master’s program.

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In the fall of 2014 Cleveland completed an internship in the athletic training room under the supervision of Sullivan, as she uncovered the career she intends to pursue after college. “This fall Mariah really found her niche and where she belonged the most,” Sullivan said. “She was given a lot more responsibility than some people would have during her internship, and I can tell she has the same passion for athletic training that I did when I was her age.”

“Lindsay has been an awesome mentor through everything and has really taught me the ropes,” Cleveland said.

“Through the last six months I have truly found my passion lies with helping athletes through their careers.”

In addition to the work she has done assisting MSUB’s athletic trainers, Cleveland has spent the past year as an assistant coach at Laurel High with the girls basketball team as she further broadens her early career opportunities.

CHASE OF A LIFETIME From the days Cleveland struggled finding a reason to attend classes and practices, to her recent acceptance into MSUB’s post-graduate program, golf has been one of the constants throughout the path she has led.

What has shone through brighter than anything else, however, have been those in her family who she is closest to. “My mom is my rock for everything,” Cleveland said regarding her mother Holly Adams. “We haven’t always had the closest relationship but in the past couple of years we have grown much tighter.”

Cleveland spent her early years as an only child, but had always desired to have siblings and especially a brother. As an 11-year-old, Cleveland got her wish in the form of twin sisters, Hannah and Haylee. Incredibly, three years later she became the big sister to another set of twins, this time a brother and a sister, Lacey.

Not only did Cleveland now have a little brother, but a phone call she received from her father made the siblings’ connection closer than ever. “My brother and I have a super special bond,” Cleveland said. “When he was born, my dad surprised me and asked me what I wanted to name him.”

Chase James Cleveland was the verdict, and since Day 1 Cleveland has made sure she has been influential in all of her siblings’ lives. “They are all my life, they keep me going and they’re my best buds,” Cleveland said regarding her sisters and brother. “They definitely inspire me to be a good influence and role model, and I love teaching them sports. They are my world, and as they get older I want them to know that they can make it through anything, no matter what life throws at you.”

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SIGHTS, SOUNDS, LIFE LESSONS FROM THE COURSE “The most admirable thing about Mariah’s success here at MSUB is her step-by-step performance bettering herself and her teammates. A coach could not ask for a better student-athlete to come into his or her program and have such a strong contribution.” – MSUB head coach Shawn O’Brien on senior Mariah Cleveland.

The 14th hole at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, featuring the world-famous floating green, has cost many a golfer more than a couple of Titleists. It is the scene of the GNAC Championships, and the hole is the toughest – and most unique – ever attempted in the eyes of Cleveland.

The cover protecting Cleveland’s putter bears the emblem of the Pebble Beach Golf Club, a souvenir collected during her career providing a daily reminder of her tour of one of the most famous golf courses in the United States.

These are just two highlights from Cleveland’s college experience, moments she won’t soon forget, but also that she will have the chance to take in again. The Yellowjackets are headed to Seaside, Calif., this weekend to prepare for next week’s Cal State Monterey Bay Invitational, and will again have the chance to view the historic course at Pebble Beach.

Come April, Cleveland will return with her team to Coeur d’Alene, Idhao, as MSUB seeks to build upon last season’s strong second-place finish at the conference championships. Awaiting her will be the ever-deceptive floating green.

“I get out to practice and play as often as I can because I love the sport, and I want to help my team be as successful as we can this last spring of my senior year,” Cleveland said. “Our goal is to be one of, if not the top team at the conference tournament, and we always have great competition especially with Western Washington. With the team we have this spring, we are competitors and we aren’t going to give up. I will encourage them to keep striving, because you never know what can happen on a golf course.”

As Cleveland plays in the final tournaments of her collegiate career this spring, each time she finds herself in a bunker or mishits an approach shot she’ll be reminded that it is very easy to get buried and feel stuck or trapped.

With her 56-degree Cleveland wedge by her side, the golfer Mariah Cleveland has grown into will line up her next shot with the simple, honest mindset that, “it will be okay.”

The person she has become lives by those words, breaking free and carrying on stronger than ever.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – MG Bywater, RHP March 20, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – A 1,000-mile road trip in the fall of 2010 culminated in a surprisingly captivating way for Mary Grace Bywater. The Tualatin, Ore., native and then-high school senior was still toying with the idea of keeping her pitching arsenal alive beyond her prep career, visiting Montana State University Billings for the first time that October.

Now a senior and four-year letterwinner with the Yellowjackets, Bywater remembers the blanket of lights that captured her attention when she pulled into town half a decade ago. “I remember thinking it was a lot more populous and metropolitan than I thought a town in Montana would be,” Bywater said with a smile.

Bywater felt immediately comfortable with her surroundings, and once she stepped foot onto the dirt and maneuvered a bright neon softball in her right pitching hand she knew she wasn’t ready to give up the game she loved.

The first player to crouch down and receive pitches from Bywater was senior Kelly Parsons, whose repertoire of having played more than 140 games over three seasons to that point was intimidating to the high-schooler. “She was a senior and a really good catcher,” Bywater said. “Meeting her, the coaches and players was intimidating at first but by the time I left I was thinking there was a good chance I would go here.”

The visit was a success in the eyes of Bywater, a positive step towards picking a college where she could continue her education and her athletic career.

But as the autumn quickly morphed into winter, then melted slowly into a rainy, West-Coast spring, Bywater still hadn’t received the phone call with an offer that she was waiting for. The memory of Billings began to fade, and Bywater turned her focus towards her education, which she could pursue 70 miles down Interstate 5 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. 2014-15 MSUB Athletics Feature Stories | @MSUBSports | www.msubsports.com | 115

Finally, as the calendar turned to April and Bywater began planning out her high school graduation, then-MSUB assistant coach Lisa Allen rekindled her interest by dropping a note into her inbox. “She emailed me and said that they were still interested in me and to let her know what I was thinking,” Bywater said regarding Allen’s contact. “That was a catalyst that made me realize that I still wanted to play. They made me an offer, and I signed in April and headed back to Montana.”

“I had seen her play in Oregon in a high school game and liked her from the beginning,” Allen said. “When the head coach that year resigned in March, she was our first phone call. (Assistant coach) Bekah (Gasner) and I knew how much we liked her and we thought she could do really well as a pitcher at this level. We had to make sure we got her on our pitching staff.”

CALL ME ‘MG’ Call out “Mary Grace” during practice at Avitus Group Stadium and there won’t be so much as a single head turning in your direction. Known by teammates, friends, family and professors alike by simply, ‘MG,’ the two-letter nickname is fitting for its owner.

Bywater was named after her grandmother, Mary, and the name Grace was added to differentiate between the two. For as long as she can remember, however, MG has been the moniker she has embodied. “It has been around since I was little, and that is just how I introduce myself now,” Bywater said.

Bywater introduced herself in a much bigger way on the diamond, logging 60 1/3 innings and a team-best 2.55 earned run average her freshman season in 2012. She struck out 27 and walked just 13 batters, while throwing four complete games for the ‘Jackets.

“Freshman year was kind of unreal – you just kind of looked around, pinched yourself and wondered, ‘how did I get on this team?’” Bywater said. “I felt really privileged and lucky to get the playing time that I did as a freshman, and that was the best team I had ever played with.”

Bywater and the Yellowjackets stormed their way to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season crown and a berth in the NCAA Division II West Region Championships. Despite losing both games, Bywater earned the start in the second, tossing four strong innings without allowing an earned run against UC San Diego.

The right-hander’s control has been a staple for her over the years, as she has walked just 60 batters in 196 innings, averaging one walk every 3.3 innings. She has appeared in at least 12 games and logged at least 43 innings each season, racking up 10 complete games throughout her career.

While Bywater set an immediate example as a player her freshman year and has carried it over throughout her career on the field, it is her personality and consistently positive and genuine attitude that have stood out the most over her four years.

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“MG is always so charismatic and super funny,” commented fellow senior Aubrey Conceicao. “She has a really good work ethic and I have always admired that about her. She has always had so much poise on the mound and she never lets anything affect her.”

Bywater and Conceicao have lived together for the past two years, growing close both on and off the field. “I really look up to MG because she is a good genuine person and I think people automatically respect her,” Conceicao said. “She has a good knowledge of the game and a passion for it, and that makes other people aspire to be like her.”

Allen notes that Bywater is not the team’s most vocal leader, but when she speaks up she has the full respect of the entire squad. “MG is a leader by example on and off the field,” Allen said. “Most of her talks are about how sincerely proud of her team she is, and she truly wants everyone to be successful.”

“I definitely owe Boomer my opportunity to come here, because she was the one who emailed me when I didn’t think I had a shot,” Bywater said regarding her head coach. “Ever since then she has been the one who has taught us everything we need to know and brought out the best in us.

“I have spent the most time with Bekah and feel like we bonded quickly because we are alike in the sense that we are both soft spoken,” Bywater continued regarding MSUB’s pitching coach. “I learned from her the mentality side of the game and what it takes mentally to be a good pitcher at the college level.”

FALLING BACK, STEPPING FORWARD Taking part in an agility exercise during the fall of 2014, Bywater suffered perhaps her most devastating career setback as she broke both of her wrists bracing herself when she tripped.

Just months away from her final collegiate season, the frustrating injury prevented her from gripping a ball at first, let alone pitching. “To break both of my wrists during a training exercise was just heartbreaking,” Bywater said. “Initially I thought I might not be able to play and I didn’t know what to expect.”

Sporting a cast on her left wrist and a splint on her right, Bywater looked on enviously as her counterparts developed their pitches and threw entire bullpen sessions. At times she wondered if the stroke of bad luck would represent the end of her career, uncertain of when or if she’d enjoy the sensation of whipping her arm around and releasing a pitch again.

As the calendar flipped into 2015 and the Yellowjackets returned from Winter Break, Bywater rejoiced in taking part in the most basic pitching activities. “Her wrists healed properly and when she came back, she was able to get right into wrist flips and snaps,” Allen said regarding Bywater’s strong recovery. “By January she was pitching into a net on her own, and she always found a way to get better even if she didn’t have a teammate there.”

“Luckily I got the mobility in my wrists back a lot quicker than I thought I would,” Bywater said. “I didn’t want to go out with an injury. That would have been awful.”

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Not only has Bywater returned to the circle, she has pitched effectively since her return. Over her last four appearances, Bywater has walked just one batter while striking out six. Against Saint Martin’s on March 7 she logged more than five innings for the second time this season, displaying that her rehabilitated wrists are supporting an increased work load.

“We as a staff knew that MG would come back strong because she had such good mechanics and muscle memory before she got hurt,” Allen said. “She has done a really good job of progressing, starting out with a small amount of innings and is now working up to six and seven inning games.”

AROUND THE HORN “Ever since we stepped onto the field together freshman year there was this immediate bond that we were the future class of 2015. We have all put the work in and given our best effort to this sport and this team. Competing and playing together was the most rewarding and exciting part of it, and we have friendships now that will last the rest of our lives.” – Mary Grace Bywater reflecting on MSUB’s graduating class of seven seniors.

While Bywater’s addition to MSUB’s roster came relatively late during her senior year at Tualatin High School, the spark she felt on her initial visit to Billings was shared by six other seniors who eventually made their way into navy and gold uniforms.

There was Taylor Hoke, the shortstop from Chehalis, Wash., who eventually played a part in a formidable double play combination with Conceicao of Temecula, Calif., and first baseman Emily Osborn of Las Vegas. There was catcher Brittney Sanders from Kelso, Wash., who has been on the receiving end of Bywater’s pitches more often than not. And there was Jessyka MacDonald, the local standout from Billings West High School, and Jessica Campbell from Hardin, Mont., who banded together with Bywater to form a trifecta of reliable pitching.

“I would say I am closest on the team with MG because we have lived together for three years and she has just always been there for me in every way possible,” Campbell commented on her fellow right-hander. “She is really laid back and I love that about her too. She is the nicest human being I have ever met.”

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Bywater remembers the way she, Campbell and MacDonald bonded together as freshmen, establishing themselves and encouraging one another to solidify their identities on the team. Four years later, look to the freshly-minted bullpens at Avitus Group Stadium and you’ll find Bywater and MacDonald, cheerfully engaged in conversation and enthusiastically supporting MSUB’s pitchers during a scrimmage at practice.

It is the positive attitude and ability to remain mentally strong that has been Bywater’s biggest contribution to the team throughout her years. Her willingness to open up to all of her teammates and offer advice and support are a nod to the leader she has become among her peers.

“MG is a person of few words but she always does the right thing,” Campbell said. “She has kind of been my anchor. If I ever have a negative thought or feeling, I go to MG and she just changes the way I think about and look at everything in life.”

“I have all the confidence in the world that MG is going to go out and do her job for us as a team,” Conceicao said. “Behind her defensively, I want to do my job, especially when she gets those good, routine results for us.”

Bywater’s infectious attitude and personality stem from her strong connection to her family, as she cited her parents and sisters as her own role models who have always been there for her. Her oldest sister Rachel played in the Little League World Series in Alpenrose, Ore., and MG was teammates with her other sister Amelia for one season at THS. “Both of my parents have supported me no matter what I have decided to do,” Bywater said regarding her mother Janell and father Mark. “Without my dad helping me open my eyes in terms of my potential to play in college, I wouldn’t be here today. It was really cool to see Rachel play in the World Series, and it was great playing for a season with Amelia because we had never played together before.”

MODEL CITIZEN It took a full commitment and a ramped-up workout regimen for Bywater to return to the circle in the timely fashion that she did, but the fact that she did so was hardly a surprise to anyone.

A biology major who will earn her third straight academic all-GNAC honor this season, the dedication Bywater has made first and foremost to her academic studies is transcendent upon everything she approaches in life.

“MG is a model because of her preparation and conscientiousness, and I never got the sense that achieving a GPA was why she studied,” commented Dr. David Craig, director of the MSUB honors program and one of Bywater’s mentors academically. “She combines talent and determination, and I could tell that she enjoyed herself in the classroom just like she did out on the softball field.”

“Dr. Craig immediately became a mentor for me, and he was always honest and open with me,” Bywater said. “He helped me figure out what my goals were and was always willing to help me out academically. I definitely look up to him a lot.”

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In a notion brought up by Allen and supported by Campbell, a constant reminder is needed for Bywater to get some sleep as it is not uncommon for her to study into the wee hours of the morning. With aspirations to become a nurse, the idea of being around people constantly and helping them is a fitting career choice for Bywater.

“MG takes her studies very seriously and is always looking to be the best she can be for her team both on and off the field,” Allen said.

“She studies every night and has definitely helped keep me going strong with academics,” Conceicao said. “She has been an all-around good role model for me.”

Bywater and the Yellowjackets are set to make their 2015 home debut on Saturday, taking on GNAC opponent Simon Fraser in their first game of the season in Billings. The senior will undoubtedly play a key role in each of the four games for the ‘Jackets, whether she is pitching with the screws and plates inside her wrist or offering up heartfelt words of encouragement to her teammates.

Most of all, Bywater has set the bar high at MSUB, providing an all-encompassing example of maximizing the student-athlete experience. This concept is fully supported by teammates, friends, professors, and coaches alike as traits that have come to define the one and only MG.

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Campeau to Holbrook: A lifelong battery culminates with Yellowjackets March 24, 2015 Now seniors at MSUB, Jake Campeau and Conner Holbrook bring more than a decade of playing baseball together to the Yellowjackets in their final collegiate season.

MSUB SPORTS – When Jake Campeau was handed the ball to start Game 1 last week in a four-game road series against Northwest Nazarene, he was being called upon to give the Montana State University Billings baseball team a much-needed boost.

The Yellowjackets were coming off of three losses at Western Oregon the week before, and needed to respond in a big way in their final Great Northwest Athletic Conference road series before making their home debut.

Going up against Crusader ace Colben McGuire, Campeau turned in a solid start, throwing 5 1/3 innings and allowing just three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. More than anything, the effort he gave kept his team in the game and gave them a chance to win, which the Yellowjackets did thanks to a three-run ninth inning and a game-winning double by Kyle Durbin.

The strong start was an inspiration for the rest of MSUB’s staff, as the Yellowjackets’ next three starters all turned in quality outings and led MSUB to its first conference sweep since the 2009 season. Campeau heading off the rotation was a big reason why the ‘Jackets were selected as the GNAC co-Team of the Week, and he has now struck out 17 and walked just five over his past four starts.

While Campeau’s start wasn’t the best of the series for the ‘Jackets – see Cody Cooper, 10-strikeout shutout – it got MSUB back into a winning mindset and provided a sense of stability for his team. For Campeau, the sense of stability he needed during his latest start was squatting 60 feet, 6 inches downhill, throwing down sequences of signs he has literally seen thousands of times before.

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SAY IT IS SO, JAKE “You know how catcher’s gear is with kids,” said Don Holbrook with a chuckle. “It’s a shiny object they like to chase.”

The former University of Montana wide receiver recognized that his son Conner Holbrook had a natural athletic gift at an early age, but both of them agree that the unique gear involved with being a catcher played a role in drawing the young Holbrook to the position at 10 years old.

“Initially, I liked that I got to wear the gear and that I was involved in every play,” Holbrook said regarding what drew him to catching. “I ended up being the only one who wanted to catch, and I just kind of stuck with it after that.”

Holbrook grew up in Walla Walla, Wash., where his ability to play catch with his father as an 8-year-old without it being a “safety issue” told Don Holbrook his son had something special in him. “Conner has always had some physical gifts, but when you’re able to throw and catch well at eight, that is a big deal,” he said.

Unlike many young boys, the fast-paced action of football and basketball did not draw Holbrook’s attention away from learning the fundamentals on the diamond. Baseball was the only sport he was ever interested in, and by the time he was 13 he had been a Little League all-star and moved on to a more competitive summer team.

It was with that travel team, named the Black Sox, that Holbrook was introduced to Kim Cox, a coach who he says had the biggest impact in terms of solidifying fundamentals and teaching him how to play the game the right way at a young age.

Being introduced to who would become one of his best baseball friends, Holbrook caught Campeau for the first time while on the Black Sox. “He was one of the first guys to throw a complete game,” Holbrook said of his longtime teammate. “High school is where he really took off and started developing his stuff.”

It was during their time with the Cox’s ironically-named Black Sox that Don Holbrook remembers the boys taking their biggest strides as young players. A baseball euphemism for arguably the largest scandal in sports history, the Black Sox Cox coached were hardly bred to be cheaters. The owner of multiple Washington state baseball records, Cox instilled a blue collar mentality within his team, suiting them in plain t-shirts and preaching the concept of playing the game hard but in a humble manner.

“Kim turned me from a kid that happened to play baseball into a baseball player,” Campeau said. “He really helped shaped me into the player that I am now.”

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FAB FIVE By the time Holbrook and Campeau had reached their senior year at Walla Walla High School, the chemistry the two had developed as teammates was unbreakable.

It reached the point where the 5-foot-8 catcher needed little more than to make eye contact with the 6-foot-5 work horse to know what was coming out of his right hand.

One game in particular that struck Campeau’s memory came in 2011 against Wenatchee High School, when he was especially dialed in. At that point, coach Keith Gradwohl was still signaling pitches to Holbrook to relay to Campeau.

But when the skipper adjusted his sequence mid-game, Holbrook got off track. “We had a couple of different signs, and at one point Coach switched and Conner didn’t remember them,” Campeau said with a smile. “So I would just look at him and he would call a slider; I think we threw seven or eight in-a-row.”

The reality was that it didn’t matter what Campeau threw that day, as he tossed a seven-inning shutout striking out an incredible 17 batters out of the 21 outs his team recorded. “What stands out to me was how great his command was in that game,” Gradwohl commented, without a single mention of the fudged signs. “He probably didn’t throw more than 71 pitches in that game, and it was our league-clincher. It was just unbelievable.”

Not only did Campeau’s performance clinch the league title for his team, but it came a week after one of his teammates had turned in a similarly-impressive performance with 16 strikeouts. “I started to hear the guys kind of quietly giggling on the bench as they started to count Jake’s strikeouts in that game,” Gradwohl remembered.

“The week before, Drew Christina had a 16-strikeout game so everyone was waiting to see if Jake was going to top it.”

Christina, another ace for WWHS and a fellow senior, was part of a core of five Walla Walla natives who banded together throughout their baseball careers. Christina’s twin brother Bret Christina and Kevin Toon were all part of the same graduating class, and the quintet chose to pursue their careers at Walla Walla Community College.

Carrying his well-developed slider with him to begin his collegiate career, Campeau was received by WWCC pitching coach J.C. Biagi and immediately noticed improvement in his overall game. “J.C. is one coach who really turned me into the pitcher I am now, and he was determined to get the most out of me that he could,” Campeau said.

“Jake came into our program as a tall lanky kid, and he got a lot stronger during his time with us,” Biagi commented. “His overall development speaks to the work ethic he has, his ability to listen and develop, and he really owned that mindset.”

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While Campeau developed his craft and filled out his frame, Holbrook continued to impress his coaches with his defensive ability and knowledge of the game. “Conner was as hard a worker as I had ever seen, and he was able to walk in and really prove what he could do,” Biagi said.

“He had a good arm and good foundation to work from.”

Entering the junior college ranks, both players knew that after two seasons they would have a decision to make in terms of whether or not to pursue their careers further.

It didn’t end up being difficult for either player to choose to keep playing individually, but when they both had an opportunity to stay together the move seemed almost natural.

A COMFORTABLE TRANSITION TO NAVY AND GOLD Check out the MSUB baseball roster and the word ‘Walla’ appears 22 times between the Hometown and Previous School columns. The southeastern Washington town is somewhat of a recruiting hotbed for Yellowjacket head coach Rob Bishop, and Holbrook and Campeau represent the senior wave of players currently in the program.

Campeau was one of the first to commit to MSUB, as Bishop solidified his staff with an experienced junior entering the 2014 season. “Coach Bishop first saw me at a showcase in the fall, and I really liked the ideas he had baseball wise and the plan he had for this team,” Campeau remembered. “After I had committed he was still looking for a middle infielder and a catcher, so I told him about Kevin Toon and Conner.”

Holbrook began shifting his focus during his sophomore year, as his passion for receiving pitches took the lead in his ultimate decision to keep playing. “I was just having too much fun to stop after my freshman year, and I was just looking for an opportunity,” Holbrook said. “The guys who had signed at MSUB put in a good word for me and Coach Bishop called me in mid-May.” Bishop got a lot more than just a friend Campeau was recommending. The senior has developed into a .333 hitter for the ‘Jackets this season, and has posted an on-base percentage of .370 in a dozen games behind the plate.

Most important to the ‘Jackets however, has been the chemistry the duo has brought to the team. “Conner and Jake have developed so much confidence and trust in each other, and I feel like that really improves tempo of the game,” Bishop commented. “Conner does a great job feeling what’s working on a given day with Jake, and Jake has so much confidence in Conner receiving. On top of them being solid players, they are great friends and have fun personalities, and are great fun to coach.”

When Campeau referred to his time at MSUB as “the cherry on top of the sundae,” Holbrook was quick to emanate his words. “Being here at MSUB has been the bonus, it’s a great way to finish out a lifetime of baseball,” Holbrook said. “All of our coaches are great on and off the field and have helped us out a lot.”

“Coach Bishop really helps us keep things in perspective,” Campeau said. “Baseball is great, but he has taught us that you can still be a good student and family member while enjoying your time playing.”

The nature of their positions is such that they aren’t scheduled to play every game, but even when they aren’t in the lineup their personalities are appreciated by their teammates. “They are both great dugout and great clubhouse guys,” Bishop said. “They’ll be sorely missed next year.”

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“Jake has always improved, and I think that is one of his strengths,” commented fellow pitcher Drew Christina. “He has been able to command both his fastball and secondary pitches all the way back to when I first started playing with him. Transitions from team to team have always been easy thanks to having Jake and Conner on the team with me.”

Drew’s twin brother Bret cited Campeau’s development of his slider as a key turning point in a career he has also witnessed first-hand. “Jake really made that slider his own, and as he developed natural strength that pitch got sharper,” he said. “It has been cool to see him go from being a control pitcher who didn’t stand out to being an impact guy who can be dominant when he is on.”

JOURNEY TOGETHER “They’ve always been baseball best friends.

Looking back, they have been on eight separate baseball teams together. It has been a lot of fun to watch.” – Liz Campeau on her son Jake and his teammate Conner Holbrook.

One of the witnesses for MSUB’s dominant performance at NNU last weekend was Liz Campeau, who made the four-hour drive east to watch her son take the mound.

She had been going through some of her son’s old baseball relics over the weekend, quietly reminiscing some of the defining moments of his career. There was the time he spent on all-stars as a 9-year-old and when he helped his team to second place in state when he was 11. The old team photos of his days with the Black Sox and still shots of him ready to release a pitch to Holbrook wearing the royal blue of WWHS grabbed her eye as well.

“Athletics in general have always been a big deal to him,” Liz said regarding her son’s status as a 12-season varsity athlete in football, basketball, and baseball in high school. “But baseball has always been his love.”

It’s a love he and Holbrook have shared together through the years, and is one that is represented each time Campeau breaks off a slider. By the time it reaches the plate, it doesn’t matter if it’s a scud in the dirt or perfectly catches the black on the outside corner. Catching it has been, and still is Holbrook, and whether he’s saving 90 feet with a block or stealing a strike with a frame, he’s always had Campeau’s back.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Jessica Campbell, RHP March 26, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – Growing up in Hardin, Mont., Jessica Campbell’s first softball memories stem from watching her father play in a slow pitch league growing up.

“He could hit the ball so hard,” Campbell said with a smile.

It was through Keith Campbell’s early guidance that his daughter developed an interest for the sport, and when he began to coach her it further solidified their father-daughter relationship. “Having my dad as my coach not only helped us bond, but it helped me become a stronger person,” Campbell said. “I never settled for mediocre, and I strived to be the best that I could be. My dad helped me emphasize that from the beginning of my softball and academic career.”

Now a senior on the Montana State University Billings softball team, Campbell has lived by her father’s early guidance throughout her career and reflected his core values onto everyone she has ever called a teammate.

Campbell has spent the last four years honing her craft as a drop ball pitcher for the Yellowjackets, while pursuing a degree in pre-physical therapy. The career choice makes sense for someone who cannot be brought up in conversation without the phrase “genuine kindness and caring” being simultaneously thrown out.

Along the way, she has been impacted by many role models, from Robert “Doc” Whiting who taught her the first grips and spins she ever used to one of her childhood idols Sarah DeVore who pitched at the University of Great Falls.

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As she closes her softball career during the 2015 season, it will be the way she has impacted those who are closest to her that she will carry on as her most valuable trait.

PITCH DOCTOR From what he can remember, Keith Campbell started coaching his daughter when pitching wasn’t even a true position on the field. “I coached her starting in tee-ball all the way up through when she signed at MSUB,” he said.

As Campbell developed on the field and experimented with different positions, the idea of becoming a pitcher grabbed her attention. After indicating her interest to step into the circle to her father, it was at one of her brother’s baseball games that she took the first step towards the plate.

“I saw Doc Whiting pitching with another guy over on the field next to us, and my dad encouraged me to go talk to him,” Campbell remembered about the local pitching guru in Hardin. “I ran over there and told him I was interested in learning and he was more than willing to help me out. He taught me the fundamentals; how to hold the ball and how to have good form.”

Under Whiting’s tutelage, Campbell grew into a dual threat as an infielder and crafty right-hander on her father’s summer travel ball teams. Entering the high school ranks at Hardin High, Campbell morphed from a second baseman to a shortstop/pitcher by her junior season. By her final prep campaign, she was pitching every game and helped lead the Bulldogs to a historic finish.

“My senior season was the second time that Hardin had ever made it to state, and we were the first team in our school’s history to ever win a game at state,” Campbell remembered. “It was a really special moment, because there were seven or eight of us who had been playing together for as long as we could remember. We had dreamed about winning at state since we were little, so it was kind of a surreal moment when we went there and did it.”

Campbell cited her high school coach Chris Reed as being a major influence on her progression as a player.

“Chris always encouraged me and gave me the confidence to pursue my college career,” Campbell said. “He still sends me gameday motivational text messages.”

While the culmination of her prep career was better than Campbell could have remembered, the way it started four years earlier hinted at what her next step would be. During her freshman season at HHS, Campbell missed several games while recovering from a broken right hand. In one of her first games back on the diamond, she experienced one of the most futile, but memorable at bats of her life.

“We were playing Kasie Conder’s team, and I remember stepping into the batter’s box, her throwing three strikes, and I was out,” Campbell said of her return after being injured as a 14-year-old. “It was my first experience facing Kasie and she was a senior who signed with MSUB that year. I was fascinated with how good she was.”

The humbling experience batting inspired Campbell as a pitcher in a way, as she frequented Cenex Stadium on the MSU Billings campus to watch Conder and then-teammate Bekah (Tsatsa) Gasner pitch for the Yellowjackets. “I kind of just knew after watching those two play that pitching was my dream,” Campbell said. “I wanted to come to Billings and be the player I had watched in high school and strived to be.”

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MAMA BEAR “My first memory of my recruiting trip was that she was a very motherly figure. She was the first person to talk to me and show me around, and she really took me under her wing and made me feel comfortable.” – Junior pitcher Amanda Roark on senior Jessica Campbell.

Fast-forward to April 13, 2013, when the Yellowjackets found themselves in a tough spot in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference home game against Saint Martin’s. A steady rain had created unimaginable playing conditions, and pitchers for both teams were struggling to hold onto the ball let alone grip it and pitch effectively.

When her team needed someone to count on, Campbell stepped up and turned in a brave and memorable performance during her sophomore season. She battled through 3 1/3 innings, threw 87 pitches, and returned to the mound to finish the game after a rain delay before the seventh inning.

“We put Campbell in and she pitched like there was no rain at all,” commented MSUB head coach Lisa Allen.

“She was very mentally tough and that performance gave her the confidence she needed as a pitcher.”

“Pitching in that game was the most impressive thing I have ever seen her do,” commented fellow senior righthander Mary Grace Bywater. “Most people would have found some sort of excuse of why they couldn’t pitch in that weather. She stayed out there the whole time, toughed it out and did awesome.”

Effectively remembered as the “Rain Game” by all those who were involved, Campbell’s gritty performance was an early indicator of the way she would go on to face adversity throughout her career. It helped her develop confidence, and it built trust and garnered respect from all of her teammates.

The same year, Campbell was tested with an incredibly difficult sequence of events, as her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, her mother suffered a torn ACL, and her father was struck with kidney cancer all within the span of two months.

“I was shell shocked,” Campbell said. “It was a lot for one person to handle, and on top of all that there was school and practice. I was trying to be a good teammate, friend and family member, but it was so hard to try to be in three places at once.”

During perhaps the toughest time period of her life, Campbell’s true colors were put on display as she battled confidently just as she did during the Rain Game. Campbell’s teammates were there by her side when she needed them most, and she cited being a Yellowjacket as a big reason she was able to emerge from the trying experience as a stronger person.

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“I am very blessed Boomer and Bekah were so understanding with the situation and were more than willing to help me out,” Campbell said of her coaches. “It also made me closer with my teammates and I really looked to them as my support system. It was an experience that made them all my sisters instead of just my teammates.”

Just as she had stared through the relentless rain, taking signs and throwing pitch after pitch on that stormy April afternoon, Campbell stood strong, supporting her family and holding belief that they were fighting a winning battle.

“Her dad is a die-hard softball fan,” Allen said. “I remember him watching games from a Suburban in the parking lot when he was fighting cancer. He couldn’t come out but he was still there watching.”

Less than two years later, both Campbell’s father and grandmother Rosie are cancer free. Campbell’s mother Bridgette recovered from her devastating injury, and is another key role model who has always been there for her daughter. “My mom is the emotional support system for me, and she always knew what to say and how to comfort me,” Campbell said.

In MSUB’s home game against Saint Martin’s last season, Keith Campbell was called upon to throw out the honorary first pitch in the Yellowjackets’ Cancer Awareness Game, a moment that will forever stand out in Campbell’s memory.

“Watching my dad go through what he did was really inspiring to me,” Campbell said. “It taught me to not let the little things bother me now, and caused me to have a bigger picture of life.”

catching for her, she caught one for me.”

“It meant a lot to me, and it was a special moment between me and her,” Keith Campbell commented on throwing out the first pitch in MSUB’s cancer game. “It reminded me of all the days I had spent coaching her in the driveway and driving back and forth to Billings year round for softball. It was a role reversal – instead of me

AROUND THE HORN One of seven seniors for the Yellowjackets this season, Campbell has shared her college journey with teammates who have become her lifelong friends. Her two most immediate supports are in the circle in Bywater and Jessyka MacDonald, and senior catcher Brittney Sanders has been on the receiving end on the majority of their pitches along the way. Behind Campbell has been an outstanding core of infielders in shortstop Taylor Hoke, second baseman Aubrey Conceicao and first baseman Emily Osborn.

“The most comfortable feeling as a pitcher that you could possibly have is trusting fully in the people you have played together with for four years,” Campbell said. “If I get a ground ball and turn around I know Taylor and Aubrey will be there in a specific spot. I always know Em will crash in for a bunt and grab it, and having a catcher like Brittney, I’ve thrown her everything and she’s always framed it.

“Mac, MG and I have a special bond of friendship I don’t think could have been created anywhere else,” Campbell continued. “It is pretty powerful. We are pretty much inseparable.”

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Along with the connection to her teammates, Campbell also shares the title of MSUB student-athlete with her younger brother Cole Campbell, a sophomore on the Yellowjackets’ track and field squad. “Cole and I wanted to stay close to our family, and it is comforting knowing my brother is right here every day,” Campbell said.

For family and teammates young and old alike, Campbell’s presence as a role model stems for her determination and the confidence she has displayed no matter what life has thrown at her. Providing a constant reminder and guide each time she toes the rubber, are three simple words that Campbell’s father imparted on her after her spirits were lowered her freshman season: Always Behave Confidently.

“I didn’t have the season I wanted to and I was down, so my dad and I did a lot of mental training,” Campbell said. “He tells me to practice my ABCs, and he wrote it in his handwriting on my glove.”

Whether maintaining her grip through an intense downpour or providing stability for her family when it needed it most, Campbell’s confidence has shone through brightest of all as an inspiration to all of those surrounding her.

A LIFE LESSON Upon completing her career as a Yellowjacket and moving on to the next step towards becoming a physical therapist, Campbell’s presence and the type of teammate she is will live on in the program more than anything else.

“If I could pass anything down it would just be for my teammates to be there for each other consistently,” Campbell said. “How I treated people and how I made them feel means more to me than stats ever will.”

Now the superintendent of Miles City Public Schools, Keith Campbell reflected on his purpose as a coach and some of the key principles he stressed to his players throughout the years.

Character, leadership, and being a good teammate stood out as some of the most important things he has taught as a coach.

Being able to overcome odds when things don’t go well and being resilient are two that strike home with him personally.

“I didn’t really find this out until the last few years watching Jessica, but I realized that I didn’t truly believe any of those words myself even though I preached them as a coach,” Keith Campbell said regarding the values he has taught throughout his career. “I know as a parent, I never believed in my own words, but there was one person listening to me all along, and it was Jessica.”

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Hepfner races into Med School with NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship April 2, 2015 Renae Hepfner prepares to get started on her education towards becoming an osteologist, after receiving the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship last month.

MSUB SPORTS – During her senior year at Belt High School, Renae Hepfner was all set on one day becoming an elementary school teacher.

The dual-sport standout had developed into a starting guard for the Huskies girls basketball team, and also ran cross country and track mainly to keep in shape during the offseason.

Bringing her career on the hardwood to an abrupt halt however, was a devastating injury that ultimately shifted Hepfner’s perspective both athletically and academically.

After blowing her knee out midway through the season, Hepfner spent the next several months in close company with doctors and physical therapists. She quickly became fascinated by the level of intricacy involved in reconstructing and healing her knee, and found herself learning more than ever as she had piqued a new interest.

Jump ahead four years and Hepfner is a newly-minted graduate of Montana State University Billings, where she competed in cross country and track and field for the Yellowjackets and received her bachelor’s degree in biology in December.

In March, Hepfner became a distinct recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, a hyper-competitive award that is granted by the NCAA to student-athletes who have just completed their collegiate careers. Across all divisions, 29 women are awarded the scholarship for fall sports, which deduces an odds figure of around 1 in 700.

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“This is a big deal,” commented Dr. Scott Harris, MSUB faculty athletic representative and the liaison between the scholarship program and student-athletes aspiring to pursue their education beyond their bachelor’s degree.

“The list of universities whose students win this award includes the likes of Yale and MIT. To have one of our students recognized is a tribute to both our students and the university for making sure our students receive a world-class education and the opportunities that come with that.”

“Our number one goal as a department is to ensure the academic success of our student-athletes, and to see Renae receive this scholarship makes us truly proud,” commented MSUB director of athletics Krista Montague.

“Renae served as an ambassador for Yellowjacket Athletics during her time in the program and we have full confidence that she will make the most of this opportunity as she pursues her career as a doctor.”

Recently having been accepted into medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Wash., Hepfner will begin the next chapter in her race towards becoming a doctor on Aug. 17 as she starts the process of being a new student all over again.

For the Belt, Mont., native who grew up in a town of 600 people and without a single red light to disrupt the flow of traffic, the move out west will be the biggest yet of her ambitious, young life.

OVERVIEW ON OSTEOPATHY “The man who developed Osteopathy, A.T. Still, wanted to work on a more preventative approach to medicine,” Hepfner said. “He developed these manipulations that stem from bones because everything connects to them.

He figured that if you could manipulate your body’s bones to relieve pressure, it could improve your overall health.”

Her response alone when asked what exactly the word ‘osteo’ meant was enough to explain why she stood out from the vast field of candidates for the recent scholarship she was awarded. Not only does Hepfner have the exact type of medicine she would like to study already within her crosshairs, but she has a comprehensive understanding of its origin and a specific belief in its fundamental tenets that has driven her to pursue osteopathy.

“With osteopathy you look at treating a person in a more holistic view,” Hepfner said. “You treat the person rather than the disease.”

In other words, the focus of the particular branch of medicine is to provide care for an individual based on his or her unique physical makeup rather than prescribe a uniform medicine or treatment depending on the nature of an injury.

The ultimate title of Doctor of Osteopathy is what Hepfner has her sights set on, but the path to get there is far from straight-and-narrow. The first two years of schooling with an 8-5 daily schedule are accompanied by 40 hours worth of studying per week. Then it is on to situational experiences with patients and learning the various osteopathic manipulative methods.

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“In the fourth year you start studying for boards and figuring out where you want to be placed for residency,” said Hepfner, a three-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference academic all-conference selection. “After that you are placed under a doctor for anywhere from three to five years before you can start working on your own.”

All told the process from first-year student at Pacific Northwest to full-on osteopathist ranges from 8 to 10 years. With a rigorous curriculum and the furthest move away from home she will have ever made in front of her, Hepfner is confident that her time spent as a student and an athlete at MSUB has prepared her well for her next adventure.

RUNNING THE COURSE With the knee injury effectively ending her basketball career, Hepfner still wanted to pursue athletics at the collegiate level. After redshirting her freshman year in cross country, Hepfner was healthy enough by the spring to participate in track and field as she slowly began to increase the mileage on her repaired knee.

“I love the team aspect in sports and running definitely fulfilled that for me,” Hepfner said. “The team at MSUB is like my family away from home, and it was great to be able to continue that team aspect throughout my college career.”

As Hepfner developed close bonds with her teammates and used running as an avenue of escape from her classwork, her passion for the course of study she had chosen grew stronger every semester.

“Renae’s dedication to her academics is obvious,” commented Dr. Carl Castles, an assistant professor of biology and one of Hepfner’s instructors. “The fact that the only Bs in her college career were earned in her very first semester speaks to that. Everything since has been As, despite her being involved in athletics since her arrival.”

“Doctor Castles and doctor Kurt Toenjes were both very supportive and very good teachers,” Hepfner said. “The fact that they took the time to offer extra upper-division classes exposed me to a lot more information than I got in regular undergraduate classes. That really helped me learn what my interests were more.”

In addition to excelling with her course work, Hepfner developed into a strong distance runner for the Yellowjackets.

“Renae was a great role model in helping to establish our team culture, where the expectation is to balance academic and athletic success,” commented MSUB head coach Dave Coppock. “Renae was always willing to help other athletes on the team with studying, and you could always find her studying on the bus or early mornings in hotel lobbies when we were traveling.”

“Student-athletes often travel at various times during the semester, and that makes it difficult to stay on top of their classes,” Dr. Castles said. “Yet like many of our student-athletes, Renae found a way to make it work.”

Hepfner credited Coppock with making competitive running fun and always stressing to his team the importance of their studies. “Dave is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Hepfner said. “He makes runny way more enjoyable, and it doesn’t feel like a chore. That helps a lot.”

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Running is something Hepfner will never give up, as she finds time to log miles in between her 8:30-5 schedule at the Billings Clinic and time at a local nursing home in Billings on the weekends. Currently serving as a medical assistant in the rehabilitation department, Hepfner has spent the months since her graduation gaining valuable experience as she prepares to venture to Washington to begin school at the end of the summer.

‘DO’ING BIG THINGS For physicians, any given combination of alphabet soup directly proceeds their name describing their particular specialization. Among doctors, it is a unique code representing which chapters were read in their medical textbooks and which wing of the hospital their clinical hours were spent in.

More often than not, M.D. are the trailing letters, representing successful completion in the course of study for a doctor of medicine. Hepfner will one day proudly boast the letters D.O., a unique title signifying her doctorate in osteopathy.

“Renae’s successful academic career was not just limited to her degree and her stellar GPA,” Dr. Castles said. “She was very active on campus participating in clubs, working as a tutor and a laboratory teaching assistant, and even serving as a student member on committees for the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences. We are all looking forward to seeing where her next journey takes her.”

While Hepfner has carved her own path towards a future that she is passionate about, behind her the whole way has been a strong support system in her parents and family. “My dad is actually the one who told me I should try running in college,” Hepfner said. “I didn’t think I was good enough but he convinced me to at least try it. My family has been a huge part of my life at home as well as here at college.”

Hepfner’s 11-year-old brother Cole is her biggest inspiration, as she has been driven to set a good example and be a good role model for her younger sibling. “I know Cole looks up to me and he is probably my favorite person in the world,” Hepfner said. “I would not be where I am today without my family, they are very supportive of everything that I do.”

Ultimately, Hepfner maximized her experience at MSUB, dually representing her university running with the Yellowjackets as well as competing with top students across the country academically. The recent scholarship she received serves as the latest reminder of her excellence as a student-athlete, and suggests that she is well on her way to positively influencing others for years to come as a doctor.

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After growing up at Yellowstone Country Club, Jake Hedge has become one of MSUB’s best April 8, 2015 Billings native Jake Hedge is the Yellowjackets’ top golfer as a senior, and credits his progression as a golfer to the time he spent as a kid growing up at the Yellowstone Country Club.

MSUB SPORTS – Established in 1914 and originally called the Billings Golf and Country Club, one of the most historic golf courses in Billings holds a rich tradition and history. After a fire destroyed the clubhouse in the mid1950s, prestigious golf course architect Robert Trent Jones was hired to bring the landscape back to life.

By December of 1958, the 18-hole masterpiece and new clubhouse had been completed, and the resulting Yellowstone Country Club stood as one of more than 500 courses Jones constructed throughout his career.

Since then, a separate nine holes and around 400 homes have popped up amid the original 630 acres of land, and more than 2,000 members have called the country club home throughout the years.

Among its most recent inhabitants are John and Pete Hedge, who started a family from their home located within the confines of the club.

It was through this opportunity that Montana State University Billings men’s golf senior Jake Hedge naturally grew up living the game of golf, and it is his time spent with family and friends playing the course at Yellowstone Country Club that has turned him into one of the best golfers the Yellowjacket program has ever seen.

HURRY UP, JOHNNY John Hedge remembered an article he read a couple decades ago entitled, ‘How to Make Your Kid Fall in Love with Golf ’.

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“The three worst words in golf are, ‘hurry up, Johnny,’” John Hedge said. “That’s why so many kids quit golf early, because they hurry up and don’t have any fun.”

The father of three sons and a daughter, John Hedge adopted this mindset around the time he remembers his children feeling out their grip and playing games of “yard golf.” The object was a simple one, with various trees or marks around he Hedges’ yard serving as the holes for the young children to aim for.

From there, John gradually brought his children out onto the real course at the country club. For him it was never a chore or something he rushed through just to do it. “If it took an hour to play a hole then that’s what we did,” John said. “At the end of every round, you always have a putting contest with your kid, and you always make sure you lose so that they get the candy bar reward.”

John looked on with a prideful smile as he watched his children develop a passion for the game. If a 5-year-old Jake smacked a shot into a trap, John would let him play in the sand. If Jake scattered the friendly ducks with four shots in a row into the water, John would drop a fifth ball and tell him to give it another swing.

“Golf was something I wasn’t smart enough to figure out,” John said. “But not even knowing what I was doing, my kids knew how to play in and out of sand, were never worried about water, and they loved to putt.”

By the time Jake was six, he followed his 11-year-old brother Josh onto the course and started practicing on his own. Sometimes John wouldn’t see his youngest son for 10 hours. “He would spend his entire summer out there,” John said. “He just loved it.”

When Jake was eight and he began playing in his first competitive tournaments, it was clear he was a step ahead of the curve. “You play growing up for fun, but once it’s time to compete you’re not sure what to expect,” Jake said. “I started gauging myself against the other players and felt like I was a step ahead from the beginning. It definitely helped having guidance from my older brother Josh. He showed me the ropes and it’s easier to become a good player when you have an already good player with you.”

With the five-year difference between Jake and Josh, more often than not the latter would be 100 yards down the course waiting for his younger brother to catch up. While Jake had no chance of matching his brother’s shots distance-wise, he began developing a short game unlike anything Josh had seen before.

“Of course when we were younger I would hit the ball twice as far as him, but when we got up near the greens he would always hit his wedges closer than me,” Josh said. “He had a better short game than anyone I have ever known.”

What was most impressive to Josh was the character and maturity development he witnessed in Jake. Because of the patience John had instilled in his sons, Jake did not get frustrated and give up when his older brother outdrove him. Instead, he displayed a rare sense of tenacity as he developed his game, constantly focusing on what he could do better.

“I can always say that having Jake around kept golf fresh and fun,” Josh said. “Everything was a game, and we kept it light and easy. We had a blast together, and playing with him is one thing I will always be thankful for.”

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PUTTING INTO THE PRO-AM With the sun bearing down on Yellowstone Country Club, the temperature flirted with crossing into triple digits as 30 top amateur players convened to play a 36-hole United States Golf Association qualifier tournament in 2008.

The prize for the winner was a trip to Alabama to compete in the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championships, and after the first 18 holes Jake sat in the lead with a 74 on the course he had called home his entire life.

Winding through the cavernous holes a second time, Hedge was just as efficient, not fazed by the relentless heat or worried about hitting the perfect shot each time. By the time he reached the 18th green, his chip shot landed about 25 feet from the hole.

“I had about a 25-footer and I needed to make it to win,” Hedge said. “If I missed it, we would have gone to a playoff, but I made it. It was easily the greatest moment and feeling of success that I’ve had in golf, especially with it being on a course that I see every day. It’s a memory that always comes back to me and that I will cherish forever.”

One of the young players in that tournament with Hedge was Brandon McIver, one of his best friends growing up as the two had bonded during their time on the course together. The duo became a force to be reckoned with at Billings West High School, as they helped the Golden Bears claim the boys’ golf state title four times during Hedge’s prep career.

“Brandon was one of my best influences, and he also grew up at the country club,” Hedge said regarding McIver, who is now a junior on the men’s golf team at the University of Oregon. “We played together every single day, and he is a friend I really enjoyed spending time with on the course. Golf solidified our friendship and we made each other better players.”

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As Hedge and McIver assisted each other and learned the game together, Hedge felt well-prepared to carry his game on to the collegiate level. With his education at the forefront of his university selection process, Hedge elected to attend the University of Wyoming, where he could pursue a degree in accounting while continuing to play golf.

After redshirting as a freshman, Hedge competed for the Cowboys for two seasons as a sophomore and junior.

By the time his senior year rolled around, Hedge had completed his degree early and had a tough decision in front of him. “I graduated early, but I wasn’t sure that I was ready to move forward with my career,” Hedge said.

“I felt like I still had some passion left for golf, and that I had something to offer to a program.”

Hedge obtained his bachelor’s degree in accounting in the fall of his senior year at UW, and after deciding not to play golf in the spring season with the Cowboys he turned to an old friend who he played with in high school to seek advice.

“Jake called me one day when he was on a road trip, and I could tell he was trying to figure out a place where he could keep playing,” commented MSUB assistant coach Marcus Drange who at the time was a junior on the Yellowjackets’ golf team. “I told him I really enjoyed being on the team here and encouraged him to think about it.”

“Marcus is the one I really talked to, and he helped solidify my decision to come back to Billings,” Hedge said. “I knew I wanted to pursue my education further, and I also didn’t want to have any regrets finishing my college career early. I knew I would never get those years back and that I would have regretted it if I hadn’t kept playing.”

Currently working towards a second bachelor’s degree in finance, Hedge has lived up to the expectations and has been MSUB’s top golfer this season. Hedge has been the top finisher in each of MSUB’s six events thus far, has three top-10 finishes and has a low round of 68 on the season. Currently averaging a score of 71.5, Hedge is the leading golfer in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

“We realized that Jake had the potential to play for two more years, and we really put our best foot forward in trying to get a player of his caliber to come to MSUB,” commented Yellowjacket head coach Shawn O’Brien. “Any time you can get a student-athlete of Jake’s caliber, it is going to help your program succeed. To top it off, Jake’s academic performance and work ethic are outstanding.”

GETTING A GRIP While Hedge has realized tremendous success during his time at MSUB, there was a time in his golf career where continuing on didn’t even present itself as an option in his mind. A time when the simplest choice seemed to be walking away from the game altogether and quitting.

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After reaching the U.S. Junior Amateur and finishing his prep career with another team state title, Hedge took a major step back in his game and fought a mental battle that not all players are resilient enough to overcome.

“By the time he graduated high school, Jake had reached a plateau as a player,” commented Bob Eames, the 41year veteran as Golf Professional at Yellowstone Country Club. “He was holding back and couldn’t maneuver the ball the way he wanted to. His grip wasn’t very fundamentally sound, and that was limiting him on his shot making ability.”

After carefully developing his skills for a decade and a half, Hedge made the toughest call of his career and accepted the notion of completely reworking his grip. Entering the transition, Hedge understood that the change would be drastic, and the frustration he was about to face would test him mentally.

“It was a very unnatural feeling, and Bob told me I was going to go through a couple of years struggling,” Hedge said. “I trusted Bob and his advice, and I knew if I wanted to enjoy golf to my fullest potential that I had to make a change. It ended up being the best thing for me, and it has made the game of golf much more fun.”

“I said, ‘Jake you’re going to get worse before you get better, but you have to trust me,’” Eames remembered. “He had total faith in what we were doing, and when you look at him play now he can hit any shot that is required.”

Hedge entrusting Eames with his entire golf game as he knew it was not a blind leap of faith, as much of the credit for Hedge’s progression as a player he credits to the University of Wyoming alumnus. “Bob’s positivity, energy and reassurance throughout my career has helped me more than anything,” Hedge said. “I always appreciate what he has to say, and in the last few years he’s been a big part of me getting better.”

Before Hedge’s prep career, it was the constant encouragement from Eames that reminded Hedge of the incredible potential he had. When Hedge left for the state tournament as a freshman at Billings West, Eames told him that winning the tournament was not out of his reach. A short time later, Hedge hoisting the individual trophy after cruising to victory is a moment he will not soon forget.

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“I have known Jake and his brothers and sister since they were itty-bitty,” Eames said. “They come from an incredibly strong family. John and Pete Hedge are two of the greatest parents in the whole world, and they have raised some of the best kids I have ever been around.”

PLAYING FOR CANDY BARS “None of what I’ve done would be possible without my dad and mom. My dad supplied my clubs, my membership to the country club and he made it possible for me to live my dream. I am very thankful to him and my mom for allowing me to pursue my dream so easily.” – Jake Hedge on his father John and mother Pete.

As the sun sets on Yellowstone Country club these days, John Hedge looks far into the distance and contently smiles over the marvel that has served as the breeding ground for his family. He has been witness to the once-nonexistent trees growing into landmarks and serving as a means of navigation through the long course to golfers young and old, beginner and expert alike.

Although his children are now all grown, he won’t soon forget the slow evenings they would spend strolling the course. Some nights they would play nine, some nights he would lay back and look on as Jake dug around in the sand, electing to make patterns and let his imagination roam over finding a way to loft his lodged golf ball out of the trap.

“We just think it is fun as long as he is having fun,” John said. “We never pushed Jake, but he just loved the game.

We never wanted him to get his identity from the game, and I think that’s why he likes playing so much.”

The evening-ending putting contests always brought out the best in Jake, as he never showed more determination than when a candy bar was on the line. Those losses were the happiest of John’s life, and every time he handed over the prize, he was reminded he was raising his family right.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Brittney Sanders, C April 16, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – In the mind of Montana State University Billings softball head coach Lisa Allen, the task of recruiting an NCAA Division II-level catcher comes down to a select few key traits.

She has to take care of the ball, have good arm strength, and most importantly be an inherent leader.

Having spent her collegiate playing career at Oregon State University as a catcher, Allen is more qualified than most when it comes to picking those key traits out in players she is recruiting. While she has no difficulty assessing tangible skills such as arm strength, the role of being a vocal leader is one that does not necessarily show up during a tryout.

Rather, it is something that a player grows into and needs to do so quickly in order to have success at the collegiate level.

When now-senior Brittney Sanders first suited up in catcher’s gear nearly a decade ago, she knew the position was right for her. “I liked that I had control on every pitch,” Sanders said. “It was cool that I got to be a part of every play.”

This mindset of ownership is exactly what Allen was looking for in a catcher for the Yellowjackets. While Sanders possessed plenty of natural leadership ability entering her collegiate career at MSUB, she did not master command of the team as a freshman. By her sophomore year however she had found her true voice, taking on an invaluable leadership role and never looking back.

“I don’t think I have seen a college athlete grow up as quickly as Brittney Sanders did,” commented Allen. “The difference between her freshman and sophomore years was night and day. She came back as a sophomore leader at a young age, and not many student-athletes can say they did that.”

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While hitting a team second-best .326 in her second season, Sanders proved she was ready to be an asset offensively at the plate and defensively behind it as she played in 39 of the team’s 41 games. As she looked to the infield, she commanded the respect of Aubrey Conceicao, Taylor Hoke and Emily Osborn, her fellow classmates.

In the circle, she put down signs for three more who were the same age as her in Jessyka MacDonald, Mary Grace Bywater and Jessica Campbell.

Now that the seven are four-year seniors in the program, the play-caller of the bunch is confident they are on track to get back into the NCAA postseason.

THREE AND ONE Early on in the season, live scrimmages often occupy a large portion of softball practice for the Yellowjackets. The idea is to give hitters and pitchers alike a realistic, game-type situation and put exercises into practice. A catcher serves the dual role as umpire during such practices, and it was early on in a 2012 practice scrimmage when Sanders first made an impression on her teammates.

“I remember we were doing a live scrimmage and the catchers would call out balls and strikes,” commented Campbell. “Brittney was not afraid to strike out a senior, and say, ‘strike three you’re out!’ She didn’t care.”

The confidence from Sanders in her very first season caught the attention of her teammates, and especially helped her establish a bond with the three pitchers she would spend the most time with throughout her collegiate career. While the task was a large one having to acquaint herself with three brand new arms as a freshman, Sanders was quick to identify the strengths and weaknesses of all three.

“Brit kind of had her plate full coming in with three of us pitchers in the same grade,” said Bywater. “She did a great job of getting to know us, and understanding that we are three different pitchers mentally and throwing wise. It didn’t take her long to learn that.”

While Sanders did not start and play every game her freshman season (19 starts, 23 appearances), she did not lose confidence when she wasn’t on the field. Instead, she learned her pitching staff inside and out and made sure that when she was inevitably called upon to take command of the team that she was ready to take on the role in stride.

“All three of them really listen to what I have to say,” Sanders said regarding MacDonald, Bywater and Campbell.

“I am in charge of keeping them in line. They all listen really well and always agree.”

When the time came for Sanders to step up, she didn’t miss a beat. Midway through her debut season, Sanders began splitting starts at catcher, none of which was bigger than her start behind the plate at the NCAA West Region Championships in Seaside, Calif. In the Yellowjackets’ final game of the season, Sanders earned the start and got a taste of what competition was like at the next level.

“It was almost like when we won conference I didn’t fully know it was a big deal,” Sanders said. “I didn’t realize how hard it is to get to regionals, but it is totally different when you go there. It’s a completely unique feeling.”

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The feeling has evaded Sanders and her teammates the last two seasons, as the ‘Jackets missed out on the GNAC Championships narrowly in 2013 and 2014. With one conference series remaining on the 2015 schedule, the Yellowjackets could punch their return ticket to the conference tournament with two more victories over Western Oregon next weekend in Billings. For Sanders and the ‘Jackets, there is no other option.

“Our goal is to make the conference tournament, win it, and go back to regionals,” Sanders said. “I know that we can do that, and we have a great team this season to do it.”

Beating the No. 4 team in the nation, Cal State Monterey Bay in 3-0 shutout fashion at this year’s Tournament of Champions in Turlock, Calif., was the latest indicator that MSUB has what it takes to compete at the highest level.

BY THE NUMBERS Paralleling her growth as a vocal leader, Sanders has consistently improved her numbers each year of her career as well. At the plate she ranks ninth alltime at MSUB in hits with 143 and holds the seventh-best career batting average at .348. Her 30 career doubles rank No. 6 and her 86 RBIs are eighth most in program history.

Defensively, Sanders is on pace for her best season yet as she has a career-high 26 assists and has added 195 putouts to rank her No. 5 in that category. Sanders holds a career fielding percentage of .983, and this season has mowed down nine base stealers.

“Brittney’s biggest asset has been her reliability both behind the plate and in the batter’s box,” Allen said. “She has become a brick wall back there and has done a really good job improving on framing pitches to help our pitchers get more strikes.”

Sanders has also shown the ability to come up with the timely hit for the ‘Jackets, as she hit a team-leading .462 with runners in scoring position her junior season.

The impression Sanders has made as a leader both statistically and vocally has rubbed off on her teammates young and old alike. “Brittney has been a leader to me and really took me under her wing,” said freshman first baseman Cameron Cassinelli. “We started hitting together a lot and she has really helped me out. She has always been really vocal to the team, especially in practice. I have never had this good of a catcher before while playing first base.”

A big reason for Sanders’ success at the college level is due to her consistency as a catcher throughout her youth development. The Kelso, Wash., native has been in the squat since she was 12 years old, and credits much of her progression as a player to her stepfather and coach Brent Harris.

“My parents coached me my whole life, and both my mom and step dad were big role models to me,” Sanders said regarding her mother Julie Harris. “My step dad was hard on me and that has helped make me the way that I am as a leader. I definitely get my character from my mom.”

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Now sporting an open batting stance at the plate, Sanders cited another early influential figure who helped her develop an approach at the plate. “I grew up hitting with Tim Mackin, the head coach at Lower Columbia Community College,” Sanders said. “He is pretty much who formed my swing for me. I used to step over and close myself off, but now I stand much more open.”

During her high school career, Sanders also had the unique opportunity to catch for her older sister Breanna, and the Sanders duo led Kelso High School to back-to-back state championships in 2009 and 2010. “I always played a year or two up with my older sister, and we used to go hit five or six buckets of balls in the cages each day,” Sanders said. “Winning state with her was pretty cool.”

BRIT’S GRIT Before Sanders reached the top as an athlete in high school, she faced one of the most significant setbacks for an athlete when she tore her ACL as a freshman. Playing in the outfield in the first round of the state tournament at the time of her injury, Sanders continued on playing through the summer and into volleyball season the following fall as she initially thought it was just a sprain.

When Sanders went in for a second MRI after continuous discomfort, she learned that surgery would be required to repair the ligaments and that she would be sidelined.

“The doctors told me that because of the way that I tore my meniscus, I probably wouldn’t be able to deep squat ever again,” Sanders said. “When I first hurt it, I was more upset that I would miss the season than I was that I was in pain.”

Despite a usual recovery time of 8-12 months, Sanders was back in the lineup just three months later playing third base. The expeditious recovery was a testament to Sanders’ toughness, as she was determined not to let the setback take away from her development as a player. “It wasn’t a question of ‘if ’ I would play again, it was ‘when,’” Sanders said. “I went to rehab and did as much as I could, and it has made me a stronger player and person. Taylor (Hoke) and I always joke that you would have to cut my leg off before I stop playing.”

This season, Sanders has started all 41 games behind the plate for MSUB, and has conditioned herself well to handle the task of catching back-to-back doubleheaders in a weekend.

“In my mind Brittney is going to leave behind a benchmark for all catchers to come in the future of this program,” Allen said. “She has brought up the defensive aspect to a higher level than it has ever been, and she has really been a perfect example of how you run a defense and a team.”

AROUND THE HORN “Brittney is a leader, not a boss. A boss says ‘go do this,’ and leaders say, ‘let’s go do this.’ She always knows what needs to be done, and she does it with us.” – Senior right-handed pitcher Jessica Campbell on senior catcher Brittney Sanders Perk your ears at Avitus Group Stadium over the next two weekends when the Yellowjackets are at home, and it won’t take long to recognize the distinct voice of MSUB’s senior backstop.

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Sanders’ bellowing encouragement from the dugout while her teammates stand at the plate and the instructions she barks out to her defense with runners on first and third have become the trademarks of her playing career. At the same time, her ability to read her pitchers and offer the perfect words during a mound visit is a trait less obviously noticed to the average onlooker.

“Brit is really good at reading our pitches and understands how they work,” MacDonald said. “She is never afraid to come to the mound and tell us what to work on. That is really helpful for me, because she knows better than anyone else what we need to do as pitchers.”

As Sanders’ collegiate career comes full circle, she and the Yellowjackets are peaking at the right time with one conference series left on the schedule. MSUB has won nine of its last 10 GNAC games and is poised to make a loud return to the conference championships.

“Personally, I just want to be consistent at the plate and help our team score runs,” Sanders said. “I’m a cleanup hitter, that’s my job.”

Whether she’s standing in the box in a crucial situation with runners in scoring position, or flashing down signs for any one of MSUB’s five pitchers, when the ‘Jackets look to No. 11 they know they are always in good hands.

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Paffhausen’s impactful career culminates at RMAC Championships this weekend April 23, 2015 A four-year letterwinner and team captain in the Yellowjacket women’s tennis program, senior Emily Paffhausen’s career embodies the spirit of a determined leader.

MSUB SPORTS – The approach of Dillon High School tennis coach Lois Woodard is a simple one when it comes to providing advice and tips to her players in the middle of matches. She takes a more hands off angle, waiting behind the fence out of view until her boys and girls come to her in between sets.

Time and time again, when it was then-freshman Emily Paffhausen making her way over to seek Woodard’s counsel, a look of puzzled concern overtook the face of the longtime coaching veteran. “Her freshman and sophomore year when she was playing singles, she would come to the fence and have tears in her eyes whether she was winning or losing,” Woodard recalled. “It hurt a lot for her to lose, and she was so joyful when she was winning. She was a very emotional person.”

As Paffhausen matured into an upperclassman for the Beavers, the tears became less frequent, and the success on the court took a positive trajectory upwards. As Paffhausen diligently developed her game, Woodard looked on knowing she had a special player on her hands.

Woodard could tell from Paffhausen’s daily 6:30-4:30 shift working at her high school during the summer helping to paint and renovate the interior that she was special. She could tell it from the tears shed that the determination to improve and be the best player she could be was a rare characteristic that Paffhausen possessed.

What Woodard couldn’t tell immediately was that it was going to be a long time before she found another Emily Paffhausen.

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Her mother Camy is a high school teacher, and Paffhausen has fond memories of the bright Friday night lights surrounding the DHS football team during her prep days.

“I did some tennis camps when I was younger, but I really didn’t start getting into it until high school,” Paffhausen said. “Lois is the one who helped me the most.

She finally gave me confidence in tennis and helped me believe in myself.”

Along the way, Paffhausen tested her hand in softball and volleyball, but ultimately found her calling on the tennis courts. Never had she felt such a natural connection as she did when Woodard would ask her to stay late after practice and work on her technique.

“My confidence as an athlete started my freshman year in tennis,” Paffhausen said. “Lois really showed interest in me and kept pushing me. It was fun and I actually started to succeed.”

By Paffhausen’s sophomore year, she had progressed into a top player at the Montana Class A level and entered the divisional tournament as the No. 4 seed. “I had to play this girl who was a senior and the No. 1 seed, and I remember the year before she beat me 6-0, 6-0,” Paffhausen recalled.

This time, a more mature Paffhausen took to the court and didn’t give in to the intimidation of facing a player with seniority over her. After splitting the first two sets, Paffhausen persevered through the third and held on for a victory. This time, the tears were joyous ones and she shared them with Woodard.

“I just remember that was the most insane match I have ever played,” Paffhausen said. “It was so emotional.”

In Woodard’s mind, the victory signified that Paffhausen had emerged into a complete player. Refusing to give in during the grueling third set, and challenging her opponent with a fearless approach confirmed Woodard’s early notion that Paffhausen was a unique player.

After two years of competing in singles play, Paffhausen took on a new role as a doubles player for her final two prep seasons. Unlike the college game where players compete in both singles and doubles, high school players are required to play one or the other for their team.

Success followed Paffhausen into the tandem game, as she and her partner advanced to the state finals in both her junior and senior seasons. While Paffhausen was frustrated in losing both matches, Woodard stood back and smiled as she recognized the big-picture potential that was unfolding in front of her.

“I had no clue that I could play college tennis,” Paffhausen said. “Lois talked to the current coach at MSU Billings, Jerry Peach, and after I started talking to him it sparked my interest to come here.”

As high school graduation approached, Paffhausen was torn between remaining in western Montana and attending school in Missoula and heading east to MSUB. The night after losing in the state finals in doubles her senior year, she and her parents went out for a meal after the match. “We got fortune cookies after we ate, and mine was, ‘you will be rewarded for all of your hard work,’” Paffhausen recalled.

The very next day during her drive back from Great Falls, she received an email from MSUB head coach Lew Kosich. He had watched her at the state tournament, and there was a scholarship with her name on it to suit up in the navy and gold.

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HELLO OLD FRIEND As Paffhausen became acclimated with the college game, she faced adversity right away playing at the No. 2 position as a freshman. Though the wins were hard to come by, there was a noticeable difference in how Paffhausen handled defeat compared to her emotional reactions early on in her prep career.

“I lost a lot my freshman year,” Paffhausen said. “As a senior in high school my partner and I went 20-1, and I lost more matches in my first two weeks at MSUB than I had in my entire high school career. It was really eye opening.”

Losing confidence and walking away from a tennis career she had worked so diligently to foster was not in Paffhausen’s blood. Instead, she did the only thing she knew how to do: go back to work and find a way to get better.

Paffhausen’s freshman-year roommate decided not to return to MSUB, and the timing worked out perfectly with a familiar face whom she had crossed paths with before. After grinding out the inspirational victory in the divisional round of the state tournament as a high school sophomore, little did Paffhausen know that her opponent in the next round, Mary Conwell, would end up being one of her lifelong friends.

“Mary and I knew each other fairly well by the time I was in college,” Paffhausen said. “When I was a sophomore and needed a roommate, I got in touch with her and that’s how we decided to live together.”

“I was really excited because I knew Emily was a great person and it was going to be nice knowing someone and rooming with a teammate,” Conwell said regarding entering MSUB as a freshman. “It helped me out so much, and she taught me how to be a college student all around.”

Not only did Paffhausen and Conwell bond immediately as friends, they took to the courts as doubles partners and haven’t looked back since. So far in 2015, they are having their best season yet as they have gone undefeated in conference play at the No. 2 doubles position for the Yellowjackets.

“Emily and Mary complement each other really well on the court,” said MSUB head coach Becky King. “Their friendship is so strong that sometimes it seems like they don’t even have to communicate. Each one knows what the other is doing at all times.”

Conwell cited the trust the two players have in one another as the key to their success, as both players understand their roles. “We never question each other, and we know if it’s a high ball I’ll take the over or if it’s a lob she will run back,” Conwell said. “It comes with experience, and we read each other very well.”

On top of being a successful athlete on the court, Paffhausen has served as a leadership model for all of her teammates and fellow student-athletes for the example she has set off of it. Holding a 3.92 grade point average, Paffhausen was recently honored for the second year in a row as a Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society selection for the Yellowjackets. Additionally, Paffhausen serves as her team’s representative on MSUB’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

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Paffhausen is studying secondary English, as her passion for teaching and helping others stems from her mother’s example as a high school teacher. “Overall, I have had a great academic experience at MSUB,” said Paffhausen, who will student-teach in Butte, Mont., this fall after receiving her bachelor’s degree. “I am looking forward to hopefully teaching and coaching in Montana at the high school or middle school level in the near future. I chose a great school to earn my degree.”

BORN A FIGHTER

coach Becky King on senior captain Emily Paffhausen

“Emily finds a way to handle any type of obstacle in a positive way. She is one of the best defensive players I have ever seen. When you think the point is over, she gets the ball back more times than most players would. She is a fighter.” – MSUB head

While Woodard witnessed Paffhausen’s development as her coach during high school, King was also well aware of the potential Paffhausen had. Having coached against her several times throughout Paffhausen’s prep years, King recognized a special trait that was hard to come by in most players, let alone teenagers.

“A lot of players will accept where they are at as players, but Emily has superseded that,” commented King. “She never settles for where she is at and she hasn’t in any way stopped her progression.”

Part of that consistent progression that has shown up in Paffhausen’s play this season lies within her maturity as a player and her building a greater understanding of the strategy behind the game. In the past when she may have tried to hit a shot with maximum strength, now her approach is to play the ball smarter and use an educated analysis of her opponent’s tendencies to set her up in prime positioning.

“I think I am a smarter player than I was earlier in my career,” Paffhausen said. “I’ve learned to keep my focus and mental game strong.”

With the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships on the horizon this weekend and signifying the conclusion to Paffhausen’s career, the role she has adopted as captain came naturally and has been a crucial one in terms of keeping motivation high throughout her team.

“Emily has stayed positive through everything this season,” King said. “She hasn’t missed a practice or a workout.

She makes it a priority and has taken every task we have given her to heart. It is hard to find someone like that at this level.”

Paffhausen credits her parents for equipping her with her positive mindset, as they have encouraged and supported her for her entire life. “My parents have been my biggest role models, and especially my mom with her career as a teacher,” Paffhausen said. “My dad has a flexible job, and both my parents have always been there to come to my games.”

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AN OPEN LETTER TO LOIS While Paffhausen’s playing career will come to a close this weekend, the one she has in front of her is a limitlessly bright one. She is on her way to pursuing her passions of teaching and coaching tennis, and is set to carry on a career of teaching in Montana that spans back to her great grandmother who taught in Huntley.

“Emily is from a solid family, and her family means a tremendous amount to her,” Woodard said. “She has always been very close to her family and respected them, and those are qualities I don’t always see in young people today.”

It is these qualities that Lois Woodard has always admired in Emily Paffhausen, and while she may not truly understand exactly how she has shaped the life of the Yellowjacket standout, the results she has witnessed have given her a sense of fulfillment.

When Paffhausen graduated from high school, her mother Camy came to Woodard and told her that one day, when she could do it without crying, she would scribe a letter to the coach explaining to her how she changed Emily’s life.

“I haven’t gotten that letter yet, but I’ve wanted it because I want to know what I did,” Woodard said.

The day may never come when Camy Paffhausen can compose that token of appreciation without watery eyes.

But after all the tears of frustration and triumph that have gone into making Emily into the incredible person that she has become, perhaps it would be a fitting conclusion if her mother’s tears of joy signify her thanks to Lois.

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Around the Horn: MSUB Softball senior feature story series – Aubrey Conceicao, 2B April 29, 2015 MSUB SPORTS – Meet halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego and you’ll find yourself in the Southern California town of Temecula. Located roughly 90 minutes north of the border to Mexico, its winding dirt roads extend far into the distance and fresh grapes are in abundance in what is referred to often as wine country.

More than a decade ago, twin brothers Brett and Bryant Conceicao were growing up in their parents’ tract home, experimenting with whatever sports they could and playing in the dirt every opportunity they got.

Following close behind was their little sister Aubrey Conceicao, who only ever wanted to do what her brothers did and have fun alongside them. Soccer and tee ball were there for Conceicao from as early an age as she can remember, but she also got involved in horseback riding until a broken pinky prevented her from gripping a saddle properly.

When her requests to her father Mike of creating a girls’ football league so that she could play too fell through, she settled for a Honda XR70 dirt bike so she could keep up with her brothers. When her brother suffered injuries in a crash, it was the end of the dirt bike line as Aubrey’s mother Linda Conceicao asserted her authority.

“After that crash my mom said we weren’t allowed to ride anymore,” Conceicao said. “I just stuck with softball and soccer as my main two sports from there.”

Conceicao’s days of horse showing and dirt bike riding with the boys had come to an end, but she was about to embark on a whole new career and a fresh start with softball.

Since then, she has put together one of the most memorable careers in Montana State University Billings softball history, and is still composing her final chapter as she leads the Yellowjackets into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships this weekend.

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STARTING AT FIRST, MOVING TO SECOND Conceicao began playing travel softball when she was 12, electing to explore a new sport and commit to it instead of pursuing her soccer career. Her father had been her coach every step of the way and her mother had been at every practice from tee ball through travel ball.

“When I got older my dad let the other coaches take over,” Conceicao said. “Then they became the team parents. They have always been so supportive. We would have tournaments every weekend and they would drive me everywhere.”

As she learned the fundamentals of the game, Conceicao knew that if she wanted to differentiate herself and excel, that she would have to commit to her travel ball team and be willing to find the position that fit her best.

For the first few seasons, Conceicao started in the outfield and experimented at first base. She built a strong skill set and felt herself progressing, but it was during her 14-year-old season when she remembered the first jolt of energy that ignited her passion in the game.

“I had a coach named Brian Turang who came in for one season and moved me to second base,” Conceicao said. “He started teaching us some really cool things, and it sparked my interest for the game.”

Turang, who played 78 games with the Seattle Mariners during the 1993-94 seasons, saw something in Conceicao that no one else had to that point. The ex-Major League Baseball infielder brought Conceicao’s potential to the surface, albeit only temporarily as she shifted back into the outfield the following season.

When her senior teammate at Great Oak High School tore her ACL, the freshman Conceicao took over at first base and became a fixture over the next four seasons. By the time Conceicao reached her senior year, she had her choices for college narrowed down to schools in San Francisco, Hawaii, and Billings.

“I had three schools looking at me, but when I went on a visit to MSUB I became more interested,” Conceicao said. “I was more sold on the team and the camaraderie compared with the other schools that I looked at.”

During Conceicao’s recruiting visit to MSUB, she was asked to slide over and play second base. While Conceicao had grown comfortable at first base and running down balls in the outfield, she remembered the excitement she got out of the position during her brief stint there under Turang’s guidance.

“It was definitely a learning curve for me my freshman year learning the ins and outs of second base,” Conceicao said. “Jenna VanEykeren was a senior who helped me a lot. I definitely tried to follow in her footsteps.”

TOUGHEST TO STRIKE OUT The move to second base ended up being a natural fit for Conceicao, as she embraced her new position and had no problem handling the challenge of playing a middle infield spot.

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“Aubrey was so successful because she asked so many good questions and was eager to learn,” said MSUB head coach Lisa Allen. “Jenna did a really good job of mentoring Aubrey in that position, and they worked well together. She helped Aubrey get comfortable at second and to know where she needed to be on every play.”

While Conceicao played in just 10 games as a freshman behind VanEykeren, her .364 batting average (8-for-22) hinted that she was about to become a cornerstone in MSUB’s lineup over the next four seasons.

Four hundred at-bats later, and Conceicao holds the third-highest career batting average in MSUB history at .367, and her 153 hits are eighth-most in Yellowjacket history.

As a sophomore in 2013 not only did Conceicao hit .336 with two home runs and 26 RBIs, but she struck out just one time in 135 plate appearances. That mark led all of the NCAA Division II, as she was honored with the NCAA’s Toughest to Strike Out award.

“I hadn’t realized she had only struck out once until it was brought up, and I don’t think Aubrey even knew,” Allen said. “She is still such a tough person to get out, and when she strikes out it’s a surprise. She battles so well and is good at putting the ball into play.”

Entering this week’s GNAC tournament, Conceicao has struck out just 15 total times in 465 career plate appearances for the Yellowjackets, a figure that averages out to one strikeout every 31 times to bat.

Conceicao’s toughness at the plate is a trait she developed as a child, as she learned how to face adversity through her family growing up. When Aubrey was in fifth grade, her mother Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“That was hard to go through as a kid,” Aubrey said. “Looking back it is kind of fuzzy and it was hard for me to fully understand what was going on. Even now I go with my mom to appointments for checkups and support her.”

Linda is now cancer free, as the support she received from her daughter and family helped her overcome the disease.

BECOMING SAAC PRESIDENT With as much as Conceicao has contributed to the MSUB softball program on the field, it’s difficult to find a player who has shown more dedication to the success of her team as a whole. That being said, it has always been within Conceicao’s nature to go the extra mile, and put forth a further effort to better herself and those around her.

In her very first season with the ‘Jackets, Conceicao was selected to represent her team on MSUB’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which is an organization that serves as the liaison between student-athletes and students on campus.

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Each team at MSUB has representatives on SAAC, with one student-athlete serving as president of the organization and representing the school as a whole for conference-wide and regional SAAC meetings.

Conceicao was quickly interested in the creative community service projects that SAAC is tasked with developing, as she helped coordinate canned food drives at home basketball games. As a junior last year, Conceicao had the opportunity to travel to the GNAC SAAC retreat in Burnaby, British Columbia, convening with SAAC representatives from the other nine schools in the conference and brainstorming ideas for projects at their schools.

This year, Conceicao has served as the president of SAAC at MSUB, a role she has taken in stride but one she admits pushed her outside of her comfort zone. “Never in a million years did I ever think I would be president of SAAC,” Conceicao said with a smile. “It has definitely pushed me out and taught me how to speak in public, and it has taught me a lot of life lessons.”

Through her leadership role, Conceicao spoke this year at the MSUB Scholarship Dinner Auction in the fall and also at the Yellowjacket Hall of Fame and Distinction induction ceremony in February. Her considerate words provided audiences with a first-hand perspective of the importance of being a student-athlete, and her dedication to her position as president has made her a role model for teammates and fellow student-athletes alike to aspire to follow.

“Aubrey has shown that you can be a good student, a leader on the field, a SAAC president, and be involved in many community events all while keeping a good GPA,” Allen commented. “Without SAAC and everything she is involved with, she might not be the confident, humble, and resilient person that she is today.”

Maintaining a 3.40 grade point average while studying psychiatric rehabilitation, Conceicao was recently inducted into MSUB’s Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society, which recognizes students who participate in a varsity sport and maintain a 3.40 cumulative GPA. She was also picked as an academic all-GNAC honoree for the third year in a row this season.

“The leadership shown by Aubrey through SAAC over the past four years is a true testament to what being a Yellowjacket is all about,” commented MSUB athletic director and SAAC adviser Krista Montague. “It has been a pleasure watching Aubrey excel on the field, within the classroom, and among her peers as a leader of SAAC. We want to sincerely thank her for her dedication to the overall student-athlete experience, and we will miss her leadership among the entire university. She is a true role model and no doubt has made a positive impact on those around her.”

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AROUND THE HORN “She’s the quiet storm. She’s always there, and you never hear her, but she’s always just doing what she needs to do.” – MSUB head coach Lisa Allen on senior second baseman Aubrey Conceicao As Conceicao prepares to lead the Yellowjackets into the GNAC Championships, she has all of the tools possessed by a humble and respected leader. She commands the respect of her teammates by setting a prime example, whether it be snagging ground balls or doing her part academically as she pursues her degree.

As a wide-eyed freshman in 2012, Conceicao looked on as the Yellowjackets stormed to the GNAC regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA West Region Championships. “When we were freshmen, we had a big group of seniors who had a big impact on us,” Conceicao remembered. “We are hoping to have the same impact on our underclassmen.”

Now back in the postseason, it is Conceicao’s turn along with her fellow seniors to put on display what they have learned growing together over the past four seasons.

Beside her is Jessica Campbell, the Montana native who Conceicao met on her recruiting visit and spent her freshman year rooming with, and fellow pitcher Mary Grace Bywater who she has lived with the last two years.

In the circle is first-team all-GNAC pitcher Jessyka MacDonald, who has comfortably pitched to contact knowing Conceicao’s capabilities of handling anything hit in her direction.

To her left is Emily Osborn, the first baseman who has caught more throws from Conceicao than any other through her four years.

Behind the plate is catcher Brittney Sanders, whose voice Conceicao could recognize anywhere after countless times hearing it bark out defensive instructions and situations.

Up the middle is Taylor Hoke, the sure-handed shortstop who has grown into the GNAC Player of the Year, and who Conceicao has turned countless double plays with.

And in the dugout, looking on just as Conceicao did as a freshman, is second baseman Myrissa Prince. Whether she knows it or not, there is a lot of Aubrey Conceicao in her, and she represents the next generation of Yellowjacket elite who this year’s one-of-a-kind class will pass the torch on to next.

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Muller MSUB’s career ace on the mound May 3, 2015 Reaching the end of the greatest pitching career in MSUB baseball history, senior Brady Muller becomes the GNAC career starts leader and pitches with unmatched competitiveness for the Yellowjackets.

MSUB SPORTS – Pitching for the Billings Scarlets as a freshman in high school, Brady Muller first recognized that he had a gift within his left arm.

In a tournament against the legion team from Bozeman, Mont., the 15-year-old Muller worked a no-hitter into the seventh inning before surrendering a single and being pulled from the game. He had baffled Bozeman’s 17 and 18-year-old hitters through the first six frames, and it was then that Muller knew his pitching potential could take him somewhere.

On Saturday, that somewhere that Muller landed was on the mound at the Saint Martin’s baseball field as he started Game 1 of a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series for the Montana State University Billings baseball team.

It was the 41st career start for the Billings West High School product, more than any player in the history of the GNAC as he set a new standard for pitchers in the conference. It was also one of the best starts ever by a Yellowjacket, as Muller threw a 9-inning complete game and did not allow an earned run while striking out six to set the tone in a record-breaking pitching series for the Yellowjackets.

When Muller next takes the mound, the 42nd start will be arguably the most important of his career. The Yellowjackets’ ace will be on the hill at Dehler Park in Billings next week, as MSUB hosts the 2015 GNAC Championships and serves as the No. 1 seed after clinching the regular-season title on Saturday.

In his back pocket, Muller will have the third-most strikeouts (236), fourth-most innings pitched (272 1/3) and fourth-most wins (20) in conference history.

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What stands out beyond the historic numbers however, is the unmatched competitiveness Muller has put on display through his four years as a Yellowjacket. Time and time again Muller has taken the ball for his turn in the rotation, and the result has been the greatest pitching career in MSUB history unfolding over the past four seasons.

BAND OF BROTHERS Muller grew up in Billings the middle child of Dan and Sheri Muller, playing any sport that involved a ball with his brothers Brian and Daine. Muller played against Brian in little league, before the two spent time as teammates when they reached the age of legion baseball. In Muller’s junior year at West High, all three of the Mullers teamed up on the Golden Bears’ basketball team and were in the starting rotation.

“Ever since I was old enough to walk my parents had us playing sports,” Muller said. “I grew up in an athletic family and there was always competition. My brothers and I always pushed each other.”

Despite being a natural southpaw, Muller got started on the diamond playing catcher as a little leaguer. “I didn’t know any better at the time,” Muller said regarding the rarity of a left-hander suiting up in catcher’s gear. “It was hard to find a left-handed catcher’s glove.”

Muller didn’t give up the pads until eighth grade, when he turned his focus solely towards pitching. Throughout legion ball in high school, Muller was found in right field when he wasn’t on the mound as he stayed involved in every game.

The result of the competitiveness Muller brought to the diamond was made evident by the Scarlets’ three state championship titles in 2008, ’09 and ’11. During his junior season, the success Muller was having while traveling across the Pacific Northwest and facing teams throughout the region pushed him to start thinking about carrying on with his baseball career into college.

“My junior season is when I really considered playing at the next level,” Muller said. “The success I was having in legion ball proved to me I could compete.”

Among the competition Muller faced throughout his legion career were several of his soon-to-be teammates, as he took on the likes of Brody Miller, Blake Loran and Luke Reinschmidt.

In the state championship game Muller’s senior year, he struck out Reinschmidt looking with a pair of curve balls. “He threw me two nasty curveballs, and then on a fastball he struck me out,” Reinschmidt said. “My junior year we split the season series with his team but we never beat Brady. We mess around with it now and he always jokes how he struck me out to get his ring.”

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MULLER TO MSUB “The success Coach Bishop had at Miles City showed me that he knew what it took to win. I could tell he was going to turn the program around and help out around here.” – Brady Muller on MSUB head coach Rob Bishop and why he chose to become a Yellowjacket.

As Muller considered whether or not to pursue the junior college route, academics came to the forefront of his mind as he ultimately elected to remain close to home and attend MSUB. “I didn’t want to take a chance on credits not transferring after my first two years, so I decided not to go that route,” Muller said. “I thought I’d stay here and that the support of the local Billings community would help out.”

Unsure of whether or not he could compete as a freshman at MSUB, Muller clicked with fellow freshman and pitcher Lee Busto in their first season as Yellowjackets.

“Brady didn’t talk much, he was pretty quiet,” Busto said regarding his first impressions of Muller. “Once you got to know him though, he was almost the opposite of that. When he gets excited he almost won’t stop talking to you.”

Any doubt was lifted from Muller’s mind after his first career start for MSUB, as he struck out five and allowed just two runs in six innings to push the ‘Jackets to a 7-2 win over Colorado State-Pueblo on Feb. 19, 2012. His stellar freshman season was highlighted by an 8 2/3-inning shutout performance against Northwest Nazarene, during which he struck out seven and allowed just four hits and hinted that he was about to become a fixture in MSUB’s rotation.

“In our rotation beginning his freshman year, Brady was as good as anybody in our league,” commented MSUB head coach Rob Bishop. “He was flying under the radar a little bit during high school, and we felt like he was a really good athlete who could develop as a pitcher.”

Bishop’s prediction was right on the spot, as Muller progressed into a first-team all-GNAC pitcher his sophomore season with three complete games, a 3.47 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings pitched.

Despite facing injuries in his junior season, Muller still didn’t miss a turn in the rotation and struck out 36 while only walking a dozen a season ago. Now a senior, he has responded stronger than ever and is having one of the best single seasons in program history.

With one more guaranteed start, Muller is leading the GNAC in strikeouts (74), is tied for second in wins (6), and is fifth in innings pitched (73). With only 25 walks on the season, Muller holds a 3-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Muller has also been excellent defensively for MSUB, making just four errors in 83 chances fielding through his four seasons.

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“First of all, he is just a competitive kid who has great natural movement and a great feel for his secondary pitches,” Bishop said. “If you look at his overall approach, you’ll see that he is a strike thrower, almost to a fault sometimes.”

“We have always been able to depend on Brady,” Busto said. “When you give him the ball you always know he’s going to get you deep into the game. He has proved that with every start.”

Muller credits his early development as a pitcher to one of his father’s friends, Tom Schaler. “He was a big influence on me and was there whenever I had questions growing up,” Muller said. “More than anything he showed me sound pitching mechanics.”

The curveballs Muller eventually used to baffle Reinschmidt as a high school senior were not developed at a young age, as Schaler urged Muller to stick with fastballs and changeups as a young pitcher. “It wasn’t until I was older that he allowed me to throw a curveball on a more consistent basis,” Muller said.

The patience Schaler helped instill paid off, as Muller has used his curve to strike out more batters than anyone in MSUB history.

THE YELLOWJACKETS’ WARRIOR “He has a warrior mentality and is a real competitor. He never gives up and competes on every pitch. That really wears off on me.” – Lee Busto on Brady Muller.

The Yellowjackets entered last week’s regular-season finale against Saint Martin’s tied with Western Oregon for first place in the GNAC standings. The Wolves held the tiebreaker over the ‘Jackets however, meaning MSUB had to win one more game than WOU in order to clinch the regular season title and hosting rights for the GNAC Championships.

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With no control over the outcome of the series in Monmouth, Ore., between WOU and Northwest Nazarene, all MSUB could do was take care of business and win its games against the Saints. Muller’s gem in Game 1 set the tone for the weekend, and pushed MSUB to its sixth straight conference series win and second series sweep of the season.

“I don’t like losing, and we knew it was possible for us to have success this year as long as we competed every game,” Muller said. “If you give games away it will cost you at the end of the season. That was the biggest thing last year, we just couldn’t finish games.”

After missing out on the GNAC Championships a season ago, it will be Muller’s turn again in the rotation this week after MSUB snapped Western Oregon’s 13-year run as GNAC regular-season champions.

LASTING LEGACY While Muller’s standout career has established him as one of the alltime greats, he has contributed much more to the Yellowjacket program than what he has accomplished on the field. He was selected to the GNAC academic all-conference team for the third year in a row, and was a repeat honoree at MSUB’s Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society ceremony earlier this spring.

Muller carries a 3.42 grade point average and is completing his degree in business management.

“Brady is really together academically, and has held a job most of the last couple of years while playing,” Bishop said. “I have no doubt that whatever he chooses to do with his degree he will be successful.”

The injuries Muller battled through as a junior motivated him to come back stronger than ever his senior season, as every workout and weight lifting session during the offseason was focused towards getting him healthy for his final season.

“It motivated me a lot to do what it took to get healthy and get stronger,” Muller said regarding his injury. “My personal goals have been to set the tone early and go deep into games so our relievers don’t get used up very much. Every time I’m on the mound I want to win and I’ll do whatever it takes to do that.”

What stands out to Bishop most in terms of Muller’s legacy is his fearless approach on the mound, as he aggressively attacks hitters and takes command. “If I could, I would teach Brady’s aggressiveness in the strike zone to every kid I have,” Bishop said. “He never pitches out of fear. He’s the aggressor, the one with the ball forcing the action.”

Considering the Yellowjackets have won more games with Muller on the mound than anybody else, it’s safe to assume that when he takes the biggest stage of his career this week at home they’ll be favored to win one more behind MSUB’s career ace.

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Miller’s career a cornerstone for Yellowjacket Baseball May 6, 2015 Working on one of the greatest careers in GNAC history, MSUB senior second baseman Brody Miller’s four years will culminate this weekend as the ‘Jackets host the conference championship tournament at Dehler Park.

MSUB SPORTS – When Rob Bishop was hired as the head baseball coach at Montana State University Billings on August 20, 2010, he had a mighty task in front of him. The 10-year coaching veteran at Miles Community College in Miles City, Mont., carried with him a record of 414-169, proof of the winning tradition he had established as a college baseball coach.

The Yellowjacket program he inherited had won just 11 of 46 games during the 2010 season, and had not had a winning season since being reintroduced to the university beginning in 2006.

Bishop knew that he needed a core recruiting class and cornerstone players that he could build a program around from the ground up.

In his final year at Miles City, a 16-year-old playing in the state tournament caught Bishop’s eye and immediately moved to the front of his short list for the type of player he was looking for.

It was Brody Miller, the second baseman for the Missoula Mavericks who stood out most to Bishop. The lightning-quick bat speed and surprising power for a high-schooler who stood just 5-foot-8 is what impressed Bishop the most, as he saw the potential for Miller to become a fixture in MSUB’s lineup for years to come.

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Making contact with Miller, it was Bishop’s guarantee that he could start every game for four seasons and be a building block for the program that ultimately sold MSUB to Miller.

In his first season, Bishop led the Yellowjackets to 18 wins in 2011, a step in the right direction as he waited for the arrival of Miller and his first recruiting class for the 2012 season. He knew Miller had a chance to be an allGreat Northwest Athletic Conference player by his sophomore season, and that somewhere on the horizon was a conference championship.

What Bishop could not predict was that Miller would bat north of .350, hit 26 home runs in his career and record the third-highest hit total in GNAC history. That he would be named the GNAC Player of the Year as a junior and become the first All-American in MSUB history. That he would save his greatest season for his senior year, during which he has been named the GNAC Player of the Year again and is leading the league in home runs (14) and RBIs (59). That he would leap on top of a dogpile behind the pitcher’s mound at Saint Martin’s as the Yellowjackets won the GNAC regular season title and earned hosting rights for the conference championships.

That he would go down as the greatest player in MSUB history and one of the two or three best to ever set foot on a GNAC baseball diamond.

NOT IN THE HOUSE “I was sitting in my chair, and Brod was pitching to me from across the living room,” Bill Miller said with a chuckle as he recalled the earliest games of catch between him and his son he could remember. “His mother gave us a lecture about playing in the house. He and I got into a little bit of trouble that day.”

It may have been the last time Miller and his father played ball together in the house, but from the early throws Bill received from his son he could tell there was something special about Brody.

Sporting a Ken Griffey Jr. model baseball glove, Brody played on his father’s Mount Sentinel South Side Little League team which twice advanced to regional tournaments. It was Bill’s rule that everybody on the team had to play every position on the field, as Brody and his teammates all had the chance to test their skills all over the diamond.

“Brody was always very coachable, and was always committed to the game,” Bill said. “He was always very confident, and he had that competitive edge spirit at a young age.”

In 2006, Miller’s Little League team met a squad from Oregon in the regional tournament at San Bernardino, Calif. Miller ended a game by being tagged out at home plate by a young Trevor Nix, who went on to lead Murrayhill to the Little League World Series.

As Miller made the transition from the 60-foot base paths and 200-foot fences onto the 90-foot diamond as a 13-year-old, his biggest progression as a player was still in front of him.

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CRAFTING THE PERFECT SWING It didn’t take long for Miller to make an impression at the American Legion level, as he suited up for the Missoula Mavericks early as an eighth grader. Towards the end of his first season, he was promoted from the Single A team to the Double A squad, where he first joined head coach Brent Hathaway.

“I can still remember in his first at bat he flied out to the warning track probably 375-380 feet away,” Hathaway said.

“I told him, ‘we play in big parks here, you’ll have to learn how to hit line drives because you’re not going to be hitting a lot of balls out.’ Now he owns our program’s home runs record. You couldn’t tell him that he couldn’t do something, because that motivated him to do it more.”

mately defy Hathaway’s early skepticism.

Every Sunday Miller and his father would make the threehour drive from Missoula to Three Forks, Mont., seeking the indoor batting cage inside a warehouse next to the legion field. It was there that Miller worked with Duwayne Scott, perfecting every aspect of a swing that would ulti-

“I’ve had lots of great hitting coaches, but Duwayne really simplified things for me,” Miller said. “He was so easy to work with, and I still call him sometimes and just describe what I’m feeling in my swing over the phone to him. He knows my swing really well and it’s easy to fix things.”

Miller has always hit with a wood bat, electing only to switch to metal for games. A pair of lines that Bill taped onto a Louisville Slugger served as Brody’s guide to learning the sweet spot. “When I used to hit in batting practice I had to hit every ball between those lines,” said Miller.

By the time he reached his final season of legion ball, not only had Miller proven Hathaway wrong, but he had set career records in many offensive categories including home runs with 40. “Brody rolled out of bed knowing how to hit, and he has worked awfully hard at perfecting it,” Hathaway said. “His father has been a big influence in terms of his growth as a baseball player.”

CAREER FOR THE AGES “I’ve seen a lot of players where the word ‘potential’ pops up. All that means is that they haven’t done it yet. Brody had that potential, but what has pushed him ahead of a lot of other players is the drive that he has to be special. I don’t know if you could predict that he would do the things he’s done, but now that he’s done it, it doesn’t surprise me.” – Brent Hathaway on the career of Brody Miller.

Having played with older kids his entire life, Miller felt comfortable from the start when he first suited up for the Yellowjackets as a freshman in 2012. He was used to starting and playing a key role, but the transition to the college game was difficult even for the young star that Miller had developed into.

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Over his first eight games, Miller batted .143 and had more strikeouts than hits. The sluggish start did not discourage him or Bishop, as the new Yellowjacket skipper wisely stuck with Miller as he remembered his promise that he would start every game he played.

Beginning with a 4-for-5 breakout against Saint Martin’s, Miller batted .317 the rest of the season as he started all 46 games for MSUB. There was no hangover for Miller as a sophomore, as he led the team in hitting at .350 and upped his power numbers with four home runs, nine doubles and 41 RBIs. MSUB had back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in program history, and Miller was tabbed as a second-team all-GNAC pick.

“I knew he was ready to hit, and it was just a matter of how he would respond to being a college student and handling adversity,” Bishop said. “He understood that we would be fighting an uphill battle for the first couple of years and that we had a long way to go. He was bought in the whole way and understood the big picture. We were basically building our program from the bottom up, and it has paid off.”

As Bishop watched the walls of his program develop through Miller and other local recruits like Brady Muller and Colter Sternhagen, it was in 2014 when it became clear that MSUB’s second baseman was a cut above the rest.

Finishing the year batting .392, Miller homered six times, added 16 doubles and drove in 34 while getting on base at an incredible clip of .498. He was selected as the GNAC Player of the Year, and became the first All-American in MSUB baseball history as he was a third-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association pick and an honorable mention Daktronics selection.

While the awards were well-deserved and unprecedented for the ‘Jackets, Miller knew things still had to get better. MSUB missed out on the GNAC Championships by one game, finishing the conference season in fourth place. “Coming here and struggling was frustrating,” Miller said after carrying a 66-11 record from his senior year into his collegiate career. “I knew I had to trust in Coach Bishop and remember that every year is new and that we would get better and better. I think the program is on the right track now.”

Playing with the title of GNAC Player of the Year and All-American on his back has not slowed Miller down through his senior campaign, as he is having the finest season of his career. Miller leads the GNAC in home runs (14) and RBIs (59), and is batting .360 with 68 hits and 18 doubles. He was unanimously picked by the conference’s coaches as the Player of the Year, becoming the second in conference history to win the honor twice.

He has moved into the top-5 in almost every major GNAC career category. Entering the GNAC Championships, Miller is the alltime leader in walks (112), ranks No. 2 in assists (484), total bases (382) and starts (191), No. 3 in hits (253), home runs (26) and RBIs (165), No. 5 in doubles (49), at bats (702), and games played (191), and No. 7 in runs scored (139).

“Coming in I felt like Brody had the talent to be a first-team guy, but anything beyond that was up to him,” Bishop said. “What has come late is the power, and that has made a difference. It is hard to project that a kid who weighed 165 pounds in high school would hit 26 home runs in his career and 18 doubles this season alone.”

“His mother, sister, and myself are just so proud of him,” Bill said when asked how he reacted to being told his son is the greatest player in school history and one of the best-ever in the GNAC. “He has gone above and beyond any expectation I could have ever had from raising a son. He is just a top notch kid in my book.”

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In Miller’s mind, the confidence to produce at an unprecedented clip has always been there. Never did it show more than when he recorded arguably the greatest four-game series in GNAC history, during which he homered four times, hit two grand slams, and drove in 14 runs in a 3-1 series win over Central Washington earlier this season.

“I haven’t really thought about it that much,” Miller said regarding his historic career. “The main reason why is that we still have games left to play. I am focused on helping our team win the tournament this weekend. Maybe it will all sink in after that, but right now all I am thinking about is winning this weekend.”

TRANSFORMING A PROGRAM When Bishop leads his Yellowjackets onto the field at Dehler Park Thursday, he will do so with the affirmation that the pieces he has put in place have begun a new mentality and tradition within MSUB baseball and MSUB athletics.

As a coach, understanding that the process of building a winning program was going to take time was an easy concept to grasp. To find players who adopt that mindset as easily as Miller has is another story. He will make his 192nd career start on Thursday, the second-most in conference history as he fulfills the proposal that Bishop offered to him four years ago.

“Brody has done two big things,” Bishop said. “He has made the culture for our hitters one such that they take extra hitting every day. We have 15 hitters and it is optional, but there are never 12 or 13 guys there. There are 15.

“Secondly, winning as a team is more important to Brody than anything else,” Bishop continued. “If he is 0-for-4 and we win, you won’t see him sulking in the dugout. He wants to win first, and play well second.”

When Miller and the ‘Jackets stormed into a dogpile at Saint Martin’s last week, Miller finally had the championship that he had been working towards since debuting for MSUB in 2012. “My goal has been to win a championship the whole time,” Miller said. “It has been great coming here and buying into what Coach has said and finally ending up with a championship this season. I hope that this program keeps going up and up after I leave.”

Brody Miller high fives MSUB head coach Rob Bishop (26) after hitting his 26th, and final career home run, a moment perfectly embodying what Miller has meant to the program over his incredible four-year career.

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FINDING BASEBALLS Bill still remembers Brody’s first home run, which came during his Little League days as a 9-year-old. With his natural instinct as a parent guiding him, he quickly tracked down the baseball and took it home as a souvenir. It was the start to what has become an immaculate treasure hunt, as Bill has kept almost every home run ball his son has ever hit.

“I thought I would have 10 to 20 balls or so, and I started putting them into these plastic display cubes,” Bill said regarding Brody’s home runs. “Now I think I have more than 10 dozen of them, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with them all.”

When considering his next step after college, Miller has 10 dozen reasons to have an opportunity to be drafted in Major League Baseball’s June amateur player draft. It is a career path Miller has discussed non-stop with his father, and all he is hoping for is an opportunity to showcase his talents.

“All I’m hoping for is a chance to prove myself,” Miller said. “That’s pretty much what I’ve had to do whenever I have started somewhere new, whether it was Little League, legion, or MSUB. I have been fortunate enough to have Coach Hathaway and Coach Bishop give me a chance, and all I want is an opportunity at the next level.”

When Bill makes the five-hour drive from Missoula to Billings Thursday morning to watch his son do what he does best one final time, he will park his white pickup truck in his normal spot beyond the right-field wall in the parking lot at Dehler Park.

“I always park my truck to the left of the scoreboard, and Brody has always said, ‘hey I might hit it!” said Bill, whose son wears No. 7 in honor of his own playing days in which his teammates simply called him, ‘seven’. “I respond with, ‘go ahead, I will get it fixed!’”

It is one target Miller hasn’t hit to this point in his career, but in his final collegiate games this weekend, perhaps he will make his father’s hunt for his final home run ball an easy one and put it right in the bed of his truck.

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