Chuck Bandel

1 week ago | vp-mi.com | Chuck Bandel

The 2025 Class B boys track and field championships quickly became the Trizten Avila show. To say Avila dominated the men’s sprints could be the understatement of the sports year. Avila won the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter sprints this past Friday and Saturday at Missoula County Public Schools stadium and set a new Class B state record along the way. With a packed house looking on, Avila broke the existing 200-meter record of 22.03 when the Superior senior broke the tape at the 21.993 mark.

1 week ago | vp-mi.com | Chuck Bandel

Noxon senior Ricky Williams has boldly gone where no one, at least no Montana Class C High School high jumper, has ever gone. Williams saved the best for last in the last track and field meet of his high school career and in the process broke a 48-year-old state record when he cleared the high jump bar at 6-9 1/2 inches during this past weekend’s Class C State Track and Field championship in Missoula.

1 week ago | vp-mi.com | Chuck Bandel

What turned out to be the final out of the season for the Thompson Falls-Noxon fastpitch softball season was in a way emblematic of the 2025 season. Trailing 7-5 to Huntley Project in the consolation round of the State B-C championships in Glasgow this past Friday, Lady Hawks’ right fielder Sam Hertel was at the plate. On third base was Neveah Christensen, a student at Noxon, who singled in the top of the seventh, advanced to second on a passed ball and reached third on a ground out.

1 week ago | vp-mi.com | Chuck Bandel

There is a part of sports no one likes to deal with, but it is a factor almost every year on almost every team. I know of what I speak on this issue, been there, done that. I’m talking about injuries. Injuries as a variation of the saying goes, “happen”. They can be minor, nagging issues that cause temporary lineup changes, or major, devastating happenings that can derail, even wreck a season. And no team is immune, particularly of the past few years, Hot Springs High.

1 week ago | vp-mi.com | Chuck Bandel

It was a record-breaking day for two local track and field seniors at the Class B State High School championships this past weekend in Missoula. The record-shattering performances began Friday when Noxon’s Ricky Williams broke the existing state Class B high jump record, eclipsing the 48-year-old record by one-half inch. Saturday, Superior senior Trizten Avila, who won all three sprint titles (100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter), topped by his record-breaking performance in the 200-meter event.