The Jefferson High School cross country teams competed at Red Lodge last Saturday, leaving early in the morning to compete on a course they have not seen before. The course is laid out around the Red Lodge Airport so you can bet it is flat, not what you would think of a course in Red Lodge, but a nice layout that could be viewed most all the way. A head wind greeted the “hoofers” about half the course and that kept the times down a little but otherwise it was a great day to get in a meet.
Delaney Stearns took 6th with a time of 22:50, Kinsey Kirsch 25:52, Becca Nelson 26:04, Austie May 27:08, Hailee Stiles 28:54, Bella Abbott 30:31. Logan Gillmore took 6th in the boys race in 19:31, Logan Horning 20:32, Dylan Mikesell 21:03, Mike Emter 22:01, Christian Davis 23:16, Christian Gillmore 23:17.
The Panthers will host their second meet of the season this Saturday, The course will be laid out the same as before, finishing at Veterans Park. Start time for the first race is 9:30 a.m.
The Panther volleyball teams continue to do well.
The Manhattan Tigers were in Boulder on Thursday night. Manhattan has a young team with only one senior, but they are a strong team that can’t be overlooked. The C teams started it off with the Panthers taking the win 25-18, 25-13, 15-11.
Next up were the JV teams and the Panthers remained perfect on the year with a 25-15, 25-19, 15-12 win. Manhattan started off with a 4-2 run, but the Panthers settled down and came back with kills by Rachel Van Blaricom and Dakota Edmisten to go with a 7-0 run, 9-4.
A net serve broke the run and the Tigers came back with 5 straight points to tie the game at 9. Just when it looked like the Tigers were going to tie the game at 12, a tip by Van Blaricom changed the flow and the Panthers went on a 3-0 run that would prove to be the start of a run that would raise the Panther lead.
Grace Alexander, who digs out almost everything sent her way, put over a kill to put the Panthers up 22-16 and they went on to win 25-17. The second set stayed close most of the way, and a sneak kill by Sam Zody gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead, Edmisten put down a kill to keep the Panthers up 3-2, but then Manhattan got the flow going and took a 9-6 lead before the Panthers could answer. A great dig by Alexander started a 6-0 run that put the Panthers up 12-9, and Emma McCauley kept the Panthers in the win mode with a kill, Manhattan was not ready to give up yet and came back to pull to within one 23-22. The last two points went to the Panthers to take the win 25-22.
A Hope Dobyns block started the third set, the teams stayed close, tied at 11 on an Abbie Youde kill before the Panthers took control. McCauley served an ace and another kill by Youde gave the Panthers a 25-19 win. The Panthers are 4-0 now and lead District 5B close to mid-way into the season.
Zody led the Panthers with 13 digs, with 12 by Grace Alexander. Zody also led in assists with 15 and Maddie Leiva with 13. Edmisten powered over a team high 14 kills, and Van Blaricom 7 with. Dobyns had 3 blocks and Youde finished with 2 aces.
This week the volleyball teams travels to Three Forks on Thursday. The C teams play at 4 p.m., and the JV and varsity follow 20 minutes after each match ends. The JV and varsity teams will be in Whitehall on Tuesday, Sept. 29, JV starts at 4 p.m., and varsity follows 20 minutes after the JV match is over.
The Panther football team had a disappointing loss last Friday night on the JHS field as Sweet Grass County squeaked out a conference win 16-15.
The Herders got on the scoreboard first with a field goal. Joey Visser returned a Herder punt 37 yards to the 19, and it looked like the Panthers were going to score, but one of their passes was intercepted by the Herders deep in Panther territory on the 4 yard line. The panthers put two points on the board when they caught a Herder runner in the end zone, 2-3 with 3:13 left in the first. Visser put the Panthers up 8-3 with a 57 yard run with 2:05 left in the half, and a PAT by Caleb Smartnick put the Panthers up 9-3.
The lead was short lived — 13 seconds — as Big Timber took the Panther kickoff all the way for a touchdown, a PAT good made it 9-10 and that was the score at the half.
The Herders took a 16-9 lead with 8:01 left and were moving again when Tyler Harrington intercepted a pass. That gave the Panthers the ball. A long pass from Braden Morris to Tyler Harrington put the ball on the
Herder third yard line. A pass to Jake Genger was no good, a pass to Tom Meyer for a touchdown. The snap to the holder for the PAT did not connect and the Herders held on for a 16-15 lead with 4:26 left in the game. An on-sides kick was picked up by the Herders. It looked good for the Panthers to get the ball back with the Herders looking at 4th and 2 at the 45, but they ran for first down and then took advantage of the clock and held on for the 16-15 win. A disappointing loss for the Panthers in their first home game of the season. Stats were not available at press time. This Friday the Panthers travel to Townsend. Townsend allows two parents per suited player. Names have to be sent to them for checkoff.
