Practices have begun for track and field, tennis, golf and softball at Jefferson High, and the turn-outs tell me it’s going to be a strong spring for Panther sports.
The track and fields squad has close to 80 participants, a huge showing. Its first meet will be…at home! Everyone is excited about christening the school’s new track by hosting the first meet in years — the Avery Stiles Memorial on Apr. 2. If you would like to help, please contact the school.
The Tennis teams will see their first action Apr. 2 against Fort Benton in Great Falls. The JHS Open will be May 15-16 in Boulder.
Class B tennis has been realigned so that girls and boys now play in the same division; up to now, Jefferson’s haven’t been. The Panthers will be in the Southwest division, which includes Anaconda, Darby, Granite and, for the girls, Alberton.
The golf team hits the links on Mar. 31 at the Florence Invite in Hamilton, with the boys defending their Class B title from last year. The Panthers will host their own invitational on Apr. 13 at Green Meadow Country Club.
And Jefferson will join with East Helena to field a softball team, which starts its season Friday, Mar. 27, against Park in East Helena. The next day, the coop takes on Dillon and Havre.
It’s going to be a packed, fun spring.
Meanwhile, we’re watching the enrollment numbers. In the fall semester, Jefferson High was at 330 students, the most in Class B, with Anaconda second at 323. The cut-off to move to Class a is 300, and it shouldn’t be long before the Panthers make that move.
