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Mission
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The Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame (SAHF) exists to recognize and honor student athletes, coaches, volunteers and teams for their achievements and contribution to Spartan Athletics. The board of the SAHF will annually review nominations and select inductees based on criteria adopted by the board. Nominees will be considered based on achievements, leadership, and character. Passion for, support of, and contributions to the success of Spartan athletics will also be factors guiding induction. Inductees will be recognized annually at a banquet. Funds raised through the SAHF will go towards a physical hall of fame at Sentinel. Any additional funds will be donated to permanent facility improvements for Sentinel High School as approved by the SAHF board.
Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame
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The Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame 2nd annual induction will be held on Thursday, October 3rd at the Homecoming Football game, at MCPS Stadium, followed by the Induction Banquet on Friday, October 4th, 2024
- Where: Fairgrounds Home Arts Building
- When: Friday, October 4, 2024 (5:00-6:00pm hosted social hour, 6:00-7:00pm dinner served, 7:00-8:00pm ceremony)
- Tickets: Available using this link (note: a donation to the site is automatically added, but you can change that to $0 using the drop down arrow. That donation would go to Zeffy, not Spartans HOF): https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/aa4b4066-0038-49ee-a7dd-bb0a8995375e
Your SAHF Class of 2024!
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Teams of 1964
This class was the most accomplished group of athletes in Montana high school history. This group won state titles in football, wrestling, boys basketball, boys track, both boys and girls singles tennis, boys double tennis, and boys individual and team golf. These teams included legendary coaches such as Lou Rocheleau, Jug Beck and Joe Roberts to name a few.
Mike Barnett, 1970
Mike Barnett has the most state golf titles of any Spartan in school history. He won individual titles in 1967, 1969 and 1970, and was a member of the teams that won 4 straight titles in 1967-1970. He went on to play golf at Arizona state, where he also walked on and played on the men’s basketball team. He won the MT State Am in 1974 and 1975, after being a runner-up twice in that same tournament, the first being at the young age of 15. He also won the Phoenix Mens Am title in 1973 and was a member of the Goldwater Cup Team Championship (Ryder Cup format), where he defeated his pro opponent. After graduation, he played golf professionally for 3 years on the Asian and Australian tours. After a back injury ended his playing career, he became a golf instructor, where he taught in Montana, Alabama, Arizona, and Michigan. He is still a golf instructor today, splitting his time between Arizona and Montana.
Bryan Flaig, 1973
Bryan won a state championship in football, two state titles in basketball and two state titles in track (high hurdles & high jump) as a Sentinel Spartan. Bryan was an all-state athlete and a high school All-American in football. He was listed among America’s top 100 high school football players in 1973. He went on to have an excellent career as a wide receiver for the Montana State Bobcats, capping it off with a college national championship in 1976. Bryan graduated from MSU with a degree in finance.
Liz Harper, 2013
Liz was an outstanding Spartan who excelled in track and basketball. She won 5 state titles in the hurdles, 3 state titles in the 400, and had top 4 places in the high jump and the 200. She still holds the state record in the 300m low hurdles. She was also a key member of 2 state champion lady Spartan basketball teams, where she was all state as a junior and a senior. She went on to be an All-American Heptathlete at Washington State University, where she is still 2nd all time at WSU in the 400 hurdles and top 10 all time in both the heptathalon and pentathalon. With 10 state titles, Liz will go down in Spartan history as one of the most decorated female athletes to come out of Sentinel High School.
Coach Craig Mettler, 2009-2022
Craig Mettler was the Sentinel head track coach from 2016 to 2022, where his teams won 6 state titles (Girls: 2017, 2018, 2021, Boys: 2019, 2021, 2022). He coached a multitude of individual state titles, as well. He was a 3-time MCA high school track coach of the year, and a 3-time finalist for national HS track coach of the year. He coached a Gatorade track and field athlete of the year. Prior to that, he served as an assistant track coach from 2010-2015. In addition to his storied career as a track coach, he was also an assistant for the SHS football team from 2009-2018. Prior to coming to Sentinel, he was a standout defensive lineman for the Montana Grizzlies Football team, from 2005-2008, where the Griz were runners-up in the National Championship game his senior year. Beyond his coaching credentials, Craig has continued to impact Sentinel High School, as a teacher and currently as an assistant principal.
Your inaugural class for the Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame
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Coach Jug Beck, 1955-1993
Jug was born in Elizabeth, Illinois on March 9, 1924. He attended a small high school which had only basketball. He played all four years in high school. Jug was introduced to wrestling while attending Cornell College. From 1944 - 1949 he wrestled at Duke University and Cornell College. Jug’s coaching experience is as follows:
1949-50 Assistant Wrestling Coach @ Michigan State University
1950-54 Assistant Wrestling Coach @ University of Illinois
1954-55 Assistant Wrestling Coach @ Champaign High School
1955-93 Head Wrestling Coach @ Sentinel High School
In addition to coaching twelve teams to state titles and 75 individuals to state titles, Jug was involved in numerous community service organizations and also received multitudes of different awards related to wrestling. He has been the Montana Wrestling Coach of the Year, National Wrestling Coach of the Year, and honored by the Montana Coaches Association for Meritorious Service. He was inducted into the Montana Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1982.Eugene Davis, 1963
Davis attended Missoula County High School from 1959-63. Davis won four state wrestling championships, without losing a match. Davis compiled a 66-0 record, winning 48 of those matches by fall. He won Montana state championships at 95, 103, 112 and 133. He experienced a successful collegiate career at Oklahoma State University, placing fourth as a sophomore, first as a junior and third as a senior at the NCAA National Wrestling Championships. He also competed in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, winning the bronze medal in 1976 in Montreal. Davis enjoyed a successful coaching career in wrestling, coaching the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 1979 Pan Am Games, and was an assistant coach for the U.S. team in the 1981 World Games and for the 1988 U.S. freestyle team at the Olympics.Karen Deden, 1987
Deden led the Spartans to the AA state championship in 1985 and a runnerup finish in 1986. Deden started every game for Missoula Sentinel during her four years and was the AA State Tourney MVP as a junior and senior. In volleyball, she earned State Tourney MVP awards and All-State three years. She led the Spartans to three straight AA volleyball championships. At the University of Washington, Deden started four straight seasons in basketball and helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA tournament all four years. She was selected the Freshman of the Year by the PAC-10 and was an All-PAC-10 and Kodak All-American selection from 1988-1991. She was named the MVP of the 1990 Mideast Regional of the NCAA tourney. Deden played professionally in Japan and France from 1991-95 and in the ABL from 1996-98. Karen went on to coach basketball at Sentinel for 21 years. Her teams won the state championship in 2012, 2013, and 2014.Michael Lewis, 1964
Lewis led the Spartans to undefeated seasons in basketball as a junior and senior. Missoula's streak reached a Class AA record 55 games. During his three-year career as a starter for the Spartans, Lewis scored 1,578 points, won All-State honors all three years and was a high school All-American as a senior. Lewis went on to a distinguished basketball career at Duke University where he was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team in 1967 and 1968 and was also named All-American in 1968. He continued his basketball career with a brief stint as a professional in the American Basketball Association.Ristine Olson Sutton, 2003
Ristine Olson played basketball and tennis at Missoula Sentinel High School graduating in 2003. Ristine earned four high school letters in basketball, where she was also named a team captain her senior year, in addition to being one of the best tennis players ever in the state of Montana. During her high school tennis career she amassed four state singles titles and was unbeaten during her high school career. In fact, she was 96-0 in singles competition and she only lost one set in her entire high school career, that being in the state championship match her freshman year. She was ranked as high as 23rd nationally at one point in her high school career. Ristine went on to play four years of tennis at the University of Texas, where she had an outstanding career.
SAHF Board Members
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- Brian Moser (2000) - President
- Ron Beck (1984) - Vice President
- Lisa Anderson - Secretary/Treasurer
- Mike Owen (1966)
- Tim Kerr (1974)
- Deb Thompson (1982)