The Miami Dolphins have given kicker Dan Carpenter a 3-year contract extension. The pact runs through the 2013 season and is worth $6.205 million. It comes on the heels of Carpenter's first Pro Bowl selection in his second year in the league. The 24-year-old made 25-of-28 field goals and all but one of his 38 extra point attempts in 2009. The former Helena High and Montana Grizzly product has connected on 46-of-53 field goals as Miami's full-time kicker the last two seasons. His longest boot came in 2009 from 52 yards. The reported breakdown has Carpenter collecting $1.005 million in 2011, $2.525 million in 2012 and $2.675 million in the final year. He's scheduled to make $470,000 in the upcoming season.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.


[  11:49 PM, Thu Jul 29  ] Back to top

The Helena Brewers wrapped up their 7-game road trip to Utah with a 6-3 win over the Orem Owlz on Tuesday night. Brewers center fielder Robbie Garvey was the hitting star as he went 3-5 with his first homerun of the year and 2 RBI's. Cody Hawn chipped with with a pair of ribbies as they Brewers head home going 3-4 down in Utah. Tony Butler got the Win for the Brewers and Brian Garman pitched a scoreless 9th to record his 5th save of the year, Garman's ERA dropped to 0.54. The Brewers have Wednesday off before opening a 5-game homestand against Great Falls on Thursday.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.
[  12:09 AM, Wed Jul 28  ] Back to top

Former Helena High star Darah Newell shot a final round 68 today to win the 93rd Montana State Women's Golf Tournament at the Valley View Golf Club in Bozeman. Newell started the day 4 strokes behind the leader Natalie Beard. Rose Stepanek, who plays for the University of Montana gave Newell a tough battle down the stretch and finished the day with a 1-over par 71 and took second just 1 stroke back. Katie Fish finished third shooting a 75. She was 5 strokes behind Newell. Beard, who also plays for U of M had a final round of 79 to finish 4th, 7 shots behind the leader.

Another Helena golfer, Helen Court took home the Senior Women's State Amateur Title with a final round of 84 for an 11 stroke win over Pat Pitt of Billings.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.
[  12:06 AM, Fri Jul 23  ] Back to top

The Helena Brewers wrapped up their homestand on Tuesday night with a solid 11-5 win over the Orem Owlz. The Brewers snapped a 1-1 tie in the 4th inning when they scored 8 runs. The big blow came off the bat of first baseman Cody Hawn who drilled a 3-run homer, his 5th of the year, to lead the way. Robbie Garvey and Brent Dean went 2-4 with a pair of RBI's. Matt Miller pitched 5 innings to get the win and improve his record to 3-1. The Brewers head down to Utah for 7 games against Ogden and Orem.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.

[  11:58 PM, Tue Jul 20  ] Back to top

Tomorrow night the top graduated high school football players in the state will strap on the pads one more time as they take part in the 64th annual East-West Shrine football game. The game which is the oldest high school all-star football game in the country will be played in Butte, America after the first 63 were played in Great Falls. Several local athletes will be in uniform for the West squad. Capital High star wide receiver and safety Josh Dirks will be on hand along with fellow Bruin linebacker Seth Walton. Helena High is represented by all-state linebacker Jackson Lang and kicker Chase Kloker. The Townsend Bulldogs defensive lineman Tate Pool and cornerback Andy Newman will also suit up for the West squad. Kickoff is set for 7PM at Bulldog Memorial Stadium in Butte, America.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.

[  11:45 PM, Fri Jul 16  ] Back to top

The Ogden Raptors beat the Helena Brewers on Wednesday night 6-5 in Pioneer League baseball. Jake Lemmerman led the Raptors at the plate going 3-4 with 2 RBI's and Bobby Coyle drove in 3 runs as the Raptors improve their record to 13-10. Helena was led by catcher Brent Dean who went 3-4 and Brandon Sizemore added his first homerun of the season. The same two teams meet again on Thursday and Friday at 7:05PM at Kindrick Legion Field in Helena.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.

[  11:47 PM, Wed Jul 14  ] Back to top

Former Helena High wrestling star Toby Erickson won 2 gold medals for the U.S.A. at the Pan Am Junior Wrestling Championships down in Nicaragua this past week. Erickson won both the freestyle and greco roman events at 120 kilos or the heavyweight division. Erickson was the only athlete at the games to win in both styles. He beat Mike Murray of Canada in the finals of both events. The U.S.A. took second in the freestyle competition and first in greco roman. Erickson will be a redshirt freshman next season at Boise State.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.

[  11:47 PM, Tue Jul 13  ] Back to top

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- University of Great Falls officials say athletics director Andrew Jugan has resigned after three weeks on the job.
Jugan began working at UGF on June 1. On Thursday, he said his working at the UGF may not be the best fit for him or the university.
UGF President Eugene J. McAllister says the school is disappointed, but understands Jugan's decision. He says the search for a full time athletics director will resume immediately. He said he hopes to have someone on board by the fall.
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Information from: KFBB-TV, http://www.kfbb.com
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-22-10 1417MDT
[  1:12 PM, Fri Jul 23  ] Back to top

The University of Montana Grizzlies will play the Tennessee Volunteers back in Knoxville, to open the 2011 football season. The agreement is a one-game deal. This is the first matchup on the gridiron between the two schools. Montana will receive a $500,000 guarantee, plus help with additional expenses from Tennessee. It will be the second largest guarantee in school history, as U. of M. received $650,000 for its game at Iowa in 2006. The Griz will probably play in front of the largest crowd in school history. The Volunteers' Neyland Stadium is the third largest in the country with a capacity of over 102,000. The largest crowd Montana has played in front of is 70,585 at the University of Iowa back in 2006. Montana hosts Western State in its 2010 season opener.

Story by Al Marks, Beartooth NBC
Copyright ©2010 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.
[  11:58 PM, Tue Jul 27  ] Back to top

HAVRE, Mont. (AP) -- Montana State-Northern women's basketball coach Chris Mouat has announced the hiring of Juliann Keller as assistant basketball coach.
Keller is a 2001 graduate of Malta High School and played for the Lady Griz for four years before graduating from the University of Montana in 2005.
Keller coached in the girls' basketball program at Missoula Big Sky High School, spent a pair of seasons teaching and coaching in Kentucky and was most recently head girls' basketball coach at Fort
Benton.
Keller replaces Anna Bateman, who has been the lead assistant for the Skylights for the past five seasons. Bateman has been named an assistant at the University of Northern Colorado.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-26-10 1536MDT
[  2:58 PM, Tue Jul 27  ] Back to top

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- Montana State women's basketball coach Tricia Binford says the Bobcats face the most challenging schedule she's put together at the school, including eight opponents that advanced to postseason play last winter.
The Bobcats play their second regular-season game against Final Four participant Baylor, including 6-foot-8 center Britney Griner.
Griner was named the freshman of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers of America. MSU also faces Rice and Florida International at a tournament in Waco, Texas in early November.
The schedule also includes two games at the Seattle University Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Cat-Griz games are played on back-to-back Saturdays in late January.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-26-10 1517MDT
[  2:57 PM, Tue Jul 27  ] Back to top

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Three Grizzlies and two Bobcats are among a dozen Big Sky Conference football players to earn preseason All-America honors from The Sports Network.
Montana running back Chase Reynolds and Griz cornerback Trumaine Johnson earned first team honors while Montana center Alex Verlanic earned second-team honors.
Montana State offensive tackle Mike Person and defensive tackle Dan Ogden received third-team honors.
Also earning first team honors were: Northern Arizona quarterback Michael Herrick, Eastern Washington running back Taiwan Jones, Sacramento State defensive end Christian Clark and EWU
linebacker J.C. Sherritt.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-26-10 1517MDT
[  2:56 PM, Tue Jul 27  ] Back to top

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- The Montana High School Association has announced the winners of its academic excellence awards for the 2009-10 school year.
Kalispell Glacier, Butte Central, Three Forks and Lavina were named champions in each of their respective classifications. The runners-up were Billings Senior, Billings Central, Colstrip and
Chester-Joplin-Inverness.
Winners are determined by averaging the grades earned by students who participated in athletic, music and speech and drama programs. Butte Central had the highest GPA at 3.494.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-23-10 1546MDT
[  2:55 PM, Tue Jul 27  ] Back to top

HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- The Montana High School Association has announced that three longtime officials will be inducted into the Montana Officials Association Hall of Fame this year.
MHSA executive director Mark Beckman says Irvin Heitz of Whitefish, Alan Lear of Corvallis and David Zieske of Plentywood will be honored.
Heitz has been an official for 29 years, including being ranked as a master or top-rated volleyball official for 23 years. He was chosen to officiate 15 state tournaments. He officiated boys' and girls' basketball at the master level for 26 years and officiated football for four years.
Zieske officiated boys' and girls' basketball for 25 years, including 23 as a master, and has officiated over 20 state basketball tournaments. He also refereed football for 17 years.
Lear also officiated boys' and girls' basketball for 25 years, 22 as a master official, and refereed more than 20 state tournaments.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-07-22-10 1531MDT
[  1:13 PM, Fri Jul 23  ] Back to top