The Knight’s spring sports season officially began on Monday, Mar. 17 with practices for all four sports taking place. Baseball, softball, tennis, and track and field all are officially in session. Let’s take a look at what to look out for in this upcoming season.
Hellgate track and field, which includes events such as sprints, distance, hurdles, jumps, relays, and throws, has a pretty strong team this year. The Knights placed 5th overall for the girls and 12th for the boys in the state competition last year.
The girls had strong performances in the 100 and 200 meter dash, thanks to then senior Sofia Szollozi, placing 1st and 2nd respectively. They also placed 2nd in the 4×100 meter relay, with the team of Paisley Johnson (So.), Elly Reed (Jr.), Anneliese Bessette (Sr.), and Szollozi. Junior Brooklen Kopp also placed 2nd in discus throw. For the boys senior Corbin Weltzien placed first in the 110 meter hurdles. Though they last some strong seniors, the rest of the track and field team are expected to have a great season.
Knights softball had a tough season last year but is looking forward to a fun one this 25-26 season. Hellgate went 3-15 overall and 0-8 in the region. The girls secured wins against Bozeman High School (15-0), Great Falls High (7-5), and Corvallis High School (13-10). Out of 21 players, only four graduated so the team is still relatively strong.
The Knights also had two seniors sign to play softball in college: Kaylie Moe signed to play for Emerson College and Piper Wells signed to play for Hamline University. Hellgate’s first softball game of the year is against Helena High on Apr. 2. The softball team is looking forward to a great season!
In only its second year at Hellgate, the baseball team is also looking forward to a fun season. The boys went 1-15-1 overall and 1-13-1 in the region. They beat St. Ignatius/Charlo/Arlee nine to seven and tied with Ronan six to six. They ended the season ranked 31st in Montana and are hoping to keep improving the program as the years go on.
The Knight’s tennis team had a strong performance last year. The girls went undefeated as a team throughout the regular season, the boys only lost twice, to Bozeman High and Gallatin High. At the state tournament the girls team placed second overall and the boys finished only a few points away from the podium in fourth.
Both girls and boys teams sent over half of their players to the state competition and had a fantastic showing. The boys placed fourth in both singles and doubles, Jack Currie-Welch (Jr.) in singles and the team of Andrew Duman (So.) and Sam Ender (Sr.) on the doubles side. Elliotte Banziger (Jr.) placed first in girls singles and the doubles team of Kendall Adler (Sr.) and Weslley Banziger (Fr.), with the late addition of Jane Lowder (Sr.) due to Banziger getting a concussion just before the 3rd/4th match, placed third.
Though the tennis team lost a good amount of players on both the girls and boys side, they are looking forward to a great and fun season! Overall, the Knights are looking good for this upcoming spring sports season.
