Montana
Fourth straight Frontier Conference titles secured, Montana Tech men look to postseason
BUTTE — The sustained success that the Montana Tech men’s basketball program has built these past four seasons is sometimes difficult to fathom for its head coach, whose team earned just one Frontier Conference victory his first season.
“It’s hard to even process, said Adam Hiatt who took over the program prior to the 2016-17 season and was recently named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for the third straight season. “I get asked about it a lot. You’re so focused on the present that it’s hard to process all that history.”
The Orediggers have made plenty of it, and capped off another unforgettable run through the Frontier by clinching a fourth straight regular season title and then following that up by claiming an unprecedented tournament crown.
Even a few weeks ago, this might have been hard to see happening.
After bolting to an 8-1 league record, the Orediggers dropped four consecutive road contests to make the final two regular season games — both at home — must-win games if they wanted to secure a fourth straight regular season title.
But working in Tech’s favor was the fact that they hadn’t dropped a single home game this season.
“We just told our guys ‘doubt your doubts,’” said Hiatt. “We’re coming back to the place where we play our best. We’re gonna get our mojo back, we’re gonna get some stuff figured out.”
That’s just what Tech did as it won its final two regular season games and both of its tournament contests by comfortable double-digit margins. That four game slide? It ultimately served as a chapter of struggle to set the stage for yet another storybook ending for the Orediggers.
“I’m sure I’ll process it when the dust settles and the season’s over,” said Hiatt. “I’ll be able to look back in awe. It’s amazing and just so humbling to be part of this historic run.”
The Orediggers will now look to carry their Frontier success into the national tournament where seventh-seeded Tech will face No. 11 Southern Oregon in a first and second round pod in Santa Clarita, California, on Friday.
The winner of that game will take on the winner of No. 7 Keiser (Florida) and No. 10 Faulkner (Alabama) in the second round on Saturday. The winner of the pod, part of the Duer Quadrant, advances to the Round of 16 in Kansas City.
“We have high potential,” said senior Michael Ure. “When we play together and we play the right way and we’re all clicking, we’re a very good team. Seeing what the future holds is very exciting.”
MISSOULA, Mont. — In this week’s Amazing America, NBC Montana is highlighting smokejumpers and their efforts to keep our communities safe during wildfire season.
NBC Montana caught up with a current and a former smokejumper to learn more about the work they do and how the job has changed throughout the years.
Jim Kitchen was a smokejumper for 20 seasons, fought over 100 fires and raised his three daughters on a smokejumper base, where he served as base commander.
Kitchen says he’ll never forget his first jump, when he started training in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1987.
“I went, ‘That was amazing,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah,’ and I go, ‘Have you ever done anything as amazing in your life? I mean, we just made our first jump,” said Kitchen.
Kitchen told NBC Montana when he laughed his crew had to do 50 pushups.
Kitchen saw several changes during his career, including women entering a historically male-dominated field. He told NBC Montana Deanne Shulman, the first woman smokejumper, paved the way for the industry.
He recalled a time when he was on a trip to Washington, D.C. , in the early ’90s to coordinate emergency response, when a U.S. Department of State official asked him a question.
“He goes, ‘I didn’t realize men were smokejumpers.’ And I had to go, ‘Peter, I’ll have you know, there’s quite a few of us, and actually, it’s the women that are rare,’” said Kitchen “The early ladies in smokejumping, they always met and exceeded the bar, and they were instrumental in doing these winter details.”
Another change he oversaw as base commander, was moving from round parachutes used in World War II, to the ones used today.
“Ram-Air parachutes that inflate make the shape of the wing and they actually have about a 20 mph forward speed. And so you can you can fly those in much windier conditions, higher elevations,” said Kitchen.
Kitchen says the job requires you to roll with the punches and make quick decisions on the fly.
He said while training new jumpers, he taught them early to prepare and never hesitate.
“The only thing that we ask of you is that you take all the information that you can and then make a decision,” said Kitchen.
Nick Holloway, a current Missoula smokejumper, who’s been working for 14 seasons, says it’s important to rely on your training, stay positive and persevere.
“Having done this for a few years, it’s just trying to know that essentially every season is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Just stay healthy, stay focused and keep having a good time,” said Holloway.
NBC Montana asked both men what they were most proud of during their time jumping.
Kitchen recalled fighting a fire near the Grand Canyon, when he and his crew decided to manage a fire instead of suppressing it when they ponderosa pine trees.
The crew let the fire burn to a plateau, “The Ponderosa pine has about a 20 to 30-year fire return interval in that area,” said Kitchen. “That’s one of the high points as far as land stewardship of my career is seeing fire on a landscape escape and not necessarily suppressing it but allowing it to burn, because then you’re saying it’s good for decades after that.”
Holloway told NBC Montana, while he has “too many to count,” he’s most proud that recently he jumped a 3- to 5-acre fire at Yellowstone National Park.
The fire grew to 8 acres, “So seven days later we got around everything, put it all out and essentially with a good product upon departure. So it’s just a classic example of a smokejumper fire.”
Holloway says staying fit for annual trainings, regardless of experience, is critical to staying fire-ready.
“Pushups, pullups, sit-ups, a certain amount and then a mile and a half in a certain time as well,” said Holloway.
Kitchen told NBC Montana he still does his pullups, pushups and sit-ups.
“Many of my colleagues are still in really fit shape even in their 60s, 70s and 80s,” he said.
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