It's that time of year again!! This is the 2012-13 version of the Lady Broncs. We are off to a 4-0 start and play league leading (4-0) Butte Central tomorrow night at 7:30. If you're in town, stop by and watch a very entertaining girls basketball team. We make our share of mistakes but we play fast, and share the ball. We play intense defense and our rebounding is pretty solid...it will have to be to beat the Maroons:) They have 7 seniors while we start 4 sophomores and a junior...the young guns!

Last weekend was the tip-off tourney. My dad Randy took the pictures below. I took the poster pic!
Merry Christmas everybody.

Coach Albert

The Best at Mountain West!!

The course was with us last Saturday at the 2012 Mountain West Classic! Our boys team finished in a program high 8th place in a field with 62 high school teams, several of the best teams coming from the greater Spokane area. The highlight was how well Anthony and Easton did against the 359 other runners in the race...they took 15th and 16th respectively! We were the number one class A finisher. Hopefully this bodes well for us in three weeks at state.
The girls were the number three class A team at the meet. They are really competing. We have high hopes for state, and with the effort they are puting forth every day in practice, I have no doubt these ladies will achieve their goal. Sara Amish was especially strong, finishing in a time of 19:59.
This week is busy with a varsity meet in Helena on Thursday to preview the state course, and our own meet at the Daly Mansion on Saturday. Fortunatley, the air quality has improved a lot and I don't see any possibility of canceling.
We also have a community run for adults and kids at 9:00...so come on out and run our course, it's free of charge and a lot of fun! See you there.

Coach Albert

Wish it was this clear!!

 

Photo by: Jay Silveira

Last Saturday the Corvallis XC meet was canceled, forcing us to drive to Polson. Everyone is experiencing smokey conditions but nothing like us here in the Bitterroot. The beautiful mountains pictured above cannot be seen right now...even the river from this distance is tough to make out! Pray for rain! Below are the results and a small story from the Missoulian. We are hoping to compete at everyone's favorite meet on Saturday...the Mountain West Classic in Missoula. Again, pray for rain, or wind. It could possibly be canceled...but we're holding out hope. Stop by the U of M golf course on Saturday by 9:30 to see the biggest meet in the northwest. See you there:)
Coach Albert


Pirate Duels
At Polson, the Hamilton boys and Corvallis girls captured the team titles at the Polson Duels.
Hamilton’s Easton Albert finished the three-mile course first in a time of 16:16 to lead the Broncs to the team title. Kalispell Glacier was second and Corvallis was third.
Morly Jessop of Corvallis was second in 16:44 and Rueben Castren of Glacier was third in 16:46.
Hamilton placed second to Corvallis in the girls’ race and Glacier was third.
Bigfork sophomore Makena Morley won the girls’s race in 17:31. Sadie Henderson of Corvallis was second in 19:12 and Claudia Hewston of Polson was third in 19:59.
At Polson Fairgrounds
Three-mile course
BOYS
Team scores: Hamilton 89, Kalispell Glacier 62, Corvallis 50, Polson 29, Bigfork 13.
Top 15 individuals
1, Easton Albert, Hamilton, 16:16; 2, Morly Jessop, Corvallis, 16:44; 3, Rueben Castren, Glacier, 16:46; 4, Anthony Smalz, Hamilton, 16:52; 5, Cameron Meikle, Hamilton, 17:12; 6, Logan Morley, Bigfork, 17:13; 7, Karill Apedaile, Hamilton, 17:17; 8, Kade McCutcheon, Glacier, 17:18; 9, Noah Hill, Glacier, 17:32; 10, Greg Beck, Hamilton, 17:45;
11, Logan Harmon, Glacier, 17:51; 12, Travis Hayes, Polson, 17:58; 13, Tanner Olson, Glacier, 18:03; 14, Sam Parker, Hamilton, 18:18; 15, Tel Motichka, Polson, 18:20.
GIRLS
Team scores: Corvallis 90, Hamilton 79, Glacier 44, Polson 38, Bigfork 22, Phillipsburg 11.
Top 15 individuals
1, Makenna Morley, Big Fork, 17:31; 2, Sadie Henderson, Corvallis, 19:12; 3, Claudia Hewston, Polson, 19:59; 4, Kaycie Stewart, Corvallis, 20:06; 5, Jenny Smith, Hamilton, 20:25; 6, Jessica Chery, Glacier, 20:41; 7, Isabella Pape, Corvallis, 20:47; 8, Sara Amish, Hamilton, 20:51; 9, Rachel Wissenbach, Corvallis, 20:55; 10, Taylor Gogo, Hamilton, 21:04;
11, Kaitlin Stromberg, Hamilton, 21:10; 12, Sarah Del Ree, Hamilton, 21:11; 13, Chelsea Olson, Bigfork, 21:13; 14, Hanna Smith, Corvallis, 21:23; 15, Lakyn Conners, Corvallis, 21:37.

A Gut-check Week

What a positive week for the Hamilton Broncs!
On Wednesday, September 15th, both boys and girls teams swept the Frenchtown Invitational! The boys scored a near perfect 17 points, placing 1,2,3,5 and 6. This picture was the start of the race...these five boys held these positions for the next three miles:)
The girls placed 2,3,4,5 and 8. I absolutely love how our kids are grouping up. In fact, our ladies took first at the Ronan Invite on Saturday, a much bigger meet. They placed 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 to beat Hellgate in a tie breaker. I love how the tie breaker works in cross country. The teams' whose number 6 places higher secures the win. In our case that was Tess (pictured below). I was proud of her competitiveness at the end of the race as she passed two Corvallis girls. Way to go Ladies!

Tough week ahead of us with the smoke so thick here in the valley. We're hoping for some reprieve so our kids can get some important work outs in. We have a ways to go to win those trophies we have our sights set on...but a lot of promise none the less.Go Broncs!!

                                                                                    Coach Albert

The Hamilton Bronc cross country teams dominated the quad meet last Friday at the Ronan Canal Run. The boys scored 24 points and the girls scored a near perfect score of 20. (15 is the lowest possible score.)

We have a terrific chance to trophy with these teams this season!! Go Broncs. Do the work and "banner up!"

Coach Albert

A very special day!

Saturday
August 18th
2012

It was a very special day! My oldest daughter Ashley married Gage Brumwell at 7:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Missoula. It was kind of sureal walking my oldest down the isle of the church where Carla and I were married almost 24 years ago to the day:)
It was a beautiful service highlighted by the pastor's message of faithfulness to each other and especially to the Lord...and a special song written and performed by Gage's dad Larry. I know the song really touched both Ashley and Gage.
The reception was held at the Harley Davidson building where there were three terrific toasts made to the bride and groom. Kaurie had most people in tears during her heartfelt tribute to her sister. After the formalities, it was time to dance...what a blast! (I had to chase everybody out at 1:00 am or I think they would have danced til dawn:)
Sunday was spent cleaning up. It took over 4 hours but we had awesome helpers. A special thanks to Tom and Janet, Dana and Tami, Larry, Chris and Blake, Judy and Gale and Carla. Gage's aunt and uncle were amazing during the reception as well. Really enjoyed meeting the Brumwell family!
Ashley and Gage will make their home in Bozeman...literally. They are building a house as we speak! Ashley has 2 more years of school and basketball while Gage is working his tail off about 60-70 hours per week. Keep them in your prayers and stop by and say hello or watch a game when you are in Cat Country.

Mark

Back at it...

Katie BakerCoach Albert

Easton Albert

I know it's been 8 months since my last posting but I am up and running again. I am unable to woirk on these at school so I'm less efficient at home.
As you can see from the pictures, it was another intense NBC Team Camp this summer. This time I went as the head coach. I got re-hired in May after my good friend Don Faris stepped down. The girls and I spent most of June and two weeks in July competing in tournaments and camps in Darby, Missoula, Bozeman, Ronan, Gonzaga and Whitworth. Overall we took some time to get back in our comfort zone, but it was a very productive summer of hoops. We have very high expectations for the season!
The other picture is of another adventure Easton took in June. He attended the Freedom Alliance's Military Leadership Academy in Pennsylvania for two weeks. It was very challeging but he enjoyed every minute of the experience. The trip reaffirmed his desire to attend West Point after he graduates.
We have now started fall sports and are off to a great start in cross country. Our boys are trying to win our school's 2nd state title in October. It won't be easy...but is anything worth doing ever easy?!
Jaylee will be starting as an outside hitter on the varsity volleyball team...her mom is pumped to have another daughter play VB:)
Kaurie has worked her tail off this summer earning money to go back to Whitworth University this fall...though I don't think she will be working with adolescents again anytime soon:)
The big news of course is the wedding of Ashley and Gage in 2 days...Saturday, August 18th 2012 at First Pres. Church in Missoula. I am excited and nervous but happy for my oldest daughter and our new son-in-law. It should be a special celebration!
Keep checking back as I will be more on top of my blog this season.
God bless.

Coach Albert

2011 in Review

Happy New Year everyone! What an eventful, challenging and blessed year 2011 was. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for the upcoming year.

The Alberts were again busy with cross country, basketball, track, swim team, school, college, family, work etc. I won't write too much but I will list the highlights and include several pictures.

The year started with Carla and I adopting a debt reduction plan inspired by finacial expert Dave Ramsey. We made it a year without a credit card and paid off two large debts! I am now teaching Dave's curriculum for high school students in my Business Math classes. Loving it!

Jaylee and I spent the year living the AAU basketball life. The girls finished 90-17. (See previous posts for more details.) She is now playing JV and varsity for the Lady Broncs. She played volleyball this fall and will be a solid high jumper for the track team this spring.

Easton and I had a memorable cross country season as he placed 7th overall at state and our boys team took home a third place trophy. The good news is we return our top 5 runners the next two years. Both Easton and the boys (and their coach) have very high expectations! He is now playing JV basketball and will follow up his very successful track season last year with another one this spring.

Easton had an incredible summer. He worked for Algevolve, a water treatment company that specializes in a patented process of water purification using a certain strain of algae. He also had a unique opportunity to travel to New York to spend a week on the West Point campus. This was truly a catalyst for Easton's goal to attend a miltary academy. He's is off to an incredible start to school!

Kaurie graduated from HHS and is now attending Whitworth University in Spokane. She is majoring in English and competing on the swim team. She is up at 5:00 am every day for practice and has really worked to improve her times. She gets no compensation for this commitment so we are very proud of her efforts.

Ashley is again healthy and off to a terrific start to her sophomore season with the Montana State women's basketball team. She loves her teammates and coaches and is looking to win the Big Sky Championship. She is averaging about 13 points and 7 rebounds a game while playing the most minutes for the Cats. We are so proud of her leadership and toughness...especially after coming off her ACL surgery last season.

The big news is Ashley is engaged! She will marry Gage Brumwell on August 18th at First Presbyterian Church in Missoula this summer. She is busy planning the details and starting her 6th semester of college this month.

Carla is busy with work. She is the heart and soul of Catalyst Physical Therapy here in Hamilton. She is amazing how she balances the challenges of being a mom and my incredible wife of nearly 24 years!

We spend most of our weekends traveling to the sites of our kids' events. It is hectic but special. We are so blessed to be entrusted with such a special family. God is good.

I taught 30 kids how to drive this summer...had fun but sat way too much!!I am reffing varsity basketball again...hoping to get a tournament or two this year.

We hope this post finds you well. May God bless you this next year and may we all walk in his will daily.

The Alberts