DeLayne Jonston and Ashley Turlock work to get a rebound during a game against UGF		Zach Wermers rumbles through a hole in the offensive line

The MSU-Northern Volleyball team finished the 2005 season with an overall record of 13-13 and 6-8 in the Frontier Conference, good for a 5th place finish in the league standings. In the opening round of the Frontier Conference Tournament, the Skylights defeated the #4 seeded Montana Tech Lady Orediggers on their home floor with a convincing 3 game sweep 30-21, 30-28, and 30-22. In the semi finals against Westminster, the Skylights won the first game 30-28, but the Lady Griffins stormed back to win 3 straight 30-21, 30-28, 30-15. In the consolation game, the Skylights bounced back and beat the University of Great Falls 24-30, 30-19, 30-24, 29-31, 15-10 the 3rd straight five game match played between the two teams. Senior Jasmine Mitchell was named to the 2nd Team All Frontier Conference team, while fellow senior Jordan Fox earned Honorable Mention All Fontier Conference honors.

The 2005 MSU-Northern Football team finished 3rd in the Frontier Conference with an overall record of 5-5 and a 3-5 record in the league. The Lights enjoyed a 4-2 record at home including wins over nationally ranked Dickinson State University anal Eastern Oregon. Junior quarterback Kyle Samson lead the Frontier in total offense at 260 yards per game (196 passing and 64 rushing). Sophomore running back Don Saisbury was second in the league in scoring at 9 points per game and led the Frontier in touchdowns at 15 (13 rushing and 2 receiving). On the other side of the ball, sophomores Marc Samson, Kennedy Anderson, and Dilan Saisbury all averaged between 10 and 11 tackles per game and placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the Frontier, respectively. In all, the season was a success when compared to last season's 1-10 showing. "We set a goal to finish better than .500 this season," Samson said. "Obviously, we could have done that because we lost three games by a total of 16 points. "But when we look back at this year, it will definitely be a season we can be proud of as a team," he added. "We came a long way, and with some hard work and good recruiting we'll keep things headed in the right direction."

The MSU-Northern Men's Basketball team has opened their 2005-06 season with a 7-3 record including wins over perennial Canadian power University of Alberta and a 41 point rout of Dakota Athletic Conference preseason favorite Minot State University. Senior Jordan Matthews (Salt Lake City, UT) is leading the Lights in scoring at nearly 20 points per game while shooting 53% from the field and 47% from the 3 point line. Havre native and sophomore Cory Brothers is assigned to defend against the opposition's best offensive player, and he is second on the team in scoring at 13 points per game. Senior Marcus Wilson (Chino, CA) is also contributing 10 points per game. Head Coach Shawn Huse attributes most of the early success this season to the Lights' tremendous depth. "We are getting great play from our bench, and we will need more of that if we are going to contend for a conference championship this season," Huse said. "Cody Gillespie, Reid Stovall, and Ronnie Simpson are guys who are coming in and doing a great job for us right now." Frontier Conference play starts the first weekend in January when the Lights travel to UM Western and Montana Tech.

The MSU-Northern Women's Basketball team enters the 2005-06 season with a new head coach. Chris Mouat, former assistant coach at Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain College, was hired this past summer and has led the Skylights to a 5-2 record. The Skylights split at home with both the University of Lethbridge and Albertson College and earned two road wins in Oregon against Cascade College and Warner Pacific. Senior Jaci Heny (Powell, WY) is leading the Skylights in scoring at 15 points per game (ppg), while fellow senior Camille Gardner (St. George, UT) is averaging 10 ppg. Junior DeLayne Johnston (Richey, MT) contributes 12 ppg and 9 rebounds per game (rpg), and sophomore Michele VanDyke (Chester, MT) averages 14 ppg and 5 rpg. "Things are getting better every game," Mouat said. "I see a lot of potential in this team."

The 2005-06 MSU-Northern Women's Golf season began with only four players and a new head coach. Dave Boles was given the reigns to the team in September, and golfers Julie Wagner, Anita Strommen, Chastity Wagner, Heather Haas, and Heather Riener competed for the Skylights this fall. The young team competed well in the three tournaments during the fall. Julie Wagner placed in the top 15 during the tournaments in Butte, Billings, and Helena. The Skylights will finish their split season this spring. Tournaments will be held April 11th and 12th in Lewiston, ID, and April 17th and 18th in Salt Lake City, UT. The Regional Tournament will be held April 24th and 25th in Moscow, ID. The team will begin spring practice following spring break week. Team members are anxious to get back on the course and compete in the remainder of the conference season.

The Lights Wrestling started a new chapter in its history when new head coach Dan Troupe took over the program. Troupe, a former NCAA All American and member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, has the task of replacing former Lights head coach David Ray. Ray spent 12 years at Northern and his teams captured the NAIA national team title four times in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2004. "I'm not going to try and reinvent the wheel," Troupe said. "David and I come from similar wrestling backgrounds. I agree with much of his philosophy of hard pounding, hard conditioning and hard wrestling." The Lights return five grapplers who saw extensive action last year. Those five include seniors Mazi Burke and Havre native Aaron Jensen and sophomores Chris Smith, Brian Fritchman, and Emory Willson. Aside from a new head coach, the Lights will also have a lot of fresh faces this season, and youth will be obvious up and down the roster. Freshmen to watch include Great Falls native Tom Daniels (141), Tyler McGillvary of Superior (133) and former Havre High standout Chad Seely (184). Sophomores Michael McPeak (133) and Zach Morgan (125) also saw limited action for the Lights last season, and both will be vying for full time varsity spots. While it remains to be seen which wrestlers will crack the starting lineup for the Lights this season, with 18 freshmen on the roster there is no doubt there will be a lot of youth wrestling for the MSU N varsity this season. This year's NAIA Northern Regional will be held in Jamestown, N.D., at the end of February, and the 2006 NAIA National Tournament will be held in Sioux City, IA., on March 3-4.

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