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Thursday Jan. 11, 1990

Blackhawks shipwreck pirates

The Blackhawks of the Seeley-Swan traveled to the Bitterroot Valley to engage the Victor Pirates in a 12C basketball game. The local quintet led from start to finish. The score at the end of the first quarter was 17-9. By the half, the Blackhawks had a comfortable lead, 30-17. The Hawks offense exploded for 25 points in the third stanza, taking a 55-36 lead. The two teams played the fourth quarter evenly, and at the final buzzer the Blachawks were victorious, 76-56.

The Blachawks dominated the game inside with Cliff Hawkens scoring 26 and Damon Healy chipping in 18. The taller Blackhawks out-rebounded the Pirates, 56-26. Seeley’s master of the boards, Cliff Hawkins, once again led the team in rebounding with 13 rebounds. The Pirates were led by the high scoring guard, Andy Sacks, with 28 points.

The Blackhawks play their next game Thursday, Jan. 11 at Valley Christian in Missoula. The Blackhawks stay on the road for their next contest with Alberton on Saturday, Jan. 13. The Blackhawks are now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in 12C conference play.

Read this and more at:

https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1990-01-11.pdf

Thursday Jan. 13, 2005

Sled dogs at home in the Seeley-Swan Valley

Western Montana is home to many of the world’s top sled dog teams and their mushers. In particular the Seeley-Swan Valley is the heart of sled dog racing, home to mushers, their dogs and several races.

Recently the Pathfinder had the opportunity to meet two local sled dog racers and learn more about the sport.

Dona Miller and Gary Kyrouac of Seeley Lake have over 30 pure-bred huskies, of which 16 are in training for racing. You may know Dona and Gary as owners of the Seeley-Swan Fitness Center, but when not helping people get fit they are raising, caring for and training their racing sled dogs.

In the off season the dogs train by pulling an ATV with one or two people aboard for three to five mile runs. By racing season they are pulling a dog sled and musher (driver) on 60-mile training runs, where speeds can reach over 15 mph.

Dog teams can be as small as four dogs for a short “sprint” race and as large as 16 to 20 dogs for a long “stage” race, which may cover several hundred miles. Depending on the type of race the dogs can be pulling the driver plus a sled weighing up to 200 pounds.

Dona was introduced to the sport when she took a ride on a dog sled in Alaska in the 1980s. By the late 80s she had a pet Siberian Husky and in the 90s she was racing. As another local dog-sled lover said, “once you try it, you’re hooked.”

Gary and Dona are active in adopting and caring for rescue dogs and that same love and care are apparent in their treatment of the sled dogs. Gary points out that the dogs have to work for you, and they do a better job when they like you.

The bond between musher and dogs is important to successful racing and is one of the rewards of being part of the sport.

Read this and more at:

https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2005-01-13.pdf