We add up the entire school year to figure out our MontanaSports.com all-sports champions. But a strong finish determined who came out on top in Class A.
After giving out 10 points for a state title, seven for a second-place finish, six for a third-place finish, down to one point for finishing in eighth, the Whitefish Bulldogs topped the list.
Going into the spring, Whitefish sat in third place behind Billings Central and Laurel. But then the Bulldogs won girls tennis and girls track and field state championships, while finishing second in boys tennis and tying for sixth in boys track. Those 29.5 points pushed Whitefish into first place. The Bulldogs also claimed boys soccer and girls swimming titles earlier in the year.
The Bulldogs ended up 11.5 points ahead of Billings Central, which had the most state championships with five this year: girls soccer, volleyball, football, boys swimming and boys basketball. But the Rams placed in only four other sports and gained just three points in the spring with a sixth-place finish in girls tennis.
Eastern A rivals Laurel and Hardin came in third and fourth, with the Locomotives edging the Bulldogs by half a point. Laurel started the year strong with boys and girls golf titles and finished by splitting the boys track and field title with Dillon. Hardin won a girls cross country crown, while finishing second in boys cross country, boys and girls basketball, and girls tennis.
Columbia Falls placed in 14 sports, more than any other Class A team and two more than Whitefish, to finish in fifth place. The 2017-18 all-sports champion from Polson finished in eighth.
We will reveal the Class B all-sports champion on Wednesday and the Class C winner on Thursday. You can read about the Class AA champions here.
2018-19 Class A MontanaSports.com all-sports final standings
1. Whitefish – 77.5
2. Billings Central – 66
3. Laurel – 60
4. Hardin – 59.5
5. Columbia Falls – 54.5
6. Corvallis – 42
7. Hamilton – 38
8. Polson – 37
9. Havre – 36.5
10. Frenchtown – 32.5
11. Belgrade – 32
12. Dillon – 29
13. Sidney – 20
T14. Lewistown – 16.5
T14. Miles City – 16.5
16. Livingston – 14.5
17. Butte Central – 8.5
18. Stevensville – 7.5
19. Browning – 7
20. Libby – 6.5
21. Glendive – 4
22. Ronan – 1.5
