LAUREL - The Laurel School Board Monday night approved the hiring of girls head coaches in soccer, volleyball and basketball.
Tom Maack steps in to guide the two-time defending state champion girls soccer after Aloma Jess resigned in the off-season. Laurel's girls had won three of the last four Class A championships under Jess, who started coaching the Locomotives in 1999.
Maack took over Laurel's boys program last season after the team graduated 12 players from it's first State A championship appearance. Last year's team finished 0-7-1. Maack was also in charge of Laurel's boys from 2005 to 2008. His shift in benches means Laurel will look to fill it's boys soccer job.
Maack has spent his last 15 years coaching either high school or youth soccer in Laurel. His daughters, Morgan (senior) and Mya (sophomore) were part of the last two state A title teams. Morgan has signed to play for Richard Duffy's women at Rocky Mountain College. Mya has combined to score 52 goals in her first two high school seasons.
High school Hall of Fame coach Wayne Moorman, who graduated from Laurel in 1961, will take over a volleyball program that has endured three coaches in five years. He comes out of retirement to replace Kortney Klein who had held the position since April of 2018. Klein won three State B championships as a player at Huntley Project but the Locomotives haven’t been to the Class A state volleyball tournament in nearly a decade. They last won the State A title in 2012.
Mooreman established coaching dominance at Bridger during a 30-year career before stepping down in 2018. His teams earned 10 Class C titles in three decades. He currently has two granddaughters involved in Laurel high school sports.
Buddy Windy Boy becomes Laurel's third girls basketball head coach in four years. He replaces Eddie Cochran who resigned in April after two years. Windy Boy, like Cochran, played college basketball at MSU Billings. He coached Laurel's freshmen girls two years ago before taking over the JV squad last season.
Windy Boy's daughter, Sannah, will be a freshman for the Locomotives.
