MISSOULA — Another fall high school sports season is in the books in Montana, and it was another big one at Missoula Sentinel High School as twin brothers Drew and Tanner Klumph were once again a dynamic duo for the Spartans as they brought home hardware in both football and cross country.
Both seniors, Tanner got the postseason started off with a bang for the two, as he won the State AA individual cross country title in Missoula in October. Sentinel took home the second-place team trophy as well.
After taking second individually as a junior, no one was more proud to see Tanner take the final step than his twin.
"He works really, really hard," Drew said. "I had to even up the (state) title count for the high school careers so it was really cool and I think both of our hard work paid off."
Drew then followed it up as a two-way starter for Sentinel's football team as the Spartans closed out their season with a blowout victory over Billings West to win their second straight state title to extend their winning streak to 21 games.
"It was awesome," Tanner said. "My voice is still a little gone from yelling at the game (last) Friday and Drew just had an awesome season, it was really cool to see that. I was able to pull it off on my end and just to see us both go out a good way, it’s been awesome."
"It was really special," Drew added. "I think everybody didn’t expect to be as good as we were this year but I think we learned from the seniors last year and they set an example for us and hopefully we set an example for the kids below us and they can keep this program rolling."
The Klumph brothers have already had decorated careers so far at Sentinel. Drew was also a starter in 2020 when the Spartans won the state football championship for the first time since 1972, while Tanner's second-place finish helped the Spartans win the team title in cross country in 2020.
The duo helped lead Sentinel to the team track title together in the spring as Drew won the 300 hurdles while Tanner netted a pair of second-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200. But in the fall, both again found ultimate success in their separate sports as the two seniors showcased their varying skillsets.
"We were raised to always compete and if we’re going to do something do it 100%," Tanner said. "You’re going to get what you give so we were told always do something to the best of our capabilities so that’s kind of what we did and it ended up working out."
Going forward, Tanner will run at Minnesota after high school, while Drew is undecided on football.
But for their final high school falls, it'll be one to remember in the Klumph household.
"Yeah it’s really special, having both of us succeed is really cool and so when you see your brother do well you get excited and then both of us doing well it’s really, really fun so it was a good fall," Drew said.
