BILLINGS -- Three basketball players highlight the Montana AAU Little Sullivan Award finalists for the 2019-20 year, the organization told MTN Sports on Sunday.
Tres Tinkle, Dane Warp and McKenzie Johnston were among the finalists, with all three playing college basketball. High school swimmer Catherine Russo of Butte was the lone prep athlete to be honored.
Tinkle, a Missoula Hellgate High graduate playing at Oregon State, and Warp, a Havre High grad in his senior season at Carroll College, are joined by fellow male finalists Gresh Jones, a Sidney native and Dickinson State wrestler, and Dillon's Jason Ferris of the Montana Western football team.
Russo recently capped her senior season by winning a pair of individual races at the Class AA state swim meet in Great Falls. She tied her own state record in the girls 50-yard freestyle at 22.76 seconds. Russo, who will swim at Ohio State next year, won state in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly for the fourth consecutive year.
Johnston, a Helena Capital grad, is winding down her season for the Montana Lady Griz basketball team in Missoula. Fellow UM student-athlete Teigan Avery of Kalispell is also a female finalist, as is North Dakota State track and field athlete Paige Harris of Plentywood.
The winners of the Little Sullivan Award will be announced during the annual banquet, which will be held Saturday, May 9 at Fairmont Hot Springs. Former Forsyth and MSU-Northern wrestler Brandon Weber won last year's male award, while former Choteau and MSU Billings basketball standout Alisha Breen took the female honor.
For more information about the Montana AAU Little Sullivan Award, as well as the banquet, please feel free to contact the organization's Mike Ward by emailing lwolfmike2@gmail.com or calling (406) 941-1050.
