Gunlock named B girls hoops Coach of the Year
Valkyries head coach Cortnee Gunlock leads her team during the State B basketball final earlier this month. (Jeremy Weber/Bigfork Eagle)
Bigfork Valkyries head basketball coach Cortnee Gunlock was one of several Coaches of the Year announced by the MHSA last week.
Bigfork had never won a girls basketball state championship until Gunlock’s charges went 26-0 and won the State B this season. After dominating opponents during the regular season and the divisional tournament, the Valkyries knocked off Baker, Huntley Project and Big Timber at State with Braeden Gunlock winning MVP honors.
Generally the state champion coach brings home these Montana Coaches Association honors, but there are exceptions: Flathead wrestling coach Jeff Thompson was also named girls wrestling coach of the year for Class AA. Flathead’s girls finished third at the 2023 state tournament after winning the previous two titles.
Baker’s Darrick Gorder and Will Bagley were named co-coaches of the year for ABC girls’ wrestling despite the Spartans’ third-place finish, behind Ronan and Miles City.
Another exception is the Class B boys’ basketball coach of the year going to Malta’s David Costin. Coach Scott Anderson and Missoula Loyola won the school’s first ever boys championship in March, beating Malta 65-55.
All the winners will be honored at an MCA Awards Ceremony July 27 at Great Falls’ C.M. Russell High School.
The complete list of honors is below:
Boys Wrestling
AA — Jeremy Hernandez, Billings West
A — Jessie Schaeffer, Columbia Falls
B — Tim Kaczmarek, Huntley Proejct
C — Charlie Crabb, Superior
Girls Wrestling
AA — Jeff Thompson, Flathead
ABC — Darrick Gorder and Will Bagley, Baker
Boys Basketball
AA — Jeff Hays, Missoula Hellgate
A — Scott Sparks, Lewistown
B — David Costin, Malta
C — Layne Glaus, Manhattan Christian
Girls Basketball
AA — Charlie Johnson, Billings West
A — Dustin Kraske, Havre
B — Cortnee Gunlock, Bigfork
C — Amber Erickson, Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale
Boys Swimming
AA — Brady Baughman, Missoula Sentinel
A — Robyn O’Nan, Billings Central
Girls Swimming
AA — Ed McNamee, Great Falls High
A — Robyn O’Nan, Billings Central