Whitefish OKs plan to bring Browning into Northwest A

All signals point toward Browning High School joining the Northwest A athletic division as the league's fifth team.

The Whitefish School Board on Feb. 9 unanimously approved a recommendation in support of the maneuver. Final approval comes from the Montana High School Association once all schools in the conference have OK'd the plan.

Whitefish athletic director Aric Harris says the move to shift Browning from the Central division to the Northwest will bring more equity to Class A conference alignment.

When Libby High School dropped to Class B last year, it left only four schools in the Northwest — Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Frenchtown and Polson. Including the Southwest, there are currently nine schools total in the West conference.

Meanwhile, the East has 11 schools, with five in the Central division and six in the Eastern A.

With Browning headed west, Laurel would shift from the Eastern A to the Central A to even out all the divisions.

“All divisions would then have five schools and each conference would have 10,” Harris explained.

Postseason tournaments and All-Conference and All-State selections would also be more equal, Harris said.

Browning is likely to participate in all activities except for soccer and tennis.

“They’re excited about the potential to be coming to the Northwest,” Harris said. “They’ll bring a lot of excitement to the conference. They travel well.”

Browning traditionally is strong in basketball and wrestling.

Safety concerns with transporting teams over Marias Pass on Highway 2 proved to be a discussion point, Harris said.

It was 32 years ago that the Whitefish wrestling team was returning from a dual at Browning when their bus collided head-on with a jackknifed fuel-tanker on an icy Highway 2 near Essex. Of the 30 people on the bus, nine died and 19 others were injured. Today there are nine white crosses marking the accident site on Highway 2.

Whitefish avoided sending buses over the pass near Glacier Park for many years following the tragedy.

“The safety issue is a big concern in the wintertime,” Harris said. “We will never put the kids in jeopardy. If the roads aren’t favorable for any reason, we’ll stay home.”

Harris notes that Whitefish has been traveling over the pass in the winter for a number of years for the wrestling tournament at Cut Bank. The school also travels over the pass for golf, football, softball and cross-country.

Harris has met with Dale Duff at Rocky Mountain Transportation about the possibility of more wintertime trips to Browning.

“There’s certainly a heightened sense of awareness and caution about it,” Duff said.