HELENA — Montana Tech captured the 2024-25 Frontier Conference Bandy Memorial All-Sports Award. This is the third straight year that the Orediggers won the all-sports award and their seventh time in program history.
"Congratulations to the Montana Tech Athletics Department on a tremendous 2024-25 academic year claiming the Bandy Award for a third consecutive year," shared Scott Crawford, Frontier Conference Commissioner. "Let's be sure to give credit to the administrative leadership, the coaching staffs, and the Oredigger student-athletes for their committed efforts to seek excellence."
Tech won the women’s cross country, men’s basketball, and women’s outdoor track and field to go along with the top three places in four other sports (football, volleyball, men’s cross country, and men’s outdoor track and field) to collect 105 points.
“Receiving the Bandy Award is a tremendous honor — earning it three years in a row is truly exceptional,” said Dr. Les Cook, chancellor of Montana Tech. “I couldn’t be prouder of our program, our dedicated coaching staff, and most importantly, our outstanding student-athletes. They represent the best of the best, excelling both in the classroom and in their sport.”
“Winning the Bandy Award for the third consecutive year is a tremendous honor and a reflection of the success of every one of our programs,” said Matt Stepan, Montana Tech Athletics Director. “What makes this accomplishment truly special is that it represents a collective effort, from our student-athletes and coaches to the incredible support of our faculty, staff, and administration. This recognition is a testament to the strength of our entire campus community.”
Carroll finished second in the all-sports trophy standings with 100 points. The Fighting Saints won the men’s cross country and men’s outdoor track and field championships this season.
Rocky Mountain edged Montana Western by 1.67 points to claim a third-place finish in the standings. The Battlin’ Bears won the women’s basketball championship and earned a total of 76.67 points. The Bulldogs won the football championship and placed fourth in the standings with 76 points.
Providence finished fifth after scoring 57 points, including the women’s volleyball conference title. MSU-Northern placed sixth with 35.67 points.
Carroll leads the Frontier Conference with 17 Bandy All-Sports Awards. Rocky Mountain has won eight awards followed by Montana Tech's seven awards. Montana Western claimed six all-sports awards in school history. MSU-Northern has won two all-sports awards.
The Bandy Award is presented each year to the conference school that has accumulated the most points based on its regular season finish in football, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, and men and women’s outdoor track and field. The conference regular season champion receives 17 points, and the points decrease for each place after first with 12 points for second, 10 points for third, nine points for fourth, eight points for fifth, seven points for sixth, six points for seventh, and three points for eighth.
If there is a tie in the regular season standings, the points for the place finishing are added together and divided by the number of teams that tied. An example would be if two teams tied for first, they would each receive 14.5 points (17 plus 12 divided by 2 equals 14.5 points). While the next place finisher would be awarded the third place points.
The conference features five members in all sports: Carroll, MSU-Northern, Montana Tech, Montana Western, and Rocky Mountain. Providence participates in all sports except football.
Arizona Christian, College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Southern Oregon are conference members in football only.
The Bandy Award was first presented after the 1982-83 season with Western Montana College (now Montana Western) winning the award.
The all-sports award is named in honor of the first commissioner of the Frontier Conference, George Bandy, his wife Cheryl Ann and their 8-year-old son Michael, whom they had adopted two weeks earlier. The family died tragically in a boating accident in the summer of 1982 when their 14-foot sailboat overturned in high winds on Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena.
