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MCA week will be a special one for Filius

The fall sports season is getting ever so close now. And, a new school year is just around the corner. But, before Montana begins another nine months of exciting high school sports, coaches from all across the great state will first gather in Great Falls.

The annual Montana Coaches Association Clinic is one of the most popular events of the summer, and, for Havre High School, this week's clinic, which starts today and runs through Thursday, will hold special meaning.

That's because longtime Havre High wrestling coach Scott Filius will be inducted into the MCA Hall of Fame Thursday morning. Filius has been the head coach at HHS for 22 years and has led the Blue Ponies to 12 state championships, including five in a row. Filius is also a 12-time MCA Coach of the Year, as well as a member of the Northern Hall of Fame. He's also a speaker at this year's clinic.

The clinic itself will again be a big event again. The top speaker at this year's clinic will be former Montana Grizzly head coach Joe Glenn. Glenn, who recently retired as head coach at the University of South Dakota, led the Grizzlies to the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA national championship with a 13-7 win over Furman. He also captured two NCAA Division II titles at Northern Colorado. Glenn will speak about football, as will University of Montana head coach Bob Stitt and Montana State head coach Jeff Choate.

Other notable speakers include North Dakota head volleyball coach Mark Pryor, Montana head softball coach Jamie Pinkerton, Iowa State assistant wrestling coach Derek St. John, Carroll College men's basketball coach Carson Cunningham, former MSU-N football player Chris Hess, who now coaches at Ennis, and former Chester great Jeff Graham, who has led the Belt girls basketball program to five Class C state championships in the last six seasons.

In all, there are over 40 speakers at this year's MCA clinic, which starts today with the annual Frontier Conference Football Media Day.

For more on Scott Filius' MCA Hall of Fame Induction, see Thursday's Havre Daily News.

 

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