This collection of interviews documents the relationship between the University of Montana’s Grizzly Athletics, its fans, and the broader Montana community. The interviewees include former players, coaches, and trainers; UM students and faculty; and diverse Griz fans and community members. The majority of the interviews were conducted in Fall 2024 by students in Professor Jody Pavilack’s Practicing Oral History course, as part of a larger UM Public History Initiative to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the UM. More information about the project is available in the UM Oral History Project Highlights the Spirit of Griz Nation news release and on the Griz Nation tab of the Griz 130 website. The original interviews are held as Oral History Collection 492 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
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Adam Bork Interview, November 13, 2024
Adam Bork
Adam Bork discusses his upbringing in Bigfork Montana, being active and competitive from a young age. He discusses hard work and development, broken promises at MSU and new beginnings at UM. He reflects on his athletic journey at the University of Montana, where he initially ... Read More
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Amelia "Amie" Just Interview, November 18, 2024
Amelia Just
Amie Just discusses her time working for the Missoulian covering the Griz football team during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Just discusses the coaching transition from Bob Stitt to Bobby Hauck, along with a few memorable games during her tenure. Additionally, Just compares the Griz ... Read More
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Audrey Smith Interview, November 1, 2024
Audrey Smith
In this interview, Audrey Smith, a senior at the University of Montana studying business and marketing, shares her personal and athletic journey. Born in Seattle and raised in Boise, she discusses her childhood, love of sports, and how her parents' active lifestyle influenced her own. ... Read More
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Benjamin Culver Interview, November 8, 2024
Benjamin Culver
Lt. Col. Benjamin Culver graduated from Oregon State University ROTC Program in 2004 as a Field Artillery Officer and deployed to Iraq in 2006 from Fort Hood, Texas. After his combat deployment in 2008, Lt. Col. Culver worked on Congressional Issues under the fellowship program ... Read More
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Brian Salonen Interview, October 7, 2024
Brian Salonen
Brain Salonen, a former University of Montana football athlete, discusses how his father moved from Glasgow, Montana, where he worked as an educator and a coach, to Great Falls, Montana. He describes growing up in Great Falls, Montana, where he participated in punt, pass, and ... Read More
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Bruce J. "BJ" Worth Interview, December 5, 2024
Bruce J. Worth
Bruce Jeffrey (BJ) Worth discusses his childhood moving around a lot for his father’s work and his desire to return to Montana. When he arrived as a student at the University of Montana, Worth learned to skydive, becoming a member of UM’s skydiving team, the ... Read More
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Courtney Brockman Interview, December 4, 2024
Courtney Brockman
In this oral history Courtney Brockman discusses Griz sports, tourism, and working for Destination Missoula in Missoula, Montana. As a former University of Montana journalism student, Brockman talks about the experience of being a Griz fan and growing up in the Flathead Valley north of ... Read More
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Dennis Murphy Interview, December 11, 2024
Dennis Murphy
Born and raised in Ovando, Montana, Dennis Murphy talks about growing up around the Missoula Valley and his early experiences with Montana sports. He discusses working under Naseby Reinhart, about working as UM’s athletic trainer, and about the dynamics of race in Montana college sports. ... Read More
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Eric Hays Interview, November 21, 2024
Eric Hays
Eric Hays, a former University of Montana Basketball player and current Hellgate High School basketball coach, reflects back on growing up immersed in the world of sports. Beginning his career in Junction City, Oregon and finding himself in Missoula, Montana, Hays outlines his individual sports ... Read More
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George H. Reed Interview, October 17, 2024
George H. Reed
George Reed discusses his views on Missoula, the college sports environment, medicine, and his experiences in the Vietnam War. An active member of the community, Reed explains his role as an educator, school volunteer, and former cardiologist. He emphasizes the importance of mental health, trauma ... Read More
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Gerald Woodahl Interview, October 10, 2024
Gerald Woodahl
Gerald Woodahl reflects on growing up in Helena, Montana, and becoming a Business Major at Montana State. From there he discusses his business ventures and how that brought him to the University of Montana. Woodahl fondly recalls going to the University of Montana football and ... Read More
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Gloria Swanson Interview, October 30, 2024
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson, a long time Missoula Resident and Griz Football Fan, discusses how she hated sports and then she moved to Missoula and was introduced to the University of Montana’s Griz Football team starting in the 1970s. Swanson discusses living across from Dornblaser field in ... Read More
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Greta Buehler Interview, November 16, 2024
Greta Buehler
Greta Buehler (nee Koss) reflects on her journey through sports, beginning as a multi-sport athlete growing up in Malta, Montana, and college, where she played basketball for the Lady Griz. She highlights her evolution as a player from red-shirting to eventual success and professional career ... Read More
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Jerry Seidensticker Interview, November 8, 2024
Jerry Seidensticker
Jerry Seidensticker graduated with a bachelor’s in education from University of Montana Western in 1978; achieved his masters in 1990; and in 1999, earned his doctorate at the University of Montana, Missoula. He taught mathematics and girls basketball in several elementary and middle schools across ... Read More
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John C. Weida Interview, December 11, 2024
John C. Weida
John Curtis (JC) Weida discusses his childhood in Deer Lodge, Montana and moving around a lot for his father’s military career. He talks about his time as a student at the University of Montana in the athletic training program and how he became UM’s head ... Read More
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Kalvan Manning Interview, October 26, 2024
Kalvan Manning
Kalvan Manning is a beer delivery driver for Hayden Beverage and lives in Butte, Montana. He discusses his childhood, family struggles that affected his early college education at the University of Kansas, and his move back to Montana to finish his degree at Montana Tech. ... Read More
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Karyn Ridgeway Interview, November 1, 2024
Karyn Ridgeway
In this interview, Karyn Ridgeway discusses moving to Missoula, Montana in middle school, her passion for and involvement in sports, and how, in high school, she found herself as a plaintiff in one of the nations first Title IX cases, fighting for equity in sports ... Read More
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Krista Redpath Interview, November 21, 2024
Krista Redpath
In this interview, Krista Redpath, a former Lady Griz player (1995 - 2000), discusses growing up in Great Falls, Montana at a time when it wasn't easy to play basketball as a girl. She describes her love of the sport, her strategies, going to Robin ... Read More
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Linda K. McCarthy Interview, November 5, 2024
Linda K. McCarthy
Linda McCarthy talks about her experience growing up in Montana and getting involved in the athletic community while studying at the University of Montana. From there she discusses her work in the downtown Missoula community as the executive director of the Downtown Missoula Partnership and ... Read More
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Lindsey Hall Interview, November 20, 2024
Lindsey Hall
Lindsey Hall is a current University of Montana Track and Field assistant coach. Born and raised in Missoula, she discusses early experiences with the outdoors, her earliest experiences with running, and her decision to run at the University of Montana in college. Hall discusses her ... Read More
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Logan Stabnau Interview, December 6, 2024
Logan Stabnau
Logan Stabnau, a senior at the University of Montana studying history with minors in political science and Spanish, shares his experiences growing up in Missoula, playing hockey from a young age, and his transition to university life. He discusses his involvement with the Griz hockey ... Read More
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Madison Seipp Interview, November 5, 2024
Madison Seipp
Madison Seipp reflects on her time as a student at the University of Montana. She speaks about her reluctance to become a sports fan when she came to the University of Montana. Seipp was never a sports fan during her childhood or high school. She ... Read More
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Mark DeBourg Interview, November 29, 2024
Mark DeBourg
Mark DeBourg shares his experiences playing football for the University of Montana Grizzlies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He discusses growing up in Billings, Montana playing multiple sports, including football, skiing, and track. DeBourg explains how Ron Lebsock helped him secure a walk-on ... Read More
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Mat Seidensticker Interview, November 22, 2024
Mat Seidensticker
Mat Seidensticker, University of Missoula Basketball Alumni and Lolo Middle School basketball coach describes his life growing up in Twin Bridges and on the highline on Montana. He talks about how he got into basketball by playing with his brothers and dad. He explains what ... Read More
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Megan Morris Interview, October 24, 2024
Megan Morris
Megan Morris describes her upbringing in Missoula and the part that Griz sports and the University of Montana has played in the community since she was young. She discusses her experiences attending George Washington University and living in Washington D.C. during 9/11 and the anthrax ... Read More