By Wally Feldt

The 1989 Bulldogs men's basketball team.

The University of Montana Western’s annual Alumni Weekend festivities return on Friday and Saturday, April 23 and 24.

This year’s events include alumni-vs.-student games in volleyball, basketball and football; a hall of fame brunch; a fun run; and a barbecue. The events will conclude with the annual UMW Polynesian Club luau.

“It’s an important tradition that’s fairly unique,” Montana Western Athletic Director Mark Durham said of the event. “It’s a time you connect with alumni to get them back on campus, not just to participate in the events, but to be a part of the whole weekend and connect with other alumni.”

The weekend’s events begin with volleyball and basketball alumni games. At 6 p.m., UMW’s current varsity volleyball team will take on an alumni team. Similar match-ups will take place for women’s basketball at 7 p.m. and men’s basketball at 8 p.m. A social at Dillon’s Lion’s Den on 725 North Montana Street will finish Friday’s events at 9 p.m.

On Saturday, the 2010 University of Montana Western Athletic Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a hall of fame brunch in UMW’s Lewis and Clark Room at 9 a.m.

Two former players and one team will be inducted. This year’s inductees are Ty Thorn of the 1999 men’s basketball team, Jason Winterrowd of the 1996 football team, and the 1989 men’s basketball team.

Thorn was a member of the 1998-1999 Frontier Conference championship team. During his career, he earned all-conference and all-American honors. In his senior season, he led the conference in rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots and was second in scoring.

Thorn’s coach was hall of fame member and current UMW athletic director Mark Durham. After graduation, Thorn moved to Las Vegas. He has worked for the past eight years as a shift supervisor for Farm Fresh Foods.

“The people were definitely the reason why Western was such a great place to go to school and why I will never forget my time there,” Thorn said.

Winterrowd graduated in 1996 with a BLS in business. He was a starter for the Bulldogs from 1991-1994. Winterrowd earned all-conference honors three years in a row. In 1993, he was named the conference’s defensive player of the year, was named to the all-district team, and was a first-team all-American selection. In 1993, the Bulldogs were co-league champions and won the the championship outright in 1994.

“Getting the chance to play with so many great football players that somehow ended up at such a small school is special to me,” Winterrowd said.

Since graduation, Winterrowd has been busy in the business world as a credit manager of two companies and a general manager of a group of hotels. He is currently the director of quality assurance for Hospitality International.

The 1989 Bulldog basketball team finished their season with a 19-9 record. They were Frontier Conference champions and advanced to the NAIA national tournament. At the national tournament, the Bulldogs were the lowest seeded team and drew No. 1 seed and defending national champion Grand Canyon University in the tournament’s first round. The Bulldogs upset Grand Canyon 79-65 but lost to the College of Idaho 68-63 in the second round.

Also on Saturday, the Humans in Performance Fun Run will begin at 9 a.m. on the Montana Western tundra in front of the P.E. Complex. There is a 5K and and a 10K run with prizes for the top three finishers in each event.

The highly anticipated football alumni game will begin at noon on Saturday. The game pits the Montana Western varsity football team against UMW football alumni.

Acknowledging that the younger legs often win out in the end, Durham said emphatically, “The alumni come down to compete.”

The football game will be followed by a 3 p.m. barbecue and a game of cow patty bingo.

Durham added that the weekend events are not just for alumni.

“It also sets the current students up for future alumni events when they see how much pride old athletes have when they come back,” Durham said.

Alumni Weekend is a Montana Western Alumni/Booster Club event.