With little over a semester remaining in the 1997 school year, the question of a college education is heavy on the minds of seniors at FHS. With rising academic standards and rising college costs, financial aid would be a dream come true. And one way that dream can be reached is through athletic scholarships.
"Flathead is about equal to most schools," said athletic director Gene Boyle. "Most of our athletes have good enough grades to qualify, and that helps a lot."
In the past, Flathead has had successful student athletes go on to such colleges as Nebraska and Oregon.
"Our kids are well-coached," said football coach Bob Applegate. "Our assistant coaches do a good job. Kids that work hard have people knocking on their doors."
In recent years, Flathead has been more successful in some events than others.
"Most of (the scholarships) come from football, track and cross-country," Boyle said. "But that's mainly because of the amount of kids in those events. Recently in basketball, the girls have had more scholarships than the boys."
For the cross-country team, seniors Shane Ackerly and Keegan Rumsey have both been approached by Montana colleges with offers for financial aid.
"U of M has talked to me," Ackerly said. "Any money is nice, if it's offered."
"Missoula has talked to me," Rumsey said. "But I'd probably go in-state for financial reasons, anyway. I've only been offered a 25-30 percent deal, so even Montana schools are tough to get in."
Josh Leigh, a senior on the football team has also been offered scholarships.
"I got offered a full ride at MSU," said Leigh. "But I'm flying down to Wyoming this weekend. I can probably get a full ride. If I go there it would have to be a full ride because of the money."
Indeed, the competitive nature of getting any type of scholarships, be they to junior colleges or Division AA schools, is intense. And other activities in the Flathead Valley take time away from working on particular sport.
"As a whole, their are too many distractions," said Flathead wrestling coach Jeff Anderson. "The Big Mountain, water sports, outdoor activities all take away from working at one sport. That's why we don't have the largest amount of scholarships."
Still, as a whole, Flathead High School is among the top high schools in the state in scholarships.
"We do as well as most AA Schools," Applegate said. "We're up there with the best."