Great Falls Central Catholic High School

Great Falls Central Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Great Falls, Montana. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings.

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Great Falls Central currently has a staff of ten teachers, as well as a school counselor, secretary, and principal.

History

Old Central

The old Great Falls Central Catholic High School closed down in the mid 1970s due to financial trouble. The building was then sold to the Great Falls Public School system, which turned it into a middle school, Paris Gibson Junior High School, and now it is an alternative high school, Paris Gibson Education Center. The school was called "Central" because it was located on Central Avenue in Great Falls, MT.

New Central

Great Falls Central re-opened its doors in 2001. The fist year the enrollment was less then 30 students, but enrollment has climbed ever since. For six years, Central was confined in the University of Great Falls (UGF) McLaughlin Center. The high school started with only two classrooms, and one administrative office.However, over the years, with increasing enrollment in the high school, Central was forced to find more classroom space. Artificial walls were put up on the UGF stage. With the enrollment pushing 90 students, the Central school board purchased two portable classroom facilities, which gave the school four new classrooms.

New Building

The school just opened a brand new, state of the art facility on September 4, 2007. The 3.7 millions dollar facility is the realization of many hard workers who helped raise the money through grants, fund raisers, and private donations. Parker Sullivan and Collete Bernica are currently in charge of development and campaign fund raising for the school. The new school has classrooms, administrative offices, a library, state of the art science lab, cafeteria, music room, gymnasium, and a small chapel. The school also received a grant from the E.L. Wiegand Foundation of Reno, Nev., to purchase bleachers for the school's gymnasium. The $282,335 grant will also be used to help finish the library and media center. Central is currently in the process of building a football field that will be located south of the school. Bleachers are scheduled to go in December 2007. [greatfallstribune.com]

ports

Great Falls Central enjoys a rich sports tradition. The school offers boys and girls basketball, cheer leading, football, track and field, cross country, golf, bowling and swimming. Currently, the Mustangs are competing in both boys and girls basketball. The school's mascot in the Mustang. Central's school colors are blue and gold. [greatfallscentral.org] The Mustangs currently play in the class C, and play in the 8C conference.

Football

The Mustangs played a junior varsity (JV) schedule in 2007. The team went only 1-5, but the one win was a 56-0 thumping of rival Belt High School. The game was in Belt, MT. Central has only been competing with its own team for the past four years. Before that, Central co-opted with Dutton/Brady High School and also with Power High School. In the last year of the co-opt, Dutton/Brady, Power, Great Falls Central Titans were one game away from going to the state class C championship. Great Falls Central was forced to cancel the last game of the season against Centerville High School because they did not have enough players to compete.

2007 Football Honors [greatfallscentral.org] Most Valuable Player- Fred Woelkers, Matt Morren Most Improved Player- Stefen Hicktheir, John Hudson MCA Academic Achievement Award- Andrew Seitz, Steven Plummer, Sean McGuire

Basketball

Boys

Great Falls Central has enjoyed a rich basketball history. In 2004, Central went all the way to the divisional round of the class C northern division. The Mustangs were led by senior guards Steve Horras, Josh Hudson, Zach Henry; senior forwards Zach Person and junior forward David Bernica; and senior center Gabe Krebs, as well as junior forward/center Will Joshu. The team won 19 games, but lost in an overtime thriller to Highwood in the district final. The Mustangs lost to Winnett and Big Sandy at divisional. Joshu, Bernica, and Horras were selected as all-conference players for 8C. Since that time, the Mustangs have not had a winning season, and they have not returned to the divisional tournament. In the 2007-2008 season the boys team have yet to win a game. The Mustangs are led by seniors Joe Joshu and Zakk Jones who both average just over ten points a game.

Cross Country

Boys

Since the school's reopening in 2000, the Mustangs have steadily built upon a tough running tradition that has earned the school two 2nd place finishes at the Montana State Class C cross country meet in 2005 and 2006. The school has also produced five All-State runners since 2002, including Terran Guardipee, who placed first in the 2006 State meet, however this year the Mustang's yielded one All-State runner Dillon O'Fallon. [http://www.mhsa.org/Cross%20Country/2006-07StateClassCBoys.pdf] .

Girls

While the small school has had trouble fielding a full girls' team in the past, 2007 featured the first full Lady Mustang cross country team. Senior Jocelyn Sullivan earned All-State honors in her final cross country race as a Mustang.

External links

* [http://www.greatfallscentral.org/ School Website]

Notes and references