Montana State University Billings Athletics

ESTABLISHED PROGRAM ENDOWMENTS
These program endowments allow the specific Yellowjacket team to upgrade facilities, purchase new equipment, and assist with general program expenses.

Currently there are established program endowments for:

Fredrick Urbaska Baseball Program Endowment
Yellowjacket Men’s Basketball
Yellowjacket Softball (Talon Energy program endowment)
Don Trentham Women’s Soccer Endowment
Krista Montague Athletic Director Endowment
 

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ESTABLISHED SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENTS

BRUCE PARKER ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT

BART BAUER ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL
Bart Bauer was a gifted Yellowjacket basketball player, a member of the MSU Billings Athletics Hall of Fame, and one of the top-ten all time scorers (even without the availability of three-pointers when Bart played). Bart exemplified achievement, grace under pressure, and team contribution. In honor of Bart and his exceptional natural athletic talent, the Bart Bauer Endowed Scholarship for Men’s Basketball was established in 2008. The scholarship is awarded to Yellowjacket men who display all the qualities which Bart Bauer displayed during his MSU Billings career and who also demonstrate the requisite financial need for assistance. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2009-2010.

TANNEHILL ATHLETIC ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Mary Louise Tannehill was known to many as “Aunt Mary Lou, The Bible Story Lady.” Mary Louise Smith was born in 1909 in Beardstown, Illinois. In her Last Will and Testament, Mary Lou left a portion of her estate to the MSU Billings Foundation to establish an endowment fund to support academic scholarships for men’s basketball/student athletes. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2011-2012.

BRENT MONTAGUE MERIT ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Using life insurance funds left by Brent Montague’s younger brother, Marc, who died in 2000, Linda and Stephen Reeves fully funded the Brent Montague Merit Scholarship Endowment in February 2014 in memory of Marc and to honor their other son, Brent. In 1994 Brent accepted a basketball scholarship offer from MSU Billings, drove 800 miles to Billings, Montana, and became a Yellowjacket. In 2002, his loyalty and dedication to Yellowjacket Athletics were rewarded when he was inducted into the MSU Billings Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1997, Montague earned his Bachelor’s Degree at MSU Billings and later become the University’s Athletics Corporate Salesperson and Director of Athletic Development for several years before moving into the private sector. Brent’s decision to become a Yellowjacket those many years ago changed his life and continues to reward him on a daily basis. This endowed scholarship allows those rewards to be “paid forward” in perpetuity to qualified student athletes who are determined to finish their educations after the expiration of their athletic eligibility. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2014-2015.

CHAPMAN LANE MEN'S SOCCER ALUMNI ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
The opportunity to travel around the country and play college soccer with friends is a once in a lifetime experience. All MSU Billings soccer players have benefited from the perks of this experience. Some of those benefits came in the form of lifelong friends, educational funding, and most assuredly, fun times. While the intercollegiate soccer experience is fun, the real goal of college is to get an education to help ensure future success in life. Moved by their personal experiences as part of the MSU Billings men’s soccer program, alumni Damian Wandler (2000-2004) and Jesse Spann (2002-2006) envisioned establishing an endowment that would support future men’s soccer players. By reconnecting alumni to the sports program that created so many fond memories, Damian and Jesse’s vision was realized in July 2017 and the Chapman Lane Men’s Soccer Alumni Scholarship Endowment was officially endowed. Named after the street that housed many soccer players and became their “home away from home,” the Chapman Lane Men’s Soccer Alumni Scholarship Endowment will provide scholarship funding for MSU Billings men’s soccer players who demonstrate success both on and off the field. The first scholarship from the endowment was awarded for academic year 2018-2019.

ABBY FARMER WRIGHT ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Abby Farmer Wright played women’s soccer for MSU Billings from 1997-2001. She was the starting forward on the Yellowjacket squad and team captain in 1998, 1999, and 2001. Abby was named to the inaugural MSU Billings Women’s Soccer All-Decade Team (1996-2005) and was inducted into the MSU Billings Athletic Hall of Fame, February 2008. In honor of Abby and her outstanding accomplishments, her parents, Ken and Karen Farmer, established the Abby Farmer Wright Scholarship Endowment in July 2008. The endowment will provide scholarship assistance to women or men Yellowjacket soccer players. The first scholarship was awarded for academic year 2009-2010.

FREDRICK J URBASKA ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Fredrick J. Urbaska was a dreamer and a visionary but also a doer who frequently achieved what others considered to be impossible. Fred was passionate about education, or as he liked to phrase it, “Learning how to Learn.” He encouraged young people, his own three children included, to go for their dreams, to aim high, to work hard, and to, above all, receive the best education possible. Fred had a particular infatuation with baseball, a sport in which he actively participated from an early age. Growing up, one of his earliest dreams was to eventually play on a Legion team. When the time arrived, however, Fred opted to drop out of baseball in order to devote his summers to work and save up for the expenses of college. Fredrick Urbaska passed away in December 1997. In 2007, in memory of Fred and his love of life, family, community, youth, and baseball, the KAKATU Foundation, at the direction of the Urbaska family, established the Fredrick J. Urbaska Baseball Scholarship Endowment at MSU Billings, hoping this scholarship would enable a deserving young man to reach one goal without having to forgo another. The first scholarship was awarded to a Yellowjacket baseball player in academic year 2008-2009.

FRANK MCCARTHY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Frank McCarthy was the women’s basketball coach at MSU Billings from 1989-1999. In the ten seasons he coached, he led his teams to 191 wins, four conference championships, five West Regional Appearances, and one NCAA II Elite Eight Appearance. An inspiring individual, Coach McCarthy was a friend and mentor to many student athletes and even to those who were not his players. As a result, he was respected by his students, athletes, co-workers, peers, and opposing teams and coaches. Never one to seek glory or praise, he made it possible for his student athletes to stand in the limelight as they worked their way through college and migrated into the community. At the 2009 Hall of Fame Banquet, members of the 1998-1999 women’s Yellowjacket basketball team announced the establishment of the Frank McCarthy Women’s Basketball Scholarship Endowment to honor Coach McCarthy. This endowment provides scholarship funding to members of the women’s basketball team at MSU Billings. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2012-2013. 

TRAVIS GATES MEMORIAL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Travis John Gates was born on December 26, 1987, in Lewistown, Montana. Travis graduated from Billings West High School in 2006 where he played varsity golf and developed many lasting friendships. At the time of his passing he was studying at MSU Billings, finishing his degree in Environmental Studies with a Geography minor. Travis played four seasons of golf for the Yellowjackets, where he was a three-time GNAC Academic All-Conference Honoree. Travis spent his first year on the Yellowjacket Golf team as a walk-on, without a scholarship, and struggled to make it all work. This scholarship, established in 2012 in memory of Travis, is dedicated to helping those in similar circumstances so they can more fully enjoy the experience. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2012-2013.

DICK EDWARDS MEMORIAL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
The Dick Edwards Memorial Endowed Scholarship was established in 1981 in memory of Eastern Montana College (now MSU Billings) basketball coach Dick Edwards, who died suddenly on his way to a Yellowjacket basketball practice on January 31, 1981. The endowment fund provides scholarship assistance to student athletes . The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2005-2006.

FRANCES S. BARKER ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Frances Scanlan Barker was born in Bozeman, Montana, on August 24, 1909. With her parents, she migrated to a homestead north of Hardin, Montana. She attended country schools and graduated from Hardin High School. She married Robert Barker, a pharmacist in Hardin, in November 1931. They owned and operated Barker Drug in Hardin until moving to Billings in 1963. Frances established a Charitable Remainder Unitrust in 1999. Upon her passing in 2003, MSU Billings received a portion of her Unitrust to establish the Frances S. Barker Endowed Scholarship. Per Frances’ wish, funds from the endowment are used to provide scholarship assistance to needy students, particularly student athletes. The first scholarships were awarded in academic year 2005-2006.

PAUL AND PATTI GUNVILLE ATHLETIC ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Paul Gunville and his wife, Patti, are well known to Yellowjacket athletes and coaches. They have always had close ties to the MSU Billings Athletic Department and have a great interest in NCAA Division II sports. In September 1999, they made a gift to establish the MSU Billings Athletic Scholarship Endowment. The endowment was re-named in 2005 and is now known as the Paul and Patti Gunville Athletic Scholarship Endowment. The endowment fund provides financial assistance to help student-athletes meet their educational and career goals. The first scholarships were awarded in academic year 2005-2006. 

SONNY O'DAY ATHLETIC ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
Sonny O’Day, whose legal name was Charles Augustus George, was born Carlo Giorgi in 1913 in Lucca, Italy. He passed through Ellis Island in 1920 where the family name was Americanized to “George,” and they then took the train to the Montana mining community of Meaderville near Butte. Sonny loved all sports and was a natural athlete. Starting to box as a 10-year-old, Sonny was a protégé of Butte’s Pat Sullivan Boxing Club. He represented the club in amateur fights throughout the state and eventually other major venues throughout the U.S. Sonny proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II, married Carra Burton in 1944, and returned to Montana after the war, establishing his bar and tavern in Laurel. In honor of Sonny and his life-long love of sports, his daughter, Shelley, and her husband, Larry VanAtta, established the Sonny O’Day Athletic Scholarship Endowment in 2004. The endowment provides scholarship funding to student athletes at Montana State University Billings. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 2012-2013.

TIM MORROW '73 SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT
Morrow was a native of Helena, where he was a standout three-sport athlete at Helena High School in football, basketball, and track and field. After graduation in 1968, he would enroll at (then) Eastern Montana College where he played football for the Yellowjackets as a member of the 1968, 1969, and 1970 teams. After graduation, Morrow moved back to Helena where he launched a successful sales career for Farmers Insurance. He passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in September of 2018 at the age of 69 just a week before his 50th high school class reunion. The endowment will provide a $1,000 scholarship for any full-time first or second-year Yellowjacket student-athlete with a minimum GPA of 2.75. The first scholarship was awarded in 2022-2023.