Haustein, Hill named Big Sky Scholar-Athletes

They made names for themselves by excelling a few steps off center stage, just outside the spotlight, doing their 1/11th to help their teams post historic seasons last fall. And, in his case, into the winter.

She played in the midfield for a Montana soccer team that went 13-3-3, rumbled through the Big Sky Conference without a loss and went unbeaten against the Big O's on the schedule: Ohio State, Oklahoma and Oregon State.

Other players scored more goals, still others got the attention for the Grizzlies' 11 shutouts and nine goals allowed, a Big Sky record. Sydney Haustein? All she did was seamlessly connect the two parts, make the units feel like one, the life of a midfielder, indispensable but so easily overlooked.

He, too, was in the middle of the action, leading the Big Sky's top defense – scoring or takeaways, take your pick – in tackles and quarterback hurries from his linebacker position as his Grizzlies also won 13 games, playing themselves all the way to Frisco and the FCS national championship game.

Others on the team had more sacks, others had more interceptions, the plays that make the postgame highlight packages. Rather, Braxton Hill just did his thing, play after play, head down, always in the action but rarely the focal point, the pride of Anaconda, walk-on turned linchpin.

On this day, at least, Haustein and Hill stand alone, no longer in the shadows of their higher-profile teammates. On Tuesday they were named Montana's Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athletes, two of just 22 from the league to earn those honors.

She becomes the eighth Griz soccer player to be named Big Sky Scholar-Athlete. He makes it three times in four years that Montana's men's winner has come from the football program.

Both were survivors of the COVID era, Hill arriving in the fall of 2018, Haustein in the autumn of 2019, competing, pausing, then competing again, the back half of their careers showcasing what was lost when the world of sports shut down.

He turned that extra time into an elementary education degree, then a master's degree in educational leadership, twice being named Academic All-Big Sky and as a senior to the National Football Foundation's Hampshire Honors Society.

She graduated in December with a degree in health and human performance, a future physical therapist, five times named Academic All-Big Sky, twice earning College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.

She played in 87 career matches, second-most in program history, scored 10 goals and added four assists, one hand just enough for her five Big Sky championship rings, regular-season bling in 2019, '20 and '23, tournament hardware in 2020 and '21.

Over five seasons, she played in 42 Big Sky matches. She lost just six times, a winner like few others in program history. To make that more visual and striking: 30-6-6.

His was a gradual rise, from greyshirt to special-teamer to rotation player to impossible to keep off the field, his final season one of the best ever for a Grizzly linebacker, his 128 tackles leading the Big Sky and ranking fifth nationally.

He and his teammates willed Montana to the top of the Big Sky standings in the fall, a first for the Grizzlies since 2009, and gave their fans a season-long thrill ride, peaking between mid-November and mid-December, when the most indelible memories inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium tend to be made.

He was named to three All-America teams in his last season, was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award and was voted first-team All-Big Sky.

At the conclusion of the regular season, he was named co-winner of his team's Tony Barbour Award, which goes to the "Player that best exemplifies outstanding practice habits and makes an unselfish contribution to the betterment of the Grizzly Football Team."

Big Sky Scholar-Athlete has no such descriptor, but it could. Spent their career making their teams better, their programs stronger, their teammates, coaches and university proud. Left with a degree, ready to make an impact beyond the campus borders. For Haustein and Hill, it fits.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Sydney Haustein

Braxton Hill

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