Jade Wendland signs with Miles Community College

While most high school graduates have already signed with colleges to continue their athletic careers, some athletes are still making that choice for where they want to play for the next few years. Just recently, Havre High graduate Jade Wendland decided to sign with Mile Community College to play volleyball and basketball.

As she was making her decision, Wendland spoke to Montana State University-Northern women's basketball coach Chris Mouat who helped her send out the paperwork to Miles Community College. After MCC reached out, Wendland signed to play basketball and then later on, she signed to play volleyball with the Pioneers. While she had thought about other schools, Wendland did not want to stray too far from the Hi-Line.

"Miles City is just closer to home. It's not that far," Wendland said about choosing to play at MCC.

In her lone season with the Blue Ponies, Wendland had excellent seasons in both volleyball and basketball. In volleyball last fall, she was named second team all-conference as she helped the Ponies finish second at the state tournament.

She did even better with the HHS girls basketball team that won its second straight state title this past spring. As an all-state player, Wendland averaged 10.8 points a game on 36.5 percent shooting from the field. She was also second on the team with 52 steals and she was third on the Ponies with 47 total assists through the season.

As she heads to MCC, Wendland hopes to make an impact on both the volleyball and womens basketball teams. In volleyball, the Pioneers are coming off a season where they went 17-12 with an 8-4 conference record. They went on a run in the postseason before losing to North Dakota State College of Science in the Region XIII championship match.

In women's basketball, the Pioneers have not had as much success. This past season, the Pioneers went 7-24 with a 5-16 record in conference play. This past summer, the Pioneers hired MCC alumni and Montana Tech assistant coach Jenna Bolstad to take over the program as they try to turn things around.

As she plays for the Pioneers, Wendland will also focus on studying elementary education while in school. While she is excited about playing two different sports for the Pioneers, she knows that handling all these responsibilities will require her utmost dedication.

"It'll be really hard at first to get my head wrapped around organizing and time management because down there we'll be on the road first thing," Wendland said. "I think that'll be hard at first but I'll probably get the hang of it."