Last week’s surprise winter weather aside, high school spring sports were scheduled to begin Monday come snow or high water or, in this case, maybe both.

In spite of the recent winter-like conditions and all that frozen white stuff laying around, track and field, softball and golf seasons were set to begin practice Monday as scheduled at schools across Sanders and Mineral counties.

Battered by a series of late winter, snow-rich storms like all of western Montana received over the past week, Thompson Falls was looking like a winter wonderland Sunday. Lady Hawk softball coach Jared Koskela was anticipating getting his players out on the field for some quality early season practice Monday. Then the wintry weekend went down.

Koskela, who also serves as the head coach for the Blue Hawk football team and has pretty much seen it all weather-wise during his extensive career, is taking it all in stride.

“You can get everything during a season in any outdoor sport,” he said. "You can go from a snow-covered field to 100 degree weather a few weeks later, all the way to monsoon type rain delays in softball tournaments. It’s all possible in Montana.

“It’s not surprising to be honest,” Koskela said of the current weather conditions during a break in the snowstorm activity Sunday. “You always have to have a couple plans ready due to what the weather might do around here.”

Hopefully, alternate practice plans will not require extensive snow shoveling for area teams from this point forward.

Check next week’s issue for spring sports updates on area teams, maybe without the weather reports.