2017-18

September 2017

Jenora HaxtonJenora Haxton

Jenora has been part of the fitness staff at Campus Recreation for over a decade. She’s taught an array of fitness classes, including Kickboxing, Ab Lab, PiYo and Power Pump. Jenora is passionate about teaching and says, “My [Power Pump] ladies are hands-down why I come back! They are strong, determined and bring an amazing energy to class!” The feeling is obviously mutual; Jenora has a devoted following!

This nomination stems from one member, Cami Foos, suggesting that Jenora be recognized. She’s dedicated and rarely misses a class. When Jenora does need to be gone, she works hard to find a sub.

Jenora is always on time and prepared with new exercises to keep workouts fresh and engaging. Each week she challenges participants to push their limits. For many participants, Jenora’s class is a midday outlet to recharge, work up a sweat and feel ready to take on the rest of the day.

Not only does Jenora have a wealth of knowledge in the group fitness arena, but she’s a nurse and a mom! What a rockstar! Thank you, Jenora, for bringing your experience, compassion and energy to Campus Recreation’s Fitness Programs!

October 2017

AspenAspen Runkel

Aspen is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. She started working with Campus Recreation in the fall of 2015 and has been a student supervisor for the FRC facilities staff since summer 2017. 

Aspen coordinates the shift schedules of over 25 student employees and has always been quick to take on extra tasks. Recently, she has lead several new employee trainings, assisted with locker service administration and organized the donation of abandoned lost and found items to charitable organizations. Aspen is also working with Grizzly Athletics as a marketing and promotions intern this semester, so we appreciate her making time for Campus Recreation in her busy schedule. 

When she graduates in May 2018, she will have majored in marketing with a certificate in digital marketing and a minor in media arts. After graduation, she plans to remain at the University of Montana to complete her master’s in business analytics. 

November 2017

Stone DeavoursStone Deavours

Stone joined the Campus Recreation crew as a graphic design and media assistant in the administration office in August 2017. Already working in the Electronic Information and Technology Accessibility office captioning videos, he took this position as well to get more experience in his field of study, media arts.  

In his first few months, Stone has completed a staggering volume of projects and created impressive original marketing materials for all program areas within Campus Recreation. These materials include flyers, posters, digital signage, banner ads for the Campus Recreation mobile app, photos and video. Stone has also volunteered to work outside of his scheduled hours to film dodgeball and lead climbing and take photos for Instagram.

We appreciate Stone’s professionalism and expertise. He’s a reliable self-starter with laser focus when he’s working in Photoshop. Quick and efficient, he also excels at prioritizing and turning projects around to meet tight deadlines. All of this combined with his creative eye makes us so fortunate to have Stone in our office.

We look forward to getting to know Stone even better and hope that he continues to share his talent with Campus Recreation throughout his college career!

December 2017

Cara GrewellCara Grewell

Cara was nominated for her outstanding leadership and dedication to the intramural program. Intramural Sports has a very young and inexperienced crew of officials, and she has stepped up as a mentor to those officials. She leads by example, participates in our staff training and meetings and actively mentors on the court and field. She is also a very dedicated member of our intramural officiating crew.  There were also a number of times throughout the semester Intramurals were short officials on days Cara wasn't available, but she was able to shuffle her schedule around in order to officiate those times. 

Cara is the type of student employee who works for Campus Recreation because she loves what she is doing and finds value in the experience. Her passion shines through while officiating intramural sports.

"Working for the Intramural department on campus has been a great experience for the last three semesters," said Cara. "I have met so many new people and formed some solid friendships and relationships with my peers. I have been able to get better at officiating several different sports, and I love the flexibility of the job. If I have a big test coming up, I can take the night before off and it’s not a big deal. The best part of the job is being able to work on campus and help people have fun playing sports safely. It’s just been a great job to balance work and school."

January 2018

Shayna AlbrightShayna Albright

Shayna is a sophomore at UM focusing on elementary education. She started working as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Grizzly Pool as a high school student in 2014.  Over the years Shayna has taken on the roles of AquaFit instructor, Adult Swim coach, Key Log attendant and, in 2017, Shayna took on the role of student supervisor. 

Shayna is a key member of the student supervisor team, helping to oversee daily operations and training staff.  Shayna has an enthusiastic energy that she brings with her, she is always on time and is continually working to expand her knowledge and experience. 

Shayna is passionate about swimming and teaching swimming. She is also a coach for the Missoula Aquatic Club.  Her passion for swimming and education come together to help her thrive here at the Grizzly Pool.  Her passions and attention to detail are an asset to Campus Recreation, and we appreciate all her hard work. 

February 2018

Seth JakshaSeth Jaksha

Seth was nominated for his outstanding leadership and confidence on the basketball court. He sets a positive example with his willingness to learn and improve his officiating skills, his attentiveness and exceptional customer service. He has come a long was over the past year and now mentors our newer officials. He is always willing to cover other officials’ shifts and make himself available when we are in a pinch. Seth is very dedicated to the Intramural Program and loves what he does.

March 2018

Aurora Pinkey-DobnisAurora Pinkey-Drobnis

Aurora has worked at the Outdoor Program for almost a year while working on her master’s in education here at the University of Montana. Through the ODP, Aurora has led single- and multi-day trips, including the Freshman Wilderness Experience four-day backpacking trip, and a week-long trip to Capitol Reef, Utah, over spring break. She has also facilitated women’s rock climbing nights, taught a backcountry ski camping class for credit and lead cross-country skiing outings. Many of these classes are offered for academic credit through the Health and Human Performance department on campus. She also works at the rentals desk as well as at the climbing wall for the Outdoor Program.  

The ODP puts a very high emphasis on teaching outdoor skills and lessons, and Aurora definitely shines as an educator.  Her commitment to becoming a teacher is apparent in her dedication to coursework and academic achievement. Her prior experience coupled with her enthusiasm for what she loves is genuine, obvious and contagious. She is passionate about teaching and is a natural leader, organized, hardworking and always has a smile on her face. She has been such an asset to the ODP!

April 2018

Colin BrustColin Brust

Colin is a senior within the Davidson Honors College majoring in resource conservation and minoring in Spanish and climate change studies. He has consistently been on the 4.0 list while working at the Montana Climate Office and the UM Outdoor Program.

Colin took the intermediate rock climbing class with the Outdoor Program his freshman year then the American Mountain Guides Association Climbing Wall Instructor course through the Outdoor Program. He began working at the Outdoor Program teaching climbing and working at the Wall in the spring of 2016.

Colin has taught several beginning and intermediate rock climbing classes and private lessons, and this year he was the lead instructor for intermediate rock climbing. Colin became the climbing wall student manager in the fall of 2017, creating the schedule, serving as a peer supervisor and creating new systems for maintaining equipment and rope inspections. He has helped with the annual climbing wall competition for the past two years, and this past year he oversaw the event, which takes countless hours of stripping holds, cleaning holds, setting routes, belaying climbers, judging the participants, explaining the rules and managing risks.

Although he grew up in the deserts of Southern Arizona, Colin is happy to call Missoula his new home. Since moving to Montana, he has done all the climbing and mountain biking he can fit in to his schedule. Colin has served as both an outstanding student and employee here at the University of Montana!

May 2018

Caitlin Sotesz and Reed PolitoCaitlin Soltesz & Reed Polito

The UM Golf Course has an entirely new pro shop staff, but Caitlin has quickly made an impression. She picked up the operation very quickly and is very friendly and approachable. In fact, the customers love her! She's careful to provide customers with correction information, and if she's not sure about something something she makes sure to verify it first. Furthermore, she has taken a lead on the merchandising in the pro shop. Her second week on the job, the golf course manager gave her all the new Under Armour apparel and said she had free reign to make the “Under Armour wall” look good.  He came in the next morning to a complete and amazing new display.  Needless to say, he now asks her rearrange whatever she thinks needs a “fresh look.”

Reed is one of the new driving range/outside services student employees.  A real go-getter, he takes great care of the power carts, leaving meticulous notes every night if something is not working properly. He fixes things and changes the tires himself and is always looking for something extra to do. Reed has really helped clean up around the shop and the locker barns, painted the numbers on the hole signs so they would stand out now better, and more.

June & July 2018

Taylor Calenberg and Kyle DyrudKyle Dyrud & Taylor Calenberg

 Without a Youth Camps coordinator on Campus Recreation’s professional staff this summer, our two Youth Camps student assistant directors, Kyle Dyrud and Taylor Calenberg, have become the glue holding camps together. Going above and beyond, they stepped in and split all of the former coordinator’s responsibilities in addition to the job duties as student assistant directors. 

Our director of Youth Camps has also been able to step away on vacation this summer because she has the utmost trust in their abilities to not only coordinate all logistical aspects of camp but also to mentor and supervise our camp counselors.  Kyle and Taylor have become well-polished professionals who exude all the characteristics we want from our student leaders. Their dedication, enthusiasm and hard work has helped Youth Camps run smoothly.

These two are an incredible team, so we couldn't split them up even though they each have their own month for this award.

Kyle graduated last May with his Bachelor of Arts in psychology and has just finished his first year in the school psychology graduate program. Kyle is a sports fanatic with a passion for health and fitness. He grew up playing every sport he had the opportunity to try. He is still very active in sports and enjoys the outdoor opportunities Montana offers.

Taylor is a senior at UM majoring in health enhancement. He hopes to become a P. E. teacher and a coach for younger students to help encourage them to live healthy and active lifestyles. He has lived in Montana since third grade and never plans on leaving. A sports and outdoors enthusiast all of his life, he has been involved in basketball, football, track and field and softball and also helped coach little guy wrestling.

August 2018

Bridger ListonBridger Liston

Bridger dedicated his summer to the youth in our Youth Camps Program.  He is an outstanding role model to the campers and other staff members by being engaged enthusiastically and humbly throughout the entire summer.  The campers were drawn to his positive demeanor and silly attitude.  Our camp program has a lot of moving parts, with the curriculum and activities changing weekly and daily.  He always came prepared and found a way to get even the most hesitate of campers involved in the activity for the day. 

Here is what a parent had to say about Bridger this summer: “I just wanted to take a second to tell you how fantastic Bridger was as a counselor at camp last week. Davis wasn't super excited to come back, and the first morning going to camp was a bit rough, but Bridger was Davis's counselor, and he was amazing. He knew his camper's names as they arrived, and even in the face of a grumpy start to the week (on the part of Davis) Bridger was calm and positive and playful. By the time we were done with the week, Davis was thrilled to be there, and that was really Bridger's hard work, patience and ability to customize the experience for the kids in his group.”

Bridger will be going into his sophomore year at UM and is pursuing a double-major in pharmacy and business. Born and raised in Missoula, he loves to spend his free time outdoors rafting, hiking and training squirrels. Bridger has played baseball for many years as well as basketball and lacrosse in high school. This past spring Bridger coached the youth lacrosse team, the Missoula Mustangs.