The Montana Coaches Association (MCA) is pleased to announce that 4 Montana coaches will be inducted into the MCA Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be a part of the 2023 MCA Awards Ceremony (in conjunction with the MCA Coaches Clinic), on Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 11:30 am in Great Falls at the CM Russell High School Auxiliary Gym. Family and friends are invited. All attendees are invited to a complimentary luncheon in the CMR cafeteria immediately following the ceremony.
Congratulations to these 4 long-serving, outstanding coaches and their families!
2023 MCA Hall of Fame Inductees
Lon Carter
- With a coaching career that has spanned 62 years, Coach Lon Carter has served the student athletes of the Helena Public Schools for 54 years, 50 of those years at Capital High School. Lon’s 62 years in coaching is a mark that may never be equaled. It is at Helena Capital High School where Lon spent 50 years and had his greatest coaching impact.
- In 1974 Coach Carter was named Head Boys Basketball coach at Helena’s new high school Capital High, he held this position for 5 years. Over the past 50 years Lon has directed the Capital High strength and conditioning program. This program was recognized by both Sports Illustrated and Bigger Faster Stronger magazines as one of the premier high school conditioning programs in Montana.
- A long-time football and boys track & field assistant coach at Capital High, Coach Carter aided in 1 state football championship and 6 top 3 state finishes in track & field including 2 Class AA State Championships in 1998 and 1999.
- Coach Carter has served Capital High as Head Boys Track & Field coach for the past 21 years. At the competitive Western AA Division Track & Field meets, his Bruins have captured 10 trophies including 2 division championships. Also, during this time, the Bruins have 5 top 4 finishes including a State AA Championship in 2004.
- Lon is considered one of the top hurdle coaches in Montana. He has coached 10 hurdlers who have run times under 15 second in the 110-meter hurdles and 19 athletes who have run under 40 seconds in the 300 hurdles.
- Nominated 5 times for the MCA Class AA Boys’ Track & Field Coach of the Year, Coach Carter was honored by his peers in 2004 as Class AA Boys’ Track & Field Coach of the Year.
- Lon has presented at the MCA Clinic as a track & field speaker 5 times and has been published in the Bigger Faster Stronger magazine.
Steve Komac
- Steve Komac’s 29 years coaching career in Montana include 6 years as head wrestling coach at Browning High School and 19 years at Great Falls High including 16 years as head wrestling coach. Steve currently serves the University of Providence as head wrestling coach, a position he has held for the past 4 years.
- During his tenure as the Bison head wrestling coach his teams amassed a dual meet record of 244 victories against 85 setbacks and a state wrestling tournament record of 167 and 41.
- Coach Komac’s teams earned trophies at the Class AA State Wrestling Tournament 9 times including 4 third place finishes, 2 second place finishes and 3 state championships in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
- Steve was nominated 9 times for Class AA Wrestling Coach of the Year. He was honored 3 times with the Class AA Wrestling Coach of the Year following the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons.
- All totaled, in Steve’s 22 years as a head wrestling coach he coached 143 individual state tournament placers and 39 state champions.
- In 2001, while an assistant wrestling coach at Great Falls High, Steve was awarded the NHSACA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. Coach Komac was twice nominated for National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016.
- A 29-year member of the Montana Coaches Association, Steve served at the MCA Clinic as the wrestling chairman 19 years. 6 times Coach Komac has been a MCA Clinic speaker.
- Coach Komac’s coaching success at Great Falls High School helped him secure a position as a coach for “Team Montana” at the national USA Wrestling Tournament held annually in Fargo, ND.
Ed McNamee
- Versatility marks the 26-year coaching career of Coach Ed McNamee. Coaching middle school football at Holy Spirit in Great Falls to college football at UM-Western in Dillon. Serving as an assistant football, swimming, and track coach at both Great Falls Public high schools. It is swimming where Ed has made his biggest impact on student athletes in Great Falls.
- Named Head Swim Team coach for both CM Russell High School and Great Fall High School in 2003. Ed continues to successfully guide four teams during one season, a rare combination head girls and boys swim team coach for both Great Falls schools.
- Over the 20 years Coach McNamee has coached the Bison and the Rustlers, his teams have earned state trophies 28 times. The GFHS Boys have captured 3 state trophies, the GFHS Girls have taken home 6 state trophies including state championships in 2022 and 2023. The CMR Boys have collected 8 state trophies including a state championship in 2010 and the CMR Girls have garnered 11 state trophies including 5 straight state championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
- Coach McNamee has been nominated for the Montana Coaches Association Girls Special Sports Coach of the Year 13 times and 9 times for the Montana Coaches Association Boys Special Sports Coach of the Year. From these nominations Ed has been honored by the MCA as the Girls Special Sports Coach of the Year 2 times, once in 2012 and again in 2021.
- Coach McNamee has been named a finalist 3 times for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Swimming Coach of the Year in 2011, 2014, and 2019.
- From 2008 to the present Ed has served on the Montana High Schools Association’s Swimming Rules Committee.
Derek Schulz
- Coach Derek Schulz’s 27-year coaching career was spent entirely at Whitefish High School. He served as a boys’ basketball assistant for 11 years and as the head boys basketball coach for 3 years. Track & Field is where Coach Schulz had his greatest influence on Bulldog student athletes. Three years as an assistant track & field coach and 24 years as a highly successful head track & field coach.
- Under Derek’s direction, the Whitefish girls track & field teams captured 5 Western A Division titles while earning three state trophies including a State A Track & Field championship 2019. The Whitefish boys track & field teams claimed 3 Western A Division championships and accumulated 10 state trophies including 8 State A Track & Field championships in 1997,1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013.
- Coach Schulz has been nominated for the Class A Girls Track & Field Coach of the Year 3 times being honored by his fellow coaches with the 2019 Class A Girls Track & Field Coach of the Year Award. Ten times Derek was nominated for the Montana Coaches Association Class A Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year. From these nominations Coach Schulz was honored by the MCA membership as the Class A Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year 8 times including 1997,1998, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013.
- In 2011, 2014, and 2017 Derek was a finalist for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s National Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year. In 2017, he was honored as the 2017 NHSACA National Boys Track & Field Coach of the Year.
- A 27-year member of the Montana Coaches Association Coach Schulz has presented at both the MCA Clinic and the NHSACA Annual Conventions.
