Tom Roberts was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame this past summer.

While Roberts was voted in as a coach, he could have easily been inducted as an athlete or a contributor.

Tom served as head coach of the Butte High girls’ track program from 1994 through 2012. During that time, he coached 10 individual state champions, and he led the Bulldogs to the 2009 Class AA State title. 

Before taking over the program as the head coach, Tom served as an assistant from 1975 through 1993. He was part of state titles in 1984, 1986 and 1987.

Tom works as a volleyball official at the high school ranks. He recently retired from a long run as the head official of the Frontier Conference. He also worked a number of years in the Big Sky Conference.

As an athlete, Tom earned All-State in the high jump in 1968 and 1969 while competing for Butte High. He also earned All-State honors in the triple jump in 1969.

He competed for Montana Tech and won the Frontier Conference title with a league-record mark of 6 feet, 6 inches. His career-best mark was 6-7.

He then went to the University of Montana, where he helped lead the Grizzlies to the 1972 Big Sky Conference title. That UM team was inducted into the Grizzly Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

Click here to listen in as Tom talks about his athletic career, coaching days and his many miles as a referee.