Bengal girls, boys third in Butte

Complete results | Team pictures | Helena IR story

Varsity Girls

Freshman Kylie Hartnett galloped to a runner-up finish in a personal record (PR) of 19:15 to lead the Bengals to third place, and just one point out of second, at the Butte Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 20 at Fairmont Hot Springs Golf Course.

And while Hartnett stole the show, she wasn’t the only Bengal who made a big move. Senior Katelyn McKay posted a PR of 19:56 in ninth place, and freshmen Kylee Wetzel (20:08) and Rylie Schoenfeld (20:14) also posted their PRs in 15th and 17th, respectively.

Also, senior Paige Aasved (21:27) and freshmen Breanna Brewer (21:28) chalked up PRs in 46th and 48th place. Junior Alyssa Plant finished in 22:25 to round out the varsity results for Helena, which has now finished second, third, first and third in its first four competitions this season.

The Butte meet marked the end of the first half of the schedule for the varsity team, as the state meet is now a month away for the upstart squad. After Mountain West in Missoula next weekend, the Bengals wrap up the regular season with two home meets – 7 vs. 7 and Crosstown – before finishing state on October 26.

Varsity Boys

Helena’s top four boys all finished within 6 seconds of each other to lead the Bengals to a third-place finish behind Missoula Sentinel and Billings Senior.

Sentinel finished with 88 points, Senior totaled 93 and Helena posted 115. Glacier wasn’t too far back in fourth with 128 at a meet that featured 12 of 14 AA schools.

Junior Jonah Fisher led the way in 16:51 for 14th place, sophomore Trystan Brewer was 17th in 16:53, and senior Zane Roush and junior Clayton Ryerson both crossed the finish line in 16:57 for 19th and 20th place, respectively. Junior Sam Sullivan rounded out the Bengals’ scoring in a personal best of 17:37, which was good enough for 45th.

It was a breakthrough day  for four Bengals, as Roush and Sullivan each posted PRs, along with junior Nick Pida and senior Eric Carlson in 17:58 (59th) and 18:45 (100th).

Junior Varsity Girls

Awaiting official results for team recap. Results on Athletic.net are currently mixed in with with varsity results. WILL UPDATE

Sophomore Maddy Murgel paced the girls junior varsity squad with a fifth-place finish in an SR of 22:13.

Junior Jordynn Greve was the team’s second runner in an SR of 22:59, freshman Grace Oelkers chalked up a time of 23:13, senior Janelle Swanson ran a PR of 23:30, and senior Payton Aasved finished in 23:33 to complete the JV squad’s scoring.

Four additional junior varsity runners also posted lifetime bests, while four others posted their best times this season:

• Tamara O’Leary, junior, 24:12 (PR, 1:21 improvement)
• Olivia Huber, freshman, 24:47 (PR, 53-second improvement)
• Laurel Maronick, freshman, 24:54 (PR, 45-second improvement)
• Sage Eck-Miller, sophomore, 25:12 (SR, 18-second improvement)
• Tatum McNamara, junior, 25:12 (season debut)
• Riley Thennis, senior, 25:24 (SR, 14-second improvement)
• Madelyn Edwards, sophomore, 25:43 (PR, 8-second improvement)
• Robin Triem, freshman, 26:03 (11 seconds shy of PR)
• Savannah Withrow, junior, 26:40 (SR, 32-second improvement)
• Erin Grossman, freshman, 26:54
• Morgan Taylor, senior, 30:48 (SR, 33-second improvement)
• Alexa Randall, freshman, 41:19 (high school debut)

Junior Varsity Boys

Junior Grayson Bonilla chalked up a 45-second PR and sophomore Ethan Nelson was just off his shoulder finishing 3 seconds shy of his best as the two Bengals finished 26th and 27th in 18:53 to lead the squad to a sixth-place finish. Nelson’s time was a season record (SR).

Sophomore Dallin Christensen ran a 20-second PR in 19:13 to place 37th, while junior Boyd Stutz matched his SR (19:25) to place 51st, and junior Roy Rindal was 53rd with a PR of 19:26 to round out Helena’s scoring from the top five runners.

Three additional junior varsity runners also posted lifetime bests, while two others posted their best times this season:

• Westin LaPierre, sophomore, 71st, 19:45 (PR, 19-second improvement)
• Ian Lovshin, sophomore, 72nd, 19:47 (SR, 23-second improvement, 14 seconds shy of PR)
• Devin LaPierre, sophomore, 93rd, 20:00 (PR, 1:20 improvement)
• Evan Stefaniak, freshman, 148th, 21:09 (PR, 25-second improvement)
• Kyle Markovics, junior, 209, 22:30
• Coby Sena, senior, 243rd, 23:24 (SR, 1:10 improvement)

Up next

The Bengals return to action Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula, which will serve as an opportunity for the Bengals to preview the state meet course at University of Montana Golf Course.