Photo Gallery: NOTE – Something happened with my camera settings during the girls varsity race, so several of my photos were really bad, which is why there are so few from that race. Hoping Marie Matthews picked up the slack for me.
Changing things up a bit, we’re starting with a junior varsity recap to shine a light on the incredible depth developing at Helena High.
Outcomes are a byproduct of striving for excellence, approaching training and racing with curiosity, and doing it in a unified fashion. The outcomes Friday from the Butte Invitational are a reflection of the consistent work in those areas Bengal student-athletes have been putting in since late June.
Helena’s varsity squads both performed well with the boys placing third behind junior Henry Sund’s seventh-place finish and the girls fourth behind senior Bria Plant’s 12th-place showing, but in JV competition, the Bengals attacked 5 kilometers at Highland View Golf Course in Butte, too, posting a boys victory and a girls runner-up finish. Those finishes by Helena’s JV runners certainly provided inspiration for their varsity teammates, who raced later in the afternoon.
On the boys side, sophomore Dylan Hill led the JV boys race wire-to-wire to take home the victory in 17 minutes, 5 seconds. Hill confidently managed his effort across the flat course in Butte’s thin air at 5,500 feet of elevation, and finished a full 20 seconds ahead of second place.
Close behind Hill were senior Ian Rasmann in fourth place with a personal best 17:26 and junior Chris Jenemann in fifth place in 17:47. Fourth across the line for Helena was Ryan Maus in a season best 18:10, and sophomore Ed Coleman completed the scoring for the Bengals in 14th with a time of 18:25. Freshman Joel Melton continued to compete like a veteran despite his age and experience and was Helena’s sixth runner in 16th with a lifetime best of 18:28, and junior Sam Fitterer locked down the team’s seventh spot in 36th with a time of 19:15
On the girls side, freshman Mary Clement ran an inspired race, starting behind the lead pack before working her way into the lead near the halfway point alongside eventual winner and sophomore Elle Johnson from Bozeman.
It was a gutsy race for Clement, who was competing in just her fourth career race, yet showed incredible courage and calm as she traded blows with much more experienced runners – second, third, and fourth were all seniors.
Clement landed in fifth place with a big lifetime best of 21:49, 46 seconds faster than her finish in Bozeman a week earlier.
What came next was a wave of white HHS singlets as five more Bengals finished among the top 12. Junior Margot Muszkiewicz placed seventh in a lifetime best of 22:07, sophomore and first-year cross country runner Adela Sund followed in eighth with a lifetime best 22:13, sophomore Emily Davidson ran to 10th place in a lifetime best of 22:24, sophomore Gabbi LaVoie posted a lifetime best of 22:28 in 11th, and junior Caoimhe Gallagher finished 12th in a season best of 22:30. Helena’s seventh finisher was freshman Ellie Coburn, who posted a lifetime best of 23:00.
While Gallagher wasn’t among the five scoring Helena runners, she displaced Bozeman’s fifth runner, helping her team scratch a little closer to the Hawks, who won with 28 points. Helena wasn’t far behind with 41 and Hellgate placed third with 93. The Bengals’ 1-5 spread was once again a highlight as Clement and LaVoie were separated by just 39 seconds.
Those highlighted above shared the spotlight with the rest of the JV competitors, who collectively competed at an inspiring level. Here’s a quick look at their results before we move onto the varsity recap.
| Boys JV: 8-21 | Girls JV: 8-18 |
| 61. Daniel Williams, 9, 19:44 83. Henry Sweeney, 10, 20:03 PR 97. Finn Morrison, 10, 20:16 PR 101. Enoch Johnson, 10, 20:21 PR 104. Luke Wilkins, 11, 20:23 134. Asher Hazen, 9, 21:00 PR 175. Dane Moser, 9, 22:16 PR 207. Luke Foster, 9, 22:55 PR 236. Gavin Payne, 10, 24:35 SR 239. Will Kreissler, 9, 24:43 254. Micah Langdji, 9, 26:00 PR 271. Elliot Cleary, 9, 29:38 PR 275. Henry Coy, 9, 31:53 277. Carmelo Gresens, 9, 35:28 PR | 27. Cooper Judd, 10, 23:12 PR 33. Wren Clum, 10, 23:26 75. Kelia Gomes, 9, 25:14 97. Lane Swift, 11, 25:55 102. Esme Soller, 9, 26:05 103. Aven Baker, 9, 26:05 110. Maren Fox, 9, 26:20 PR 132. Ryah O’Dell, 10, 27:21 SR 141. Allison Zimmerman, 10, 27:51 SR 175. Hana Honemann, 12, 30:11 PR 187. Evie Zimmerman, 9, 31:48 |
Varsity Recap
In varsity competition, as noted above, the boys placed third and the girls were fourth with Sund and Plant leading the way, but both teams’ collective efforts were the highlight of a strong day.
On the boys side, Sund shaved four seconds off his lifetime best to place seventh in 16:05, just 0.3 seconds behind sixth place. Junior Elliot Stimpson steadily through the chase pack and landed in 12th place in a lifetime best of 16:18 to give the Bengals a solid 1-2 punch, and freshman Milo Kauffman continued to exhibit strength with a 22nd-place finish in 16:51.
Helena’s next three finishers arrived soon after with senior Trey Schlepp racing to a lifetime best 17:10 in 28th, sophomore Garrett Hinderman posted a lifetime best of 17:17 in 33rd, and junior Jake Matthews crossed the finish line in 22nd in 17:22. Junior Eli Highness locked down the seventh spot for the Bengals in 47th with a time of 17:38.
Helena finished with 91 points, trailing West (57) and Great Falls (68), and slightly ahead of Sentinel (103).
On the girls side, Plant scraped a second off her lifetime best to place 12th in 20:20, guiding the Bengals to a total of 126 points in fourth place. Gallatin dominated the meet with 34, Flathead was second with 67, Glacier placed third with 98, while Belgrade (168) and Capital (170) trailed the Bengals in a field of 13 scoring teams.
While Plant led the way for Helena, fellow senior Sofia Hinderman continued her strong start to the season, posting a fourth career best in a row, this time placing 21st after a courageous start alongside Plant to put herself into position to compete farther up the pack. That early display of curiosity by Hinderman resulted in a time of 20:45 and big smiles at the finish line.
Third across the line for the Bengals was sophomore Kate Lee, who continues to grow as a competitor as she ran to a lifetime best of 21:03 in 26th place after making some positive moves in the second half of the race. And despite not feeling 100%, junior Solveig Mohr ran an inspired 21:24 to finish 35th.
Helena’s fourth and fifth runners across the line – junior Margaret McDonald (21:40) and junior Hadyn Garza (21:44) – ran together throughout the race and pushed each other across the finish line in 41st and 42nd. Finishing seventh and just getting started for the Bengals was junior Ella Irey, who placed 59th in a season-best of 22:27 after opening the season in Bozeman last weekend.
Up Next: Mountain West Classic
The Bengals return to action Saturday, Sept. 23 at UM Golf Course in Missoula at the always exciting Mountain West Classic, which annually hosts teams from Montana, Washington, and Idaho – including all 16 Montana Class AA schools. In 2022, more than 1,600 runners competed in the high school divisions.
Helena High Cross Country 