The Bengals were issued a challenge to put forth a personal best in effort and attitude Friday at the Flathead Invitational at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell and delivered with four top-two team performances to open the season.
Blue skies and sun made for a beautiful late morning and early afternoon, but as the hours wore on and the sun continued to rise, the temp rose into the 80s and it certainly affected all of the runners who traveled to the event. But the Bengals focused on things within their control and put together a performance to remember.
Freshman Spruce Bacon, who opened his Bengal career with a 5K time of 24:05 in the JV race, summed up the exceptional effort and vibe after the race: “It hurt so bad, but it’s the best kind of pain.”
The varsity girls and boys both finished second to Bozeman at a meet that featured 18 complete girls varsity teams and 24 complete boys varsity teams. In JV competition, the Helena High girls delivered a victory and the boys finished runners-up to Hellgate.
Competition began with the varsity girls race, which Bozeman controlled from the front with their top five runners in the top 15 positions to post 46 points. But the Bengals were a strong runner-up, led by junior Kate Lee in 14th place with a time of 20:33 to guide the team to 112 points, ahead of Hellgate’s 126.
Senior Solveig Mohr ran a gritty race from start to finish to place 18th in 20:54, and senior Hadyn Garza and freshman Lily Combs crossed the finish line in 21st and 22nd with matching times of 21:13 – a personal best for Combs in her first varsity competition. Helena’s fifth runner and final scorer was junior Emily Davidson in 37th place with a personal best of 21:46, while seniors Caoimhe Gallagher and Margot Muszkiewicz opened with strong races in 38th and 48th in times of 21:50 and 22:20.
On the boys side, Bozeman collected the win with 53 points led by five runners in the top 25, but the Bengals weren’t too far behind with 79 points and also placed five in the top 25, led by senior Henry Sund in fifth with a personal best of 15:53.
Fellow senior Elliot Stimpson placed 11th in 16:10, junior Dylan Hill was 15th in 16:33, senior Jake Matthews crossed the finish line 23rd in 16:49, and sophomore Milo Kauffman was Helena’s fifth and final scorer in 25th with a time of 16:53. Senior Eli Highness placed 39th with a time of 17:19 and sophomore Joel Melton was 46th in his first varsity race with a personal best time of 17:32.
In JV competition, the boys went first and Bengals Chris Jenemann, a senior, and Garrett Hinderman, a junior, showed some courage early by heading directly to the lead pack. Both put forward strong efforts on the grass with Hinderman leading the Bengals across the finish line in fifth with a time of 17:41, while Jenemann was seventh in 18:02. They were joined in the top 15 by junior Ed Coleman, who placed 11th in 18:25. And the Bengals’ No. 4 and No. 5 runners joined that trio in the top 25 with sophomore Dan Williams 18th in 18:43 and freshman Ander Svingen 21st in 19:04.
That group of five scored 62 points, just seven shy of first-place Bozeman’s total of 55 and less than half the total of third place Sentinel.
Helena also placed its sixth runner in the top 25 with freshman Foster Warner 24th in 19:18, and No. 7 runner and junior Henry Sweeney was 30th in 19:23.
On the girls side, Bozeman took the top four spots, but didn’t have a fifth runner in the race, opening the door for the Bengals to run away with the victory as they posted 46 points to runner-up Hellgate’s 73.
Senior Ella Irey led the Bengals in that charge with a fifth-place finish in 22:02. She was followed closely by sophomore newcomer Emmie Bermingham sixth in 22:19, junior Cooper Judd eighth in a personal best 22:30, and sophomore Mary Clement 10th in 22:39. And completing the scoring for Helena was senior Ryah O’Dell with a stellar effort in 17th with a time of 23:47.
The Bengals’ sixth and seventh runners were junior Gabbi Lavoie 19th in 24:14 and freshman Harper Johnson 27th in 24:52.
Beyond the top seven for both junior varsity teams, the Bengals ran aggressively, and with curiosity and courage.
Sixty Bengals – 33 boys and 27 girls – toed the starting line, and 11 boys and 10 girls ran their first 5K race.
Helena returns to competition at the Bozeman Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Bridger Creek Golf Course. There, the Bengals will get their first look at runners from the east, including CMR, Great Falls, Billings Senior, Billings Skyview, Billings West, Belgrade and Gallatin.
Helena High Cross Country 