With a new 1-2 punch and a couple student-athletes running standout races in the absence of sophomore Milo Kauffman, the Helena High varsity boys eked out a victory at the Butte Invitational on Friday at wind-blown Highland View Golf Course.
That winning finish was matched by the JV girls and JV boys, while the varsity girls won a tiebreaker for third place despite missing senior Solveig Mohr.
A week after Kauffman and senior Elliot Stimpson finished first and second at the Bozeman Invitational, Stimpson and senior Henry Sund finished 2nd and 4th in Butte to spearhead the Bengals’ victory, which was buoyed by senior Eli Highness and junior Garrett Hinderman as the Bengals’ 4th and 5th runners finished in 20th and 24th. Junior Dylan Hill continued to lock down the team’s third spot in 19th. That all added up to 65 points, which was 13 better than runner-up Billings West (78). Flathead was third with 98 points in a meet that featured runners from 27 teams.
A strong wind from the west ensured fast 5K times would be hard to come by, but still, Highness managed to run within 1 second of his personal best in 17:01 and Hinderman bettered his PR by 2 seconds in 17:08, demonstrating how strongly the two Bengals competed.
Glacier junior Owen Thiel captured the win in 15:43, Stimpson crossed the finish line in 15:49, Sentinel senior Tyler Inabnit was third in 15:56, and Sund finished in 16:09. Hill’s time in 19th was 17:01. Also running for the Bengals was senior Jake Matthews in 44th with a time of 17:44.
In the girls varsity competition, junior Kate Lee ran fiercely from start to finish and locked down a ninth-place finish in a season best of 20:28, but senior Hadyn Garza wasn’t to far off that mark and put together an exceptional performance with a season best of 20:45 in 17th.
Those top-20 finishes helped propel the Bengals to 122 points, which matched Skyview, but sixth runner Emmie Bermingham’s 41st-place finish broke the tie as Skyview’s sixth runner was 64th.
Also running strong for the Bengals were seniors Ella Irey and Caoimhe Gallagher in 32nd (21:20) and 33rd (21:23), respectively, and freshman Lily Combs in 37th (21:29).
Mohr and Kauffman are both expected to give the Bengals a boost when they return to action next week at the Mountain West Classic in Missoula, which also serves as a preview of the state meet course.
On the junior varsity front, the Bengals were an unstoppable force Friday and continued their strong start to the season.
Helena’s girls got it started as sophomore Isabel Ward opened her season at the lead and guided teammates Emily Davidson, a junior, and Mary Clement, a sophomore, to a 2-3-4 finish. Ward finished in 21:41, Davidson ran a personal best 21:43 and Clement posted a season best of 22:06. Finishing in the fourth and fifth scoring spots for the Bengals were senior Margot Muszkiewicz 12th in 22:34 and sophomore Ellie Coburn 14th in a season best of 22:48.
The JV girls finished with 35 points, well ahead of runner-up Hellgate with 79 and third-place Billings West with 122, demonstrating the team’s overall depth this season.
Helena also had three additional runners in the top 25 – senior Ryah O’Dell (19th, 23:12), junior Wren Clum (21st, 23:14), and junior Gabbi Lavoie (23rd, 23:15) – and two more in the top 50 – freshmen Harper Johnson (35th, 23:58, PR) and Alexa Pipinich (49th, 24:37, PR).
On the boys side, the performance was nearly as dominant as the Bengals finished first with 43 points, Billings West second with 82, and Hellgate third with 96.
Leading the way was sophomore Joel Melton, who survived a collision at the finish to edge Skyview’s Mekhi Ladson for second place by a tenth of a second in 17:32. Junior Ed Coleman was next in fourth (17:56, PR) and senior Chris Jenemann in sixth (18:11). Freshman Ander Svingen stepped up to finish as Helena’s fourth runner in 13th (18:32, PR) and junior Henry Sweeney capped the scoring in 18th (18:49, PR).
Four more Bengals placed among the top 50 – sophomore Dan Williams (29th, 19:09), senior Sam Fitterer (31st, 19:10), freshman Foster Warner (32nd, 19:12), and freshman Ravin Bury (46th, 19:27).
Six Bengals – Ward, Eisley Bushilla, Emma Flinders, Margaret McDonald, Astoria Holzer, and Enoch Johnson – ran their first races Saturday, which means 69 Bengals have raced in the cardinal and white this season.
Helena can leave Butte feeling proud but wanting more as the Bengals head into the biggest meet of the season next weekend in Missoula. The Mountain West Classic will play host to runners from three states and 103 teams at UM Golf Course on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Helena High Cross Country 