Complete Meet Results
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Helena’s varsity and junior varsity girls finished third, junior Milo Kauffman posted a top-5 finish, and junior Kortney McKay placed herself in the top 15 in the largest Mountain West Classic field in history Saturday in Missoula under sunny blue skies.
Kauffman employed more conservative tactics than usual early in the varsity boys competition and the adjustment paid off in a race that featured 590 finishers. He moved up the field throughout the 15 minutes, 40.51 seconds it took him to navigate 5 kilometers, and he was less than 2 seconds out of third place at the finish.
The boys were without three of their top 7 runners but still managed to place 15th out of 79 complete teams. Freshman Emory Kreissler ran a stellar race in his first Mountain West appearance, placing 49th in 16:45, junior Joel Melton was the Bengals’ No. 3 finisher in 113th with a time of 17:23, sophomore Ander Svingen was 151st in 17:43, and sophomore Foster Warner placed 199th in 18:10.
Mead of Spokane won the meet with 110 points, followed by Bozeman (111) and Cheney, another Washington team, placed third (272). The Bengals finished with 493 points.
While Kauffman posted the top individual performance for the Bengals, Helena’s girls ran strong collectively at both competitive levels to finish among the top 3.
McKay led the varsity squad to third by steadily moving through the pack to finish 13th in 19:23. She was 26th after 1 mile and 19th after 2 miles, demonstrating good patience and resolve in a field that featured 486 finishers.
Junior Isa Ward ran another strong race start-to-finish, positioning herself well in the early stages, then picking up a few spots to come home in 34th – 23 positions higher than a year ago – in a time of 19:54. Behind her was senior Kate Lee in 20:27, while freshman Wynona Schmidt and Mary Clement were the other big movers for the Bengals in 66th and 67th place, respectively.
After 1 mile, Schmidt was 106th and Clement found herself in 87th. A mile later, Schmidt found her teammate in the herd of runners and led them through the 2-mile mark in 78th and 79th place, before the duo each chipped away 12 more places before they crossed the finish line in 20:42 – a personal record for Schmidt – and 20:43.
Junior Emmie Bermingham finished next for the Bengals in 91st place (20:58) and junior Ellie Coburn was the seventh runner in 136th (21:33).
Bozeman claimed the top team spot with 67 points, followed by Gallatin with 163 and Helena with 220 – 16 points ahead of Mead and a big leap forward a year after the Bengals finished eighth at the meet. Montana teams flexed their muscles at Mountain West as West and Glacier finished fifth and sixth to put five teams in the top 6.
In JV competition, the Helena girls again demonstrated the team’s depth, as the Bengals placed third – just 4 points out of second, despite competing without three regular top 7 runners.
Senior Cooper Judd was the tip of the spear in 6th place with a personal best of 20:45, and freshman up-and-comer Ivy Kyle wasn’t too far back in 8th place with a personal best of 20:52.
Reliable senior Emily Davidson, meanwhile, crossed the finish line in 12th place (21:18), sophomore Harper Johnson scored for the third time in three meets in 24th (21:54), and junior Aven Baker was among the five scoring runners for the first time in her Bengal career in 91st with a season best of 23:35. Juniors Kumari Leland (112th, 23:57) and Ellie Zipfel (113th, 24:00) were Helena’s sixth and seventh finishers, both running season bests.
Freshman Iris McClain, however, had the most notable day as she was taken off her feet by a panicked deer on the course a little past 1 mile into the race, but she brushed it off and quickly got back to her feet, and still ran a personal best time of 27:03.
The girls notably placed 10 runners in the top third of the 478-runner field.
Back to the boys action, Helena’s JV contingent placed fifth and were guided in their quest by senior Henry Sweeney who chalked up a season best of 18:14 in 22nd place, while first-year runner and junior Titus Wetzel continued his strong start in 26th with a time of 18:24.
Junior Daniel Williams was next across the line for the Bengals in 38th (18:38), freshman Milo Sealey placed 42nd in 18:45, and sophomore Apollo Althoff continued his momentum in the fifth scoring spot with a time of 18:55 in 49th. Helena’s sixth and seventh runners were sophomore Graham Coleman (58th, 19:03) and senior Enoch Johnson (106th, 19:40).
The JV boys placed 11 runners among the top third of the 652-runner field.
Helena has a quick turnaround before its next meet as it heads south Thursday for the Butte Invitational.
Helena High Cross Country 