Kauffman, Hill, Hinderman, McKay, Ward All-State; First Time Both Teams Reach Podium in 40 Years
Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Saturday was a great day for Helena High cross country, and true to Van Gogh’s quote, that greatness was the result of many small steps along the way and many small things coming together at exactly the right time.
The Bengals’ double podium at the 2025 state meet in Missoula was the result of showing up with consistency since the start of summer training in June, running mile after mile and rep after rep with intention, committing to daily strength and mobility work, approaching competition with curiosity, and then, of course, culminating with the magic of seven runners in each race performing with poise and composure on the day it mattered most.
Helena’s boys collected second place for the second year in a row with three runners earning All-State medals and the girls returned to the podium for the first time since 2020 with a third-place finish and two runners claiming All-State honors. While the All-State finishers may get the headlines, the trophies were clearly the result of two complete teams of seven runners rising to the occasion on a beautiful autumn afternoon at the University of Montana Golf Course.
The double podium was Helena’s first since both teams claimed hardware in 1985. The boys were second and girls were third that year, as well.
Heading into the 2025 state meet, Helena’s boys appeared poised to earn a spot in the top three after a strong finish to the regular season, but with the nationally-ranked Bozeman Hawks as the clear favorite, it was unclear whether they would have an opportunity to tussle for the top spot, battle it out with Hellgate for second, or potentially fend off a challenge from Glacier for third.
As it turned out, Bozeman put things out of reach for the win early in the race and finished with 41 points, while Helena and Hellgate both left it all out on the course in a fierce battle for second.
The Bengals emerged as runners up with 85 points, thanks in large part to junior Milo Kauffman’s strong third-place finish in 15:54 behind Bozeman’s Miles Halvorsen and Taylor Neil, who crossed the finish line in 15:34 and 15:42. It was the third consecutive all-state finish for Kuaffman who was 10th in 2023 and fourth in 2024.
Commanding finishes by seniors Dylan Hill (16:21), Garrett Hinderman (16:22), and Ed Coleman (16:42, personal best) in 13th, 15th, and 25th, put the Bengals in strong position to secure second, and Emory Kreissler (16:47) posted the top finish by a freshman in the AA division in 29th to lock up the second step on the podium for Helena. Coleman’s effort was an outlier as he was the only runner in the top 30 with a personal best Saturday. Junior Joel Melton and sophomore Foster Warner were 36th and 56th for the Bengals in 16:54 and 17:25, respectively.
Hellgate posted 101 points in third, Glacier placed fourth with 143, and Flathead was fifth with 147.
The boys trophy was their third in a row after placing third in 2023 and second in 2024. But what made Saturday’s performance so impressive was that the Bengals managed to repeat their runner-up performance from a year ago with four new runners in the lineup after losing standouts Elliot Stimpson, Henry Sund, Eli Highness, and Jake Matthews to graduation.
The Bengal girls left the start with a focus on positioning themselves in a way that allowed them to be competitive with the top teams when the racing amped up in the second half of the race.
Early in the race, the Bengals intentions were clear as they positioned themselves well in the field of 110 AA runners, and they needed a big day to earn a spot among the state’s best teams. Bozeman entered the meet as a big favorite to win and many expected defending champion Gallatin be in strong position to claim second, while Helena, Glacier, and Billings West all had eyes fixed on third.
Bozeman won with 49 points and Gallatin raced to a confident second place finish with 63 points, the battle for third was fierce throughout between the Helena (88) and Glacier (99), and West placed fifth with 149.
Junior Kortney McKay, junior Isabel Ward, senior Kate Lee, and senior Cooper Judd set the pace for Helena in the early part of the race in 12th, 13th, 14th and, 19th after the first mile, while junior Mary Clement was 32nd, giving Helena 90 points in fourth place at that stage. Glacier had 85 in third – thanks in large part to the Wolfpack’s dominant 1-2 duo of Ada Thiel and Lauren Bissen toying with the top 5 runners in the field.
At two miles Glacier (84) widened its lead over Helena (92) to eight points as the Bengals’ top five remained in the same order in 11th, 14th, 18th, 20th, and 29th.
As the race continued, things appeared dire for Helena as Thiel and Bissen dominated the final mile and crossed the finish line first and second in 18:21 and 18:22 to give the Wolfpack a massive advantage, but McKay (19:16) and Ward (19:25) secured All-State finishes in 9th and 13th to give the Bengals a strong 1-2 punch, as well.
The battle for third, however, came down to the Bengals’ depth, which has been a strength all season. Judd moved up three places in the final mile to finish 17th in 19:46, Lee was 22nd in 19:57, and Clement, a consistent force for the Bengals all season, placed 29th in 20:04, which gave Helena 88 points and placed Helena’s top five runner’s ahead of Glacier’s third runner. That strength in depth locked up third place for the Bengals as the Wolfpack finished with 99 points.
Had anyone faltered among Helena’s top five runners, junior Emmie Bermingham and Wynona Schmidt provided even more depth in 34th and 37th place with times of 20:15 and 20:16, respectively. That meant all seven of Helena’s runners placed among the top third of the field, something only one other team – Gallatin – accomplished Saturday.
It was an exceptional race for the girls, who have move up the standings each of the past four years – 2022 (10th), 2023 (6th), 2024 (5th), 2025 (3rd). Demonstrating how well the girls raced, each runner improved upon their time from the same course they contested Sept. 20 at the Mountain West Classic. Collectively, the Bengals’ seven runners were 3 minutes, 35 seconds faster. Here’s a breakdown of how their state times compare to those from Mountain West.
- McKay -7 seconds
- Ward -29 seconds
- Judd -59 seconds
- Lee -30 seconds
- Clement -39 seconds
- Bermingham -43 seconds
- Schmidt -26 seconds
That brings an end to the official season for Helena, but 56 of the Bengal runners will now turn their attention to the Nike Cross Regionals meet on Nov. 15 in Spokane, where they will go up against the top teams from seven states – Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Helena High Cross Country 