STORY AND LINKS TO PHOTOS AND RESULTS BELOW THE GALLERY
Helena High cross country opened its season in strong form Friday at the Flathead Invitational on the 5K course at Rebecca Farm, led by standout performances in varsity and junior varsity competition.
While Helena’s performances wowed onlookers, it was the team spirit, attitude, and collective effort across the board that made it a day to remember in northwestern Montana. The Bengals have been working hard for several weeks in preparation for the season, and they demonstrated incredible growth, strength, and resolve in their first opportunity to compete.
The varsity boys toed the line first with an 11 a.m. start time, and junior Milo Kauffman went out hard with the leaders while senior teammate Garrett Hinderman opted to bide his time a little further back in the pack. Both Bengals earned top 10 finishes. Kauffman placed sixth in a solid season-opener of 15:46 and Hinderman was eighth with a personal best of 16:01.
Those finishes helped the varsity boys lock up third place with 137 points, trailing Bozeman with 45 and Hellgate with 105. Glacier senior Owen Thiel took home top individual honors in 15:06, and he was followed by Bozeman’s Miles Halvorsen (15:07) and Taylor Neil (15:12) in second and third.
Helena’s third runner across the line was a new face as freshman Emory Kreissler placed 32nd in 16:47. Junior Joel Melton and sophomore Ander Svingen registered scoring finishes for Helena in 43rd and 48th respectively, stopping the clock with PRs of 17:21 and 17:28, respectively. Also running varsity for the Bengals were sophomore Foster Warner (17:53 PR, 62nd) and junior Dan Williams (18:31, 85th).
The varsity girls were next up as the temps kept rising, and the Bengals put together an excellent effort to finish second behind reigning state champion Bozeman. The Hawks finished with 47 points, Helena registered 91, and Glacier was third with 114 on its home course.
Junior Kortney McKay, running in her first cross country race for the Bengals, showed great courage in the lead pack and remained focused throughout the race to lock down fifth place in a PR of 19:04 – the fastest time run by a Bengal since 2021. Helena junior Isabel Ward finished 13th for the Bengals in 20:11, senior Kate Lee was 14th in 20:12, and junior Mary Clement gave the Bengals a fourth runner in the top 25 with a finish of 20:42 in 25th.
But that wasn’t it for the Bengals, whose final scoring runner was Ellie Coburn in 34th with a time of 21:17. Behind her were senior Emily Davidson (21:20, 37th) and freshman Ivy Kyle (21:23 PR, 40th).
Helena’s top five runners posted an average finishing time of 20:17, which was 51 seconds faster than the team’s average from 2024 and 1:08 faster than 2023, demonstrating the Bengals’ impressive collective growth over the past two seasons.
Glacier’s Lauren Bissen and Addie Thiel took the top two spots overall in 18:12 and 18:22, while Bozeman’s Kylie Neil guided the Hawks in third with a time of 18:25.
Not to be outdone by their varsity teammates, Helena’s JV girls started at high noon and placed a whopping 5 runners in the top 11 to secure a big win with 34 points. Glacier was second with 61 and Hellgate was third with 73.
Junior Emmie Bermingham ran a signature gutsy and courageous race near the front. For more than ¾ of the race, it appeared as though she and several others were simply battling for second place as Bozeman’s Neva Halverson enjoyed a comfortable lead.
But with about 800 meters remaining, Helena freshman Wynona Schmidt and Bozeman’s Elizabeth Becker moved past Bermingham in hot pursuit of Halverson. As Schmidt continued her pursuit and pulled away from Becker, Bermingham found an even faster gear to chase down all three runners ahead of her to sneak past Halverson and Schmidt at the finish. Bermingham won in 20:48.3, Halverson was second in 20:48.7, and Schmidt placed third in 20:48.9 PR.
Next up for the Bengals were sophomore Harper Johnson (22:08 PR, 9th), freshman Mary Guzynski (22:08 PR, 10th), and senior Cooper Judd (22:11, 11th). Helena’s next three runners all placed in the top 25 – sophomore Alexa Pipinich (22:38 PR, 16th), freshman Sadie Murray (22:52 PR, 17th), and junior Aven Baker (23:37, 25th).
Also finishing for the Bengals in the JV race were senior Wren Clum (24:33), senior Emma Flinders (24:36 PR), sophomore Myla Dahlke (25:06), junior Kumari Leland (25:31), sophomore Evelyn Harris (26:16 PR), junior Esme Soller (27:43), sophomore Eisley Bushilla (27:56), sophomore Mei Boedecker (28:07), freshmen Iris McLain (28:13 PR), freshman Lunabelle Cleveland (28:17 PR), junior Ava Irey (28:47), junior Maren Fox (28:54), junior Astoria Holzer (28:59), sophomore Erin McNeil (29:52 PR), senior Tessa Coil (30:31), senior Anyah Douglas (30:34), freshman Brigitt Bryce (30:51), and junior Katie Hill (31:17).
Hellgate ran away with the win in the boys JV race with 51 points, while Great Falls was second with 90, but Helena posted a solid effort to beat Flathead in a tiebreaker for third place with 117 points each.
Junior Titus Wetzel, who joined the cross country team just recently, led the Bengals in the race in 11th place with a time of 18:34, while freshman Milo Sealey (18:43 PR, 17th), Graham Coleman (18:54 PR, 19th), sophomore Apollo Althoff (19:29, 34th) and junior Will Kreissler (19:31, 37th) rounded out the team’s five scorers. And it was junior Cole Harris in 42nd place with a PR of 19:37 that broke the tie in Helena’s favor.
Also finishing for the Bengals in the JV race were senior Enoch Johnson (20:03), freshman Trystan Hill (20:03 PR), sophomore Ravin Bury (20:28), sophomore Sean Carney (20:30 PR), freshman Evan Kaiser (20:36 PR), sophomore Noah Flynn (21:04 PR), senior Finn Morrison (21:06), sophomore Leslie Carr (21:20), junior Asher Hazen (21:32), freshman Tre Phipps (21:51 PR), junior Dane Moser (21:51), sophomore Grayson Trum (22:17), freshman Levi Johnson (22:17), sophomore Kingston Downing (22:25), junior Henry Coy (23:30), freshman Ben Cupino (25:29 PR), freshman Tim Wilkins (26:23 PR), freshman Gabriel Watts (27:08 PR), freshman Isaac Davant (27:09 PR), junior Eliot Cleary (27:52) and freshman Santi Arguelles (30:37 PR).
The Bengals have another opportunity to pursue excellence, exercise their curiosity, and show love to their teammates when they lace up the spikes Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Bozeman Invitational at Bridger Creek Golf Course.
Helena High Cross Country 