By Bruce Sayler
The billing was shared. The record-breakers, the weather and the workers starred on Saturday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium where the Western AA Divisional high school track meet finished on the Charlie Merrifield Track.
Butte High senior Sam Henderson was expected to break the boys’ triple jump meet record and he responded. He shredded it. The record in the 1,600-meter relay also tumbled and Butte Sports Hall of Famer Dan Hanley’s 45-year-old record in the boys’ 200-meter sprint was tied.
Temperatures were mostly in the upper 50s without wind or rain while the sun smiled down on the Gene Fogarty Sports Complex, which housed the meet site on the East Middle School grounds.
“I wasn’t ready on my first one,” Henderson told bystanders after he smashed Mathew Tokarz’ Western AA triple jump record set in 2012. “I got too much height.”
So, he marked 46 feet, 4 ¼ inches. Then, he scratched on his second.
The third jump, though, was monstrous. Standing on the runway and eyeing the pit, Henderson began the slow clap of his hands. His teammates joined in, so did his rivals and then, after realizing Henderson was declaring he was targeting the record, so did the crowd in the stands.
Tokarz’ record was 46-7 ½. Henderson had never reached that distance.
Saturday, he popped a 48-7 ¼ — within a quarter of an inch of demolishing the previous meet record by two whole feet.
He can add the honor to his University of Montana track scholarship and the 6-10 personal-best in the high jump he posted on Friday while also winning that event. His winning high jump was six inches higher than his nearest competitor. His triple jump beat the runner-up by more than two-and-a-half feet.
“It was my personal record by three inches,” he said about the triple jump. “Now, I need two-and-a-half more (to break the state record).”
The state Class AA meet will be held next weekend in Kalispell.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Butte High head coach Arie Grey said. “There were a lot of kids who made the finals who weren’t supposed to and some kids making it to State that weren’t supposed to.
“Sam’s record made it a special day.”
Kalispell teams topped the standings. The Flathead boys retained their title from last year while scoring 123 points, outpacing runner-up Helena High, which totaled 91. Helena Capital was third with 74, one more than Kalispell Glacier.
The Glacier girls upended defending champion Flathead in the girls’ team competition. The Wolfpack stacked 115 points while Missoula Hellgate placed second with 95 and Flathead third with 76, five more than fourth-place Missoula Big Sky.
The Big Sky boys clocked 3 minutes, 20.70 seconds to win the 1,600-meter relay and knock a 10th of a second off the record. The old mark of 3:20.80 was put by Bozeman High in 1980 – the same year that Butte High’s Hanley blistered his 21.80 mark in the 200 meters. Flathead’s Ben Blivens matched the time on Saturday. Friday’s first day of the meet saw Dylan Hill of Helena High reset the boys’ 800-meter record with a 1:53.75, beating the old best time of 1:54.23 Henry Ballinger of Helena High ran in 2023.
Henderson won two events and led the Bulldogs in place-winnings. Other Butte High place-winners in the boys’ events were: Levi Wiltsie, fifth in the 3,200-meter run; the 1,600-meter relay team, sixth; Brett Polich, fifth in the shot put; Jaeger Hansen, fourth in the javelin; Dylan “Bobby” Bache, fourth in the long jump; and Cohen Andrews, fifth in the long jump.
For the Butte High girls, Dylann Bartoletti placed sixth in the 100-meter dash; the 400-meter relay team came in third; the 1,600-meter relay team was fifth; Mylee Demarais placed fifth in the shot put; Brityn Stewart grabbed second place in the javelin and Peyton Trabert tied for fourth place in the pole vault.
The members of the Butte High girls’ 400-meter relay team were Autumn Clary, Cadence Graham, Saege Grey and Bartoletti, and their 1,600-meter relay team was comprised of Wakely Burelson, Sophia Houchin, Grey and Graham.
The Bulldog boys’ 1,600-meter relay team had Bache, Sam Sampson, Raeder Grey and Camden Houchin.
The team was so determined to gain a placing and advance to the state meet that anchorman Houchin lost his legs down the stretch, head coach Arie Grey noted. They went out on him and Houchin fell to the ground. He regained his feet in time to nip the Flathead runner for seventh place. The Braves had been way behind the field due to dropping the baton on the first exchange and having to chase it down, pick it up and continue.
Then, Missoula Sentinel, fifth across the finish line, was ruled to have committed a violation, cutting in front of a rival runner too close, and disqualified. The decision moved Butte High into sixth place and qualified the Bulldogs for the state meet.
“The kids were inspired a lot by seeing what Camden did, leaving everything out there for his team,” coach Grey said. “He left everything out there to get to state.”
Grey said results director Liza Dennehy and the many volunteers who worked the meet were also stars of the show. The meet featured the stadium’s new track scoreboard, which provided event updates, standings and race videos throughout the day to the fans.
Boys
Team scores – Kalispell Flathead 123, Helena High 91, Helena Capital 74, Kalispell Glacier 73, Missoula Big Sky 72, Butte High 35, Missoula Hellgate 32, Missoula Sentinel 27.
100 – 1, Ben Bliven, Flathead, 10.97. 2, Jaxon Allery, Sentinel, 11.06. 3, Luke Ruch, Helena High, 11.07. 4, Cooper Nelson, Capital, 11.11. 5, Parker Link, Hellgate, 11.20. 6, Pacer Lybbert, Helena High, 11.21.
200 – 1, Ben Bliven, Flathead, 21.80 (ties meet record set by Dan Hanley, Butte High, 1980). 2, William Hollensteiner, Flathead, 21.90. 3, Cooper Pelc, Glacier, 22.40. 4, Cooper Tschan, Sentinel, 22.45. 5, Blake Williams, Big Sky, 22.50. 6, Brady Williams, Big Sky, 22.54.
400 – 1, Lane Chivers, Flathead, 49.18. 2, Adam Guajardo, Big Sky, 49.94. 3, Ben Bliven, Flathead, 50.31. 4, Travis Ryland-Davis, Helena High, 50.71. 5, Blake Williams, Big Sky, 51.19. 6, Kellen Gibson, Sentinel, 51.28.
800 – 1, Dylan Hill, Helena High, 1:53.75 (meet record. Old record 1:54.23 by Henry Ballinger, Helena High, 2023). 2, Kason Kastner, Flathead, 1:54.39. 3, Owen Thiel, Glacier, 1:54.73. 4, Henry Sund, Helena High, 1:55.82. 5, Isaiah Cowan, Big Sky, 1:57.12. 6, Chris Jenemann, Helena High, 1:57.87.
1,600 – 1, Elliot Stimpson, Helena High, 4:15.78. 2, Owen Thiel, Glacier, 4:16.50. 3, Henry Sund, Helena High, 4:22.22. 4, Milo Kauffman, Helena High, 4:26.04. 5, Dylan Hill, Helena High, 4:27.61. 6, Miles Joseph Miller, Hellgate, 4:28.66.
3,200 – 1, Christopher Holland, Flathead, 10:11.78. 2, Eli Highness, Helena High, 10:20.47. 3, Carson Thorne, Flathead, 10:23.63. 4, Brodyn DeShaw, Flathead, 10:25.21. 5, Levi Wiltsie, Butte High, 10:25.67. 6, Mica Kantor, Sentinel, 10:31.43.
110 hurdles – 1, Oliver Mow, Capital, 14.22. 2, Corbin Weltzien, Hellgate, 14.25. 3, Ethan Anderson, Glacier, 14.50. 4, Kellan Krueger, Big Sky, 14.62. 5, Cormack Batt, Big Sky, 14.74. 6, Cooper Pelc, Glacier, 15.15.
300 hurdles – 1, William Hollensteiner, Flathead, 38.51. 2, Lane Chivers, Flathead, 39.04. 3, Ethan Anderson, Glacier, 39.74. 4, Merek Mihelish, Capital, 40.15. 5, Cormack Batt, Big Sky, 40.42. 6, Kellan Krueger, Big Sky, 40.57.
400 relay — 1, Helena High (Pacer Lybbert, Trey Peterson, Luke Ruch, Travis Ryland-Davis) 42.58. 2, Missoula Sentinel (Cooper Tschan, Calvin Bucklin, Hunter Cadena, Jaxon Allery) 42.76. 3, Missoula Hellgate (Rocky Mogstad, Parker Link, Oliver Caton, Corbin Weltzien) 42.81. 4, Missoula Big Sky (Blake Williams, Adam Guajardo, Brady Williams, Maron Fines) 43.14. 5, Helena Capital (Boone Davis, Cooper Nelson, Oliver Mow, Jackson Beard) 43.22. 6, Kalispell Glacier (Spencer Hodge, Shae Warner, Ulrich Warner, Ethan Anderson) 43.43.
1,600 relay – 1, Missoula Big Sky (Blake Williams, Brady Williams, Isaiah Cowan, Adam Guajardo) 3:20.70 (meet record. Old record 3:20.80 by Bozeman High (John Emory, Bruce Barnhart, Mark Gary, Dale Huls) 1980). 2, Helena High (Dylan Hill, Luke Ruch, Travis Ryland-Davis, Henry Sund) 3:27.65. 3, Helena Capital (Boone Davis, Merek Mihelish, Oliver Mow, Dylan Almquist) 3:27.86. 4, Kalispell Glacier (Shae Warner, Owen Thiel, Ulrich Warner, Mark Ahner) 3:28.74. 5, Missoula Hellgate (Clive Jackson, Case Procacci, Charlie Gruber, Grady Caton) 3:31.54. 6, Butte High (Dylan “Bobby” Bache, Sam Sampson, Raeder Grey, Camden Houchin) 3:34.21.
Shot put – 1, Ben Winters, Glacier, 52-1. 2, Derek Opitz, Helena Capital, 50-6. 3, Will Astle, Glacier, 50-5. 4, Evan Pyron, Hellgate, 50-3. 5, Brett Polich, Butte High, 48-5. 6, Vaughn Wirkus, Capital, 47-11.
Discus – 1, Dylan Smith, Glacier, 164-5. 2, Evan Pyron, Hellgate, 146-0. 3, Vaughn Wirkus, Capital, 144-4. 4, Ben Winters, Glacier, 143-11. 5, Sam Sirmon, Sentinel, 143-9. 6, Kellan Vallance, Sentinel, 139-5.
Javelin – 1, Tyler Crum, Capital, 183-1. 2, Adam Guajardo, Big Sky, 168-10. 3, Auston Rowe, Helena High, 164-11. 4, Jaeger Hansen, Butte High, 163-9. 5, Ethan Kastelitz, Glacier, 163-4. 6, Owen Daniel, Hellgate, 159-8.
High jump – 1, Sam Henderson, Butte High, 6-10. 2, Porter Gibbs, Big Sky, 6-4. 3, Azher Hazen, Helena High, 6-2. 4, Jaxan Lieberg, Helena High, 6-2. 5, Landon Zieg, Sentinel, 6-0. 6, Eli Coopman, Flathead, 5-10.5, Jack Rob
Pole vault – 1, Brayden Brisko, Capital, 15-0. 2, Ryan Fuller, Capital, 13-6. 3, Michael Mahar, Flathead, 13-0. 4, Zane Schnackenberg, Capital, 13-0. 5, Nick Carter, Big Sky, 13-0. 6, Creed Wiley, Glacier, 12-6.
Long jump – 1, William Hollensteiner, Flathead, 22-5 ½. 2, Ben Bliven, Flathead, 21-2 ¾. 3, Maron Fines, Big Sky, 21-1 ¾. 4, Dylan “Bobby” Bache, Butte High, 21-1 ½. 5, Cohen Andrews, Butte High, 20-10. 6, Cooper Nelson, Capital, 20-8 ¼.
Triple jump – 1, Sam Henderson, Butte High, 48-7 ¼ (meet record. Old record 46-7 ½ by Mathew Tokarz, Flathead, 2012). 2, William Hollensteiner, Flathead, 46-0. 3, Porter Gibbs, Big Sky, 45-10 ½. 4, Adam Guajardo, Big Sky, 44-4 ¼. 5, Jack Robinson, Glacier, 43-4. 6, Trey Peterson, Helena High, 43-1 ¼.
Girls
Team scores — Kalispell Glacier 115, Missoula Hellgate 95, Kalispell Flathead 76, Missoula Big Sky 71, Helena High 64 ½, Helena Capital 59 ½, Missoula Sentinel 24, Butte High 22.
100 – 1, Quinlyn Simmons, Helena High, 12.55. 2, Sofia Szollosi, Hellgate, 12.57. 3, Isabella Grutsch, Big Sky, 12.94. 4, Hazel Bishop, Helena High, 13.05. 5, Zeila Wagner, Glacier, 13.15. 6, Dylann Bartoletti, Butte High, 13.31.
200 – 1, Alivia Rhinehart, Flathead, 25.15. 2, Sofia Szollosi, Hellgate, 25.52. 3, Anneliese Bessette, Hellgate, 26.21. 4, Carmen Eddy, Glacier, 26.28. 5, Reagan Castillo, Flathead, 26.75. 6, Brooklyn Smith, Helena High, 26.78.
400 – 1, Nya Myers, Big Sky, 59.15. 2, Anneliese Bessette, Hellgate, 59.24. 3, Mia Swartz, Sentinel, 1:00.17. 4, Dacia Benkelman, Glacier, 1:01.53. 5, Elizabeth Urban, Capital, 1:01.62. 6, Addison Roush, Helena High, 1:02.39.
800 – 1, Gia Petrini, Hellgate, 2:17.93. 2, Alyssa Vollertsen, 2:18.80. 3, Jamison Molloy, Hellgate, 2:20.19. 4, Everett Holland, Flathead, 2:22.72. 5, Hadyn Garza, Helena High, 2:23.55. 6, Miel Newton, Glacier, 2:23.70.
1,600 – 1, Lauren Bissen, Glacier, 5:09.92. 2, Gia Petrini, Hellgate, 5:16.13. 3, Josie Wilson, Flathead, 5:18.86. 4, Jamison Molloy, Hellgate, 5:21.79. 5, Kortney McKay, Helena High, 5:24.48. 6, Kate Lee, Helena High, 5:28.13.
3,200 – 1, Josie Wilson, Flathead, 11:34.57. 2, Ryah O’Dell, Helena High, 11:55.03. 3, Everett Holland, Flathead, 12:17.75. 4, Lily Oplinger, Helena High, 12:21.14. 5, Elizabeth Cornelius, Sentinel, 12:32.12. 6, Sage Bosshardt, Big Sky, 12:38.50.
100 hurdles – 1, Alivia Rhinehart, Flathead, 14.60. 2, Isabella Grutsch, Big Sky, 15.48. 3, Bristol Lenz, Flathead, 15.95. 4, Gracelee Banna, Big Sky, 16.20. 5, Pelea Sagato, Big Sky, 16.36. 6, Lainie Grensten, Sentinel, 16.54.
300 hurdles – Alivia Rhinehart, Flathead, 44.54. 2, Nya Myers, Big Sky, 46.06. 3, Carmen Eddy, Glacier, 46.49. 4, Addison Brisendine, Glacier, 46.71. 5, Hazel Bishop, Helena High, 47.37. 6, Addison Roush, Helena High, 47.90.
400 relay – 1, Kalispell Glacier (Breanna Barnes, Carmen Eddy, Emmery Schmidt, Zeila Wagner) 50.09. 2, Missoula Hellgate (Paisley Johnson, Sofia Szollosi, Elly Reed, Anneliese Bessette) 50.80. 3, Butte High (Autumn Clary, Cadence Graham, Saege Grey, Dylann Bartoletti) 51.00. 4, Helena Capital (Trinity Austria, Hosnya Ayidomihou, Brooke Howlett, Alyvia Sperry) 51.08. 5, Missoula Big Sky (Jemiah Belitz, Natalie LaForest, Pelea Sagato, Gabby Alec-Rebolledo) 51.11. 6, Missoula Sentinel (Makenna Kulbeck, Mia Swartz, Lainie Grensten, Mairyn Agostinelli) 51.33.
1,600 relay – Kalispell Glacier (Dacia Benkelman, Alyssa Vollertsen, Emmery Schmidt, Carmen Eddy) 4:04.62. 2, Missoula Hellgate (Grace Boyles, Gia Petrini, Jamison Molloy, Anneliese Bessette) 4:08.64. 3, Helena Capital (Trinity Austria, Adeline Osborne, June Lay, Elizabeth Urban) 4:12.34. 4, Missoula Big Sky (Grace Marshal, Emma Marshal, Adelaide Sugden, Nya Myers) 4:12.57. 5, Butte High (Wakely Burelson, Sophia Houchin, Saege Grey, Cadence Graham) 4:12.58. 6, Helena High (Harper Johnson, Kortney McKay, Lauryn Lieberg, Emmie Bermingham) 4:18.15.
Shot put – Allie Krueger, Glacier, 35-9. 2, Katie Kananen, Capital, 33-9. 3, Dani Wines, Capital, 33-8. 4, Greta Hageman, Capital, 33-6 ½. 5, Mylee Demarais, Butte High, 32-7. 6, Shay Casagrande, Sentinel, 31-11.
Discus – 1, Brooklen Kopp, Hellgate, 118-4. 2, Rylee Bigelow, Glacier, 117-11. 3, Bryar Michalson, Capital, 114-0. 4, Allie Krueger, Glacier, 109-10. 5, Dani Wines, Capital, 109-2. 6, Emi Berg, Sentinel, 108-4.
Javelin – 1, Kaelyn Saari, Capital, 127-5. 2, Brityn Stewart, Butte High, 120-8. 3, Charlotte Osier, Glacier, 116-10. 4, Madison Clement, Capital, 112-7. 5, Kinzey Clark, Hellgate, 108-7. 6, Morgan Meissner, Hellgate, 108-4.
High jump – 1, Jaidyn Pevey, Glacier, 5-4. 2, Ruby Roscoe, Hellgate, 5-2. 3, Alice Dolezal, Flathead, 5-0. 4, Chloe Jackson, Helena High, 4-10. 5, Britton Heuiser, Helena High, 4-10. 6 (tie), Lauryn Lieberg, Helena High, and Knoelle Ferguson, Capital, 4-8.
Pole vault – 1 (tie), Naomi Lee, Sentinel, and Breanna Barnes, Glacier, 11-3. 3, Knoelle Feguson, Capital, 10-6. 4 (tie), Reese Johnson, Sentinel, and Peyton Trabert, Butte High, 9-6. 6, Josie Crumley, Helena High, 9-6.
Long jump – 1, Madilyn Todorovich, Helena High, 17-2. 2, Britton Heuiser, Helena High, 16-6. 3, Zeila Wagner, Glacier, 16-4 ¼. 4, Gabby Alec-Rebolledo, Big Sky, 16-3 ½. 5, Hazel Bishop, Helena High, 16-3 ½. 6, Jaidyn Pevey, Glacier, 16-1 ¾.
Triple jump – 1, Gabby Alec-Rebolledo, Big Sky, 37-1 ½. 2, Isabella Grutsch, Big Sky, 35-0. 3, Alice Dolezal, Flathead, 34-11 ¾. 4, Ashlyn McDaniel, Big Sky, 34-4 ¾. 5, Dacia Benkelman, Glacier, 34-1 ¼. 6, June Lay, Capital, 33-11 ¼.

Hundreds of kids sought to sharpen their football skills Saturday morning as part of Cam Heyward’s youth football camp.

“Had nothing to do over the winter, so I was a little bored,” Gage Lindsey of Fairmont, W. Va., said.

The day got even better for the participants when Heyward himself came in.

“Cam’s a great guy; I hope to learn everything from him,” Lindsey said.

Hundreds of kids here hoped to do just that.

“Kids are gonna be able to dream and be any position today,” Chris Dubek, COO of Flexwork Sports, said.

Dubek and his team helped the campers do some position-specific skill work.

“A lot of movement, a lot of pillar prep,” he said.

Each kid had something they wanted to work on.

“Just hand placement – hand movement… chop blocks,” Lindsey said.

But Dubek says there’s more to learn from this game than just on-field skills.

“It’s a game, football, right?” he said. “But how football translates to everything in life – work, academics, relationships. It all carries over.”

Kids like Lindsey just wanted to soak it all in, things like ball safety and proper tackling.

“Just learn, just learning,” he said. “Learning everything.”

Youth sport climber, Casey Millar, age 14, has qualified for the Youth Lead Climbing Nationals (YLCN) being held from May 19 to 21 at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Richmond, B.C. The climbing competition could take him to the 2025 Youth World Championships (YWC) in Finland in a sport that is in its third Olympic World Games in 2028. 

As the world of sports climbing becomes more popular, Chris Brazeau, owner and operator of Confluence Climbing Gym (CCG), says he sees those participating in programming in the facility enjoying the range of mental and physical challenges climbing provides. Brazeau explains the sport encourages athletes to experience a full physical and mental workout that provides “strength building” and is “a lot of fun.”

Casey Millar, age 14, was born and raised in Golden, B.C. He started climbing at the CCG at the age of 12 and began competing this year. After placing 8th in his rank during the Provincials in Calgary, A.B., on April 15th and 16th, Millar qualified for the YLCN.

“This is my first year of competitive climbing. I’m feeling pretty good about making it to Nationals. It was an awesome experience to get to Provincials,” Millar says. Millar will compete in boulder climbing at the YLCN. He says climbing is his “passion” and he “loves it.”

“It’s not like traditional gym training. It’s a mix. The difficulty of the movements can be quite technically challenging,” Millar says. 

Millar trains five to six days a week. He is a grade nine student who is homeschooled. His flexible schedule allows him to take his homework to the gym and train while studying. He explains that during competitions, he doesn’t know what the course setup will be. Part of the challenge is getting a short amount of time to strategize his climb before climbing during the race.

Brazeau has been climbing for 30 years. He says the sport used to be a “fringe activity,” and indoor climbing has become more popular over the years and has expanded into a “sport all in itself.”

“It used to be seen as a place where you (mountain climbers) can train to be outdoors, or train during the off season,” Brazeau says, and explains, the colourful holds have evolved in his time as a climber, “they’ve come a long way.”

“It’s not just physical, it’s mental as well, there’s a problem-solving component. There’s a range of challenges to it that involve technical, tactile, mental, and physical challenges. It’s not just about being strong. You have to create a game plan of what the moves you will make might look like,” he says.

“In the competition, you get one shot to do the route,” Millar says.

“It’s a real skill to look at a route and have an idea of what to do,” Brazeau adds.

Brazeau has been training Millar over the last two years, he says he is “proud” of Millar.

“It’s quite an accomplishment for him. This is his first year competing, and he’s bottom of his class. He will have another year in his category,” he says.

Millar says when he went to Calgary for the Provincials, he found the Calgary Climbing Centre – Rocky Mountain location “pretty impressive” and he’s excited to compete among Canada’s best youth climbers.

When he’s not climbing, Millar snowboards, mountain bikes and skateboards.