Helena Girls Win First State Title in 53 Years
The Bengals captured the 2026 Class AA cross country championship in October, their first state crown since 1973.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Running
The Helena High girls cross country team won the 2026 Class AA state championship in October. It was the Bengals' first state title in 53 years, earned with a deep, tightly grouped top five.
Why it matters
The title ends a 53-year gap in Helena girls state cross country success and marks a milestone for the city's high school running program. It also showed the depth of a team whose top five runners finished within 31 seconds of one another.
Helena's top five runners finished within 31 seconds of each other, with McKenlee Young placing 12th and Willa Sweeney 14th at the state meet. The Bengals' team score and final point margin over rival Bozeman are not included in the available results.
The players
Helena High School Bengals
The Helena High School girls cross country team, which captured its first state championship in 53 years.
McKenlee Young
A Helena High runner who finished 12th at the 2026 state meet and was among the Bengals' top five.
Willa Sweeney
A Helena High runner who finished 14th at the 2026 state meet and helped the Bengals secure the team title.
The details
The Bengals clinched the title with finishes from Izzy Lundstrom and Kortney McKay, and Isabel Ward placed 28th after overcoming the flu. The team also won the Mountain West Classic and the Helena 7 of 7 meet earlier in the season.
Timeline
October 2026: Helena won the Class AA state cross country championship at the state meet in Billings.
Thursday, November 5, 2026: The team received a celebratory fire truck ride.
Season Trajectory
This title ends a 53-year drought for Helena's girls program and sets a new benchmark for the Bengals after strong showings in the Mountain West Classic and Helena 7 of 7 meets. The result places the program among Montana's top girls cross country teams for the 2026 season.
The result shows that depth can carry a team, since Helena's top five finished within 31 seconds of each other. Fans following Montana high school running can use these finishing positions to track the program's returning runners.
The takeaway
Tight team scoring can matter as much as individual brilliance, as Helena's five runners finishing within 31 seconds showed on the way to a state title. Readers following high school running can watch how depth develops across the season.
Further reading
For more on local high school competition, see the Running section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Independent Record.
