Canney’s mental shift powers Helena Capital state hurdle title
A mental reset helped Helena Capital senior Jameson Canney win the Class AA 300 hurdles in 39.61 seconds, capping a two-second leap and a title run shaped by coach Matt Larson.
Jameson Canney did not just win a state title in Missoula. He turned a season of technical cleanup and mental recalibration into a 39.61-second Class AA boys 300-meter hurdles championship, the kind of jump that changes a race from promising to decisive.
Canney said the breakthrough came when he stopped easing through the hurdles and started attacking them more aggressively. That shift mattered in a short race where even small hesitation can cost a podium spot, and it helped turn more than two seconds of seasonal improvement into a title for the Helena Capital senior.
The change was not made in isolation. Matt Larson, in his first year coaching hurdles at Helena Capital, helped guide the adjustment, and the connection carried extra weight because Larson once held Capital’s school record in the 110-meter hurdles. For a Bruins program that is trying to build depth in the event group, the pairing of a veteran event mind with a senior who was willing to trust the process produced a result Capital could point to immediately.
Canney’s win was part of a larger surge for Helena Capital at the Class AA state meet in Missoula. MTN Sports reported that three Bruins won individual state titles, with senior Kaelyn Saari adding the girls javelin crown at 129 feet, 6 inches. That kind of multi-event success matters for a school in Helena because it shows the program is not leaning on one standout, but developing state-level threats across disciplines.
The numbers show how far Canney climbed. Athletic.net listed his 2026 season-best at 41.14 before the state meet, and his previous personal best was 39.81 in 2025. By the end of the state meet, he had gone faster than both, and the final time reflected more than raw fitness. In the 300 hurdles, where rhythm and confidence are as important as speed, Canney’s improvement was a sign that his approach had finally caught up with his talent.
The title also fits into Montana’s longer track tradition. The Montana High School Association says track and field has been a spring athletics pillar since the 1904-05 school year, and Capital’s showing in Missoula added another chapter to that history. Canney, a senior, said he hoped the tone he set this season would carry forward for younger Bruins, giving Helena Capital a blueprint for how a mental change can become a measurable result.
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