Helena High Bengals Open 2026 Track Season Against Billings Senior at Vigilante Stadium

The Bengals' distance corps that sent seven boys to the state 800-meter final last spring, a depth mark few Class AA programs can match, stepped back onto the Vigilante Stadium track Thursday to begin the 2026 outdoor season, with Billings Senior as the opening-day measuring stick.

Dylan Hill, whose 1:54.23 in 2025 ranked him as Helena High's fastest 800-meter qualifier, headlined the returning distance group. Henry Sund (1:56.86) and Elliot Stimpson (1:58.01) ran alongside him in that qualifier, giving the Bengals three athletes who all clocked sub-1:59 before the calendar turned to 2026. That trio's season-opening form in the April 3 dual offers the first benchmark for how much ground they've covered during the winter training block, and how close they are to the state qualifying conversation from Day 1.

The matchup carried weight beyond the distance events. Billings Senior held the Class AA state team track and field championship for six consecutive years before crosstown rival Billings West ended the run, and the Broncs remain one of Montana's most formidable Class AA programs. For Helena, a strong dual-meet performance against that caliber of competition signals whether the Bengals can compete for team hardware when the conference and state seasons arrive in May.

The meet unfolded at Vigilante Stadium, the historic facility behind Helena Middle School that dates to 1935. Helena Public Schools invested roughly $750,000 in renovations before the 2021-22 school year, laying a new all-weather track surface, pouring concrete barriers on the eastern and western ends, and installing updated lights, speakers, and fencing. Activities director Tim McMahon acknowledged at the time that several of those upgrades had been needed well before they were actually completed. The result is a venue now capable of hosting marquee Class AA competition, shared by Helena Middle School, Helena High, and Capital High.

The program enters 2026 without Madilyn Todorovich, who closed her Bengal career as the most decorated track and field athlete in Montana high school history: 27 state meet medals and 10 individual titles, records no one in the state has matched. Todorovich, a 2025 Pat Donovan Award winner alongside Jaxan Lieberg, competed in jumping, hurdles, and sprint events. Her departure leaves field-event points the Bengals will need to replace from within a younger roster.

Coaches typically frame early dual meets as form and fitness checks rather than definitive performance indicators, testing relay combinations and introducing younger athletes to varsity competition. But the 800-meter depth Helena showed in 2025, qualifying Hill, Sund, Stimpson, Chris Jenemann (1:58.82), Milo Kauffman (1:59.18), Jake Matthews (1:59.26), and Axel Kowalski (1:59.44) from a single event, sets a standard this program now has to defend as the schedule builds toward the Class AA state meet.

Full meet results are posted on MileSplit. Helena's 2026 schedule is available through the Helena Public Schools athletics department, and Class AA Conference events can be streamed live via the NFHS Network.