Helena hosts Skor DeKam invitational, spotlighting AA state contenders

Capital's Cooper Nelson has already run 10.49 in the 100 meters and 22.28 in the 200, while Brayden Brisko has cleared 16 feet, 4 inches in the pole vault and Oliver Mow has gone 14.04 in the 110 hurdles, marks that make Helena's Class AA group look more like state-meet material than a midseason work in progress. Nelson's 10.49 would have beaten last spring's Class AA 100 final by 0.50 seconds, and Brisko's 16-4 is 10 inches higher than the 15-6 he used to win the 2025 state title.

Helena High also has its own cluster of contenders. Dylan Hill, who said he wants to try setting a new state record in the 800 and is headed to Montana State, has already run 1:53.75, while Hazel Bishop has posted 12.58 in the 100, 57.83 in the 400, 45.61 in the 300 hurdles and 16-4.25 in the long jump. Bishop described herself as a captain trying to keep younger athletes calm and included, and the numbers show why Helena High can expect points from more than one lane when the pressure rises.

Those local marks framed the annual Skor DeKam invitational at Vigilante Stadium, where Helena High and Capital High hosted seven Class AA schools, including Billings West, Billings Skyview, Billings Senior, Great Falls High and Great Falls CMR. Athletic.net listed field events at 9:30 a.m. and track events at 10:30 a.m., with entries due April 30 at 4 p.m., underscoring how late-season and how tight the calendar has become as teams race toward divisional meets.

The meet carries old Helena weight, too. The Montana Coaches Association identifies Lloyd Skor as the originator and namesake of the Skor-DeKam Invitational, and past editions have already produced attention-grabbing marks, including Damien Nelson's 10.63 in the 100 and Lucy Corbett's 5-foot-10 high jump. With the Class AA state meet set for May 28-30 in Missoula, Skor DeKam again served as the local checkpoint for which Helena athletes can turn a fast spring into a medal run in late May.