Larson tops state-leading high jumpers before storms hit East Helena meet

A storm cut short the East Helena girls high jump, but not before Lockwood’s Tana Larson had the best answer of the afternoon, winning a duel against one of the state’s top early-season jumpers and leaving Lewis and Clark County with a sharp read on who is peaking.

Larson’s victory came in an event that has already become one of Montana’s most crowded early-season measuring sticks. MileSplit Montana’s April 11 statewide girls high jump rankings had East Helena’s Bailey Leuthard second in the state at 5 feet, 3 inches, while several other top competitors were bunched at 5-2 and 5-0. That depth matters now, because the outdoor season is still in its opening stretch and every clean clearance can shape seeding, confidence and qualification momentum before the May state meets.

For Larson, the result in East Helena backed up the mark she had already posted earlier this month. Athletic.net lists her 2026 outdoor season best at 5-0, set April 7 at the SCAD#1 meet in Lockwood. That puts her squarely in the mix with the state’s top returners and gives Lockwood another local name to watch as the season moves toward its biggest tests.

Leuthard’s 5-3 mark keeps East Helena in the center of the statewide conversation. The rankings show that she and the other leading jumpers are separated by inches, not feet, and that the event could swing quickly once the competition gets deeper and conditions improve. The East Helena meet offered one more glimpse of that tight race before the weather interrupted the action.

The storm also mattered because it stripped away more chances for a head-to-head rivalry to develop on the night. With the meet cut short, the duel between Larson and the field became less about final placings and more about an early-season signal: the Helena-area jumpers are already performing at a level that can shape the road to Missoula and Laurel.

Montana Sports lists the 2026 Class AA and Class B state track and field meets for May 28-30 in Missoula, with the Class A and Class C meets set for the same days in Laurel. For now, the East Helena stop showed that Larson is climbing at the right time, Leuthard remains one of the state’s strongest benchmarks, and the high jump could be one of the most watched events in Montana by the time the championship season arrives.