Sam Henderson is a state champion.

One day after the Butte High senior placed third in the high jump, Henderson pulled off a clutch leap to win the Class AA triple jump title Saturday at the Class AA State meet at Legends Stadium in Kalispell.

The Class A meet was held in conjunction with the Class AA for just the second time this century. The first time came in Butte in 2022. (Results)

Henderson saved his best jump of the meet for last. That is also when he needed it most. He jumped 47 feet, 1 1/2 inches for the win. That moved him past Kalispell Flathhead’s William Hollensteiner, who was leading at 46-10 ¼ heading into the final round. Dylan Garcia of Billings West took third in 45-7

The title closed the book on a remarkable career by Henderson, who also placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday with a time of 15.12 seconds.

On Friday, Henderson cleared 6-4 in the high jump. That was good for a tie for first with Jaxan Lieberg of Helena High and Porter Gibbs of Missoula Big Sky. But Lieberg and Gibbs placed first and second based on jumps.

Henderson competed at a State meet all four years of his career, with his first appearance coming at the Class A meet in Butte. He transferred from Butte Central to Butte High after his freshman season, and he will go down as one of the all-time great Bulldogs.

He owns the school triple jump record with a mark of 48-7 ¼ set at the Western AA Divisional meet last week in Butte. His best mark of 6-10 in the high jump, also set last week, is just three quarters of an inch shy of the school record set by the great Jasson McNallie in 1989.

Henderson’s senior year also included a podium finish at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

Like McNallie, Henderson ended his prep career standing on the No. 1 on the podium. He will continue his career at the University of Montana.

Asa team, Butte High scored 25 points to place ninth. Kalispell Flathead won with 88 points. The Braves were followed by Helena High at 81 and Kalispell Glacier at 56.5.

Sophomore Jaeger Hansen might just be beginning another remarkable Bulldogs. Hansen, who made a huge jump in his personal record to place fourth and qualify for State in the javelin last week, popped off with another huge throw Friday.

Hansen launched the javelin 172 feet, 1 inch, his second PR in as many weeks, to place second in the event. Tyler Crum of Helena Capital took the gold with a PR of 186-1.

The mark by Hansen is the seventh best at Butte High since the javelin was changed a few decades ago.

Junior Camden Houchin placed seventh in the 3,200-meter race for the Bulldogs. He finished with a personal-best time of 9 minutes, 37.53 seconds. That beat his previous best by 19 seconds.

Houchin also ran to 20th place in the 1,600-meter race, finishing in 4:34.74.

Senior Brett Polich closed his career with a seventh-place performance in the shot put. The future Montana Western football player posted a mark of 50-10.

Senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache, who first rose to fame as a freshman playing on the varsity basketball team, placed third in the long jump. He busted loose for a personal best of 21-8 ¼. Also in that event, junior Cohen Andrews placed 18th (20-3 ½) and senior Tocher Lee took 22nd (20-1).

Junior Ryan Hanson placed ninth in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, and classmate Levi Wiltsie took 28thg in the 3,200 with a PR time of 10:24.11.

Butte High ran to 11th place in the 400-meter relay and 12th in the 1,600-meter relay. Xavier Jory, Sam Sampson, Preston Jensen and Jacob Galle ran the short relay, while Bache, Sampson, Raeder Grey and Houchin ran the long relay.

On the girls’ side, senor Brityn Stewart did not defend her title in the javelin. She still brought home a medal, placing third in the event with a throw of 127-2. That mark was 7 inches shy of her season best and just 3 feet, 5 inches off last year’s championship mark.

Senior Rae Smart of Billings Skyview, captured gold by breaking the all-class record with a throw of 162-11. She beats the record of 156-11 set by Columbia Falls’ Angellica Street in 2019.

Billings West junior Elsa Johnson took second at 134-4. Smart, who had one of the all-time great performances, also won the discus and shot put title.

Butte High senior Peyton Trabert cleared 9-6 to placed seventh in the pole vault, and classmate Mylee Demarais took 14th in the shot put with a mark of 30-7. Cadence Graham finished 18th in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48-84.

Butte High placed 12th in the 400-meter relay and 13th in the 1,600-meter relay. Autum Clary, Graham, Saege Grey and Dylann Bartoletti ran the short relay, while Wakely Burelson, Sophia Houchin, Grey and Graham ran the long.

That 1,600-meter relay team, by the way, might have set a record for the youngest team. Graham is a sophomore, Burelson is a freshman, and Houchin and Grey are eighth graders.

Gallatin won the girls’ team title with 100 points. Helena High took second at 83, followed by West at 56. Butte finished 15th with six points.

McCarthy, McGree place fourth

Sophomore Danny McCarthy and Keefer McGree put up some impressive performances for Butte Central on the Class A side.

After running to fifth in the preliminary round of the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.52 seconds, McCarthy posted a PR of 11.39 to take fourth place.

Cole Zeigler of Frenchtown took gold in 11.14 seconds. Jack Phelps of Columbia Falls was next at 11.34, followed by Solomon Morgan of Corvallis in 11.37.

McGree also posted a PR, running to fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40/47 seconds. Brody Hardy of Frenchtown won the race in 39.09. Bigfork’s Austin Savik was second in 20.24, and Laurel’s Isaiah Burt was third in 40.30.

McGree ran to 10th in the 110-meter hurdles in 16,73.

Corvallis captured the team title with 76 points, edging second-place Frenchtown by one point. Laurel was third at 64. The Maroons placed 14th with the eight points from McCarthy and McGree.

On the girls’ side, Whitefish won with 74 points. Havre took second at 60, and Hamilton placed third at 56.

Butte Central’s girls did not score a point, but the super-young Maroons figure to be a factor in the coming years.

McPartland impresses on court

Butte Central senior Owen McPartland will go down as one of the greatest BC basketball players in history.

Over the last couple of weeks, McPartland also turned some heads on the tennis court. One week after winning the Central A Divisional title, McPartland won two matches at the Class A State meet in Billings. (Results)

McPartland beat Riccardo Slanzi of Stevensville in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 battle in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, eventual runner up Jack Oehlerich of Whitefish downed McPartland 6-0, 6-4.

The Maroon battled back with a 6-2, 6-0 consolation victory over Landon Orthman before bowing out with thrilling 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Whitefish’s Owen Erickson.

McPartland was the lone high school tennis player from Butte still playing on the final week of the season.

Bulldog baseball celebrates seniors

Rain wiped out Butte High’s Senior Night baseball game against Missoula Sentinel on May 15. The game was non-conference, and the schedule was too tight to make it up.

The Bulldogs, though, will still make sure their five seniors will get the proper sendoff.

Butte High will hold a special ceremony at 6 p.m. Tuesday at 3 Legends Stadium to recognize seniors Tocher Lee, Will Stepan, Matthew Donaldson, Karsen McEwen and Lucas Harris-Huerta and their parents.