HELENA — So far this high school track season, six boys across Montana have posted a 1,600-meter time fast enough to qualify for the Class AA state track meet in May.

And of those six state qualifiers, four of them run for Helena High School.

“Yeah, we’re all great friends,” said Helena senior Henry Sund, whose 4:16.89 is the fastest mile time recorded in the state so far this season. “It’s nice to have a squad that you can go to practice with that you enjoy being around, and that also helps us just push each other further.”

Fellow Helena senior Elliot Stimpson has recorded a state qualifying time in both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

“I think it’s really good to have good teammates that push you, because if you’re all alone in your workouts and stuff, mentally, it’s going to be a lot tougher,” said Stimpson. “When you’ve got four or five guys that are right there with you, and you’re able to do your reps together and take turns on leading races sometimes, it makes it a lot better. And just everybody improves even faster with that.”

While they might only be running one mile on race day, their successes wouldn’t be possible without the tens of miles these Bengals log each week during training.

“Our distance coaches put together programs for them,” said Helena head coach Manny Garza, “but they have recovery runs that are six miles. They do repeats of 800 meters, 1,000-meter repeats. They just put in the hard work and the time, and they’re just really dedicated. They go through some really grueling workouts and just get better each week.”

The result of that hard work: Helena High boasts the four fastest milers in the state so far this season, each clocking in under the state-qualifying time of 4:30 (Sund, 4:16.89; Dylan Hill, 4:19.47; Stimpson, 4:22.82; and Milo Kauffman, 4:24.72).

Stimpson and Sund also competed at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in California, recording times of 4:14.03 and 4:15.27, respectively.

“We’ve got a special culture on this team, a big senior class that’s really strong,” said Stimpson. “We’ve been coming up together for four years, some of us for more. And it’s just that teamwork. It’s a good culture, and that makes us all better.”