Three former Helena Capital High School track and field athletes recently earned All-America status at their final national collegiate outdoor championships.

Colorado State University-Pueblo weight man Justin Jenks finished fourth in the shot put at the NCAA DII Track & Field Championships in Emporia, Kansas, throwing 60 feet 10 inches at Welch Stadium and earning seven-time College All-American honors for the Rams.

Jenks had previously won the shot put (59-9) and hammer throw titles with a throw of 194-5 at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at Colorado Mesa University.

Melissa Moreni of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs earned her second All-America honor in the 100-meter hurdles, placing fourth in Emporia with a time of 13.65 seconds. She placed second for the Lady Mountain Lions at the RMAC Championships with a time of 13.70 seconds.

UCCS teammate Audrey Bloomquist placed seventh in the triple jump with a 41-4.5 to earn All-American status. Audrey entered the national championships as the 2024 RMAC titleholder with a 41-3.25. In addition, she took the conference crown in the long jump with a jump of 19-3.5 and took second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.92 seconds.

At the NCAA Division I level, another CHS graduate, Elena Carter of Montana State, captured the Big Sky T&F Outdoors 100 hurdles title with a time of 13.31, her seventh conference title. She also placed third in the long jump with a time of 19-10 and eighth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.28 (11.71 in prelims), earning her 13th All-Big Sky honors with the Lady Bobcats.

At the beginning of the season, her younger sister Leigha finished second in the 200-meter race at the Tom Gage Invite with a time of 25.44 seconds.

At the NCAA West Regionals in Fayetteville, Louisiana, Elena was seeded 39th in the long jump, but her final jump vaulted her to 23rd place with a personal best (by 6 inches) of 20-10.75. The distance surpassed the school record of 20-9, but will not count due to high winds.

Elena and Justin graduated from the Capital program in 2018, while Audrey (2019) and Melissa (2020) graduated in the following two years.

Odessa Zentz, a Helena High graduate and sophomore at Northern Arizona University, scored her first career points at the Big Sky Championships, finishing seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.24. The NAU Lumberjack women captured their fourth consecutive Outdoor Conference T&F title.

You can reach Curt Synness at 406-594-2878 or curt52synness@gmail.com.