When Kristin Wilson went to the doctor’s office for her 10-month prenatal checkup, the doctor – after listening to the heartbeat with her stethoscope – asked her assistant to bring in an ultrasound. Kristin was puzzled, especially when the assistant asked “three?”

The doc, looking at the monitor, held up three fingers, which looked to her confused patient like a W. “I don’t know what that stands for,” Kristin said.

“It stands for three,” replied the doctor. “Three heartbeats.”

And Saturday, the three very accomplished and distinct personalities that comprise the Wilson triplets graduated from Polson High School. Jarrett leaves school as one of eight valedictorians; Trent graduated with summa cum laude distinction (3.95-4.0 grade point average) and Colter, with magna cum laude (3.7-3.94).

Colter and Trent were members of the Class A state championship tennis team, while Jarrett was a member of Polson’s first-ever high school baseball team which claimed Montana’s first-ever baseball championship title.

The boys describe themselves as best friends, with a competitive edge.

“We’re competitive against each other but we try to be friendly about it,” says Jarrett.

“When we play sports, we do get after each other then we’re fine after the game ends,” adds Trent. “We go back to being brothers.”

That playful penchant started when they were toddlers and used to stack their beds against the wall and jump on the pile of mattresses below. “They would get into mischief together, but for the fun of it,” says their mom.

Under the tutelage of their big brother, Tanner, they began to invent games early on.

“We’re super close,” says Jarrett. “We’ve always looked up to him and he’s always been a good role model for us.”

Tanner, who is six years older, would take the role of quarterback and line up his brothers – one on offense and two on defense – to catch the pass and try to make a touchdown. A basketball hoop hung for 17 years in the living room, and the kids played “foot basket” – a mix of football and basketball.

“You have four downs to make a basket and if it hits the ground it’s an incomplete pass,” Colter explains. “How it gets down is you tackle the other person.”

Also convenient are the room’s two timber supports, which served as goal posts. “It was always busy in here,” he adds. Until recently, the room was carpeted and contained very few breakable objects.

Play was important, but so was discipline.

Kristin and the boys’ father, Scott Wilson, are both educators and believe that rigor pays off at home, in the classroom and on the field.

“From the time they were little, they knew that both of their parents have very high expectations as far as their work ethic. Whether it had to do with school or sports we expected them to do what needed to be done,” she says. The result is three graduates “with very good grades who all have given 100% to any athletic activity they’ve been in.”

“We’re really proud of our kids and how hard they’ve worked, and not just in school and sports,” she adds. “Both Scott and I have people tell us what nice boys they are, how helpful they are and what good role models.”

Now, the trio is preparing to part ways. Jarrett leaves in early August for Butte, where he has a football scholarship with Montana Tech and plans to study electrical engineering. Trent is off to Montana State University, also aiming for a degree in engineering, and Colter plans to attend the University of Montana and explore his interests in architecture, graphic design or teaching.

“Weird” was the adjective all three used in describing their impending separation.

“I’m sure we’ll get used to it but at first it’ll be very weird to not have somebody next to you all the time,” says Colter. “I’m sure we’ll meet up with each other quite a bit.”

“We understand each other,” adds Trent. “So it’ll be tough not to have each other around if we need it.”

“It’s going to be weird going somewhere else and being away from the people I’ve been around my whole life,” adds Jarrett.

However, all three are confident that the bond that knits them together won’t fall apart.

“I know we’ll keep in touch and we’ll still keep a close relationship,” predicts Jarrett.

Trent adds that he feels a mix of excitement – “I’m glad to start a new portion of life” – tempered by sadness and a sense of loss. “Not only are we close, we also have a really close friend group so it’ll be tough not seeing them every single day after we go off to college.”

After 19 years of parenting triplets and running a household that’s been a hub for their friends, Kristin is also feeling a mix of emotions.

“The quietness will be different,” she says. Thankfully, she has a long list of household projects and, as Linderman’s principal, plenty of young people clamoring for her attention.

As befits a band of brothers, the Wilson triplets leave Polson with a bang – or at least celebratory rides aboard fire trucks.

“There’s no better feeling than to win a state championship and then, that we all won in two different sports,” says Trent. “Jarrett won in baseball and then me and Colter were like, ‘we might as well go win one too.’”

The triplets take good memories, times three, to college.

“One of the unique things about being a triplet is there is never really a dull moment. You always have a built-in friend, you always have someone to play with, and you’re never going to be bored around each other,” says Trent. “That was a great part of growing up.”

For their parents, the journey from three heartbeats to three high school graduates, who are champs in and out of the classroom, “has been something unique and special.”

“I love the action and I know Scott does too,” says Kristin. “My biggest thing is I’d rather have my arms full than empty. Then, just to have such nice, good kids is dreamy.”