The Glacier Bear cross-country squads again earned second-place, 3A finishes behind Sitka at Saturday’s home meet, where a rugged course added minutes to finishing times and left runners muddy and bloody.
The meet put the teams in a confident position to qualify for the state meet when they run at the regional championship in Ketchikan Sept. 24. The fastest three small-school squads at Ketchikan qualify to run at the state championship.
Coach Liam Cassidy, however, said his team has set its sights higher than that. “It’s not enough just to qualify. We want to do well.”
Saturday’s meet was postponed one day due to bad traveling weather for visiting teams and division 3A competitors Mount Edgecumbe and Skagway were unable to participate. Runners from Sitka, Juneau-Douglas JV, Thunder Mountain, Gustavus, Angoon, and Yakutat competed.
Freshman Zayla Asquith-Heinz (24:40) again led the Haines girls, finishing second behind Sitka freshman Sid Riggs (24:11). Senior Marnie Rasmussen (26:41) was second for the Bears, placing fifth among small-school runners.
Junior Jess Giddings surged into third for the squad (28:47), improving her rank from last week’s meet in Wrangell. Giddings said morale was high on the squad, despite the slower times. “Everybody was upbeat.”
Giddings said she doesn’t have a particular season goal in mind. “I figure if I make it to the finish line and I can’t stand up, I’ve done my best. And that’s good enough for me.”
Senior Jackie St. Clair was fourth for Haines (29:11), followed by classmate Maggie Daly (29:58), sophomore Serena Badgley (30:19), senior Esther Bower (30:34) and junior Tia Heywood (30:34.7). Rounding out the Haines effort were senior Elena Horner (31:38) and sophomore Isobel Smith (36:10).
Eighth grader Alexandria Chapin also ran, finishing in 30:28.
The girls’ squad is likely to become more competitive, as only eight of its 11 runners can compete at regionals in Ketchikan.
A time trial will be held to see who makes the trip, Cassidy said. That’s an ideal situation that should improve times overall, he said.
“It’s tough but it makes people tougher. The more people you have on a team the better the team is because you have to put in that much more effort to qualify,” he said.
Unknowns in the upcoming regional meet may include a Skagway team that Haines hasn’t seen all season and a Craig squad the Bears haven’t seen since the first meet of the year.
“People can improve quickly in the short season we have,” Cassidy said. “If our runners can back a few seconds off their mile, they can move up. But you’ve got to realize everyone else is getting better, too.”
The Haines boys’ squad was led again by senior Quinn Asquith-Heinz (21:00), who finished second among small schools behind Niko Friedman of Sitka (19:30). He was followed by junior Corey Piper (21:43), junior Patrick Henderson (21:46), sophomore Isaac Wing (23:12), jumior Brandon Bachman (25:21), freshman Chevy Fowler (27:11) and senior Brandon Haxton (33:33).
Asquith-Heinz, Piper and Henderson were among the top 10 boys’ finishers overall at Saturday’s meet. While that trio is competitive, the squad has fewer mid-range runners than the girls’ team, which could make the final meets a bigger challenge for the squad.
Asquith-Heinz said his season goal is breaking 18 minutes on the 3.1-mile course. Piper said he’s hoping to be among the top five 3A runners at the region and have a good race at state.
Cassidy said he’s particularly encouraged by an uptick in participation in the sport, which bodes well for the team’s future.