Underclassmen on the Haines High School cross-country team made whopping improvements at last weekend’s regional championship meet in Ketchikan, earning the boys’ squad its first trip to the state championship in six years.

The Haines girls’ team missed qualifying for state by a single slot, edged partly by a spectacular Petersburg squad that ran up a perfect score – capturing each of the race’s first five places.

Five of seven Haines boys set personal season records at the meet, as did five of six girls.

“We stayed positive,” said freshman Haley Boron, who chopped 90 seconds off her previous best finish. Freshman Mark Davis cut 29 seconds off his fastest run and classmate Lydia Andriesen improved her time by 43 seconds.

Boron’s sister, freshman Hannah Boron, will join team leader Marirose Evenden, a sophomore, as the two individual qualifiers for the state meet from the Haines girls’ squad.

With a previous fastest run of 24:03, Hannah said she was just hoping to get under 24 minutes for the 5K race. “When I crossed the finish line and found out (I’d finished) a couple seconds over 23 minutes, I was really surprised. I kept telling myself if I could keep Marirose within eyesight, I’d be okay. I was very happy.”

She finished just seven seconds behind Evenden.

Evenden said she started “pretty fast” and kept up her pace. She’s looking to match her best time from last season – 22:27 – when she also qualified for state. She’ll have to shave 30 seconds off her best time this season. “I like the state course. I’m excited about running it again,” she said.

On the boys’ side, sophomore team leader Siyel George knocked 26 seconds off his best time to finish sixth among small school runners. “It was a really good course for me. It was nice, cool and moist, but not raining, so I could breathe easily. I thought it was a fast course.”

“My dream goal is to get to 17:30. That would be nice, 17:10 would be better, and I think I can get it. It’s just a matter of squelching the pain… And I hope the weather is good,” George said.

First-year cross-country coach Chandler Kemp said he’s encouraged by the team’s progress. “It seems like the sophomores have learned and developed a culture where they push each other to do better. They’re excited about practicing and doing their best.”

Kemp said he has interspersed “fun runs” and events like swimming in Rutzebeck Lake with more challenging workouts like hill repeats.

Kemp is looking for the boys’ squad to go after Petersburg at the state meet at Bartlett High School. Haines beat Petersburg by 12 points two weeks ago in Sitka, but the Vikings eclipsed Haines by 20 points in Ketchikan.

“We had a really good day at regionals, but they had an even better day. Two of our guys were a little bit sick but Petersburg ran faster than they did in Sitka. But it’s close enough that I think we can beat them at state again,” Kemp said.

A good sign is that four Haines runners – Davis, junior Patrick Cunningham, sophomore Carver Culbeck, and classmate Odin Jacobson – ran as a pack in Ketchikan. That can be a formula for success in cross-country.

“(In a pack), I think they all ran faster than they would have by themselves. I think they help each other out in a race,” Kemp said.

A challenge for Haines runners is spending two days in a school van traveling to Anchorage before Saturday’s state championship. Kemp said he’s planning to run his team on a trail at Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge south of Tok Thursday, and have them walk the Bartlett race course late Friday.

He expressed hope his runners can improve yet again. “The kids are getting faster in leaps and bounds but there’s still some space there (to improve). I’m hoping they go for it.”

Scores and finishes from regionals include: Boys’ teams (11 Total): 1) Sitka (20), 2) Petersburg, (66), 3) Haines, (86). Haines runners, in order of finish: Siyel George, (6th, 17:48), Kirby Faverty (12th, 18:10), Mark Davis (21st, 18:59), Patrick Cunningham (22nd, 18:59), Carver Culbeck (25th, 19:08), Odin Jacobson (26th, 19:08) and Carson Crager (37th, 19:45).

Girls’ teams (6 Total): 1) Petersburg (15), 2) Mount Edgecumbe (69), 3) Sitka (76), 4) Haines (99), 5) Wrangell (115), 6) Skagway (171). Haines runners in order of finish: Marirose Evenden (12th, 22:58), Hannah Boron (15th, 23:05), Atlin Zahnow (22nd, 24:01), Haley Boron (36th, 25:45), Tulsi Zahnow (45th, 27:53), Lydia Andriesen (46th, 28:08).