Haines High School runners started down the road to defending their Division II state crowns last weekend, with most of the talent on board that rocketed both the boys and girls teams to regional cross-country championships and state championships last year.
The Glacier Bears raced in a “pre-season primer” Saturday in Juneau against Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain and Petersburg. Nine runners competed and senior Luke Davis of Haines won the boys race by a comfortable 16 seconds, topping even runners from the Capital City with a time of 17:19.
“We took a small group of kids and they did very well,” said coach Jordan Baumgartner, explaining that some runners working summer jobs hadn’t yet logged enough practices to qualify for competition.
Haines fans will get a rare opportunity to cheer on their state champions in person at the Haines Invitational meet on Saturday, Sept. 3. As many as 200 runners from Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Hoonah and Mount Edgecumbe will participate in the afternoon races.
“It would be good to see everybody come out to support the team. We’ll have over 20 runners. That’s a big team for a small town,” Baumgartner said.
Now in his third year as coach, Baumgartner has notched an impressive record in the school’s athletic history, bringing home four state championships banners and five regional championship ones in three years.
He said he’s feeling optimistic about the coming season, as last year’s state championship teams lost only three runners to graduation – Avery Williamson, Caleb Jones and Logan Borcik. Twenty-two runners have turned out for practices.
The two teams boast a total of 10 seniors, Baumgartner said. “We’re keeping strong numbers. We have a good group of seniors and a lot of potential leaders. I think it’s going to be a fun, positive year,” he said.
A full roster of seven meets will allow runners to rotate in and out of competition, ensuring all runners get a chance to represent Haines. “They’re going to run a lot this year. The schedule means that some runners will take meets off so others get a chance to run. But we’ll bring as many runners as we can to every meet, whatever the budget allows us,” Baumgartner said.
Senior Luke Davis ran at the front of the Division II pack last year, but was hobbled by a leg injury at the state championship. He said this year he’s aiming to qualify for state and win the individual championship.
Davis attended a running camp in Juneau during summer and says he’s confident he can lop 30 seconds to a minute off his best time last year, 17:04 for a 5K race. “I think that’s realistic. I want to set high goals and work hard to achieve them.”
As a freshman, Ari’el Godinez-Long won the Division II girls state championship last fall by a whopping 30 seconds. She said this week that winning wasn’t as important to her as improving on her best times from last year. She won the state meet in 20:31. Breaking 20 minutes “would be nice,” she said, but any improvement would be good.
Ari’el’s older sister Grace Long-Godinez, a senior who finished fifth at state last year, said she expects to push harder in her final year on the team and is hoping to lop as much as a minute off her best time. “That puts a little more pressure on me, but I think it will help me run faster.”
Grace said she and her kid sister have competed in sports for years and are long past sibling rivalry for athletic achievement. “I think she’s teaching me now,” Grace said.
At last week’s meet along Juneau’s Sandy Beach, the Haines boys finished third, with 68 points, behind Thunder Mountain (50) and winners Juneau-Douglas (23). Haines finishers included: 1) Davis, 17:19; 24) sophomore Phoenix Swaner, 20:30; 27) senior Eric Gillham, 21:00; 35) freshman J.C. Davis, 22:11; 37) sophomore T.J. Smith, 22:28, and 41), sophomore Alex Weerasinghe, 22:58. A partial team of three Glacier Bears ran in Saturday’s girl’s race. Finishes included: 5) sophomore Aerial Godinez-Long, 21:22; 8) senior Grace Long-Godinez, 22:31 and 35) sophomore Ashlyn Ganey, 31:46. Juneau-Douglas won.
The deadline for registering for the team was Aug. 25. Interested students unfamiliar with cross-country or needing running shoes should come out anyway, Baumgartner said. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll get you running.”
Baumgartner boosted the success of cross-country teams by launching a junior-high running program several years ago. That program, which includes competing against other schools, will begin in September.
The varsity meet schedule includes the home meet in Haines Sept. 3; Petersburg, Sept.10; Ketchikan, Sept. 17; Juneau, Sept. 24; Sitka (regionals) Oct. 1; Anchorage (state) Oct. 8. Runners started training as a team Aug. 1.
After two years of isolation due to COVID-19, many students took jobs this summer, Baumgartner said. To accommodate them, he held early-morning and evening training runs.
The team recently held a team-building retreat at Chilkat State Park, including a long-distance relay. “They ran segments and raced each other from the state park to town,” Baumgartner said. “We’re working on getting some miles on their legs.”
High school teacher Alex Van Wyhe has joined the team as assistant coach.