Photo by BHS Cross Country

On Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, the Hilander boys and girls cross-country teams traveled north for the district competition at Pendleton Community Park. Rainy cool conditions did not dampen desire or efforts.  

The Hilander men’s team finished third and was led by senior Talon Morris, who raced to a seventh place finish with a time of 17:29.3, earning an automatic individual state qualification. Fellow Crane senior Tanner Joyce fought for eighth place with a time of 17:29.6, beating out the competition by .1 second. Running 17:47, junior Lucian Miller defeated a Riverside athlete to help maintain a two-point margin over the same team. Crane Sophomore Thad Downs was the fourth Hilander, finishing 16th with a time of 18:26. Freshman Gabe Webb was the fifth scorer for the Hilanders coming in 28th place at 20:21. Freshmen, Rueben Sewell (22:21) and Tavin Steinhoff (22:37) contributed to the varsity effort over the muddy 3.1 mile course. The team also saw efforts earlier in the day from junior Braeden O’Connor, freshman Kaezen Thompson and junior Henry Hemphill setting a positive tone.  

The Hilander ladies finished in fifth place with strong effort led by junior Addie Robbins with a time of 21:32. Freshmen Hadley Gunderson (21:53) and Ariah Miller (23:06) were two and three for the team. Senior Camryn Volle ended her Hilander Cross County career with a time of 23:28. Junior Josie Glascock gave a gutsy 23:55 effort. Fellow freshman Addi Basey fought sloppy conditions for 27:34. Senior Kiera Murphy finished in 32:50. Senior Zoe Dimzoff ran a personal best of 27:29.

The cross-country team is thankful to Jim Kelly for driving the Hilanders safely home through snowy, difficult conditions to await the seeding committee’s decision regarding at large berths.  

On Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024 the Hilander boy’s efforts were recognized against competition faced in Pendleton and times across the state and were selected to compete Saturday, Nov. 9 at the OSAA 3A State Championships held at Lane Community College in Eugene. The 3A boys race is set to start at 11:10 a.m.