Hilander cross country teams qualify for state Burns Cross Country Burns Sports Sports November 2, 2022November 2, 20220 Sydney White places first at Districts in Pendleton. (Submitted photos) Led by individual district champion Sydney White, who is a freshman, the lady’s Hilander cross country team automatically qualified for state competition. White broke away from a trio in the last mile to produce a commanding victory, clocking a personal record of 19:16 over the 5k course. Strong performances from each lady Hilander secured the state berth with a third-place finish. Senior Mattie Woodbury (12th) produced a season record time of 20:23. Freshman Addie Robbins (22nd) and junior Aleyna Banks (23rd) pushed each other to personal records of 21:21.3 and 21:21.4, respectively. Sophomore Camryn Volle turned out a personal record of 21:53 for 26th to solidify the qualification. Juniors Shailey White (51st) and Keaira Burns (55th) rounded out the top seven, turning out personal records of 24:29 and 24:56. Sophomores Gracie Mello and Kiera Murphy started the momentum with a season record of 27:36 for Mello and personal record of 29:04 for Murphy. ••• Lucian Miller led the charge on the men’s side, clocking 17:03 and earning an automatic individual qualification at fifth place. Miller got into position within the first mile and fought to hold the spot for the remaining two. Lucian Miller finishes in fifth place at Districts. An aggressive approach put the men into position to qualify for state competition with a third-place finish. Sophomore Carsen Volle produced a personal record of 17:32, garnering a top 10 performance. Junior Tim Banks established a personal best of 17:37 for 13th place. Kaden Peasley, a sophomore, dropped 1 minute 30 seconds for a personal record of 18:21 and 16th place. Sophomore Talon Morris earned a personal best of 19:05 for 23d place. Despite course confusion, sophomore Tanner Joyce (28th) clocked 19:35. Freshman Braeden O’Connor secured a personal best of 22:10, and Henry Hemphill came in at 25:47. One place shy of automatically qualifying in a competitive district, the Hilander men were chosen by a seeding committee to compete in the state contest. The committee looks for four teams throughout the state who don’t automatically qualify but have an overall ranking that would make the state meet more competitive. Given their district performance, the men’s team earned a wildcard spot. ••• Both teams will compete Nov. 5 at Lane Community College. The ladies begin at 10 a.m., and men start at 11:10 a.m.