In Rural Alaska, Haines Finds Connection Through XC

Tucked away in the panhandle of southeast Alaska, just west of the Canadian border, the area of Haines exists nearly in a world of its own.

As a census-designated place, Haines technically isn't even classified as a town but rather as one of six communities comprising the Haines Borough. Situated on the Chilkat Peninsula and largely isolated from the rest of Alaska, Haines is lucky enough to have a portion of road connecting it to the state's main highway system.

Without it, the area would only be accessible by an hours-long ferry ride or air travel.

But at the heart of the nestled-away community with a population hovering just below 1,700 lies three crucial facets of everyday life -- tourism, fishing and high school cross country.

Thank the Haines High School cross country program for the latter designation. The local team has swept both the girls and boys Alaska Division III state cross country titles twice in the past three years.

Nearly a third of the entire 80-person high school student body laces up their spikes each fall for the cross country season to compete under head coach Jordan Baumgartner. 

Making a commitment to distance running in the fall here is not something that comes with glamor. Cold temperatures and heavy rains can turn Alaska cross country courses into chilly mud pits. Then there's the exhausting hours -- sometimes days -- spent going to and from meets spread out all over the vast state.

But through cross country, the nestled-away Haines community finds itself intimately connected with the rest of Alaska, even if that entails the team traveling by ferry or taking double-digit-hour van rides just to make it to a meet start line.

"Living in Alaska, it makes it even more fun because you get to go through all of these challenges with a team, and it just makes it that much better," said sophomore Ari'el Godinez-Long, the defending Division III girls individual state champion. 

On Saturday, Haines will line up with the state's best racers at the Alaska State Cross Country Championships following a 16-hour van trek to Anchorage with the hopes of defending their titles.

Maybe more importantly, though, is this team, which embodies a close-knit charisma and charm, and its motivations, which pushes them to not only have success on the course but also foster deeper connections among themselves and the rest of the Alaska cross country community.

"You can see that in our team," Baumgartner said. "The way our town behaves is pretty much how our kids behave."

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Embracing Unorthodox Obstacles

Only a day removed from the long trip home from the 2021 state cross country championships, the whole Haines community lined Main Street, more than ready to start the party.

Twenty-something athletes and coaches jumped into the backs of pickup trucks and on top of a fire truck as part of a parade of vehicles including a police car and ambulance rolling down the street.

Dressed in forest green team gear, they hoisted their state championship plaques up in the air to the delight of cheering parents, friends and families. Students from the local Haines Elementary School held homemade, neon-green signs and chased after the fire truck as it made its parade rounds.

All the pomp and circumstance came with good reason.

Haines dominated the small school division team competition at the Alaska state meet last year, scoring just 34 points to win the girls race and a low 38 total for the boys title.

The winning didn't stop with the team race -- Godinez-Long crossed the line first in 20:31.10 to win the girls individual championship in her first-ever high school cross country season. 

It's a Haines tradition now to celebrate state cross country championships with community-wide camaraderie. That began in 2019 with the team's first title wins, with Baumgartner at the helm.

All of that fanfare is central to the identity of the Haines community, he said.

"Some places, it's just a city. You're just another number," he said. "But here, you're a somebody, you're supported."

Even when you take away all of the cheers and parades and shift focus to the everyday routine of the Haines cross country athlete -- full of its own unorthodox challenges -- that backing from the community remains. 

When the now-senior Avari Getchell first moved to Haines in middle school and joined the cross country team, she said she expected a utopia for distance running -- perfect weather, surreal scenery, mountain peaks and short-but-fun weekend trips to meets with teammates.

But that's not the reality she and her Haines cross country runners have come to grapple with.

"It's a totally different experience than I think most people go through with athletics," Getchell said.

Weather is less-than-optimal for training and racing conditions. Especially in southeastern Alaska, consistent rain and chilly temperatures come as early as August and September and don't always prove favorable -- or enjoyable -- for practices and fast racing.

And then there's the travel.

Since Haines is so secluded, it makes for marathon-like trips across the state, and that includes events in the more immediate surrounding area.

Just to make it to the Region V Championships last week in the town of Sitka, for instance, the team had to catch a four and a half-hour ferry ride south to Junaeu and then take another ferry from there.

That's just part of being a Haines cross country runner, Getchell said. High schoolers here don't take those opportunities for granted.

"On top of being on this team, you keep on track with all of your school work, and you just become a really well-seasoned traveler with our experiences," Getchell said, "And you get that motivation and that determination to have a good race no matter what the weather is doing as well."

One would think a laundry list of obstacles would deter students from joining the program. But when you have a coach like Baumgartner eagerly walking down the school halls recruiting kids to join the program and preaching to his science classes the church of distance running, it's harder for students to not sign up.

Many of its athletes began in middle school, where Baumgartner's persistence made lifelong runners out of teenagers just looking for something to do.

"I didn't know what cross country was," said senior Grace Long. "Coach Baumgartner kind of did this thing where he was like, 'Yep, you're going to run.'"

Most athletes on this past year's state championship-winning team didn't know exactly what they were getting into when they finally bought into their middle school teacher's sales pitch. But the athletes can agree on one thing now -- the combination of Alaska living and cross country running make for wild fall.

"On top of being on this team, you keep on track with all of your school work, and you just become a really well-seasoned traveler with our experiences, and you get that motivation and that determination to have a good race no matter what the weather is doing as well."

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Living And Training In Alaska 

Getchell says she relishes trail running through the woods. Senior Luke Davis enjoys getting off the rooty dirt paths and running along the one highway, which connects Haines to the rest of the state.

Long loves both track workouts at the school's puddle-prone gravel track and training runs at Jones Point along the Chilkat River, despite having to clap and yell for bears along the way.

But look no further than a weekend long run from earlier in the season to understand the truth of Haines cross country.

In perfect Alaska fashion, the weather was dismal and rain pelted members of the team for entire long run run that took them through almost every trail in town. The trails suffered, and tree roots and mud trenches made for the sloppiest running conditions of the season.

But the athletes couldn't finish their long run without climbing to the top of what's known as the "Sledding Hill" -- a nearly 70-degree incline that marked the end of the run.

Waiting at the top was Baumgartner, with rewards of Goldfish crackers, oranges and blaring music.

After each runner crested to the top and was soaked in the sense of accomplishment, they turned to cheer on their teammates and munched on post-run snacks.

That's why cross country in Alaska can be so much fun, Baumgartner said.

It's about turning the most dismal moments into lasting memories.

"They wait at the top and they cheer everybody on," Baumgartner said. "It got louder and louder and louder for that last person that came in. Then we celebrate as a team, and that's something our team does really well."

The bond extends beyond the run, too.

Once or twice a year, Baumgartner and athletes take advantage of the beautiful scenery in their own backyard and go for team hikes. Long drives to meets turn into karaoke contests as teammates try to distract themselves from the exhausting trip, singing everything from Taylor Swift songs to the greatest hits of The Backstreet Boys.

"Instead, we're going to do karaoke together," Godinez-Long said. "What else are we going to do for those 16 hours?"

That work-and-play approach probably accounts for why so many students come out for the team year after year. That culture may be part of the reason for Haines' consistent success at the state level.

"It makes more kids join the team and stick with it, even when it gets hard," Davis said.

Tucked Away, Yet Always Connected

They may live hundreds of miles and ferry rides away from most of their competition in Alaska, but when Haines walks into the starting box at a cross country meet and then steps to the line, every racer, coach and spectator knows who they are.

How could you not recognize the Glacier Bear squad, arriving to every meet with a caravan of supporters in tow and screaming a ritualistic team chant before every meet?

"When we go places, people are excited to see Haines," Baumgartner said. "We have a good reputation, and it has to do with our kids and our parents. We've got a good community."

That makes Haines a fan favorite, he says, despite this school having just 80 total students. 

Photo Courtesy: Jordan Baumgartner

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The team will spend hours trying on trainers and spikes fresh out of their boxes at Skinny Raven Sports -- a luxury for runners living in a town with no shoe store.

Seniors will check out campus at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the state's largest university, as it may be one of the only chances they get to see the school in-person before graduation.