Aberdeen’s Ailyn Haggard added another accomplishment to her stellar sophomore season on Thursday, and it was one of the big ones.

Haggard ran an intelligent race to defeat the field en route to a 2A District Championship at the Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland.

Haggard’s time of 19:11 was nine seconds better than Ridgefield’s Danica Allen in second place and was exactly one full minute better than what she ran in last season’s district final on the same course.

“We’ve been talking about how fast other people go out and to be patient, don’t get excited in the first half-mile. People are going to go too quick and make mistakes,” Aberdeen head coach Steve Reed said. “She just stayed back about 30-40 yards off the leaders then slowly brought it up and about halfway through, she pulled away. … Technically, she runs really smart.”

Haggard conquered the wet, muddy course against a state-qualifying field – the top 28 runners – that ran nearly 40 seconds faster than last season.

“It makes me proud for sure,” Reed said of coaching a district champion. “She’s worked really hard during and before the season and to make a one-minute improvement on her time from last year, that’s a big deal.”

In the boys race, Aberdeen senior Henry Nelson continued his outstanding final season with a third-place finish and state-qualifying spot.

Nelson ran the 5K race with a time of 16:31, three-seconds better than R.A. Long’s Andrews Orozco Stansbery.

Both Aberdeen’s present and future will be represented at the state meet as Nelson will be joined by freshman standout Cecil Gumaelius, who also qualified for state with a time of 17:05 to place 24th in the 92-competitor field.

Aberdeen will also have representation in the boys Unified category, which is intended for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their partners.

Aberdeen sophomore Dylan Grove, who is autistic, and his partner runner, senior Kyler Haggard – Ailyn Haggard’s older brother – completed the course in 21:04, well below the required state-qualifying time of 40:18 to secure a spot in the state Unified race.

“Kyler ran the whole race with him to make sure he doesn’t have any issues and he ran him through (the race),” Reed said. “Dylan, out of all my kids today, boys and girls, was the only one that had a personal-best on the course. … We told Dylan, “Follow Kyler during the race, he’ll keep track of you,” and it worked out really good today.”

For full results, visit athletic.net.

The WIAA State Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

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Results

Boys team standings: 1, Ridgefield, 57. 2, Mark Morris, 88. 3, Hockinson, 95. 4, Columbia River, 95. 5, Washougal, 169. 6, Woodland, 183. 7, Tumwater, 186. 8, Aberdeen, 188. 9, R.A. Long, 209. 10, Hudson’s Bay, 219. 11, W.F. West, 282. 12, Centralia, 328. 13, Black Hills, 392.

Boys state qualifiers: 1, Jacob McManus, Columbia River, 15:59. 2, Davis Sullivan, Ridgefield, 16:17. 3, Henry Nelson, Aberdeen, 16:31. 4, Andres Orozco Stansbery, R.A. Long, 16:34. 5, Alejandro Alvarado, Woodland, 16:44. 6, Evan Hollis, Ridgefield, 16:46. 7, Joshua Morgan, Tumwater, 16:48. 8, Matthias White, Mark Morris, 16:51. 9, Tate Armstrong, Mark Morris, 16:53. 10, Ian Guasco, Hockinson, 16:56. 11, Tanner Hood, Hockinson, 16:56. 12, Brody Will, Hudson’s Bay, 16:57. 13, Skyler Picard, Hockinson, 16:57. 14, Wyatt Nitzschke, Columbia River, 16:57. 15, Jack Radosevich, Ridgefield, 16:59. 16, Cooper Dollens, Ridgefield, 16:59. 17, John Love, Washougal, 17:00. 18, Aiden Raymond, Ridgefield, 17:00. 19, Aaron Barron Pintor, Columbia River, 17:00. 20, Isaiah Bradley, Mark Morris, 17:01. 21, Gabriel Hoesly, Ridgefield, 17:01. 22, Zane McAferty, Tumwater, 17:03. 23, Sylas Allen, Hudson’s Bay, 17:04. 24, Cecil Gumaelius, Aberdeen, 17:05. 25, Braydon Sweetin, Mark Morris, 17:08. 26, Zane Armstrong, Mark Morris, 17:09. 27, Dominic Turner, Ridgefield, 17:09. 28, Brandon Lee, Washougal, 17:10.

Girls team standings: 1, Hockinson, 44. 2, Columbia River, 87. 3, Ridgefield, 89. 4, R.A. Long, 127. 5, Washougal, 160. 6, Hudson’s Bay, 171. 7, Tumwater, 190. 8, Centralia, 198. 9, Black Hills, 217. 10, Aberdeen, 250. 11, Woodland, 258. 12, W.F. West, 305.

Girls state qualifiers: 1, Ailyn Haggard, Aberdeen, 19:11. 2, Danica Allen, Ridgefield, 19:20. 3, Graysen Aldridge, Hockinson, 19:25. 4, Lyla Taylor, Hockinson, 19:38. 5, Scarlett Sanders, Hockinson, 19:42. 6, Elsie Herold, Mark Morris, 19:48. 7, Alexandra Broome, Tumwater, 20:02. 8, Elliana Higgins, R.A. Long, 20:04, 9, Ainsley Morrisey, Columbia River, 20:29. 10, Journey Yokum, Columbia River, 20:29. 11, Ava Peterson, Hudson’s Bay, 20:40. 12, Gracie Perry, Washougal, 20:52. 13, Mae Otoupal, Columbia River, 20:54. 14, Elyse O’Dell, Centralia, 21:02.

15, Audrey Varney, Mark Morris, 21:05. 16, Piper Gannon, 21:08. 17, Claire Tapio, Hockinson, 21:33. 18. Kaylynn McSmith, Woodland, 21:34. 19, Kaydie Boettcher, 21:41. 20, Nicolette Hulse, Ridgefield, 21:42. 21, Claire Marsh, Hudson’s Bay, 21:51. 22, Kayleigh Spaulding, R.A. Long, 21:54. 23, Raegan Smith, Tumwater, 22:04. 24, Makyla Genung, R.A. Long, 22:11. 25, Kaylynn Wickwire, Hudson’s Bay, 22:17. 26, Savannah Reynolds, Columbia Rivber, 22:20. 27, Juliet Sanders, Hockinson, 22:32. 28, Makenna Legault, Black Hills, 22:46.