When the Jackson cross country team began its season, coach Andrea Talley could not have predicted her team would fare so well.

According to Talley, the Indians had struggled to "gel" over the summer and the idea of advancing to the state meet seemed like a long shot for Jackson.

Those doubts were set aside last weekend when the boys and girls both finished fourth in the team standings at a Class 4 sectional meet to qualify for a bid to the Saturday's state meet at the Oak Hills Golf Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.

"This is something that was kind of a far off goal this summer. I guess no one really knew if it would be a possibility," Talley said. "We always thought the girls had a better shot, but with the boys it was always an outside chance. We just didn't really know how the team would fit together, and there is just so much luck and other variables that go into cross country."

Class 4 included both a district and sectional round. The top four teams and top 30 individual finishers from the sectional advanced to the state meet.

Talley said five of the Indians' top 10 runners on the boys side were running slower times, which was holding back Jackson's overall team scores in meets earlier this season.

To get her team to progress, Talley adopted a new training approach that allowed the runners to peak later in the season.

"They were going a much shorter distance, a much shorter duration and doing less intervals with less intensity. Everything was scaled back so that they could progress slowly," Talley said about the Indians' improvement. "Over the last couple weeks, myself and some of the parents have been saying, 'Wow it's just so neat to see some of the guys that were kind of way back at the JV level, slowly moving their way up to a varsity level.' So that's why we didn't know at the beginning of the season how they would grow and improve throughout the season. That's been kind of a pleasant surprise that they're gelling together at the right time."

Senior Jack Jeffers has been the anchor for Jackson all season. Jeffers qualified for his third straight trip to state with an eighth-place sectional finish.

He finished the race in 16 minutes, 16 seconds on Saturday, cutting nearly 40 seconds off his 2013 time.

Jeffers sustained an injury last season and since then he hasn't run as much, but she views that as a possible advantage for Jeffers and the Indians.

"He had an injury that left him out for a longer time than I think most people realize," Talley said. "We had to kind of keep his mileage very moderate because he's really still building as a runner. He's had a good season, and has a really good future ahead of him this season and in college as a runner because he has had such a low amount of mileage in high school."

Jeffers finished 60th at last year's Class 4 state meet in 16:53, but Talley said he has the advantage of knowing how fast to start, where to move away from the pack and the overall outline of the course.

Jackson will send six other boys to the meet-- all of whom will compete at state for the first time.

Among them are freshman Ean Buffington, who Talley said showed promise for some time.

"He's one that was in it right from the beginning this summer," Talley said. "We've been able to progress with him and make sure that he doesn't peak to soon, but he's right up there with Jack. Those two are my lead runners."

Jackson Givens, Caleb Bess, Alex Phillips, Will Allen and Kyle Kester will also run for the Indians.

Junior Chelsea Drum has been a strong runner for the Indians since she arrived at Jackson as a freshman in 2012. Drum finished fourth at the sectional meet in 18:11 to qualify for the second straight year.

Talley said Drum has been a star on the girls team all along, but she's gotten better each year.

"Right there, boom! She was number one for us from the beginning, and the next year she grew a lot," Talley said about Drum. "If you look at her, she's a really tall runner. You see all these tiny little girls and then there's Chelsea, who just powers through everyone."

Drum finished 50th with a time of 20:04 at last year state meet. She expects her to improve on her time immensely as a junior.

"She didn't end up where she wanted to and we all knew that," Talley said. "But she's back stronger than ever now, and her times are coming way down. We hope she's peaking at the right time, and she seems to be."

Junior Karli Knott finished 12th (19:25) , while senior Tayler Winick finished 19th (19:36) at the sectional.

Talley said Knott and Winick push each other in practice and at meets.

"They run well together and they look for each other in races," Talley said. "If one falls behind, the other will look back and holler at them to make sure that they stay closer. That will be harder to do in that particular setting, but it's nice to see that they push each other and help each other succeed. That's what's most important."

The rest of the field for the Jackson girls includes Megan Barnum, Courtney Hahs, Leah Hecht and Ana Compton.

Noteworthy

The Jackson middle, junior and senior high schools are organizing a student pep bus to follow the cross country team to state on Saturday.

Jackson Athletic Director John Martin said the bus will leave around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning. Martin said about 25 students have already signed up to attend the state meet and he expects more to attend.

"This is an exciting time for Jackson athletics and in particular the cross country team. It's great for our schools and our community" Martin said. "Many in our community volunteer at the meets we host and the athletes provide us with some really entertaining showings at these meets. This is just a great way for us to show them our support and we wish them luck at state."

State cross country

Oak Hills Golf Center, Jefferson City

Class 4

Boys race: 9 a.m.

Jackson -- Jack Jeffers, Ean Buffington, Jackson Givens, Caleb Bess, Alex Philipps, Will Allen, Kyle Kester,

Girls race: 10:05 a.m.

Jackson -- Chelsea Drum, Carli Knott, Tayler Winick, Megan Barnum, Courtney Hahs, Leah Hecht, Ana Compton,

Class 3

Boys: 9:30 a.m.

Notre Dame -- Rudy McClellan, Brock Kasten, Michael Peters, Tyler Pech, Matt Gibbs, Grant Grove, William Keene

Class 3

Girls: 11:50 a.m.

Notre Dame -- Alaina Baumgart

Class 2

Boys race: 1:05 p.m.

Woodland -- Garret Reynolds, Landon Thomsen

Scott City -- Jesse Perry

Class 2

Girls: 11:50 a.m.

Woodland -- Cheyenne Wells, Woodland

Saxony Lutheran -- Grace Hanebrink,

Class 1

Boys: 12:30 p.m.

St. Vincent -- Levi Krauss, John Lipe, Isaac Baer, Zach Schumer, Sam Baer, Andrew Lipe, Brett Lottes

Zalma -- Jacob Steinberg, Alex Steinberg, Peyton Ford, Cole Shelby, Wyatt Lemons, Charles Freeman, Luke Robertson

Oak Ridge -- Zach Moore, Nathan Bolin, Jacob Seabaugh

Advance -- Gage Bien

Class 1

Girls: 11:10 a.m.

St. Vincent -- Kylie Baer, Courtney Brown, Maddie Lappe, Kayla Winkler, Abigail Schremp, Samantha Pritchard

Zalma -- Chelsey Lemons

Oak Ridge -- Maci Jo Schamburg