Hamilton Southeastern High School boys cross-country coach Joe Golden was concerned his team’s run of top 10 finishes in the state meet from 2002 to ’06 was starting to seem like they were timed using a sundial, and the results carved on stone tablets to a team that had one senior and a single junior among its top seven runners.

“It was important (to return to the state meet), especially for the younger runners,” said Golden, who sent only Zach Gates to the state meet in 2007 and was shut out entirely last season. "They weren’t around when Justin Roeder won the individual state championship (in 2004). Some weren’t even here when Zach Gates made the top five.

“Something I’ve tried to communicate is that our attitude and expectations have to be that this is where we belong.”

No. 16 Hamilton Southeastern will compete in the state meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross-Country Course in Terre Haute at 1 p.m. Saturday. Brooke Morgan will compete as an individual on the girls’ side beginning at 1:45 p.m. She finished 10th at the Carmel Semistate with a time of 18:59.5, but only four other runners topped that mark.

The Royals’ boys took the sixth and final qualifying spot in the semistate but finished 46 points ahead of seventh-place Franklin Central and 22 shy of Carmel in third.

“Our (top) goal is to get in the top 10,” Golden said. “That’s a huge step from last year and even the beginning of this year. To accomplish that would be a huge goal. But we’d also like to be on the podium by finishing in the top five.”

Hamilton Southeastern’s strong performance in the semistate came despite junior Will Wartenberg, the team’s No. 2 or 3 runner most of the season, battling illness and finishing sixth on the team. Sophomore Jack Andritsch scored for the first time this season, finishing fifth on the team with a time of 17:14.3.

Wartenberg is expected to be back at full strength and battling freshman Troy Reeder and sophomore Sawyer Hitchcock for the team’s No. 2 position behind Joe Ebling, the team’s lone senior. Sophomore Kyle Knight has been the team’s other scorer with Michael Burkert filling out the lineup.

“(Maintaining the program’s tradition) was a pretty big concern (at the start of the season), especially as young as we were,” Golden said. “But we’ve been very consistent. As young as they are, they’ve done a remarkable job. It’s a tight-knit group.”