Belle Fourche course challenges Dogies

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
At first glance, it looked as though the Dogie and Lady Dogie cross country runners decided to take it easy in Belle Fourche last Friday. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Last week, they ran in Spearfish — a flat course — and recorded some fast times. In Belle, the runners were challenged with long hills so finishing a minute or two slower is to be expected.
“We were slower than last week, but we got closer together per runner which has been a focus since the beginning of the season,” head coach Kathy Beehler began. “And we were happy with our times because we were faster than we were last year at this meet.”
When she compared times to last year’s finishes, Beehler noted that nearly every runner finished at least a minute faster than they did in 2019, and that last year those runners were faster than in 2018.
“It’s really awesome to look and see how far ahead we are this year,” she smiled. “We are really progressing well.”
Bridger Alishouse and Hailey McGuire had a particularly good meet in comparison to a year ago. Alishouse was four minutes faster while McGuire crossed the finish line a minute and forty seconds ahead of last season’s time.
“Bridger had a great run, and I am just really impressed with how Hailey is racing right now,” Beehler exclaimed. “We still have work to do, but we are definitely heading in the right direction.”
Unfortunately, injuries have been hard on the Lady Dogies so far this season. With low numbers to start, the squad has been unable to run enough to score as a team. However, those who are able to compete are doing well.
“Hailey ran extremely well, while Laila [King] and Lara [Lopez] each ran well also,” Beehler declared. “Laila is back after a year off and Lara is coming off of an injury so both are working their way back into it.”
Alaina Laurence and Grace Rose sat Belle Fourche out due to injuries, but according to Beehler, they too are working hard to get back into the race.
The men finished in third place as a team behind Bowman County and Custer. Though their goal is to be on top at the end of the day, Beehler was pleased that her team got the better of Sturgis who had defeated them in Spearfish.
“It was great to beat Sturgis, because that means that the guys learned from last week,” Beehler nodded. “Our next goal will be to beat Custer this Thursday.”
The Dogies were only able to enter six runners into the varsity division due to the fact that Belle Fourche only scores four runners rather than five. 
Tristan Troftgruben was once again the frontrunner for the Dogies, finishing eighth. Zach Purviance made a move to be the second Dogie across the finish line in 16th, and he was followed closely by Carson Bock in 16th and Avery Chick in 18th. Bridger Alishouse and Jacob Rhoades were the varsity pushers coming in 40th and 42nd respectively.
“Our top four are really doing well at getting packed together tighter, which is exactly where we need to be,” Beehler began. “Now we need to bring up our pushers, especially because we can score the top five in most meets.”
This week, Beehler can enter as many as 10 in the varsity division when her team competes in Custer on Thursday, so she stated that she will consider who might be ready to compete at that level.
“Custer is another challenging course with several hills, so I do expect times to be slower again,” she admitted. “Our next goal will be to get the better of Custer, because we always try to mark for them. They are a strong team who is expected to be number one or two in the state, so if we can beat them, it would be a great indicator of where we stand against some pretty strong runners.”