Tracksters wrap up regular season

For the first time in quite a few years, the Dogie track and field team completed a full regular season of meets, with only one postponement and no cancellations due to weather. 
On Friday, the Dogies traveled to Sundance for the Bulldog Invite, and although team scores were not tabulated, Lady Dogies ended the day with 10 top-eight finishes while the Dogie men racked up 18 of the same. 
“The kids did really well and finally got to bring home some medals,” said head coach Chad Ostenson, smiling. “It was a really good day and a good way to end the regular season.”
Freshman Thatcher Troftgruben continued to improve in his distance races, winning both the Mile (5:02) and Two Mile (11:31.35) races in personal best times. Sam Scribner made it a one-two finish for the Dogies in the Two Mile, finishing on Troftgruben’s heels in 11:39.02 and nearly 20 seconds ahead of the third-place runner. 
“Thatcher led the whole way in both the Mile and the Two Mile, and Sam kept right up with him in the 3200,” Ostenson explained. “I think Thatcher wished his time was better, but he was out there by himself and had no one pushing him, so that makes it hard.”
Colton Vanderpool-Mobley was seventh in the 100 Meter Dash with a personal record of 11.90 seconds, sixth in the 200 Meter Dash with another PR of 24.79 and rounded it out by coming in seventh in the 400 Meter with a time of 58.89 seconds. 
“Colton put up the fastest time we’ve seen in the 100 so far this year,” Ostenson said. “Holden [McConkey] was the first to break under 12 seconds in Wheatland earlier, but Colton was a little bit faster than that on Friday.”
Jacob Prell and Logan Olson came in seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 800 Meter run, Olson with a personal best time of 2:26.79. Olson would nab another PR in the 1600 Meter run as he finished just short of the top eight with a time of 5:33.99. 
Elijah Morrill had two top-eight finishes that doubled as personal bests as he finished seventh in the 110 Meter Hurdles in 20.56 seconds, and leaped 35 feet in the Triple Jump for a sixth-place finish. The jump was over a foot farther than his previous best mark. 
Sam Scribner and Thomas Prell soared to new heights in the Pole Vault, finishing fourth with a leap of 10 feet, 4 inches and seventh clearing 9 feet, 4 inches, respectively, both of which were personal best jumps. Cage Hardy cleared the high jump bar at 5 feet, 4 inches for eighth place.
Throwers were on point again this week as well. Braden Jenkins, Jacob Prell and Travis Scribner finished second, third and fourth in the Shotput, while Jenkins and Travis Scribner ended up fifth and eighth in the Discus, Scribner’s toss surpassing his previous best mark. 
“Braden threw a PR in the Shotput by probably close to a foot, and it was great for him to break that 40-foot mark,” Ostenson said. “It was great to go two, three and four, and Travis is really coming along while Jacob is just remaining pretty solid.”
For the Lady Dogies, Shelby Tidyman took third and fourth in the 100 and 200 Meter races respectively, while Tara Carter finished eighth in the 800 Meter run and the Pole Vault where she cleared 6 feet. Carter and Taylor Conklin crossed the finish line one after the other in the mile run, nabbing fourth and fifth respectively, both of which were personal best times.
Tidyman leaped 15 feet, 5 1/2 inches in the Long Jump earning her second place, while Julie Morris marked 14 feet, 3 inches for fifth. 
“Shelby finally hit a good one in the long jump for a PR, so that was great,” Ostenson said. “That moved her up in the rankings for 3A East.”
Finally, Tiernan Stanton returned to competition after an injury hiatus to win the Shotput with a 33 foot, 11 inch toss, and took eighth in the Discus after a hurl of 84 feet, 10 inches.
“This was Tiernan’s first time back from knee surgery and she did a nice job,” Ostenson noted. 
The mixed 4x100 Weight Relay team of Travis Scribner, Sara Huey, Julie Morris and Jenkins placed second on
the day.
“The weight relay is just a fun race that they do up there in Sundance,” Ostenson said. “You have to throw shot or disc to be on the team, and they won some Ho Hos for taking second. I think the winners got Moon Pies.” 
The Dogies head into the post-season this week as they host the 1A, 2A and 3A East Regional Track Meet Friday and Saturday with action kicking off at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday mornings. 
No athletes have prequalified for the state meet as of yet, so this weekend will be their final opportunity to do so, and Ostenson feels pretty confident that there will be a handful of Dogies and Lady Dogies who will punch their ticket this weekend.