Dogie crew on its way to State

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Through rain, sleet, hail and wind, the Dogies competed last Friday and Saturday in Burns at the 3A East Regional track meet. Head coach Chad Ostenson’s crew headed into the weekend with only Cade Ostenson pre-qualified for the State meet, but left with several more joining the senior for the culminating event.
“It really was a miserable couple of days weather wise,” Ostenson sighed. “But despite that, the kids really did a great job competing.”
Once again, it was the distance runners who stood out on the day.
Zach Purviance took six seconds off his PR in the open 800 Meter run from last week to finish seventh, securing a spot in that race next week. The sophomore replicated his performance twice more on the weekend leading off the 4x800 meter relay team which finished second, and anchoring the 1600 Meter Medley Relay with the 800 meter leg crossing the finish line in fourth place. As such, both relays will be competing at the state meet as well.
“Zach had a really good weekend,” Ostenson exclaimed. “He just ran so tough in each of his 800s, which really impacted both relays and he’s going to have the chance to do it again next weekend.”
Joining Purviance in the 4x800 relay was Tristan Troftgruben, PJ Martin and Dylan Talley, while the 1600 Medley team was made up of Grayson Ramsey and Dylan Drost on the 200 Meter legs and Gunner Ramsey on the 400 Meter leg.
Talley finished his last Regional meet qualifying for the state meet in three events. In addition to the relay, the senior advanced in the 3200 Meter run by finishing third in 11:02.38, and will also be running the 1600 Meter as he clinched eighth place with a time of 5:10.69.
Troftgruben also made the cut in the 3200 Meter run as he finished in eighth place with a time of 11:42.03. Both Talley and Troftgruben fought through rain, sleet, wind and hail during the already grueling two mile run.
Other Dogie distance runners who set personal bests over the weekend included Michael Tomlinson and Mathew Drake in the 800 Meter run, as well as Conrad Prell and Peyton Purviance in the 3200 Meter. Purviance cut an impressive 20 seconds off his previous best time in spite of the horrible weather.
The sprinters ran into a hefty head wind which negatively impacted their times. However, Christian Santos, Robert Humes, and Dillon Kenney each toughed out the adverse conditions to put up personal best times in their events.
Gunner Ramsey tied for second place in the high jump, thereby punching his state ticket in that event as well. He also set a personal record as he cleared 6 feet, two inches higher than his previous best.
“When watching him, Gunner was very close to clearing 6 feet, 2 inches,” Ostenson nodded. “Once you hit 6 feet though, it starts to get into your head. If he can get past that, he should have a pretty good shot at finishing well next week.”
Two Lady Dogies also extended their season for another week. Lauren Steveson will be representing the team in both the Shot Put and Discus as she finished eighth and sixth, respectively.
Avery Alishouse punched her ticket in the triple jump, finishing eighth with a 30 foot jump.
Unfortunately, three Dogies felt the sting of just missing the mark as they finished ninth in one of their events. Alishouse was edged out in the triple jump, Gunner Ramsey in the 200 Meter, and Santos in the long jump.
The Dogies who are moving on to this weekend’s State Meet will begin their quest for a title on Thursday as action opens up with the 3200 Meter run.