Dogies barely miss the finish

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The thrill of victory was at Carson Bock’s fingertips last Thursday at the 3A East Conference Cross Country meet in Douglas, but a misunderstanding of where the finish line was located and a competitor hot on his heels forced Bock to taste the agony of defeat.
“I don’t know if he just got so excited because he was leading what had been such a close race. They were pushing and pushing, and were neck-and-neck all the way down the stretch,” head coach Kathy Beehler explained.” He was ahead at the end, saw the flags and he leaned.”
Douglas had these huge waving banners, and the runners were told not to stop at the beginning of the chute because the finish line was about halfway in. Unfortunately, Bock leaned too soon and the Buffalo runner took advantage of his confusion to pass him to take the 3A East Conference championship title by one second. 
“He was devastated. It was so hard to know that he had it, but it slipped away. He could have been a champion, and he knew it,” Beehler sighed. “He wanted to win that race so bad, but he is still a champion in my eyes.”
Bock was able to put a notch on his belt on the day, however, as he got the best of Cameron Spence from Douglas for the first time in his career, finishing ahead of him by six seconds. 
The team as a whole also had to accept a second-place finish behind Worland, though they were ranked to finish three points ahead of the Warriors. The Dogies were expected to score 46 points while Worland was expected to score 49 points. Worland did exactly as expected, however with Newcastle’s top couple of runners under the weather, the Dogies weren’t able to hit their mark.
“Bridger [Alishouse] was sick, and Tristan [Troftgruben] was experiencing some hip issues, so we didn’t know where anyone was going to be,” Beehler frowned. “Carson and Avery [Chick] ran really well. Carson was ranked third and he finished first-and-a-half, and Avery was ranked 14th and he got 9th while Zach [Purviance] was ranked 16th and he got 17th. Those three did what they were supposed to do.” 
The race was run patiently by the Dogies. The whole crew was back in around seventh through 11th, because according to Beehler they race best when they don’t go out too fast and bide their time. There was a time when all five were together, then Bock and Chick moved up, Purviance was right where expected, Alishouse ended up 19th, Mathew Drake was 23rd, Troftgruben came in 26th and Teegan Hatheway was right behind in 27th.
“Mathew ran in the second heat and finished in the top, breaking into the top five overall,” Beehler smiled. “He didn’t make the fast heat, but he finished better than expected so I was really proud of the way he ran.”
“They all ran the best race they could run on that day. We knew it was going to be a tough race and we had a lot of wild cards in the mix,” Beehler nodded. “I didn’t care where we placed as long as every single runner ran the best they could, because if they did, they could be proud, and they did. Everyone raced well and everyone really pushed.”
Though the Lady Dogies didn’t have enough runners to field a team, they too ran very well. All four ran in the slower of the two heats and were expected to finish in the middle of the pack. However, when it shook out, freshman Tara Clark finished second in the race giving her 29th overall. Janaya Ralls ended the day just two places behind in 31st, Lara Lopez was 34th and Alaina Laurence finished 48th. 
“The girls ran well and were on their best times, and that was a tough day to be right on your best times with the weather being what it was, so if you can be doing that, you’re having a good day,” Beehler insisted. “It was really fun to watch Tara finish second, and Janaya and Lara also ran very well. Lara finished with her best time yet for the season.”
Though it was disappointing to miss out on bringing home the Conference Championship, the Dogies have another chance to get Worland just as they did last season. Last year, Worland defeated Newcastle at Conference and Newcastle turned the tables and beat them at state. 
The State Meet is in Afton so the Dogies have about a 12-hour drive to get there. The team will leave on Thursday to be able to rest and be ready to run on Friday morning, and there are only the two 3A races, so it will feel a lot like the conference meet did and not like a state event. 
“They will need to get themselves mentally ready, but we are hoping we do really well,” Beehler determined. “If we’re going to travel all that way, we need to bring home some hardware. Lander is projected to win, but after them, it’s anybody’s race for about five or six of the 3A schools, with us right in the mix.”