Dogies battle wind in Belle

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Winter weather woes continue for the Newcastle Dogie Track Team, but the squad is not alone in the struggle. Custer held its annual meet last Thursday in Belle Fourche, S.D., due to a combination of structural issues with their own track, and the fact that it was still too wet from the recent snowstorm and was in no shape to be used.
While Belle’s track was in fine condition, high velocity prairie winds worked against the athletes competing, ensuring that times and distances were negatively impacted. 
“It was so incredibly windy, which made it very tough to have good times,” head coach Chad Ostenson sighed. “Unfortunately we have only had one meet where the weather was good, so I still don’t know where we stand in 3A.”
With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Dogies still have only Cade Ostenson qualified for the State Meet in the 110 Meter Hurdles and the Long Jump. As such, Coach Ostenson is hoping the next two weekends offer his remaining athletes good conditions in which to compete.
Cade once again had a successful meet by winning the 110 Meter Hurdles, tying for second place in the Long Jump and taking fifth in the Triple Jump. Because the wind was such that running a qualifying time in the 300 Meter Hurdles was doubtful, Ostenson did not compete in that race.
“The kid Cade beat from Wall (S.D.) in the 110s is good,” Coach Ostenson nodded. “He’s big and strong, but Cade edged him out at the end, which was great.”
Despite the wind, there were some other highlights from the day with a few Dogies managing to put forth personal bests on the day, or at least make some improvements.
“Our distance guys keep dropping time, and because we were missing three of our top four runners — Dylan Talley, Zach Purviance and Tristan Troftgruben — everyone got a chance to compete,” Ostenson began. “PJ Martin ran well and is getting back to where he needs to be, and Peyton Purviance and Gabe Rose each ran a PR in the 1600.”
Gunner Ramsey didn’t let the wind push him down, as he set a new PR in the high jump after clearing the bar three inches higher than his previous best of 5-06. 
The throwers, however, struggled with the windy conditions, just like the runners. Despite the adverse conditions, senior Makenzie Wagoner threw a personal best in the discus with an 81-foot, 10-inch toss, and was just a couple of feet short of finals.
Ostenson changed some things up within the small Lady Dogies squad. In order to post some times in different races, and especially to see where the team was in terms of relays, he moved some people around to see the possibilities. As such, Hailey McGuire, who is usually a distance runner and who qualified in the 1600M run last season, ran all sprint races for the day, including the second leg of the 4x100 Meter Relay. 
“Hailey is one of those in-betweeners who could be a pretty good sprinter and can do some pretty good things in the distance as well,” Ostenson explained. “We’re just kind of trying to find the right fit for her.”
The ladies 4x100 Meter Relay was made up of a thrower, a distance runner, a jumper and one sprinter. Though Ostenson had set a goal of 1:08 for the race, the unlikely combination of runners finished in 57.10. 
Makenzie Wagoner, McGuire, Avery Alishouse and Lexus Voelker manned the team, and what makes the time they put up even more impressive is that Alishouse and Voelker were each suffering from an injury so were not at their best.
“They did alright, especially since we hadn’t had any opportunity to work handoffs prior to the meet,” Ostenson nodded. “I’m not sure where we will end up with it though, because Lex kind of tweaked her quad again, and it’s just so tough when you injure those big muscles like that.”
With Regionals only three weeks away, it is unclear at this time whether Voelker will even return to the track by the end of the season.
With only two regular season meets left before post-season begins, Ostenson pointed out that Newcastle is not in any different boat with limited competitions than any other team in the state, as all have suffered from environmental adversity, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
“I thought last year we had a rough go with the snow, but this year has been worse,” he sighed. “At least this week looks good for practice, although there is the possibility of rain for the meet.”
The Dogies will head to Wright on Friday for the Scott Hardy Middle School/High School Meet with hopes to make the most of their limited opportunities remaining.