Dogies run well at conference

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
 
A snowstorm early in the week that dumped on portions of Wyoming had an impact on the 3A East Conference cross country meet last week. Due to the conditions of the course, the meet scheduled for Thursday in Douglas was moved to Friday in Worland, but the Dogies took it in stride as all but two boys and two girls put up personal best times on the flat Worland course.
“It really was a beautiful day and it was a really nice course, which was relatively flat,” described head coach Kathy Beehler. “It was a long trip, but we got some good PRs [personal records] and we started to feel like we got back the opportunity we missed for great times when we skipped the Rapid [City] meet at Hart Ranch.”
Freshman Thatcher Troftgruben’s day was particularly exciting as he not only ran his personal best time of his career, he also dropped into the 17s and finished ninth overall, earning him a place on the 3A East All-Conference team.
“That was really the big excitement for our day,” Beehler said. “But, he was a little disappointed at first because the JV and varsity all ran together, and when he crossed the finish line, there were a couple of those runners ahead of him, so he didn’t think he made it in the top 10. When they announced the All-Conference team, and they said his name, we were all super excited!” 

Troftgruben peeled away 39 seconds from his previous best time to finish in 17:57.25. Sam Scribner was just 4 seconds over his PR with his 18th-place 18:46.94 finish. Wyatt Cole was 20th, Mathew Drake was 30th, Max Makousky was close behind in 32nd, Tayson Wheeler finished 40th and Nick Lopez crossed the finish line in 50th. 
Cole, Drake, Makousky and Wheeler all ended the day with personal best times. Cole dropped 53 seconds, Makousky 55, Wheeler took off 23 seconds while Drake skimmed off 9 seconds.
“The boys ran really well, and the two that didn’t drop time did so pretty significantly in Gillette, which makes it a little hard to do it again in a week,” Beehler explained. “And then our JV boys had some really good time drops, and as only freshmen, they have nowhere to go but up!”
The biggest drop of the day was Caleb Hoover’s 22:11.30, 17th-place finish in the JV race. After notching a PR last week, he took another 1:46 off his best time. Logan Olson also was impressive with his 1:27 time drop which earned him 12th overall in the JV race, and he was the first Dogie across the finish line.
Ben Carter was hot on Olson’s heels in 13th place with a time that took 21 seconds off his previous best. Travis Scribner was 4 seconds faster in his 21st-place finish, while Richard Smith finished up with a 58-second drop for a PR in his 22nd-place finish. 
“Our younger kids are learning so much with every race, and I think that Thatcher realized that he has it in him to finish even better in the future. I knew at the 800 meter mark that he could break into the 17s, and he did,” Beehler said. “We should have two, and maybe three, in the 17s at the state meet because I think that Sam has the potential to get there as well.” 
The Lady Dogies also had a good race. Aspen Bloom finished first for Newcastle in 16th place, Janaya Ralls was 23rd and put up a PR, Tara Carter also nabbed a personal best with her 32nd-place finish, Rachel Baird was close behind in 33rd for her PR, Taylor Conklin finished 41st while Julie Morris was 45th and established a personal record with her time.
“Aspen and Taylor missed out on a PR but they have also been dropping consistently throughout the season,” Beehler stated. “Julie had a great meet, dropping 39 seconds from her personal best. Rachel also had a good meet with a nice time drop of 22 seconds, and Janaya had only a 1-second drop but it was enough for a PR.”
All of the girls will be competing at the
state meet on Saturday, however, only the top seven of the men’s team will be running in the culminating event.
Despite having to miss out on the conference meet, Avery Chick is still the No. 1 runner for the men, so he will be competing at state as will Troftgruben, Sam Scribner, Cole, Drake and Makousky. At this time, there are three runners vying for the seventh spot and they include Wheeler, Olson and Carter, who are all freshmen.
The cross country state meet includes all four classes throughout Wyoming. The location this year is Ethete, and the 3A boys varsity race is scheduled to begin at 11 on Saturday morning while the 3A ladies race is slated to begin at 12:45.