Lady Dogies compete

The Lady Dogie Cross Country team was able to compete for the first time in several years last week, as both the ladies and the men ran in Sturgis Thursday. Head coach Kathy Beehler, as well as senior Aspen Bloom, were quite pleased to have all of the girls running as a unit.

“It was awesome to have everyone running in the same race!” Bloom said. “So far this season, I either ran it alone or with just Christine and Hollie [Swentesky], so it was nice to have all the girls running with me this time.”

Though times weren’t quite what Beehler was expecting for this point of the season, there were a few personal records on the day.

Bloom was again the Lady Dogies’ top finisher, running her race in 22:01. That time was an improvement over Rapid City and Custer, but was a little behind her Belle Fourche time.

“I really felt like I had a good race,” Bloom said. “I had a positive mind-set the whole time, which has been hard this year, but it really showed in my time (in Sturgis).”

Kaitlyn Blumenthal had a great race for the girls, running a PR of 28:16, which is two minutes faster than her previous best performance. Beehler was pleased with Blumenthal’s race, however, with the season rapidly coming to a close, she would like to see the times of the whole team dropping.

“I really think that right now, it’s a matter of confidence,” Beehler said. “The girls just need to realize that they have it in them to cut their time, and get that mind-set.”

Sam Cunningham finished first again for the Dogies, with Landen Hill crossing the line in second place for Newcastle.

“Sam ran really tight,” Beehler said. “He had been tight early last week, so I had him take it easy in practice, so his time was about 30 seconds slower than he was in Rapid.”

Kendrick Blumenthal and Caleb Hoover each had a great race, however, with Blumenthal notching a personal best time by cutting 16 seconds off his previous PR.

Hoover had been dealing with nausea in his races recently, but in Sturgis he relaxed and ran which allowed him to finish strong in 21 ½  minutes.

“Caleb had a great race, and I thought it was a PR until I saw that he ran seven seconds faster in Spearfish (the fastest course of the season),” Beehler said. “He’s been fluctuating between the 21s and the 24-25s (minute time ranges), so his time was pretty great. I think we’re going to see him start dropping even more time.”

This week, Beehler is looking to see improvements from her squad as they travel to Moorcroft for their meet on Friday. This is a change from the regularly scheduled meet in Gillette, and will allow the team to make it back in time for Senior Night recognition at the football game on Friday evening.