NMS cross-country team wins conference

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
 
Teamwork makes the dream work as they say, and both the boys and girls Newcastle Middle School cross-country teams lived up to that when they won 3A conference meets in Wheatland in October. According to coach Jessica Troftgruben, teamwork is what made it happen. 
“When it came to conferences, they were working together as a team,” she said. “The biggest focus was our team-building activities.”
The team had movie nights, dinner nights, a preseason run and a trip to the Spearfish water park to build that “family-like community.” With 42 runners, Troftgruben said, the “team has really stuck together.” 
According to Troftgruben, the team doesn’t compete with the other teams in their conference very often nor do they always have a conference meet. But after a couple years of not having one, the Wheatland athletic director decided to give the middle schoolers a shot. 
“It’s been awhile since we’ve competed at conference,” Troftgruben said. 
The parents made sure to send their kids off with goodiebags and a decorated bus. 
Not only did they compete in conference for the first time in a while, but both Newcastle teams took home the gold. While the boys had a good chance because of their size, the girls’ win came as a surprise because they had fewer runners, Troftgruben said. 
“They were really excited about that. They had worked hard all season,” Troftgruben said. “Mental toughness” was a focus for the season and each runner had to individually work on it, some more than others, but they proved themselves worthy of the fight. 
Amesha Cummings placed second at the meet in the girl’s division and Aspen Bloom took third. Thatcher Troftgruben likewise took second for the boys, followed by Teegan Hathaway and Wyatt Cole coming in fourth and fifth, respectively. 
Troftgruben said it’s important for the team to continue running in the years to come so they can see and watch their potential. 
“It’s really important to try and stick it out,” she said. “Running relates to all aspects of life.” 
With seven boys and four girls moving to high school next year, Troftgruben said, she looks forward to seeing where the team will be in the years to come.