PRs aplenty for runners

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
After a couple of weeks of challenging courses, the Dogie and Lady Dogie Cross Country teams welcomed the respite of a much flatter course to race on Friday at Hart Ranch in Rapid City, S.D. 
Several runners also took advantage of the course conditions to put up personal best times on the day.
Among those are seniors Jacob Rhoades, Gunnar Wainscott, Avery Alishouse and Laila King, juniors Bridger Alishouse and Dylan Drost, and sophomores Mathew Drake and Travis Scribner. 
For Rhoades, this was his second consecutive week of putting up a PR, and Bridger Alishouse claimed his PR as he broke the tape at the finish line ahead of all runners in the junior varsity race.
In addition, Alishouse’s time of 18:23.10 was just  a tenth of a second behind Carson Bock, the Dogies’ top varsity finisher.
“Bridger had a really great race, and even though he wasn’t racing against the varsity runners, his time was right with theirs,” head coach Kathy Beehler exclaimed. “His first mile split was just as fast as our top four varsity guys.”
Though several of her runners achieved PRs on the day, Beehler admitted that she expected to see more improvement at this point in the season.
“We didn’t do too bad,” she began. “But though we’re better than we were last year, I feel like we’re not as improved as we should be right now. Physically we’re trained and we’re fit, but mentally we need to work on a few things. We’re just not racing the way we should be.”
Beehler went on to explain that it is a myriad of little
things that are hampering each individual’s performance whether it be issues with how they are racing, if they are warming up and cooling down properly, or if they are hydrating the way they should be for optimal performance.
“Each of the team members have just a couple of little things they need to work on to be mentally tough and ready to race,” she stated. “If we want to be where we need to be by the conference meet, we’ve got to start taking care of some of these details individually.”
Notably absent for the Dogies on Friday was Tristan Troftgruben, the squad’s top runner. According to Beehler, the sophomore is dealing with a hip flexor issue that had him sidelined for the race.
For the first time this season, the Lady Dogies had five members competing in Rapid City, though they were divided between the varsity and junior varsity divisions so still did not have enough to score as a team.
“Avery had a great race in the junior varsity, and Laila, who ran varsity, had a personal best time,” Beehler smiled. “Hailey [McGuire] got in there and raced, and she is starting to figure out what she needs to be doing and is becoming a smarter runner in every race.”
The Dogies and Lady Dogies only have two more regular meets until Conference in Douglas, so a sense of urgency is beginning to prevail. Beehler is hoping to have all of the ladies running for the remainder of the season, as well as keep her men healthy and on the course. 
This Thursday, the teams will head to Sturgis which presents another challenging course for the runners.