Right out of the gate

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Old Man Winter tried his best to thwart the Dogies as they began their track season, but despite having zero opportunities to practice jumping or the hurdles senior Cade Ostenson qualified for state in both the long jump and the 110 meter hurdles last Wednesday at the Rapid City Developmental Track Meet.
Competition was fierce in Rapid, and though the senior was the only one to punch his ticket to the culminating event, several of his teammates - and he as well - excelled by setting new personal best results in their events.
“The team did very well, especially for their first meet after having so little time outside to prepare,” head coach Chad Ostenson began. “Cade qualified in two events, and  in the long jump he missed breaking the school record by only 2 ½ inches and set a PR by jumping 21-11.50.”
What makes this even more impressive is that Ostenson had no time in the pits prior to Wednesday, and he also had never gotten over the hurdles in practice — outside of two or three at a time. In those events, the senior won the long jump and finished third in the 110 hurdles. Ostenson also did well in his debut of the 100 Meter dash. Despite having never run the race before, he finished sixth and was just a 10th of a second away from state qualification. 
Sophomores Gunnar Ramsey and Christian Santos also performed very well for having no practice jumping, with the former picking up a PR of 5-06, and finishing seventh, in the high jump and the latter also jumping a personal best in the long jump to mark a 17-08.25.
The Lady Dogies have only one jumper this season. Junior and newcomer to the team, Avery Alishouse, made her debut for Newcastle in the long jump and triple jump, setting a PR in both. 
“I was pleased with how our jumpers did, especially given the fact these were their first jumps of the season,” Ostenson exclaimed. “Christian had one of his best jumps by far, and I didn’t know what to expect from Avery, but now I’m pretty sure we’re going to see some good things from her this season.”
The Dogie distance crew also got off to a good start. In the 1600 meter run, senior Dylan Talley finished 15th in 5:15.98. Though not a personal best, according to Ostenson, Talley is ahead of where he was at this time last season, so things are looking promising. 
Freshman Tristan Troftgruben got his career as a Dogie off to a good start with a third place, 11:26.09, finish in the 3200 meter run, which also bodes well for him this season.
The Dogies have a great deal of depth with their distance crew, and as such, Ostenson was able to enter two teams into the 4x800 meter relay. The team of Zach Purviance, PJ Martin, Talley and Troftgruben placed third in 9:13.92, while Max Makousky, Peyton Purviance, Mathew Drake and Gabe Rose came in sixth in 10:29.96.
“It was nice having enough distance kids to have not only one team, but two,” Ostenson nodded. “Our distance crew is pretty solid so it was nice to work on some depth, and figure out where we’re at with splits and putting the best four together for our team.”
The Dogies also had a good day throwing. Senior Lauren Steveson finished in eighth place in the discus throwing a PR of 91-04, while classmate Dayton Williams also repped the discus well for Newcastle by establishing a personal best toss of 111-07 which earned him a fifth place finish.
Sawyer Roberson finished 11th in the shot put with a 38-04 hurl, and Steveson once again led her team in this event, finishing 19th with a 27-03.50 throw.
“It was kind of fun because Dayton was the last to go on the day. Everyone else was done, so the whole team was up there cheering him on,” Ostenson smiled. “Sawyer has just gotten so much stronger this year again so when we get a chance to get some work, and get his slide and technique perfected, he’ll do well. He’s worked pretty hard in the weight room, and it shows in everything he’s done this year.”
This Friday, the Dogies and Lady Dogies will be back in action at a meet in Spearfish. This is one of the bigger meets the team will attend with several states and classes represented.