Season ends for cross country

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Head coach Kathy Beehler had done the math as she and her cross country team headed to Sheridan to compete at the State Meet last Saturday, and she anticipated her men’s team would finish in sixth place. Beehler was right about the placing, but what she didn’t count on — and what made the finish a little sweeter — was that the Dogies would get the better of the Worland Warriors who took the 3A East Conference title the week before.
“The west side is just so strong with big schools like Jackson and Star Valley who are 4A in other sports,” Beehler began. “I scored the race on paper and knew those two would be first and second, but I was just so proud of our boys for beating Worland after not doing so at conference.”
There was some concern at how the team would perform given the weather threw them a curve ball. After running much of the season in cold, wet and windy conditions, Saturday’s temperature reached 70 degrees, which is not the ideal for runners.
“They say that 40 is the best temp for boys to run and 42 is the best for girls. They also do calculations so when you go from running in 40 degrees to 70 degrees, it ends up that runners will run about 10 seconds slower in the warmer temps,” Beehler explained. “It’s not a huge difference, but that maybe did impact our times a little as far as personal bests go.”
Dylan Talley had a nice race, especially given he had not run for several weeks prior to the Conference Meet last week. He finished with a 17:51 and the best he’d run so far this season was a 17:50. 
“Dylan’s best time last season was a 17:40, so if you take the 10 seconds the weather may have added to Saturday, he was on track,” Beehler began. “I thought all of our kids ran well. Zach [Purviance] and Carson [Bock] both had better races than at conference. Tristan [Troftgruben] and PJ [Martin] both beat kids they didn’t at conference, and Avery [Chick] and Peyton [Purviance] also ran well.” 
Though all would have liked to see PRs at the final meet of the season, each Dogie runner was close to their best and competed well according to Beehler.
Unfortunately, the story for the Lady Dogies didn’t have quite as happy of an ending. As a team, the squad finished last in 15th place, however with only five girls out for the sport and with two of those five suffering injuries that would have ended their season had there been more runners to make up a team, Beehler was proud of how each stepped up in the face of adversity.
“Homecoming week was tough on us and we haven’t gotten rid of those injuries that has caused us to struggle,” she began. “I thought Avery [Alicehouse] ran well for having her hips hurt like they do, and Hailey [McGuire] toughed it out on her sore ankle and her back and leg issues.”
In addition, Shelby Stith was the only Dogie on either squad to leave the day with a personal best. The junior began the season running in the 30s, however the hard work she has put in and dedication she has shown got her to a finish of 24:30 on the day.
“When you look at where Shelby started and where she finished, I couldn’t be more proud,” Beehler beamed. “She dropped about six minutes from her race and was the only runner to get a PR.”
Alaina Laurence was the top finisher for the Lady Dogies, coming in 73rd with a time of 23:47. She was followed directly by Lara Lopez who finished in 74th in 23:49.
“Alaina and Lara got fairly close to a PR so they both were in there with great times,” Beehler nodded. “With a little more time, both would be doing well so we just need to get them started a little sooner to get them where they need to be. They ran hard and competed well, and I couldn’t ask for any more out of them. They are great girls and a great team and so fun to work with.”
The good news for the ladies is that there is not a senior in the bunch, so all will be returning next season with experience under their belts. The men will lose Talley, Martin, Peyton Purviance and Reid Holmes. However, the seniors have been passing on their wisdom to the underclassmen all season.
“All four will be tough to replace because they provide so much for the team as far as their athleticism, their leadership, and how they mold the team so we’ve learned a lot from them,” Beehler nodded. “They’ve done a really good job of mentoring and setting our kids up to be successful next year and we do have some younger kids who have learned from them and are wanting to step into those roles.”