That’s a wrap
The Dogies and Lady Dogies have hung up their cleats, turned in their uniforms and left behind the 2024-2025 sports seasons.
The year was full of ups and downs for both the ladies and the men, with most team sports going through rebuilding years where burgeoning young talent got their feet wet in 3A East varsity play and grew by leaps and bounds.
The future looks bright for our Newcastle High School Dogies.
It was in the individual sports where NHS athletes really showed their talent and reaped the rewards for their hard work.
Let’s start the recap in the fall.
Hailey Beastrom ended her career as a Dogie swimmer the right way by earning the title of conference champion in the 50 Freestyle, and she and freshman Allie Lunstra earned a spot on the podium at state, Lunstra in the 200 Freestyle and Beastrom in the 50 Freestyle.
Sam Cunningham logged many miles on the cross country trails and it paid off for him as he placed fifth at the state meet.
Moving on to winter, sophomore Gabe Hoover surprised even himself as he gritted out the grueling 500 Free to become the 3A East Conference champion in that event. As a sprinter, no one saw him coming in the ultimate of distance races.
Sam Scribner, in his first year of diving since middle school, was the dark horse coming into the state meet in diving. However, he proved that it’s never too late to start something new by finishing on the podium in sixth place.
Freshman Brylee Caster got her debut season as a varsity wrestler off to a good start by taking sixth place at the All-Class State Tournament in Casper, while Scott Larson and Dane Crabtree were runner-up regional champs, then Larson placed sixth at the 3A State Wrestling Tournament.
This spring, Dogie tracksters lit things up as their season came to a close. Adalyn Olson broke old school records, then broke her own record in the 100 Meter Hurdles and the 200 Meter, Madalyn Francis tied the school record in Pole Vault set in 2000, and the 1600 Meter Sprint Medley team of Collin McConkey, Landen Hill, Dane Crabtree and Sam Cunningham broke the 2021 school record in that event.
Olson just kept tearing it up as she jumped her way to state champion in the Long Jump, and was runner-up in the 200 Meter Dash in Casper at the state meet. Sam Scribner proved he wasn’t just good at diving as he also was runner-up in the Pole Vault at the state meet.
It’s so awesome when little Newcastle is showcased at the conference and state levels through the efforts of our talented athletes, and the good news is that of all the standouts who represented NHS so well, only Beastrom, Scribner and Larson walked across the stage at graduation, so we have a lot of talent returning next season.
As for me, I can’t wait to see what these kids do next!