State cross country, by the numbers
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
An injury free Dogie and Lady Dogie cross country team finished up their 2019 season last Saturday at the State Meet in Star Valley, and the following is a by-the-number look at the culminating event.
12
Is the number of Newcastle athletes who competed on the day. The Lady Dogies had, for only the second week this season, enough runners to make a team as all five suited up. Meanwhile, the Dogies top seven runners hit the course to vie for the title.
“I thought everyone ran well,” head coach Kathy Beehler began. “They competed on a decently tough course, and when they finished, they had nothing left.”
14
Is the number of teams competing in the 3A division. When the dust (or snow) settled, the Dogies ended up in ninth place after they accumulated 226 points, and the Lady Dogies took 14th place with 402 points.
“The girls had a team which was great,” Beehler exclaimed. “Where we placed wasn’t what we had hoped for, but considering that only one runner ran all season, it’s not that bad.”
101
Is the total number of 3A men who ran in the race. Carson Bock was the first Dogie to finish in 35th. He was followed by Avery Chick in 38th, Zach Purviance in 45th, Bridger Alishouse was 49th, Tristan Troftgruben finished 59th, Jacob Rhoades was 69th and Mathew Drake closed it out in 76th place.
“Given everything, I thought we ran pretty well, and Carson and Avery, especially, had really great performances,” Beehler nodded. “Avery has been moving up in the lineup all season, and he ended up only six seconds behind Carson on Saturday. Our top three runners were only 17 seconds apart, and there was only 45 seconds between first and fifth place which is pretty good.”
98
Is the total number of runners for the ladies of 3A. Hailey McGuire was the top runner for Newcastle, finishing in 62nd place. She was followed by Lara Lopez in 72nd, Laila King in 86th, Alaina Laurence finished in 93rd and Avery Alishouse was right behind her in 94th.
“Lara was close to a personal best, and if you’re close to a PR on that course, that’s saying something,” declared Beehler. “I was really very proud of how the girls all pushed through.”
5
Is the distance in kilometers all the athletes ran on a challenging course and in adverse weather conditions.
35
Is the average temperature at race time, and the cold was exacerbated by snow and wind.
8,000
Is the elevation of the Star Valley course. The Dogies and Lady Dogies are accustomed to running at 4,300 feet so the air was a little thinner for the squad which may have contributed to the fact that there were no personal bests on the day.
1,100
Is the number of round-trip miles the team rode in a bus to get to and from the meet.
11 and 17
Are the hours it took to get there and back respectively.
3
Is the number of days the team was gone. It took a day to get there, and though the squad left after competing on Saturday, winter weather forced them to stop for the night on Saturday in Casper.
2020
Is the season the team is now looking toward.
“The big focus for us moving forward as a team, is that we need to do a better job of getting every member of the team tighter together rather than be content with just the top seven doing that,” Beehler emphasized. “We have to work on pushing each other, and getting our entire team more confident in their running.”
Beehler went on to note that the team also realized how important hill training will be, since the state meet will be held in Star Valley again next year.
6
Is the number of seniors who will graduate from the program. Of the 12 runners who competed in the state meet, the men will lose only Rhoades from their lineup, however the ladies will lose three in McGuire, King and Alishouse. Gunnar Wainscott and Collin Dudzinski will also be missing from the program next season.
“We’re going to miss our seniors greatly, but they have left a great legacy for us to live up to as we continue to push to be a top-notch program,” Beehler began. “We’re keeping a great core, and we are super excited for the talent that is coming to us next year from the eighth grade.”
“We grew as a team, we learned a lot and we have some definite goals for next year,” Beehler continued. “While we might be disappointed in how we placed, the injuries we dealt with this year certainly had an impact so we are just going to have to learn how to mitigate that going forward.”