Last Friday, the Dodge-Point girls and boys cross country teams traveled to Wisconsin Rapids for the state meet. Though Friday was full of laughs and fun, the teams were more than ready to take care of business Saturday morning. DPXC had three individuals make the podium, the most the teams have seen in years.
The morning of the race for the teams consisted of getting up at 7:30 to go for a shakeout run together, then eating whatever breakfast they could get down. At 10:00, they headed for the course. It was a chilly 37 degrees outside, about 20 degrees colder than any race the teams have been to yet this year. The runners were shut in their tent with a space heater and buried under blankets to keep warm in the hours leading up to their races.
The boys team ran first, and Layne Aurit had big goals. He wanted to place 15th so he could say he did one better than his older brother, Will Aurit, who placed 16th just two years ago. Mind you, Layne placed 42nd last year, so it seemed like quite a high expectation. However, he blew everyone away as he crossed the finish line 9th, earning him the first podium spot of his career. Next across the line for DP was Cody Yoder, placing 51st. Yoder has been a strong second runner for the team all year. After Yoder came Ethan Hook in 69th with his comeback run. Rounding out the scoring varsity were Parker Owens and Jesse Yoder, who ran together to secure 100th and 103rd. The final two DPXC runners were Alex LaMere and Gabe Engel. LaMere had a strong final race of his high school career, ending a mere 10 seconds away from his PR on a difficult course in less than nice weather. Engel did not end the season the way he wanted, but he still had many impressive races this year to be proud of. At the end of the day, the boys took home 9th place in a highly competitive state race.
Next came the girls race. The girls had been ranked second in the state most of the year up to this point, but they knew that Xavier had been holding back most of the year, Bloomer had triplets about the same speed as DPXC’s twins, and Notre Dame was a tough contender full of returners. There was high tension at the starting line as freshman runner Payton Christopher was not able to get her sweatpants off over her spikes with only 45 seconds until the gun went off. Thanks to all hands on deck, she was able to get up and in position to run with time to spare. Ellie Robinson once again led the team and finished in 8th place. Annie Robinson followed close behind in 10th, securing a podium spot by finishing only 2 seconds ahead of Bella Grenier, a junior at the University School of Milwaukee. Next came Grace Wersal finishing in 63rd in the final race of her high school career. This was the highest Wersal has placed in her 3 years running at the state meet. Just 0.4 seconds behind Wersal was Payton Christopher in 64th. Lilly Houtakker crossed the line 5 seconds later in 69th. This is sure to be the first of many state trips for this speedy freshman duo. Ten seconds after Houtakker, Regan Schuette finished in 78th place, completing her cross country career. This was also her highest placing to date, almost 20 places ahead of where she finished last year. Abbey Ludwig was the last DPXC runner to cross the line that day. She finished 45 seconds after Schuette, earning her 97th place.
The teams would like to extend a special thanks to Dodgeville’s athletic director, Joey Martin, for his extended support of DPXC. He has not only put out all of the Dodgeville flags lining the school, but added a DPXC flag to honor the Pointer athletes as well. He also works the timing station for accurace at many meets. Further thanks goes out to Mineral Point Principal, Matt Austin, and former Mineral Point athletic director Vickie Dahl for traveling to the state meet to support our runners; the DPXC parents for the support and pasta dinners; the Running Club for their funding; and the small but mighty student section that came out to a few meets. The runners appreciate local support more than you realize, and it helps them push through some very tough races.
Until next year…
