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Dexter XC achieves long-time 'goal' with high finish at State
Sunday, November 10, 2024
The Dexter High School boy's cross country squad shows off their team plaque after finishing fourth in the MSHSAA Class 3 State Finals on Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
photo courtesy of Dexter Athletics
Do you know that feeling you get when a dream comes true? If not, you can ask the runners on the Dexter High School boys cross country squad. Because they have had a specific dream for a long time (three years), and on Saturday, the Bearcat athletes finally had it become reality.
After finishing in fifth place and seventh place in two of the past three seasons at the MSHSAA Class 3 State Finals, Dexter finished fourth at the competition, which was held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
The top four teams receive a team plaque.
“We want that team plaque,” Bearcat senior Ben Dowdy said prior to this season, “which is going to be tough this year.”
It’s “tough” every year,” but the Bearcat runners trained with abandon since June and achieved their goal by scoring 108 points, trailing Centralia (53 points), Notre Dame (95), and Benton (101).
“It’s our goal,” Dowdy continued, “We want to do it, but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. But we’re going to give it everything we’ve got to get there, for sure.”
The strategy of training, regardless of heat or weather, worked, as three Bearcat runners earned All-State recognition (top 25 individuals), including senior Cameron Bell, who finished eighth for the second straight season, this time finishing in 16:47.9.
“Being in the state race before,” Bell said last week, “provides a lot of contexts of what to know from the course.”
In each of the past five years, the Bearcats have had at least one runner compete in the meet, and the team has run as a group in each of the past three years.
Bell closed his Bearcat cross country career as the fastest runner in program history. He broke his own school record multiple times throughout his career.
Dowdy achieved All-State status in the final race of his career, as he placed 17th overall, 10 places higher than last fall. His time was 17:20.4.
“There is definitely some emotion there,” Dowdy said of his final race. “This has been my whole life for six years. It’s been all that we have worked for and all that I have worked for.”
What put Dexter over that “just missing out” hump was the depth that this year’s roster provided.
Despite losing a quality runner in Hunter Massey, who moved to Bernie High School after placing 63rd last year for the Bearcats, Dexter was able to get great runs from several younger athletes, including junior Jaxon King.
King finished in 20th place with a time of 17:26.2.
“That just makes us feel awesome,” Dowdy said of the team's success. “We really love to see that (individual) improvement. We love to watch the (younger) guys grow.”
Dexter junior Blake Lee placed 36th overall with a time of 17:51.0 while sophomore Gabriel Proctor (137th, 19:52.0), freshman Daniel Williams (147th, 20:08.9), and sophomore Peyton Ballance (158th, 21:35.0) also ran well.
King and Lee both improved their times from a year ago in this meet, despite this year’s meet being considerably slower overall.
"They say that summer miles bring fall smiles," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said following the meet. "Our boys were definitely smiling. This season has been an incredible journey for our team. These boys took on every challenge and kept pushing forward when things happened out of their control.
"They never stopped fighting. I couldn't be prouder of all that they accomplished and the hardware that they brought home."
Bulldogs take second
Notre Dame finished second to the Bearcats in the recent MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Meet but outpaced them on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were led by freshman Aiden Morris, who placed sixth overall in a time of 16:45.4.
Morris was followed by junior Jackson Jones (33rd, 17:43.5), senior Carston Dannenmueller (48th, 18:07.6), senior Nicholas Gaeta (67th, 18:22.7), senior Michael Givens (69th, 18:24.4), senior Michael Tomas (132nd, 19:44.0), and senior Peter Dittmer (144th, 20:00.9).