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Dexter XC peaking just when it wants to
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
The Dexter High School boys cross country squad poses after winning the team title at the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Meet on Saturday at the Arcadia Valley Sports Complex in Farmington.
photo provided
The goal of every athletic team is to perform at its best when the stakes are the highest, and the Dexter High School boys cross country squad is not immune to that expectation.
The Bearcats were exemplary on Saturday at the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Meet at the Arcadia Valley Sports Complex. They came away with the program’s first team championship by outpacing runner-up Notre Dame 59 to 63, both of which outran third-place Herculaneum (86 points).
“They ran well,” Bearcat coach Josh Dowdy said of his team. “We have tried to stay consistent, and our ultimate goal is to peak at the end.”
Five of the seven Dexter runners achieved personal best times, and each runner's improvement from earlier in the season to now was remarkable.
In mid-September, the Bearcat athletes competed on the same course at the Arcadia Valley Invitational, and comparing apples to apples, Dowdy’s training regimen paid dividends this season.
Dexter’s top runner, senior Cameron Bell, finished third at the district with a time of 16:30.10, which was nine seconds faster than he ran at Arcadia Valley in September.
Bearcat senior Ben Dowdy placed fourth on Saturday in a time of 16:39.88, which was 30 seconds faster than his previous time on this course.
Dowdy was “really thrilled” with the performance from junior Jaxon King, who placed sixth at the district in a time of 16:45.29.
“He broke the 17-minute barrier,” Dowdy said of King, “which was awesome. He has worked extremely hard for that, along with all of them.”
In the earlier race at Arcadia Valley, King ran a time of 17:23.
Bearcat junior Blake Lee placed 11th on Saturday in a time of 17:03.69, which was 50 seconds faster than before.
Dexter freshman Daniel Williams finished 36th in the district in a time of 18:14.67, which was an improvement of 15 seconds, and sophomore Gabriel Proctor finished 61st in a time of 19:21.27, which was a 46-second improvement.
Sophomore Peyton Balance also made an impression on his coach after running a time of 20:12.34 to place 75th in the 15-team meet. That was 1:24 faster than in September on this course.
“I’m very happy with everything that he has worked for,” Dowdy said of Balance. “It definitely has paid off for him.”
The runners’ next step is to compete in the MSHSAA Class 3 State Finals on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
“The (boys) were excited after districts,” Dowdy said. They belted out a few songs on the way home, but I could quickly see their focus shift to the next race.
“They want even more than what they brought home (from districts).”
The Bearcats finished seventh as a team at the State Finals last fall and fifth in 2022.
“Some of these teams have been (at State) 20 or 30 years,” Dowdy said. “We’re just glad to be in the same conversation with them.”