A few folks around these parts can actually remember when Dakota Ridge won a boys state cross country title.
It's been a while. And while never a bottom-tier team since then, Dakota Ridge has seen a southward turn in their fortunes since that year. It could be, however, that the turn is about to become a U-turn back to where it came from.
Here's the reality. Dakota Ridge returns six guys from last year's cross country roster who ran 17:20 or better at one or more points last fall.
Of those six, Austin Vancil (15:59) returns as a junior, Conner Ohlson (16:29) returns as a sophomore, Ben Piegat (17:05) returns as a sophomore, Mark Testa (17:14) returns as a junior, Ben Morrin (17:18) returns as a sophomore, Riley Abrashoff (17:19) returns as a junior.
You're probably beginning to get the picture.
Vancil, Ohlson, and Testa ran sub-4:40 for 1600 meters this spring. In all, DR had seven returning runners below five minutes.
Vancil, Ohlson, Testa, and Abrashoff ran 10:20 or faster for 3200 meters. Vancil ran 9:39.
Of those mentioned above, only Ben Piegat didn't run track this spring. We'll have to wait and see what that means for his season this fall.
We're more or less accustomed to thinking of Rock Canyon, Monarch, and Mountain Vista as the heavy hitters in 5A Boys cross country. If, however, there's a team that joins that company this fall, my vote for most likely goes to Dakota Ridge.
And part of that story, though certainly not all of it, is all of those years of keeping the pipeline full at the middle school level.