(Pictured: Kolte Copp)
On Friday, October 19th, the Dawson Community College men’s and women’s teams competed under perfect conditions at the Montana Western Open in Dillon, Montana. The course was on an old golf course sitting at 5200 feet elevation that consisted of soft and choppy footing, along with rolling hills all surrounded by beautiful mountain views. Having lots of hill training under them, the Bucs all looked strong and were able to use the rolling hills to their racing advantage.
The Bucs raced well against the other NAIA schools represented. “I have emphasized the importance of embracing strong competition, and I felt all of our runners did just that during the race. They all kept pushing themselves and going after other runners,” expressed DCC Coach Ben Sandy. For the 8k race, Bryce Maxson finished first for the Bucs in a time of 30:01, and finishing second for the Bucs this week was James Estey in 32:54. Kolte Copp came in third for the team in 36:12 with Austin Rysavy coming in fourth on the team in 36:41. Despite twisting a leg during the race and experiencing back pain, Eric Amaya finished the race in 38:00. On the women’s side, Trinity Anderson, competed against a strong field in the 5k race and finished in a time of 26:15.
Coach Sandy shared, “I have been impressed with the excitement for racing that the runners have brought to the meets, especially at Dillon. Being a young team, the key is for the runners to learn from each experience and tweak their focus and racing strategy based on their new learning. They each have a lot to be proud of.”