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GRAND FORKS – Red River's Lauren Dosch was pushing hard toward the finish line on Saturday. She and teammate Jocelyn Schiller led the entire 5K, but Dosch was still turning her 6 minute, 7 seconds pace into a full-on sprint once she eyed the finish line. She was hoping to clock a time under 19 minutes, and she got it, finishing at 18:58.8.
“With a little over a mile to go, I was like ‘Wait. I think I got this.’ But I knew if I was going to go for it I would have to go right now,” Dosch said before winning the Eastern Dakota Conference title at Lincoln Park.
The Roughriders won the EDC girls division by 40 points, with a heavy weighting coming from Dosch’s finish, as well as Schiller who was right behind her. Crossing the finish line at 19:17.76, provided a bit of a cushion for Dosch following the second lap around Lincoln Park.
“I just decided why not see what I can do,” said Dosch. “Jocey and I definitely push each other a lot. It was really nice to have her back there and know she is pushing me.”
Rounding out the top 10 in the girls race were Jocelynne Hoefs and Morgan Hartze. Both put together personal bests of 20:03.27 and 20:07.69, respectively.
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On the boys side, another personal best stood out in the form of Grand Forks Central’s Quinn Roehl.
The third-ranked individual runner in the state, Roehl came in with high expectations and delivered a second-place finish and a personal best this year of 15:37.96. He came out chasing West Fargo Sheyenne’s Aiden Johnson but the Mustang put together a 4:58 pace and a 15:25 finish.
“One of my strengths is consistency. Overall that was the plan from the beginning, to stay consistent," said Roehl. "Obviously as you get faster you have to push that more and more. This was the fastest it has been all year and I think state is going to be even faster so you just have to adapt."
With that improvement and consistency in mind, Roehl is excited for the state meet and the pattern that he is seeing with his times.
“I think no matter what and no matter where I land it is going to be an amazing competition and it is going to be really fun," he said. "There are plenty of guys that have an equal chance at that state title."
The runner-up team on the boys division was Red River. Elijah Dafoe, in seventh, and Jonah Dafoe, in 12th, were separated by 20 seconds but the three runners directly behind them solidified their 61 points. Micah Larsen-Schmidt finished 13th, Joe Quinn finished 14th and David Radke finished 15th.
Alongside Dosch and Schiller, there is just as much excitement with the Roughriders heading into the state meet in Jamestown.
“I think we can all do something at state. Today was a confidence builder for us to hang with the best of them,” said Dosch.
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