By Rich Winter

605 Sports

PHILIP — Running just seems to be in the air these days in the small town of Philip.

On Saturday the Philip boys showed their absolute dominance when they grabbed the first eight finishes at the Philip Invitational. Following the race the boys all helped out as the Philp community hosted the Pumpkin Fest 5K Run on the Prairie. Tuesday was another community event as the team and community came together for a pre-region meal with more fun and games. 

While there is a light-hearted feel to the Scotties cross-country team, when it is time to run, Philip is all business. 

Philip was second at the Pierre Invitational, 18th at the Augie Twilight meet and 26th at the Nike Heartland Preview. Since then the Scotties have won six consecutive team titles including Chamberlain, Lyman, Western Great Plains Conference, Miller Invitational, Highmore Invitational and their home invitational last Saturday. 

Five topics of discussion heading into region meets: 

• The ESD boys conference is going to be a monster in 2024. On Saturday Pierre’s Jared Lutmer cruised to the ESD individual title in 15:19. Just behind him was Brandon Valley sophomore Mikah Peters (15:36) and Yankton senior Dylan Payer (15:43). Placing fourth - 14th were a host of underclassmen that will be one year older and stronger in 2024. 

• Douglas having a strong season: Heck of a coaching job over in Douglas this year and the Patriots have some strong runners. Senior Peyton Cast was just behind Hill City’s Luke Rupert at the Black Hills conference meet (15:50) and freshman Wyatt Balliew (16:34) was ninth at that meet. Sophomore Kira Ubence was fourth at BHC (19:55) and seventh-grader Aurora Evens seventh (20:11). Both Douglas teams finished fifth in a very competitive conference. 

• Dakota Valley’s Joe Cross: All season long the Class A field has been looking west as Hill City’s Luke Rupert has been fast (15:16) and unbeatable. At last week’s Dakota XII meet Dakota Valley’s Joe Cross ran a season's best of 15:33. Look for those two to have a great battle at next week’s state meet. 

• Dakota Valley’s Sophia Redler: The junior is having a breakout season. At last week’s Dakota XII meet Redler finished second (18:54) behind Sioux Falls Christian eighth-grader Sadie Pettengill (18:48). With a loaded Class A field, a top-10 finish fro Redler at the state meet would be a tremendous result.

• Dupree and McLaughlin boys on the move: At Thursday’s Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Invitational McLaughlin (24) and Dupree (25) had a big-time battle for the team title. Look for one or possibly both teams to make it to the Class A state cross-country meet as a team. Both are in Region 4A and race in Oacoma on Wednesday. 

The McLaughlin boys will be looking to qualify a team for the state cross-country meet when they race at the Region 4A meet on Wednesday - Photo courtesy of Amanda Carlow