Demons return plethora of experience
By John Zetmeir
Last fall, the Dodge City High School boys cross country team won both the Western Athletic Conference and regional championship on their way to the 6A state meet.
However, the Red Demons did not run their best race at state. Dodge City placed 10th out of the 12 teams, falling behind both Garden City and Washburn Rural, teams that the Red Demons had beaten throughout the season.
With five of the seven runners returning from last season’s team, the Red Demons are looking to not only get back to state this season, but perform better than they did a year ago.
“I think they are all disappointed in how they finished up the season,” head coach Buc Bolmer said. “They are all focused and hopefully they stay that way throughout the season. We have good goals.”
Bolmer believes that this is the most experienced team that he has coached at Dodge City. Whether it is the most talented is yet to be seen.
The Red Demons return their top five runners from last year’s squad. Seniors Marcelo Cruz, Alex Ultreras, Brett Groth and Jason Luft all ran at state last year along with sophomore Javier Marquez.
Ultreras was the Red Demons top runner at state last fall as he finished in 22nd place. Cruz placed in the top 20 at state in 2014 and set a new school record with a time of 15:54 last year when the Red Demons traveled to Hays.
Cruz, Luft, Ulteras and Groth all finished in the top 15 at last year’s regional championship meet.
“Most of the kids stayed in good shape running this summer, staying healthy and getting fit,” Bolmer said. “When the season starts, we can hit the ground running.”
Dodge City will begin their season on Sept. 3 when they travel to Wichita.
SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 at Wichita-Bishop Carroll. 9 a.m.
Sept. 8 at Hesston
Sept. 15 at Forth Hays State University. 5:15 p.m.
Sept. 24 at Lawrence. 8 a.m.
Oct. 1 at Newton. 9:30 a.m.
Oct. 8 at Salina Central. 10 a.m.
Oct. 13 at HOME. 3 p.m.
