GGF cross country preview: Red River's Lauren Dosch rises in the rankings
Sep. 1—GRAND FORKS — For Grand Forks Red River senior Lauren Dosch, running with the top of the pack came down to belief.
At the North Dakota state Class A meet as a junior, Dosch finished 14th. To start her senior season, Dosch has been jumped as high as a No. 3 ranking in the state.
Dosch finished third at the large season-opening meet in Jamestown, then finished second at the Grand Forks Invitational in the team's most recent competition.
"Something that was really key for me is I worked a lot on my mental strength and believing I can hang with the fastest in the state," Dosch said. "That's what has worked best for me, thinking I can run those times and don't let myself slip to a bad mindset."
Red River co-head coach Sarah Boese-Noreen saw the breakout coming for Dosch, the daughter of former UND and Northern State football coach Tom Dosch.
"She suffered a brutal injury at the end of her sophomore season, and it affected her through the track season," Boese-Noreen said. "Her junior year was really a good confidence-building year. Then she put a ton of work in between her junior and senior year. She had a great track season last spring and then ran all summer. That's just built her confidence and recognize that, yes, she can be a top-level runner."
Dosch said her confidence started to rise at the end of her junior season. Her 4x800 Red River track group was ranked No. 1 in the state. She also took seventh at state in the 800 meters.
"I knew going into this cross country season, I can do this," Dosch said.
Dosch is also aided by teammate Jocelyn Schiller, who can also run at the front of packs. Schiller was fourth at the state meet last season.
"That's super helpful," Dosch said. "(Schiller) and I train together and do speed workouts. For us to not only pull each other along during the week but also races on Saturdays, I am really grateful for her. I don't think I would be where I am if I didn't have her."
The high finishes from Dosch and Schiller have allowed the Roughriders as a team to be ranked as high as No. 1 in the state this season.
"It's fun as a coaching staff and as a group of athletes to be recognized for accomplishments, but that's not something we are emphasizing," Boese-Noreen said. "We emphasize the process of the whole season to make sure we're at our best at EDC and state."
Co-head coaches: Sarah Boese-Noreen and Nicole Kopff.
2021 finish: Second place at state.
Key returners: Jr. Jocelyn Schiller (fourth at state); sr. Lauren Dosch (14th at state); sr. Emily Nelson (81st at state); jr. Morgan Hartze (85th at state); soph. Rylie Lelm (121st at state); eighth-grader Jocelynne Hoefs (41st at state); soph. Brooke Dorsey (101st at state); sr. Evelyn Dupont.
Top newcomers: Soph. Addison Fargo; soph. Brenna Shock; fr. Ava Parks; fr. Synje Peterson; jr. Selena Wu.
Coach Boese-Noreen says: "Overall, they're so ready to do the work of distance training. They're all-in on practices and pushing themselves."
Coach: Sean Allan.
2021 finish: Ninth place at state.
Key returners: Sr. Annika Presteng (10th at state); jr. Claire Hynek (96th at state); soph. Katie Uhlir (49th at state); eighth-grader Claire Fiala (75th at state); eighth-grader Emma Brown (99th at state); sr. Sierra Heyd (131st at state).
Coach Allan says: "It's a year where we'll run better races toward the end of the season. We're going to have to keep improving as the season goes along. They'll focus not where we're at now but where we want to be."
Coach: Kirk Misialek.
2021 finish: 12th place at Section 8AA.
Key returners: Sr. Lydia Floden (28th at section); sr. Jessa Robles (61st at section); soph. Katie Allard (68th at section); soph. Adrianna Gregoire (81st at section).
Top newcomers: Eighth-grader Aryanna Bair.
Coach Misialek says: "We're pretty thin. It's going to be focusing on individuals. We hope to get to a point where we can put a complete team together by the middle of the season."
Coach: Richard Dafoe.
2021 finish: Second at state.
Key returners: Sr. Jonah Dafoe (48th at state); soph. Elijah Dafoe (20th at state); sr. Matthew Evans (43rd at state); jr. David Radke (49th at state); jr. Micah Larsen-Schmidt (54th at state); sr. Jake Jenkins (65th at state).
Top newcomers: Soph. Joe Quinn; jr. Kael Berberich; soph. Eli Zerr.
Coach Dafoe says: "We lost three seniors out of our top six and a junior who moved away so we have one returner from our top five at state, and he was a freshman last year. We've got really good depth of above-average guys. If they can close that gap on Jonah a little bit, we can be salty. We might not be, too. We'll have to see how they develop throughout the season."
Coach: Sean Allan.
2021 finish: 12th at state.
Key returners: Sr. Quinn Roehl (ninth at state); sr. Cayden Reed (125th at state); jr. Curtis Sande (152nd at state); jr. Preston Diedrich (83rd at state); soph. Aidan Fiala (85th at state); soph. Layton Boaz (120th at state).
Top newcomers: Jr. Jaden Schwan (174th at state); jr. Derek McLaren (147th at state); eighth-grader Grant Martin.
Coach says: "This group has trained really well in the offseason. We really haven't had our full team together yet. We think they'll be a higher placing team than we've had in a while. They're led by Quinn Roehl. We're starting with a pretty good No. 1 there."
Coach: Kirk Misialek
2021 finish: Seventh place at Section 8AA.
Key returners: Jr. Hunter Jordheim (25th at section); soph. Jaxon Mahar (58th at section); soph. Weston Mahar (73rd at section); jr. Jonah Vandervort (76th at section).
Top newcomers: Jr. Brayden Carlson; jr. Tate Moore; jr. Brady Loer.
Coach Misialek says: "We're young with sophomores and juniors, so it'll be interesting to see how they all do on Thursday. We have a good core of kids. Hunter had a great end to the track season. He was in the Top 8 or 10 in the mile and two-mile despite running in the bigger Class AA. He's got the heart of a lion."
