Binstock continues looking long term
Dickinson High sophomore Jackson Binstock trained all summer and has been running two-a-days during the regular cross country season.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Jackson Binstock
Dickinson High sophomore Jackson Binstock trained all summer and has been running two-a-days during the regular cross country season.
What are the fruits of his labor?
Being ranked No. 2 individually in North Dakota Class A state cross country poll. However, Binstock will be the first to admit he doesn’t pay much attention to the ranking.
“I don’t really look it,” Binstock said. “It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Binstock is ranked behind Bismarck High senior Jake Leingang, a nationally ranked cross runner and a two-time state champion.
Dickinson head coach James Mousseau said, like the defending state champion, Binstock is special runner in his own right.
“He’s one runner that doesn’t come along very often,” Mousseau said. “Now that he’s here, I hope a lot of people can come out and see him.”
Mousseau said having Binstock ranked in the state coaches polls is more than just a number.
“For your younger kids, kids that are his age and even the girls team, we like to see that because it means that we are getting some respect,” he said. “People are noticing what Dickinson High is doing, but our runners can also see the training is working. I think everybody is proud, but at the same time everyone wants to catch up to him and get to that point too.”
Binstock has kept pace with Bismarck, which has been the No. 1-ranked team in the state for the entire season, six consecutive weeks. But is it still intimidating running against the defending state champions?
“Oh yeah,” Binstock said with a smile. “It’s more intimidating this year than it was last year.”
The season is winding down to a close, Dickinson has two meets before hosting the Class A and B state cross country meets on Oct. 27 at Heart River Golf Course. The Midgets travel to Williston at 3:15 p.m. today.
“Now is the time of the year, where you start reining them in more and recovering more,” Mousseau said. “On the girls side, it’s just a matter of getting healthy.”
At the beginning of the season, the Midgets had one date in mind and that was the state tournament. Mousseau said Binstock has been able to look at the big picture.
“I just tell him to keep looking long term,” Mousseau said. “He’s always kind of came to me for advice and I’ve been at that level. Distance running isn’t one of those things that pay off right away. He’s in it for the long term and he keeps his nose to the grindstone.”
RTH in the playoff hunt
The Richardton-Taylor-Hebron football team is in the heart of the playoff hunt.
It’s only fitting the final two weeks of the Raiders’ regular season comes down to playing two of the top teams in Class 1A, Region 4.
RTH head coach Travis Olson said hosting No. 4-ranked Heart River at 7 p.m. Friday is going to be the biggest test of the season.
“They are the kind of games that you want to be in going into the playoffs,” Olson said. “These are definitely playoff teams. You kind of get mixed feelings on whether you like to coast into the playoffs or would you rather some of the better teams.”
The Raiders then turn around and travel to Killdeer, which defeated then-No. 2 Heart River 29-27 last Friday.
“It’s a situation where we’d love to win these football games,” Olson said. “I don’t know exactly how things are going to play out, but we need to come in and play good football. We’re going to find out a lot about ourselves these next couple of weeks to see if we are that caliber team or not.”
Whether its a win or a loss this Friday against the Cougars, RTH will have a chance either way to make it to the playoffs based on a win against New Salem-Almont-Glen Ullin.
“We’re happy to be in the situation that we are,” Olson said. “If we win, we’re definitely in and if we lose we still have a chance.”
Olson said the biggest key in its recent three out of four wins has been the improvement from the offensive line. The line is starting to mesh together and lead way for RTH’s rushing attack.
“Our offensive linemen are really coming together,” he said. “That’s so important if we can control the football and get some drives together. You can’t do that if you’re offensive linemen aren’t working on the same page.”
Dickinson High volleyball heads to Fargo Invitational
The Dickinson High volleyball team is traveling to the Fargo Invitational in its halfway point of the season.
The Fargo Invitational is a two-day tournament starting on Friday. The Midgets head coach Jay Schobinger wants to continue to play a handful of steady matches against some teams from the East.
“We want to go there and play consistent volleyball,” Schobinger said. “We want to make sure we don’t allow what happened against Bismarck the other night.”
Despite a 3-1 loss against Bismarck High on Tuesday, Schobinger is pleased with the performance his team has made in the first half of the season. The Midgets have a 15-5 record and are 7-1 in the West Region.
“I think our season has gone very well,” Schobinger said. “We’re right up there at the top of the conference. At the beginning of the season, I said right away I thought the conference winner could have as many as three losses. The top four or five teams in this conference are very even and very competitive.”
Tags: high school cross country, high school volleyball, high school football, dickinson midgets, heart river cougars, richardton-taylor-hebron raiders, sports
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