April 14, 2017 at 2:32 p.m.
Hodag track competes in first outdoor meet of '17
Hodag track competes in first outdoor meet of '17
After being in a controlled environment for the first portion of the season, the Hodags had to adjust to the elements in an outdoor meet, along with the changing of some distances in certain events.
The Rhinelander boys' team finished last out of nine schools with 12 points, while the girls' squad took seventh with 39 points.
Boys
While the boys didn't rack up many points, it wasn't a lost meet. Several Hodags recorded personal-best evenings.
Sophomore Brock Lieder entered the meet with a top throw of 31 feet, 6 inches in the shot put, but bested that with a heave of 34-9. Lieder also scored the team's best individual finish of the night, taking fifth in the high jump (5-4).
The 4x100 relay team comprised of freshmen Nick Kriesel, Chase Hunt and Drake Martin, along with sophomore Jake Francisco, placed fifth in their first meet running the event with a time of 48.64.
"We didn't score a lot of points on our team, but we had a lot of kids doing the best that they've ever done," Rhinelander head coach Chris Ferge said. "We had some kids do some pole vaulting that they've never done before. We're still missing (athletes) in the hurdles and we didn't have any kids in the long distances today, so it was tough to compete for points, but we did have some PRs in the shot, the pole vault, some of the sprints. So they are getting better. It was rough, we're young, it was cold - it was a tough meet tonight."
Girls
The Lady Hodags fared better in the standings, but didn't have the personal records that the boys did.
Junior Ellen Padgett tied for second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.95 seconds and added a third-place finish in the 100 (14.12).
Senior Gracie Quinn placed fourth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 6:31.28 and took seventh in the 3,200 with a time of 14:24.71, while Lexie Rick took sixth in the shot put with a throw of 30-3.
"It was a little different for the girls to finally be outdoors," Rhinelander girls' coach Brittany Haakenson said. "We didn't have any great times or PRs. We had some good places, but we have some work to do. Our team is very young, so we have a lot of underclassmen that didn't go out and do what I think they're capable. I think as we're working towards the end of the season and we're finally outdoors, I think we're going to see our times start improving."
Rhinelander will be back on the track again next Thursday at Antigo's Dale Peterson Invitational.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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