August 18, 2017 at 11:32 a.m.
Team preview: RHS cross country
Hodag harriers seek to send Franson, others to state
Team preview: RHS cross country
The only problem for the Rhinelander High School cross country team was that she was the squad's lone representative in Wisconsin Rapids. That's something coach M.J. Laggis would like to see change this year.
"I don't think it's unreasonable that we could get three kids through or maybe a fourth," he said. "I don't think that's unreasonable at all. We just got to work hard, work smart and get kids to buy in."
So far, Laggis said his squad is doing just that, coming into the season in better shape than in years past. But there's a long way to go between Tuesday's season-opening race in Minocqua and the championship meets of mid-October.
"Regardless of where we start next Tuesday, we'll just see how far we can climb and how competitive we can be," he said. "Last year we were a runner or two away on both sides from being really competitive. I'm hoping we can close that gap."
On the girls' side, Franson comes in as one of the top runners in the Great Northern Conference. She won the individual conference title last year, placed fifth at sectionals and was the highest-placing GNC runner at the state meet.
Two sophomores, Medford's Franny Seidel and Lakeland's Ashley Peterson, pushed Franson toward the end of last season and appear to be the top contenders for her GNC crown.
"I think that's good for Alayna so she can't get complacent," Laggis said. "You and I both know she has lofty goals. She wants to be competing really well at that conference meet - and that means winning it, being quite frank. She wants to qualify for state, clearly, and then she wants to have a huge run at state. Things have got to fall into place. You can't put the cart in front of the horse. We've just got to take one week at a time, make sure she stays injury-free, keeps improving and sees it out."
Joining Franson at the top of the girls' squad is fellow senior Anna Sturzl, who placed seventh at the conference meet last October. Behind that it's a relatively young group following the graduation of seniors Gracie Quinn, Payton Hartman, Carmen Incha and Lauryn Roberts. Claire Bowman, Abby Krueger and Val Dalka are the only other runners who ran varsity at either conference or sectionals last year.
"Alayna Franson and Anna Sturzl are two pretty strong girls," Laggis said. "Then we have a host of girls right behind them that we think can be contributors. There's a couple that came out of the woodwork that are young, and I don't want to start talking about one and not the other, but some have come out of the woodwork that we think can be competitive."
The boys' side could be in flux early in the season with junior Bridger Flory out of the lineup after sustaining an offseason ankle injury. He's expected back somewhere between mid and late September. Flory was Rhinelander's No. 1 runner much of the last season and finished 15th at sectionals.
"He'll be back and he'll be a huge factor when he's back," Laggis said. "He's a junior and he's got pretty lofty goals in cross country this year. I think, once he gets back and gets in a race tempo, I think you'll see him really settle in."
With Flory out, the Hodags are going to have to lean on a number of returning starters, including senior captain Markus Johnson and sophomores Daniel Ritchie and Konnor Kennedy.
"Markus Johnson has looked excellent in practice," Laggis said. "Daniel Ritchie, who's a part-timer between soccer and cross country, has looked excellent. Again, behind those guys, we have a number of boys that look like they could really contribute."
Lakeland, which won the Division 2 boys' crown last year, returns as the heavy favorite in both the boys' and girls' divisions of the GNC. Laggis said perennial contenders Medford, Tomahawk, Mosinee and Northland Pines cannot be overlooked either. To run with the big dogs of the conference, Laggis said his runners need times in the low-to-mid 20s from his third, fourth and fifth runners on the girls' side and times under 20 minutes on the boys' side.
"We're going to have to drop time and be consistent," he said. "I would just like to see us have a pack of five on both sides that can score."
After Tuesday's opening Ted Voigt Invite in Minocqua, the Hodags will host their annual home invite Thursday in front of RHS. Other key meets on the schedule include the annual Bill Smiley Invitational at Tribute Golf Course in Wausau Sept. 16, the Tomahawk Invite Oct. 7, the GNC Meet at Northland Pines Oct. 14 and WIAA Division 2 sectionals in Waupaca either Oct. 20 or 21.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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