August 23, 2017 at 3:52 p.m.
Hodag harriers place fourth at Ted Voigt Invite
Hodag harriers place fourth at Ted Voigt Invite
Alayna Franson ran a faster time on the hilly terrain at Winter Park than she did last year when she won the race, but finished second Tuesday to Lakeland sophomore Ashley Peterson. Anna Sturzl finished ninth for the Hodag girls. Markus Johnson and freshman Jacob Weddle posted top-10 finishes for the Hodag boys.
"We did real well for our first race and seeing that it was Winter Park, one of the toughest courses we're going to see all year," said RHS assistant cross country coach Brittany Haakenson, who led the team Tuesday with head coach M.J. Laggis out of town for a family commitment.
Franson turned in a time of 21 minutes, 10.4 seconds on Tuesday, which was roughly 25 seconds faster than her winning time from 2016, but Peterson found an extra gear down the stretch and pulled away to a 17-second victory over the Hodag senior.
"It's great for Alayna to see that competition all year so that when we do get to sectionals and state, she'll know where she's at," Haakenson said. "In the previous years, she hasn't had the consistency that she'll have this year as far as competition goes. I think we're going to see a lot more No. 1 and 2 battles come here as we go throughout the season. That will be good for her."
Sturzl, one of the other main holdovers from last year's varsity team, crossed the line in 24:56.7. Allie Fugle was 19th (26:55.8), Claire Bowman took 28th (30:20.0), Jenna Younker was 30th (30:28.8), Lexi Morrison was 36th (31:16.6) and Abby Krueger was 39th (32:35.5) to round out the Hodag varsity.
Johnson failed to crack the 20-minute barrier (20:12.2) and still finished sixth overall in the boys' division, a testament to the demanding nature of the Winter Park course.
"Markus Johnson ran a really great first race," Haakenson noted. "I'm sure he'll be creeping into the teens soon. Considering how tough of a course it is, if he had run some of the other (courses), he'd have been under 20. I don't question that."
With last year's No. 1 runner Bridger Flory out to start the year with a lower-leg injury, and a couple of seniors gone from last year's squad, the door opened for a couple of underclassmen to work their way into the fold. Weddle, a freshman, made the most of the opportunity finishing 22 seconds behind Johnson (20:34.1) in ninth place.
"He's going to be definitely one of our top competitors on the boys' side," Haakenson said.
Overall, there were three freshmen in Rhinelander's top five. JC Adams was 23rd overall (22:58.0) and Tristan Fuss was 26th (24:02.09). Sophomore Kade Kennedy was 24th overall (23:11.0).
Sophomore Levi Smith (32nd, 25:42.3) and freshman Daniel Goldsworthy (36th, 27:01.8) rounded out the Hodag contingent.
"Even though we're young and we don't have the numbers we'd like to see on the boys' side, I think M.J. would agree the runners we do have, have a lot of potential and are strong runners," Haakenson said.
Lakeland's Darius Diver and Kav FitzPatrick finished 1-2 in the boys' race as the Thunderbirds, the reigning WIAA Division 2 state champions, won their home invite going away.
Rhinelander returns home Thursday morning for the annual Hodag Invitational in front of Rhinelander High School. Haakenson said a flatter course and cooler conditions should lead to much faster times for the field compared to Tuesday's opener.
"Thursday I hope will be a little bit of a confidence booster for some of our first-team runners," she said.
The meet gets underway at 10 a.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@
rivernewsonline.com.
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