December 8, 2017 at 2:10 p.m.
Team preview: RHS Nordic skiing
RHS Nordic eager for the season, whenever it begins
Team preview: RHS Nordic skiing
The program was on the brink of extinction when Reis took over a few years back. The last three years have been more about building numbers than building results. Now, Reis said, the time has come for the Hodags to climb from the bottom of the state rankings.
"I'm excited to see what they are going to be able to pull off this year, because it's a totally different ball of wax than the previous three seasons. They can sense it, too. I know they can," she said.
That is, of course, when and if the team can get out and ski on the trails.
Mother Nature has not exactly cooperated with winter enthusiasts over the last few weeks. There was a little snow on the ground when the team began practice back on Nov. 13, but that melted away thanks to a mild end of the month.
The cold, winter temperatures finally arrived earlier this week - and appears to be here to stay for the foreseeable future - but one thing the forecasters don't call for is much snow.
Reis said a good 6 to 8 inches are needed to at least build a base for the trails. With no major snow makers in the short-term forecast, the season-opening Lakeland Invite scheduled for Dec. 19 in Minocqua is in jeopardy and, if there isn't a big snowfall over the holiday break, the team's Hodag Nordic Challenge the first week in January at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom may be in doubt as well.
"It definitely weighs on my mind that we haven't had any snow," Reis said. "But it's happened in the past and we've just learned to roll with it and by January we are skiing. I'm kind of holding to that promise that we'll be skiing by January."
Of course, a lack of snow doesn't only affect race days. The team's training regimen is also altered until the snow finally flies. With a dusting on the ground Wednesday, the team was at least able to put on some old "rock" skis, too beat up to be used in race conditions, to at least simulate what its like to climb and descend hills on skis. Up until that point, Reis said she had to get creative to keep practice interesting.
"We have ingenious tactics of keeping everyone baited and hooked on the sport of Nordic skiing," Reis said. "Our dryland is actually the most fun practice of all the sports, so I've heard (from the skiers). I've had them out on roller skis. And, now that we're out at CAVOC, they can't get enough of running around with their headlamps on and just having the freedom of being out in the woods. That's really what's keeping us going."
Speaking of CAVOC, Reis said she considers the improvements made at the district's facility in the town of Pelican, which will serve as the primary training ground for both the middle and high school teams this season, to be a game-changer.
Roughly 5 acres of land was "disturbed" at CAVOC to create a new, relatively flat start/finish area and to widen existing trails. The new start area will provide a base for the novices on the team to train while the experiences skiers push themselves on CAVOC's hilly terrain, she said.
"I wish I could quantify it better but, in terms of morale, it's going to be huge," Reis said of the team's move to CAVOC.
As far as this year's squad goes, the team is still relatively young. Senior Alec Lowry and juniors Emma Hjelle and Emma Roberts are tenured members of the roster. The rest of the athletes are freshmen and sophomores, but the vast majority have come through the ranks of Rhinelander's middle school program.
"Most of them, if not all of them, are very fit athletes already," Reis said. "I don't have to worry about bringing up their fitness level, I just have to take their fitness level and apply it to the snow so it translates into speed."
The Hodags bring in six freshmen to the squad this year, including five that have come through the middle school program - Zach Goodrich, Daniel Goldsworthy, Abigale Henrichs, Paige Buss and Gwyneth Lowry.
"They're going to be pushing the boundaries of what they upperclassmen have been able to achieve in terms of speed," Reis said. "I think that there are going to be a few people looking over their shoulders this season."
At the end of last season, Reis said her goal was to see the Hodags place at least one boy and one girl in the top 25 of the WNSL state meet in Cable come season's end.
Reis is sticking by that goal to start the year. That means someone will have to make quite a jump for the Hodags. Hjelle was Rhinelander's highest finishing girl last year at state, finishing 74th, while sophomore Breckin Younker led the RHS boys with a 97th-place finish. Goodrich placed 27th in a 86-skier boys' middle school race at state a season ago.
"I've certainly given them a few expectations of my own and we sat down and made a list of team expectations," Reis said. "I will be spending more time this year giving them more feedback on exactly how fast they are going."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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