May 15, 2017 at 4:19 p.m.
Young Hodags hope to make a splash at GNC meet
Young Hodags hope to make a splash at GNC meet
On Tuesday, Rhinelander is slated to compete in the Great Northern Conference Championship outdoor meet at Mosinee.
At the beginning of the season, it would have been hard to find Hodags that could compete for a conference championship.
That has changed in recent weeks, as some young runners from Rhinelander have improved drastically.
"I think our sprinters are ready to go," RHS head coach Chris Ferge said. "I think our 4x100 [relay] is ready to go. We have a couple triple jumpers that are looking good. We have a couple long jumpers that are looking to compete. We're working really hard in practice and we're ready. They want to get conference taken care of so they're ready."
For the boys' team, it's a group of young sprinters that should make the biggest impact.
Sophomore Josh Francisco placed sixth in the 100-meter dash at the Otto Bacher Invitational at Merrill last week with a time of 11.98 seconds and has a personal record of 11.92 this season.
Freshman Nick Kriesel finished just behind him at 12.14, while classmate Chase Hunt ran 12.84 at the Hatchet Invitational on Tuesday.
The trio then partnered with freshman Drake Martin to run 47.39 in the 4x100 relay this week at Tomahawk.
That group placed fourth at the Otto Bacher and should see some stiff competition at the GNC meet as Medford, Antigo and Tomahawk were the three schools that ranked ahead of Rhinelander at that meet.
Francisco should face a stiff challenge from the Mosinee pairing of Parker Samples and Riley Kats, along with Medford's Victor Rinaldi, who placed second in the 100 meters last year.
Another freshman, Daniel Ritchie, has a shot to compete for a GNC crown in the 400 meters after placing third at the Otto Bacher.
Ritchie's outlook depends on the lineups that the opposing teams put together.
Medford's Jake Sullivan finished second last year, while Brandt Beukema and Kav FitzPatrick have both competed in the event for Lakeland at various points this season.
"There's always a chance," Ferge said. "I'm never going to say that there isn't. We're young. We have some guys that are going to be favored ahead of them, but anything can happen and they've been rising to the competition. So, we'll see what happens."
For the girls' team, it's all about improving times and marks.
Lexie Rick should place in the top 10 in the shot put and discus.
Distance runners have come on strong in recent weeks, also.
Freshman Lisa White has an opportunity to place in distance events, along with senior Gracie Quinn.
Payton Hartman has also emerged recently in the hurdles.
Rhinelander likely won't have enough juice to win the team portion of the meet, but good individual performances could carry over for the remainder of the season and into next year.
While the Hodags may have a young squad, Ferge does not belive there will be any jitters on a big stage.
"When you go to the Otto Bacher it really is like a conference or regional meet," Ferge said. "They've already had one of those in, so they should feel pretty confident."
The GNC meet begins today at 4 p.m.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
Comments:
You must login to comment.