October 18, 2017 at 1:07 p.m.
Cross country: Hodags look to finish strong at sectionals
Cross country: Hodags look to finish strong at sectionals
Rhinelander will likely need to go the individual route to qualify for next Saturday's WIAA Division 2 state meet as it races Saturday in the Waupaca sectional.
That's easier said than done, of course, as there are not that many qualifying spots to go around. Of the approximately 210 runners who will answer the gun Saturday, only 38 - 19 boys and 19 girls - will move on to The Ridges in Wisconsin Rapids. The majority of those qualifying spots will go to the top two finishing teams in Saturday's races. The remaining five state berths in each gender will be determined by the fastest finishers not on a state qualifying team.
The Hodags' best bet is senior Alayna Franson, who finished fifth in the sectional last year and was the third of five individual qualifiers on the girls' side. She parlayed that run into a
14th-place finish at state. Franson is looking to qualify for state for the third time in her four-year career.
"She's going to have to have a really good race Saturday and I know she will," coach M.J. Laggis said. "We'd like to think she's going to be right in the thick of that and have a good run Saturday. The preparation during the week is very important for her - that she's healthy, that she had a good work base at the beginning of the week and a nice taper into the weekend. I expect her to run one of her best times Saturday."
Franson may have to put up a good number as an already deep sectional field, that includes the entire Great Northern Conference, got even tougher this year. Freedom, the top ranked girls' team in Division 2 according to the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association, has moved into the sectional. Lakeland is ranked 10th and Medford, which edged the T-Birds for the GNC title last Saturday, checks in at No. 12.
The same three teams will likely be jockeying for the two state qualifying spots on the boys' side. Lakeland is 10th, Freedom 13th and Medford 15th in the boys' D2 rankings.
On the boys' side, senior Markus Johnson is a long shot, at best, following a 16th-place finish at the GNCs. Regardless, Laggis said he would like to see Johnson finish his career on a high note.
"I want to see him go faster this week," he said. "He deserves it. He's a great kid. He works incredibly hard and why not set your goals and go after a great finish at sectionals."
It was unclear, as of Monday, if the Hodags would have their two other top runners on the boys' side - Daniel Ritchie or Bridger Flory - for the race. Ritchie may be playing a regional final boys' soccer game on Saturday, depending on how the Hodags fare this afternoon, and Flory - just back from a lower leg injury - may instead focus his attention to the Wisconsin High School Cycling League state championship race Sunday in Iola.
For the rest of the team, the goal for Saturday is to run fast and try to end the season, or a career, with a personal best. Laggis said he saw plenty of improvement last week despite a low finish in the team standings at the conference meet.
"We had a lot of kids with PRs on the weekend. Kids ran some really good times based on where they were at in the beginning of the year. We saw a lot of progress," he said, adding that the team trained hard at the beginning of this week and is now beginning to taper into Saturday's race.
This will be the fourth time in the last two seasons the Hodags have raced at the Waupaca High School course. The team was last at Waupaca Sept. 28 for the Comet Invite. Franson finished second in that meet - one of six runner-up finishes for her on the season - roughly 24 seconds behind Marinette's Katelyn Kitzinger, who is also scheduled to be in the field on Saturday contending for one of the individual qualifying spots.
"We like that course, particularly Alayna likes that course," Laggis said. "We know how it sets up. We know what the finish is like. She's comfortable with the layout of it. It feels like just a course that she's been to enough that she knows what to expect. It looks like the weather's going to be fine, so she's just got to go out and lay one down. She's got to have good race Saturday."
The Division 2 girls' race gets underway at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by the boys' race at 11:45.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.