September 6, 2017 at 1:52 p.m.
Franson finishes second again
Hodag girls 8th, boys 7th in Wittenberg
Franson finishes second again
For the third time this season, Franson finished in the runner-up spot as the Hodags competed Tuesday in the Charger Invitational at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School in Wittenberg.
Rhinelander finished seventh in the boys' division and eighth in the girls' division of the 14-team competition.
This time around Franson was out-dueled down the stretch by Iola-Scandinavia's Erika Kisting, whose winning time of 20 minutes, 9.63 seconds was 3.95 seconds faster than Franson's.
"She just had a really strong performance," Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. "I was happy with her run. She was 20:13. She's laying down a good time early in the season and she's got to keep dropping, and she will, until the end here."
After finishing second to Lakeland's Ashley Peterson at the Ted Voigt Invite and second to Wausau West's Brooke Jaworski in the Hodag Invitational, Laggis said the common thread in all three of Franson's second-place finishes is the caliber of runners who beat her.
"She's been right there. She's really setting the stage for a big finish at the end, and she'll have it," he said.
Anna Sturzl was next across the line for the Hodag girls, 16th overall with a time of 22:23.44.
"She had a strong run and the focus there is just going to be dropping time and improving as the year goes," Laggis said.
Two new members to the Hodag varsity - junior Allie Fugle (42nd, 24:22.31) and freshman Abigale Henricks (45th, 24:27.22) - were third- and fourth-fastest for Rhinelander on the day. Laggis said both had key runs for a RHS girls' squad that is looking for a few girls to step up and capture the team's third, fourth and fifth positions.
"Allie Fugle has just grown leaps and bounds as a person, as a runner. I'm proud of her," he said. "She had great confidence and she just continues to get better. Abi Henricks ran her first race and, I'll tell you what, for her first race, that girl really had a nice race today and I think she had a blast out there. I think she's gaining confidence fast."
Valerie Dalka (67th, 25:50.24), Lexi Morrison (76th, 26:18.78) and Claire Bowman (78th, 26:23.13) rounded out Rhinelander's varsity contingent.
Senior Markus Johnson paced the Rhinelander boys' squad, finishing 13th in the field of 142 runners. Despite a slow start, Johnson easily cracked the 19-minute mark on the day, finishing with a time of 18:48.64.
"He just keep getting stronger as the race goes on," Laggis said. "That's a trait of his. That's how he runs and he's a finisher. What hit me with him today is that last hill before the finish stretch he was getting stronger going up that hill. You could just see him charging up, full of confidence."
Daniel Ritchie, making his first start of the fall, was second on the team, taking 19th overall (19:09.73).
"Daniel started fast and, although Marcus passed him, he had a really good run," Laggis said of the sophomore who balances playing soccer and running cross country in the fall. "We won't have him all the time, so he's got to get a few runs in with us this year because we'll need him in October."
Jacob Weddle (31st, 19:46.61), JC Adams (56th, 20:34.77), Abe Laggis (73rd, 21:35.20), Konnor Kennedy (84th, 22:12.96) and Levi Smith (86th, 22:14.06) rounded out the Hodag varsity.
Rosholt swept the boys' and girls' team competitions. Three GNC schools were in Tuesday's field. Mosinee finished fifth in both the boys' and girls' division. Antigo took eighth in the boys' race and 12th in the girls' race. Rosholt's Adam Rzentkowski (16:48.63) took the boys' individual title by more than 50 seconds over teammate Dausen Anderson.
"Wittenberg's a tough course and a great challenge every year," Laggis said. "There's always good competition there - Rosholt, Amherst, a lot of good running teams are there. So it's always a good experience. The kids get a ton of competition.
"I think everyone on our team learned about the things we're doing well and the things we want to get better at."
The Hodags are off until the Bill Smiley Invitational Sept. 16 at Tribute Golf Course in Wausau.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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