April 16, 2018 at 1:07 p.m.
GNC alters schedules for most spring sports
GNC alters schedules for most spring sports
The GNC got out in front of the storm Friday, deciding on schedule changes in four of the six sports it sanctions, essentially reverting back to plans from 2013 for most sports, except boys' tennis.
The GNC boys' tennis meet has been moved back six days to Friday, May 18 in an effort to accommodate a full eight-game dual meet schedule. The conference is also looking to maintain a full slate of games in baseball and softball. Softball's schedule has been changed to doubleheaders during the second half of the season and baseball appears to be heading in the same direction, though the option remains on the table to play conference games as originally scheduled during the first half of the season, if weather conditions allow.
In golf, the number of the legs of the conference tournament may be reduced if conditions do not allow teams to get out on the links until sometime next month.
"It took a long time to hash this all out," RHS activities director Brian Paulson said following a meeting of the conference ADs Friday in Tomahawk. "We went through individual schedules and tried to make sure everyone's home and away (schedules) were as equal as they could be. We tried to make it fair. It was a lot. We tried our best to make sure everyone has the same opportunities, but it's never going to be perfect.
"We're put in a tough spot right now."
Great Northern Conference commissioner Scott Winch confirmed the changes to the River News in an email Monday morning.
"Given the snow the past three days, I am guessing we may be rethinking yet again but at least we have a game plan for now," he said.
Baseball and softball
Earlier this month the conference reduced the girls' soccer schedule to seven games beginning May 1 with any games prior to that being considered non-conference.
Softball will take a similar approach with the conference slate now scheduled to begin April 26. Games between conference teams scheduled prior to that time are not necessarily canceled. The teams can mutually agree to play, if conditions allow, but the games will not count toward the conference standings.
"We don't want to take the opportunity to actually get outside and play away from any teams but we also want to make the conference as equal as we can," Paulson explained.
To get a full 12-game season in, teams will play doubleheaders beginning April 26. Start times have been moved to 4 p.m. to make ensure two games can be completed before sundown at facilities that don't have artificial lighting.
In baseball, if teams can play as originally scheduled, they will be allowed to do so and have the contest count toward the conference standings. This potentially allows teams to alleviate the stress on their pitching staffs that would be caused a late-season schedule cram.
"We felt because of the pitching rule (for baseball), and that it's not uncommon for softball to use the same pitcher in a doubleheader, we needed to treat the sports differently," Northland Pines AD Brian Margelofsky said.
Doubleheaders are a fall-back option during the second half of the season for baseball and one that will likely be utilized by several teams - including Rhinelander.
"In Rhinelander's aspect, to be honest, our field's probably not going to be ready until the first week of May or second week in May," Paulson said. "We're playing a doubleheader for every contest except for Antigo. If we're able to play Antigo next week, I know that our coach would prefer to get some games in."
On Monday, Paulson said Thursday's game against Antigo would be postponed, though the change had not shown up on the conference's scheduling website as of presstime.
Paulson added the conference reserves the right to further examine the baseball schedule if snow keep teams off the field into the first or second week of May. Teams will have only a limited amount of time to get the conference slate in before the WIAA playoffs commence May 24.
Tennis
For the first time, the GNC has preemptively pushed back the date of its conference tournament. The tournament is now scheduled for Friday, May 18 in Antigo with a built-in rain date of Saturday, May 19. Typically, the conference tournament had always been held the second Saturday in May with the following week reserved for any potential conference dual make-up meets or non-conference matches to prepare for WIAA subsectionals which, for all GNC schools, will be held May 21 in Rhinelander.
In 2013 the GNC kept its conference tournament on the same scheduled date but cut the dual meet season in half. Under year's this format, the eight-game conference schedule remains in tact, with the majority of conference matches being played after May 1.
"We felt by moving the conference tournament back to that Friday ... that gives us another three dates to have games if we need to," Paulson said.
Another option that could be on the table is to host double duals with three teams to get matches in. Paulson said the issue there, however, is that teams are allowed to play no more than six matches involving more than two teams during the season according to WIAA regulations.
Golf
Each school in the conference hosts one leg of the conference tournament, creating seven events that determine the final team and individual standings. However, any conference match that is canceled may not be rescheduled.
It's the same plan the conference used in 2013 when the first three legs of the GNC tournament were canceled and only four conference rounds were used to determine the final conference standings.
The conference slate is scheduled to begin Thursday, April 26 at Indianhead Golf Course in Mosinee.
Non-conference options
In the interim, Paulson said his teams are still trying to do everything they can to find places to play. The Hodag boys' tennis team tried to work out a scrimmage indoors at Ashland on Saturday, but that was nixed due to the snowstorm.
A couple of GNC baseball and softball teams were able to travel to the Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston, just north of Wisconsin Dells, to play games last week on their artificial turf surfaces. Paulson said he's had talk about playing down there this week, however he said Thursday would be the earliest that could happen because of statewide achievement testing for ninth- and 10th-grade students today and tomorrow.
"We don't want to get in the way, get them out at 1 o'clock and have them miss statewide testing. We're always looking at the balance between academics and sports and activities," he said.
Additionally, some track meets may be moved around. Paulson said Monday Dale Peterson Invite in Antigo on Thursday will be canceled due to the weather, however Paulson said the team could pick up opportunities to run indoors either at Lakeland or Ashland. Additionally, Northland Pines is prepared to move its outdoor meet inside to its fieldhouse on April 26.
"We're just trying to find opportunities right now. People are throwing out new ideas about how to get kids opportunities. I've got to thank Northland Pines, thank Lakeland and Brian Miller up in Ashland. It's a lot to run a track meet. The amount of workers you need, to get the officials to get a timing company, that's not easy. For them to continue to try to help out kids with the facilities they have, kudos to them," Paulson said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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