April 25, 2018 at 1:35 p.m.
Hodags score several top-two finishes at Lakeland Relays
Hodags score several top-two finishes at Lakeland Relays
Rhinelander claimed a couple of team events on the boys' side, had several top two finishes on the girls' side and placed fifth overall in both the boys' and girls' divisions of the six-team meet.
"I thought that some of our athletes stepped up in different places than we normally ask them to compete and they did very well," coach Aaron Kraemer said.
On the boys' side, the team of sophomore Drake Martin and juniors AJ Kopplin, Josh Francisco and Nick Kriesel teamed up to win the 4x80-meter relay. Their time of 40.43 seconds was more than a second faster than the runner-up quartet from Marathon.
"They've been pushing each other, those kids that are going to be running the 100 - Nick and Josh and AJ and throwing Drake in there and seeing what he can do," Kraemer. "They all had very good splits and to take first place at a meet like this one, I'm proud of that."
Martin, Francisco and sophomore Peyton Erikson teamed up to win the long jump relay, where the marks of each team's three jumpers were combined to get an aggregate total. Francisco finished third overall in the event with a jump of 18 feet, 5 1/2 inches. Erikson finished fifth and Martin was sixth.
"Those three kids are going to keep getting better and the thing about those three kids in the long jump is they take coaching very well, they're pushing each other and they're hungry, not satisfied with what they are getting," Kraemer said. "They're seeing their numbers and they're coming back every single week looking to beat those numbers."
It was Francisco's first time in the long jump this season. Ditto for senior Ellen Padgett on the girls' side, but her leap of 14-1 1/2 was second overall on the day, an inch and a half behind winner Paige Hickson of Northland Pines.
"To see them come out, long jump and put up good numbers, that was encouraging to see going forward - especially asking them both out of the blue if they wanted to do it. For both of them to step up, that was awesome," Kraemer said.
In addition to an individual runner-up finish in the long jump, Padgett was part of the runner-up relay in the 4x160 with teammates Isabella Anderson, Mattia Beske and Rebecca Lawrence. The same group placed third in the sprint medley relay while Anderson, Beske, Samantha Siefert and Delaney Chillemi were second in the 4x80.
Lawrence tied for first individually in the high jump. The freshman cleared 5 feet for the first time this season.
"She was really proud of that and we're all proud of her for doing that," Kraemer said. "She's working really hard to keep getting better and to see a freshman jump 5-foot, that's a pretty big milestone for her and she's only going to keep getting better."
Lexie Rick added a runner-up finish in the girls' shot put (32-8) while Kopplin was second in the boys' high jump (5-6). Alex Monk and Chillemi were fourth in the boys' and girls' 55-meter hurdles, respectively.
Kraemer said he tweaked his lineup slightly given the unique relay format and the fact that the Hodags will compete at Northland Pines today in what the team hopes will be its final indoor meet of the 2018 season.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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