April 27, 2018 at 12:55 p.m.
Hodag boys 4th, girls 6th at Pines Invite
Hodag boys 4th, girls 6th at Pines Invite
Peyton Erikson won the triple jump as the Hodag boys placed fourth in an 11-team invite at Northland Pines High School. The Hodag girls recorded seven top-five finishes as they placed sixth out of 11 teams.
Coach Aaron Kraemer said the team turned in a high number of personal bests in its fifth indoor competition of the season "which was surprising because we were on short rest after our meet on Tuesday (at Lakeland)." "The kids took to their active recovery and their rest well yesterday, got in the pool and got their muscles ready for today," he said.
Erikson was the lone jumper over 40 feet in the triple - posting a mark of 40 feet, 8 1/2 inches - as he won the event by nearly a full foot over Tomahawk's Zack Flowers.
"He took to some coaching after the first jump, saw what he did wrong," Kraemer said. "He was able to diagnose what he did incorrectly and change it for the second jump. The second two jumps were excellent for him. That was very encouraging to see how he's growing in that event and how he's able to diagnose some of that stuff."
Josh Francisco was the runner-up in the boys' 55 meters (6.96) seconds and Nick Kriesel finished fifth in the event (7.13). AJ Kopplin and Calvin Schneider both cleared 5-8 in the high jump with Kopplin finishing third and Schneider fifth on tie- breaking criteria.
Drake Martin's personal-best toss of 43 feet, 9 inches placed fourth in the shot put. Daniel Ritchie was fourth in the 400, Alex Monk was fourth in the 55 hurdles and Erikson added a fourth-place finish in the long jump.
On the distance front, Bridger Flory finished fifth in both the boys' 800 and 1,600 meters. Alison DeNamur was third in the girls' 3,200.
"Bridger had a near sub-5 time in the mile today, which he was really pushing to get, and then had a real good time in the 800," Kraemer noted. "In our girls races Abby Gechas came back today and Claire Arbuckle came back today through some injuries they've been working through, and Ali DeNamur working through her own injuries, all of them had PRs today."
DeNamur scored one of three third-place finishes for the Hodag girls. Senior Lexie Rick set a new personal best by nearly two feet in the shot put, taking third with a toss of 34-5. Ellen Padgett was third in the 200 and fourth in the long jump.
Freshman Rebecca Lawrence was fourth in the high jump and fifth in the 400 meters. Sophomore Isabella Anderson placed fifth in the 55.
The Rhinelander boys placed fourth in both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, though Kraemer said he believes he has not hit on the right lineup combination in those events just yet.
"We're just going to keep tweaking that, seeing who will have the fastest split time and moving guys in and out of that race will really make us competitive by the time we get to the end of the competition season," he said.
According to Rhinelander's initial track schedule, Thursday was supposed to be the team's third outdoor meet of the season, but the first two were canceled and Pines moved Thursday's meet from outdoors to its 200-meter indoor track due to lingering snow cover.
Rhinelander is finally scheduled to get outside Tuesday in Three Lakes.
"This is the most eager we've ever been for an outdoor season just because it's been so long that we haven't been able to get on our own track," Kraemer said. "Right now it's cabin fever for us. We're tired of being inside. While we've thrived inside and we've done a nice job with what we've had, we really are ready to be outside."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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