December 19, 2018 at 12:58 p.m.
Hodag boys second, girls fourth at Lakeland Nordic Invite
Hodag boys second, girls fourth at Lakeland Nordic Invite
The Hodags finished second in the boys' varsity division and fourth in the girls' varsity division of the four-team Lakeland Invite at Minocqua Winter Park on Tuesday.
The fact that the Hodags fielded varsity squads is a step up from the last four years, as coach Charil Reis had previously fielded only JV entries in this race with her young, rebuilding program. The Hodag boys finished behind only defending state champion Lakeland on Tuesday in a field that also included perennial powerhouse programs Hayward and Wausau East/West.
Reis said the Hodags looked like they belonged with some of the state's best teams.
"It was time to grow up a little bit in terms of their skiing and themselves against the varsity skiers in the region," she said. "I'm really happy with how they did. They looked like varsity skiers. They didn't look like they were floundering. They definitely looked like they had a mission to accomplish.
"It's definitely a different story than it's been in years past for the Hodags. We're definitely on the right track."
Nicholas St. Pierre, Breckin Younker and Levi Smith finished together in a pack in eighth, ninth and 10th in the boys' 4-kilometer freestyle race. St. Pierre led the trio with a time of 12 minutes, 51.5 seconds, but the three were separated by only 5.1 seconds.
"Nicholas had a really good race out there," Reis noted. "I liked how smooth Breckin looked and even Levi was just right on his tail when the two of them went by me on the trail with a half kilometer to go. I couldn't tell who was going to finish first out of Breckin and Levi pair. Breckin is kind of coming back into his own, growing back into his skin. Last year he did struggle a lot having grown so tall, so quickly. He smoothed out quite a bit. It's exciting to see."
Senior Emma Hjelle paced the Hodag girls, placing 10th in a time of 14:45.9. She was followed by Emma Roberts in 12th (15:06.2) and Jenna Younker in 17th (16:13.0).
The Hodags fared well in the junior varsity side of the ledger as well, taking second in both the boys' and girls divisions. The Hodags had five finishes in the top nine of the boys' JV race, led by sophomore Zach Goodrich, who placed fourth with a time of 12:35.3 that would have been fast enough for eighth in the varsity race. Sophomore Daniel Goldsworthy was sixth for the Hodags, followed by a trio of freshmen - Will Rutkowski, Kyle Morien and Sam Rutkowski - in seventh, eighth and ninth.
A pair of freshmen led Rhinelander in the JV girls' race. Anna Wood was fourth (14:12.5), followed by Callie Threlkeld in 12th.
"I really haven't seen these girls race and they're both freshmen," Reis noted. "I've seen Anna standing out in practice in terms of speed. I just didn't know if Callie would be a stronger classic skier or skate skier. I wasn't sure how it was all going to stack up."
Sophomore Gwyneth Lowry was 13th. Valerie Dalka, Abbie Henrichs and Liana Teter crossed with identical times in 18th, 19th and 20th.
Given that Rhinelander's season opening race in Ironwood, Mich. Dec. 8 turned into a glorified scrimmage amid trail confusion and that the Hodags haven't had a chance to do much in terms of time trails in practice, Reis said it was a bit of a crapshoot determining who was skied varsity and who skied JV Tuesday. Ultimately, she sided with experience in setting her varsity lineup.
"I didn't really have any results to go off of to say pull them up because of their times or how they ski versus others on the team," she said. "This time around, it made since to go by class, basically, so the upperclassmen were varsity and the underclassmen were not. They really did prove themselves well. It wasn't like anybody was way back in the pack."
Rhinelander won the boys' middle school race and finished second in the girls' division. Jett Biolo paced the Hodag boys in the 2-kilometer middle school race, taking third in the seventh- and eighth-grade division (6:40.5). Macy Lester won the girls' fifth- and sixth-grade division for Rhinelander, with a time of 7:27.1 that was fourth-fastest among all middle school skiers.
The Hodags are scheduled to return to action Jan. 5 and 6 in the Hodag Nordic Challenge at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom, though Reis said the trails could use a little more snow in light of the recent thaw to make sure the races go off without a hitch.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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