February 14, 2018 at 1:52 p.m.
RHS Alpine fades to second in final conference race
RHS Alpine fades to second in final conference race
The Hodags finished second in the boys' team standings Monday, and third in the girls' standings, as they were leapfrogged for first place in the Northern Conference.
Wausau West finished first in the boys' competition on Monday and passed Rhinelander/Northland Pines by four points in the final conference standings. Ashwabay, which finished second on Monday, edged the Hodags by one point for the girls' title.
The Hodags had one individual conference champion, as Northland Pines freshman Ty Springer posted his fourth runner-up finish of the season and claimed the individual boys' title. Springer also claimed the award for the best points total of the season in each of the three disciplines - slalom, giant slalom and Super G.
McKenzie Imm, who missed a gate and did not finish Monday's Super G race, dropped to second in the individual conference standings, though she finished first in the season-long slalom and GS standings.
"We had a Super G today that had three jumps in it and she had tons of speed, was skiing just excellent but didn't round out a couple of turns and didn't change direction before she hit the jump," RHS/NP Alpine coach Rod Olson explained "Because of the distance that she flew, she didn't have time to make the next gate."
Despite Imm's mishap, the Hodags were still ahead of Ashwabay following the Super G competition, however Ashwabay outscored them the rest of the way to claim the conference crown.
"They were bummed out," Olson said. "There were some tears for the girls, and I was happy that there were tears because it meant something to them."
Wausau West, which only trailed Rhinelander in the boys' team standings because it did not have enough skiers to field a qualifying team during the Feb. 3 conference race at Ski Brule, dominated on its home hill. Rhinelander, meanwhile, suffered a setback when senior Breyden Luebke fell free-skiing between competition runs and was unable to complete the meet.
"(He) got hurt in the park and took himself out of helping us score any points," Olson said. "We lost him for the last two races because of his activity in the park and we just didn't have any chance then."
Springer was second in all three races on Monday, roughly a second behind Wausau West's Jack Eder in giant slalom and Super G and roughly four seconds behind in slalom. Eder won four of the five conference races this season, but skipped the Feb. 3 meet at Ski Brule. Springer took advantage of a revamped points system in the Northern Conference this year that calculates all five races into the final individual standings instead of a skier's best three races, which had been the previous practice.
"He put it all together and he learned the rule of average speed and how a finish every race can help you," Olson said of Springer's conference title. "He really grew a lot in a very short season. He fulfilled the requirements and knew how to work the points."
Despite missing a race, Eder still finished fourth in the final standings.
Daniel Ritchie was seventh on the day for the RHS/NP boys, Patrick Stemper finished 19th and John Krueger was 24th. After finishing last in GS and failing to start the slalom race, Luebke placed 30th on the day and fell all the way to 16th in the final standings.
Imm finished ninth on the day for the Hodag girls, followed by Cayla Fritz in 11th, Haley Seefeldt in 12th and Tori Roberts in 15th. Fritz placed eighth in the final overall standings, Seefeldt was 11th and Roberts finished 14th.
Kaiya Shrader finished second in girls' snowboarding on Monday to move up to second in the final standings. Kylie White finished eighth on the day and in the final standings. In boys' snowboard, Bailey Schwab posted a season-best fourth-place finish Monday and moved into a seventh-place tie in the final standings.
State ahead
The Hodags travel to La Crosse this weekend for the WIARA state championships with some confidence, having trained on the Mt. La Crosse venue last weekend.
"We got on terrain that we're going to race and everyone else is going to come down to train this week at limited times and not on the terrain we're going to have the races on," Olson said. "It was a great practice and a great opportunity. If anything, it got the kids confident with the hill. We probably had 500 turns in slalom in GS, which is just awesome. I think they're confident."
Olson said he has high hopes for his skiers this weekend, especially Springer, who has been closing in on Eder, last year's state runner-up throughout the season.
"He's definitely got the capability of being in the top 10," Olson said. "When you're less than a second behind the state (runner-up) and give up some weight and three, four years of experience, he's definitely in a good position. He's unknown, he's hungry and he's confident. He's having a great time racing and that gives anybody an edge."
Olson added Imm has the potential for a top 15 finish if things go well. It would be a bounce back for Imm, who was injured at state inspecting the course prior to the slalom competition and was unable to finish the meet.
Shrader is also looking to bounce back in snowboard. She placed fourth at state as a sophomore but missed last year's state meet due to a concussion.
She, White and Schwab all qualified as individuals for the state meet by virtue of placing in the top 10 of the final Northern Conference overall standings. Rhinelander/Northland Pines qualified as a team in both boys' and girls' skiing.
"We'll have a good performance if everyone shows up," Olson said. "I'm excited for the senior girls to have a big, celebratory final race. I think we're going down with a good attitude and a little fire in our belly."
The entire snowboard competition - featuring boardercross, giant slalom and slalom - will take place on Saturday at Mt. La Crosse. The skiing competition will take place Sunday and Monday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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