March 21, 2018 at 1:09 p.m.
Hodag boys 3rd, girls 4th at Lakeland Indoor
Hodag boys 3rd, girls 4th at Lakeland Indoor
"I thought today went OK," Hodag track coach Aaron Kraemer said. "Good competition here today with Lakeland. They're always good competition (as are) the other teams here. I think it was a real litmus test. We have some things to improve on, but I'm proud of what we were able to put together."
The Hodags were nearly shut out of the win column until the very end of the meet when junior AJ Kopplin cleared 5 feet, 10 inches in the boys' high jump to win a three-way jump off with Wausau Newman's Charlie McCarty and defending Great Northern Conference high jump champ Jacob Rexroade of Lakeland.
Kopplin was one of two Hodags to score points in the event. Teammate Calvin Schneider placed fifth with a jump of 5-6.
"We're proud of AJ. We're proud of Calvin. We're proud of all of our jumpers," Kraemer said. "They're all pushing each other. It's great that we have training partners this year. I think that's something we haven't had in the past, great training partners that are going to continue to push us every single day."
The Hodags had a slew of runner-up finishes on the day, including a pair of second-place showings for senior Alex Monk in the 55- and 200-meter hurdles.
"Alex, that's his goal. He wants to go and be a hurdler in college and I told him if he wants it bad enough he can get it," Kraemer said. "We're still working on getting that three-step rhythm down and that transition to the first hurdle from the blocks, but he's getting better every single day and I think you're going to see him shine when we get outdoors."
Nick Kriesel and Josh Francisco finished second and third, respectively, in the 55-meter dash. Sophomores Drake Martin and Peyton Erikson finished second and third in the long jump, both less than four inches behind winner Robert Burgess of Lakeland.
"I was proud of (Erikson's) long jump," Kraemer noted. "That's new and not something he's done in the past. For him to be right there with Drake, that's a great training partner. Drake, to come out in the first meet and have a PR (personal record), that shows you he's been working very hard in the offseason on his strength and conditioning."
Additionally, the Hodags scored a number of points in the distance events throughout the day. Daniel Goldsworthy and Tristan Fuss finished neck-and-neck for second and third in the boys' 1,500 meters. Goldsworthy added a fifth-place finish in the 3,000 meters. On the girls' side, Alison DeNamur finished fourth in the 600, 1,500 and 3,000 meters.
"We had some great performances in our distance events that got us points," Kraemer noted. "That's been a struggle for us in the past, ever since we had that group of really great girls a couple of years back with Eva (O'Melia) and Alayna (Franson) and Gracie (Quinn) and Payton (Hartman), I think we've been missing that distance part to our team. Kudos go to (distance) coach (Melissa) Krueger for putting a competitive team together and one that's going to continue to get better as the season goes on."
Lexie Rick posted Rhinelander's top finish on the girls' side, a runner-up performance in the shot put (32-1 1/4). Senior Ellen Padgett was third in the 300-meter dash and fourth in the 55-meter dash. Morgan Johnson was third in the 55 hurdles and fourth in the 200 hurdles. Isabella Anderson was fifth in the 55 and Aryssa Zasada was fifth in the 55 hurdles. Rhinelander also placed third in the girls' 4x160 and 800 sprint medley relays.
Martin added a third-place showing in the boys' shot put (40-0). Freshman teammate Alex Olson placed fourth in that event. Erikson added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump and Jacques Tulowitzky was fifth in the 55 hurdles. Additionally, Rhinelander finishers second in the 4x160 relay and third in both the 4x80 and 4x400 relays.
"We were comparable to out Rapids meet," Kraemer said of the results. "Any time you go indoors, it's hard to tell how things are going to shake out in the outdoor season because of the difference in distances, but I thought, overall, we all competed well. I thought we looked good against the other teams and I thought there were some very nice bright spots for us going forward."
The Hodags did have a setback on the injury front Tuesday as freshman Rebecca Lawrence was forced to bow out of the girls' high jump due to a calf injury. She had cleared 4-6 before calling it quits after a series of aborted attempts at 4-8.
"Little calf issue and she was very noticeably upset about it and that's the heart of the competitor inside of her," Kraemer said of the freshman who cleared 4-10 in her varsity debut last Thursday at Wisconsin Rapids. "She wants to keep getting better and I don't think this setback will keep her from doing that. We'll get her evaluated and hopefully it's nothing major."
The Hodags will return to action April 3 in the Great Northern Conference Indoor at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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