May 9, 2018 at 1:46 p.m.
Hodag boys' track third in final outdoor tune-up
Hodag boys' track third in final outdoor tune-up
A grueling stretch of five meets in 15 days for the Hodags came to an end Tuesday as Rhinelander took third in the boys' division and sixth in the girls' division of the Hatchet Invite in Tomahawk.
"We didn't see a ton of PRs today. It could be due to the conditions. It could be the fact that we're coming off two hard weeks with five meets," Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. "We still had some good numbers and we competed really well, but I think the five meets in a couple of weeks is really wearing on us."
While the marks were not quite the Hodags' best of the season, the team scored well in a meet that featured a mix of teams from the Great Northern, Marawood, Northern Lakes and Indianhead conferences. The Hodag boys finishing behind only Marathon and Northland Pines, and were 18 points ahead of Tomahawk for third.
"We've been trying to get to the point where we could surpass Tomahawk in team points and compete with the rest of our conference," Kraemer said. "I thought we were in a spot where we did that today. We saw Marathon and Northland Pines, two very good teams we are competing against, and for the boys to take third it was an impressive finish for them."
The Hodags had a trio of runner-up finishes on the boys' side, led by jumpers Drake Martin and Peyton Erikson, who finished second and third in the long jump. Erikson added a second-place finish in the triple jump while Martin was sixth in both the triple jump and the shot put.
"They compete in everything that they do," Kraemer said of sophomores Erikson and Martin. "They're as tight as they come and they compete in everything, which makes it very fun to watch when those kids compete against each other and push themselves the way they do."
Rhinelander also finished second in the 4x100-meter relay with the team of Josh Francisco, Nick Kriesel, AJ Kopplin and Anthony Kowalski. Their time of 46.63 seconds was 0.58 seconds behind Three Lakes for the win.
"The 4x1 had some loose handoffs but they were still in the mid 46s," Kraemer said. "As soon as they get that down, I think they're going to be competing for first in our conference. I think they're going to be competing for a school record (44.10) once they figure it out. They're all young. They've got a year left. It's going to be an exciting relay, not just for this year, but next year, too."
Senior Ellen Padgett led the girls' team, placing third in the 400, fourth in the 100 and seventh in the long jump.
"Ellen ran a very fast time in the 100 (13.91 seconds)," Kraemer said. "Ellen continues to get better in the 100 race and she's trying out some other events as well. She tried out a 400 today. She ran a 1:06, which is a pretty good time for someone who doesn't normally run it very often. I was proud of her."
Rhinelander's boys fared best in the sprints and the jumps on Tuesday. Calvin Schneider, Brock Lieder and Kopplin all cleared 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump, finishing third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Alex Monk took third in the 110 hurdles, Kriesel finished fourth in the 200 and sixth in the 100, Francisco was fourth in the 100 and Daniel Ritchie added a fifth-place finish in the 400.
Junior Bridger Flory ran a sub five-minute mile for the first time competitively, taking fifth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:53.88.
"That's a time he's been pushing to beat all season long," Kraemer said. "Every meet that he's come in right around five minutes he's been a little bit annoyed with the way he's been finishing. For him today to run a sub-five and burst his PR, that's an amazing time in the 1,600."
Rhinelander also placed fifth in the boys' 4x200, 4x200 and 4x800-meter relays.
On the girls' side, senior Lexie Rick was fourth in the discus and fifth in the shot put. Sophomore Isabella Anderson was fourth in the 200 and sixth in the 100, Claire Arbuckle took fifth in the 800, Alison DeNamur was fifth in the 1,600, Delaney Chillemi was sixth in the 100 hurdles and the Hodags took fifth in the 4x100.
"We had a lot of contributors on both sides, for the boys and the girls, and that's something to be encouraged with," Kraemer said.
Now the attention turns to the championship portion of the schedule. The Great Northern Conference outdoor meet will take place next Tuesday in Medford and WIAA regionals will be held the following Monday at Wausau East.
Kraemer said the grueling stretch of meets came to an end at the right time as the team begins to taper the intensity of its training, focus on technique and rest up for the big competitions.
"We're trying as much as we can to unload some of the heavy lifting and move to a lot of speed work to make sure they are ready to compete, that their muscles are not sore and their muscles are fully ready to compete at conference, regionals and sectionals," he said. "It is the competition phase so that's what we want them to do - compete to the best of their ability."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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