May 16, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
Erikson, boys' 4x1 relay claim GNC track championships
Erikson, boys' 4x1 relay claim GNC track championships
The Hodags claimed a couple of conference championships on the boys' side as it placed fifth in the seven-team meet at Raider Field. The Hodags placed seventh in the girls' division.
Considering the limited time his team has had outside and the fact that they have not been able to practice on the track at Mike Webster Stadium due to ongoing construction, Rhinelander coach Aaron Kraemer said his team did about as well as it could have on Tuesday.
"I thought it was a good effort from both of our teams, girls and boys," he said. "We had some highlights on both sides. Going into a meet that's far away at Medford, we responded and had some great times. Everyone on our team, distance runners, our field events and our sprinters, everyone put it together today and we had some really, really nice times."
Leading the charge for the Hodag boys were Peyton Erikson and the 4x100-meter relay team of juniors Nick Kriesel, Josh Francisco, AJ Kopplin and Anthony Kowalski, who all walked away conference champions. They were the track team's first conference champs since 2016 when the Hodag girls won four titles in the distance events and Rhinelander's first boys' conference champs since 2015 when Bryce White won the high jump and the team of Eric Tracy, Kody Blacyki, Nate Sampson and Chris Kjeve won the 4x400.
The Hodags didn't just win the events, they won by a wide margin. The Hodags' time of 45.45 seconds in the 4x100 was 1.12 seconds faster than the runner-up quartet from Medford. The exchanges that had hampered the Rhinelander foursome in previous meets were much improved Tuesday.
"That was really impressive. It wasn't like a photo finish. It was a resounding win for them," Kraemer said. "We're proud of how they trained. They deserved it. They've been working hard together and you could see it with the way they got their handoffs clean and their final time."
It was a similar story for Erikson in the triple jump. Though his mark of 40 feet, 0.5 inches was more than two feet off his best mark of the spring, it was good enough to take the event by a foot over Mosinee's Justin Stubbe.
"For him to take a first place today, that's something he's been working on, being a conference championship and getting on that podium at the end of the day, but it doesn't stop there for Peyton," Kraemer said. "He's going to keep working. He wants to make it as far as he can. I know his goal is state."
Sophomore Drake Martin recorded Rhinelander's two other all-conference finishes on the boys' side. He placed second in the shot put, smashing his personal best with a toss of 45-7.5. He added a third-place finish in the triple jump.
Rhinelander excelled in the jumping events all day. Aside from Erikson and Martin's 1-3 in the triple, Francisco, Erikson and Martin placed fourth, fifth and sixth in the long jump, while Calvin Schneider and Brock Lieder both cleared 5-6 in the high jump, taking fifth and sixth, respectively.
"Long jump and high jump really came though for us today," Kraemer noted.
Francisco and Kriesel finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash while Alex Monk qualified for the finals and placed seventh in the 110 hurdles.
On the girls' side, senior Lexie Rick led the way for the Hodags, recording personal records in both shot put (33-3.5) and discus (100-4). She placed third and fourth, respectively, in the events. It marked the third straight year Rick placed in the top three at conference. She was third in the shot in 2016 and third in the discus last year.
"That's something to be proud of in a very good conference," Kraemer said.
Rebecca Lawrence, jumping for the first time this month after dealing with a leg injury, cleared 4-10 in the high jump to place fourth.
The Hodag girls also finished sixth in both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.
Rhinelander travels to Wausau East Monday for WIAA regionals. Though the competition will be strong, with the majority of the Wisconsin Valley Conference in the field, Kraemer said his team is peaking at the right time.
"They're a meet away from exploding and they're a couple small things away from really getting to the point of where they want to be," he said. "We're ready. We saw a lot of these teams at Otto Bacher. We're going to continue to put our best foot forward this week at practice. We're going to work as hard as we can to put ourselves in position to get to sectionals. That's all we can do."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.