November 12, 2018 at 1:16 p.m.
Team review: RHS cross country
Behind Flory, youth reigned for Hodag Harriers
Team review: RHS cross country
The GNC has produced a team or individual Division 2 state champion in each of the last three seasons.
The Rhinelander High School cross country team was not near that level in 2018. The Hodags finished fifth in both the boys' and girls' divisions at the conference meet last month. The team followed that up by placing in the bottom third of a 15-team sectional race in Freedom.
But, with a young roster chock-full of freshmen and sophomores, head coach M.J. Laggis sees the nucleus from something special in the future.
"I happen to think we're just a click away from instead of being a fourth-place team or a fifth-place team in the conference that we could be right up there in the top couple real quick here with some of the young (runners) that we have," he said last week during the team's banquet.
Some notes regarding the 2018 season.
Flory's the story
Bridger Flory's run to the WIAA state meet was the headline of the season for the RHS cross country team.
After missing much of the 2017 season due to injury, the Hodag senior found his stride in a late-September race at Waupaca. He closed the year with a string of four straight top-five finishes before a strong showing at state.
Flory said he exceeded his own expectations much of the season. That continued at the state meet where he easily beat his own goals of a top-50 finish and a time under 17:30.
"The whole race I had in my mind like, 'Wow, this really sucks that this is the last one.' I don't know, I'm just really thrilled to have been blessed with such a great season," Flory said, moments after finishing 32nd at state with a time of 17:11.
Aside from being the first Rhinelander boy on the All-GNC first time since Nate Schoone in 2011, Laggis said Flory left a clear legacy with the program during his four-year career.
"The thing I've been talking to our younger runners about is that they've had the benefit of hanging with Bridger all year and running with him. They've warmed up with him, watched him race," Laggis said. "Now it's their chance, over the next two years, to be a leader for another kid. And that's how we grow the program."
Henrichs takes over
While most of the RHS girls' team ran in close proximity much of the season, sophomore Abbie Henrichs separated herself from the rest of the field.
Henrichs, who was Rhinelander's No. 3 runner behind seniors Alayna Franson and Anna Sturzl last year, ascended to Rhinelander's top spot this year and stayed there in eight of her nine starts, despite battling through injury during the second half of the year.
Henrichs led the team with a 26th-place finish at conference and a 39th-place showing at sectionals.
"She had some big goals for the season, she was very enthusiastic and she'd been working hard," assistant coach Melissa Krueger said. "I know she didn't have the season that she was hoping for, but she had a great season. This kid is determined and she's focused."
Sister act
Freshman Audrey Schiek established herself as one of Rhinelander's varsity runners early on in the season and stayed in the Hodags' top five the rest of the way.
It turns out, she wasn't the only Schiek to make an impact.
Midway through the season Audrey's older sister, Ella, switched from swimming to cross country and debuted with an 11th-place finish at the Three Lakes Invite, one spot behind her sister. A couple of weeks later, Ella Schiek nipped Henrichs at the finish line to be Rhinelander's top finisher at the Hatchet Invite in Tomahawk.
"Ella Schiek comes to us and instantly becomes a huge impact," Laggis said of the sophomore following her Tomahawk finish. "Then you've got her sister, Audrey, and those two battle all around the course. You notice they run together and then all of a sudden, the gloves come off and they fight each other at the end and try to beat each other."
Wacky weather
Cross country teams are used to racing in a myriad of conditions but the 2018 season was more extreme than normal.
The team raced in 80-degree conditions and baking sun during the Smiley Invite in Wausau, one of the hottest Smileys that Laggis said he could recall.
That image was juxtaposed with the scene of accumulating sleet and snow that fell just five weeks later in the sectional meet at Freedom.
Then there was the rain. A soggy fall soaked the RHS cross country trails and put the team's ability to host the Great Northern Conference meet in jeopardy. The team took two days out of practice the week of the conference meet to work on the course, filling low spots with rocks and wood chips to create a raceable trail.
"That was our best option for trying to dry out the course and, I'm going to be honest, I thought it held up incredibly well considering the parts of it that were under water. We did a lot with what we had," Laggis said following the conference meet.
What's next
Flory will certainly be a loss for the Hodag boys, but he's the only senior who graduates on that side of the roster.
Sophomore Jacob Weddle was consistently Rhinelander's second runner throughout the season. Jaden Beske, Daniel Goldsworthy, Cal Laggis, JC Adams and Levi Smith jockeyed for the remaining spots on varsity.
On the girls' side, No. 7 runner Clarie Bowman will be the only runner lost to graduation. Aside from Henrichs and the Schieks, sophomore Ali DeNamur, freshman Sage Flory and freshman Emma Germain were mainstays on the varsity roster.
Eleven of Rhinelander's starters for conference and sectionals this year were freshmen or sophomores, which has coach Laggis excited for the future.
"We've got a lot to look at here if we can keep this group together," he said. "We're very, very young and I just think they can do some great things the next few years if the keep at it and stay on the bus."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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