October 3, 2018 at 2:01 p.m.
Hodag girls win Pines cross country invite
Hodag girls win Pines cross country invite
The Hodags placed all seven of its varsity runners in the top 15 and won the Northland Pines Invitational at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River.
"That's a really nice little milestone for them," coach M.J. Laggis said. "It's a small race. There's not a lot of teams, but having said that, we're really young and that's a lot of freshmen and sophomores scoring big for us. I think the girls, overall, just did a really good job and I'm proud of them."
The Hodag boys, who gave top runner Bridger Flory the night off, finished fourth in the six-team race.
It wasn't easy for the Hodag girls, many of whom have been battling illness, according to Laggis, but the team was able to continue its pack mentality. The team got out to a fast start and ran near the front the entire way. Rhinelander's seven varsity runners were separated by only 1 minute, 38 seconds.
"In the girls' race, I thought they did a really good job. They continue to improve and I was happy," Laggis said. "Ella Schiek has been sick. Ali DeNamur hasn't been feeling good. We've had a lot of those girls that have been under the weather, but we've been working hard, they sucked it up and they had a good race."
Abbie Henrichs, Sage Flory and Audrey Schiek led the Hodag contingent, finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Henrichs' time of 22:47.9 was roughly 1:08 off the race-winning pace set by Hurley senior Mariah Sejbl. Flory clocked in at 23:10.2 and Audrey Schiek finished at 23:22.1.
"Abbie Henrichs was cooking and Sage wasn't far off," Laggis said. "We've got a crew of girls that are really coming on and improving."
Ella Schiek, Audrey's older sister, finished 10th at 23:45.3, followed by DeNamur in 11th (24:00.7), Megan Brown in 14th (24:16.7) and Emma Germain in 15th (24:25.0).
The Hodags beat Hurley by 25 points for the team title. Tomahawk, which rested a number of varsity starters on the girls' side, finished third, followed by Northland Pines, Antigo and Crandon.
Based on the time he ran five days earlier in Waupaca, Bridger Flory would have likely contended for the win on Tuesday. Tomahawk's Drew Bolder (17:39.1) won the boys' race, but Laggis opted to give Flory the day off as he balances running cross country and competitive mountain biking this fall.
"He's a mountain biking, running machine and I felt his body needed a rest today," Laggis said. "We'll see if that pays off or not ... I think Bridger was probably ticked he wasn't running, because he would have laid down a good one today, too."
Jacob Weddle reached the medal stand and broke the 19-minute barrier for the Hodags, placing eighth (18:58.7). Jaden Beske (18th, 19:47.3) was the only other Hodag runner inside the top 20 overall.
"Jacob Weddle had a really nice race. I believe he broke 19 (minutes). He was close. Right behind him you had Jaden Beske. He laid down a heck of a race today," Laggis said.
J.C. Adams was 27th (20:40.7), Daniel Goldsworthy finished 31st (20:52.1), Cal Laggis was 32nd (20:58.0), Tristan Fuss was 39th (21:36.7) and Levi Smith finished 40th (21:36.8).
Tomahawk placed four runners in the top three to win the boys' race. Butternut and Northland Pines also finished ahead of Rhinelander.
The Hodags head to Tomahawk for the Hatchet Invite on Saturday.
"That, to me, is one of the funnest races of the year," Laggis said. "It's flat. It's fast and it's always just a fun Saturday morning environment there. Tomahawk runs a great meet and it will be great competition."
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