October 12, 2018 at 12:05 p.m.
A race against nature
Hodag harriers work OT to prep course for GNC meet
A race against nature
Running shorts were traded for blue jeans. The clack of running cleats on pavement was replaced by the sound of shovels and pitchforks.
The Hodag harriers have had to work overtime to get the RHS cross country trails ready for today's Great Northern Conference race, after an early-week deluge left several areas of the course under water.
When the wet weather finally abated Wednesday afternoon the team, along with a handful of parents and volunteers, went to work trying to get the course in the best shape possible prior to one of the most important races of the season.
"It's been really stressful to get this to work," coach M.J. Laggis said Wednesday afternoon. "We know there are conference coaches that are already concerned. They know it's back in the woods. They know there are low spots and it has been wet when there's been rain.
"We've got a good work crew assembled tonight. The district gave us more time Friday to get it done. Between tonight and Friday we're just hoping that the rain will kind of quit here and we can get as much done as we plan."
The host venue for the GNC meet rotates yearly by alphabetical order of the member schools. 2018 happened to be Rhinelander's year to host. The last time the school hosted conference was 2011.
The course for today's race includes a couple of laps around the RHS varsity soccer field, and a run into the woods through the district's trails that run between the RHS property and Central Intermediate School. Those trails, which cross over some lowlands, have been affected by an unusually soggy start to the month of October in which more than four inches of rain have already fallen.
Wood chips and mulch have been used to fill in the wet spots along the race course. For the biggest trouble spots, small rocks have been used to rebuild the trail base, before being covered with a top coat mulch.
Laggis said Wednesday the plan was to have at least the smaller of the two loops through the woods ready for Saturday meet, if not the entire trail. The course will be adjusted accordingly to reach the required five-kilometer distance if some of the trail is not ready to run.
"I think we have a great track," Laggis said. "I love the two little loops, I love the outside loop and I love the middle part here where it's spectator friendly out by the soccer fields. I think we've got a great track, now we've got to team our resources and make it work. There's nothing else we can do."
Once the gun goes off later this morning, Rhinelander will try to see where it fits in a very deep GNC.
Lakeland comes in having won the last nine boys' conference championship but does not enter as the favorite this year. That distinction belongs to Medford, which sits 10th in the latest Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Division 2 rankings. Tomahawk and Mosinee beat Lakeland last weekend at the Hatchet Invite. All three of those teams finished ahead of Rhinelander in the nine-team meet.
The girls' race is expected to be a showdown between fourth-ranked Lakeland and sixth-ranked Medford. Medford nipped Lakeland for the GNC title last year, but Lakeland won the sectional and Medford missed out on qualifying for the state meet by a handful of points. Both teams have brought back virtually their entire rosters from last year and are running well.
"I expect Medford to be lights out. I expect Lakeland to be lights out," Laggis said. "Tomahawk has an excellent team. Mosinee's got a girls' side that can do some damage. What I see out of us, when you look at our varsity runners, out of that 14 there's only one senior and we are full of freshmen and sophomores."
The top 14 individual finishers in each race will make the All-Great Northern Conference team - with the top seven earning first-team honors and the next seven receiving second-team honors. Rhinelander's best prospect to make the all-conference team is senior Bridger Flory, who comes in off a fourth-place finish last Saturday at Tomahawk. If Flory can crack the top 14, it would be his first all-conference honor since placing 12th as a freshman in 2015. He battled illness and struggled to a 34th-place finish in 2016 and finished 17th last year in only his second race back from a leg injury.
This year, the bar has been set much higher for Flory.
"The goal is to be on that all-conference first team, no doubt about it, and then the goal is to qualify for state and he's on the way," Laggis said. "He is just so confident and focused and calm. He's living up to the minute, yet he's not blowing it out of proportion where he cannot perform. Watching him stretch, watching him warm up, watching him lead this team as we get ready, it's unbelievable. He's truly a leader. He's going to run well. I have total faith in him."
Flory is the only senior projected to start on varsity for Rhinelander today. Laggis said conference will be a learning experience for the rest of his young roster. Abbie Henrichs, is the top returning runner on the RHS girls' side, placing 26th at conference last year.
"I've been telling the kids this is where we gain experience," he said. "This is where we get better. This is where we see what veteran teams look like. I think we have a lot ability and, if we can keep these kids tonight, I think this is a great learning point in propelling us into next year."
Today's meet gets underway with the boys' JV race at 11 a.m. The boys' varsity race will follow at 11:30, with the girls' varsity race at noon and the girls' JV race at 12:30 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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