December 18, 2019 at 2:26 p.m.
Hodag boys second, girls third in Nordic ski opener
Hodag boys second, girls third in Nordic ski opener
Rhinelander had multiple individual top-10 finishes in both the boys' and girls' varsity divisions as the boys' squad finished second and the girls' squad took third in the five-team Lakeland Invite at Minocqua Winter Park.
"This is a nice step in the progress of this team," said Jim Wood, who was acting head coach for the Hodags Tuesday with coach Charil Reis unable to attend due to family reasons. "Rhinelander has a fairly large squad of good skiers. This helps in the team scores when we compete with other area teams."
Perennial state power Lakeland dominated its home meet, placing four skiers in the top five in both the boys' and girls' divisions. However, Rhinelander was in the mix for best of the rest.
Junior Zach Goodrich and senior Levi Smith led the boys' varsity for Rhinelander, completing the 4.6-kilometer skate race in almost identical times. Goodrich was seventh overall with a time of 14 minutes, 0.3 seconds. Smith was eighth, only 0.3 seconds behind.
"We have the same dynamic on the boys' team with Zach Goodrich and Levi Smith," Wood said. "They're going to battle it out and there's always another two or three that are trying to catch up to those two."
Junior Daniel Goldsworthy finished 11th overall for Rhinelander (14:30.9), Kyle Morien was 14th (14:55.5), Nicholas St. Pierre was 15th (14:59.9) and Breckin Younker rounded out the boys' varsity in 17th (15:16.5).
Sophomore Anna Wood led the Hodag girls, taking eighth overall with a time of 16:20.7 and junior Megan Lester built upon a breakout performance in the team's scrimmage against Wausau East/West in Rhinelander Dec. 7. She was ninth overall at 16:25.6.
"This year she's crept up to the top of the Rhinelander girls," coach Wood said. "I think throughout the year you're going to have her competing with Anna Wood and there's about three or four other girls that are going to creep up on the two of them. I see them pushing each other."
Gwyneth Lowry (14th, 17:19.2), Abbey Henrichs (15th, 17:19.6), Emma Germain (17th, 17:29.4), Liana Teter (18th, 17:45.4), Valerie Dalka (20th, 18:26.4) and Jenna Younker (21st, 19:29.2) rounded out the Hodag varsity.
Team-wise, Rhinelander edged Hayward by six points for the runner-up spot in the boys' division while Hayward beat Rhinelander by 11 points for second in the girls' division. Wausau East/West was fourth in both races and Iola did not have the minimum three skiers to field a qualifying team in either division.
"Overall, this was one of the best finishes Rhinelander has been able to put together early in the Nordic ski season," Wood said. "The Lakeland Invite usually does not draw as many teams as some of the bigger races, but the teams that were competing were quality teams from the northern part of the state. Something that stands out with the JV and varsity squads is their willingness to fight as a group and push each other all the way through the race. The impressive team scores reflect this attitude."
Rhinelander also finished second and third, respectively, in the JV boys' and girls' team standings. Will Rutkowski (15:17.7) was fifth to lead the RHS boys while freshman Grace Berger took third (17:06.6) in the JV girls' race.
"I think the kids, as teams getting on the podium and as individuals, I think that's going to spur them on to work harder at practice," Wood said. "I think they've had a little taste of success. I think our varsity boys and varsity girls standing next to some of the better teams in our area might give them some incentive to work a little harder."
Rhinelander's next race will take place Saturday, Jan. 4 in the Donut Dash dual against 4H-Canski. The race is slated to be held at the Win-Man Trails in northwestern Vilas County.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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