February 22, 2019 at 11:01 a.m.
Nordic ski team hands out letters
Nordic ski team hands out letters
Participation and results have been on the rise over the last few seasons for the Hodags, which was underscored by the number of varsity letters the team handed out and what athletes had to do to earn those letters. Sixteen of the team's 24 members lettered this season. The program had only 16 athletes in total a season ago.
Many of the same criteria for lettering remained in place this season - including attendance requirements, goal-setting and a positive attitude - but coach Charil Reis added an incentive of placing in the to 60 percent in either an individual race or the overall pursuit at the WNSL state meet.
"That's to help us get through the transition of what we've done in the past and what we need to do now to push us further along," she explained during the banquet. "I can't promise it will stay the same next year, but this is a transitional year as to where we are in the process."
Only a couple of skiers reached that last goal last season. This year 15 skiers cracked the top 60 percent in at least one race and eight skiers were in the top 60 percent of both individual races and the overall pursuit.
"We're doing exceptionally well. I'm ecstatic with these results. Some of you made the 60-percent cut both days, some of you one day. Some of you fought through illness or whatever," Reis said. "There were some major improvements in the guys rankings. Better than half of the field of Hodag boys were better than 60 percent at state."
Letter winners included freshmen Emma Germain, Anna Wood, Liana Teter and Kyle Morien; sophomores Abigale Henrichs, Gwyneth Lowry, Daniel Goldsworthy and Zach Goodrich; juniors Levi Smith, Nicholas St. Pierre, Breckin Younker, Jenna Younker, Jaylen Janssen and Valerie Dalka; and seniors Emma Hjelle and Emma Roberts. Both Hjelle and Roberts leave the program as four-time letter winners.
Reis characterized the season as a "truly wild ride" during the banquet - mainly due to the number of curveballs thrown at the team by Mother Nature. Every scheduled race during the month of January was either altered or canceled all together due to weather - be it a lack of sufficient snow at the beginning of the month or a bitter cold snap at the end of the month.
Regardless, the Hodags improved quite a bit during the season. Both Rhinelander squads placed 11th at the WNSL state meet. The RHS girls were 12th of 12 teams last year while the Hodag boys were 13th of 16 teams. Several skiers improved in excess of 25 positions from their placement at state last year.
"Look at how were performed at state, given the fact that we missed 30 percent of our races this season," Reis said. "It goes to show how much effort you put in at the practices, how much you paid attention to the admonishment of the coaches and really put your heads down and skied harder when it mattered."
Two of those skiers were honored with the team's most improved awards. Goodrich leapt from 77th to 38th in the overall standings on the boys' side. Hjelle rose from 83rd in last year's classic race at state to 39th this year, and 54th in the overall pursuit. Hjelle missed last year's freestyle race at state due to illness.
Reis named cousins Breckin and Jenna Younker as team captains for next season and pushed the squad to build on the momentum of this year's campaign.
"I think you have to ask, personally, where to go from here," she said. "You can't just have success and forget about it. You have to grab the momentum that it creates and go now. It can't wait."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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