March 15, 2019 at 4:02 p.m.
A flying start
Sprinters shine for Hodag track in opening meet
A flying start
The interesting thing is the Hodags' sprinting core may have gotten faster in the offseason, and it has definitely gotten deeper.
The Hodags excelled in the sprint events Thursday as they placed second in the boys' division of the Wisconsin Rapids Indoor Quadrangular at the Lincoln High School fieldhouse. The Hodags won six events on the day on the boys' side. The Hodag girls added a number of top-five finishes as they placed third in the four-team meet.
"We won a lot of event in both the girls' and the boys' (divisions)," coach Aaron Kraemer said. "It might not show up in the points, because it's unlimited entries, but to have won so many events on both sides of this meet, against schools that are very competitive. It's a great start for us."
The Hodags stole the show in the sprinting events, placing five runners in the top seven of the 50-meter dash, sweeping the top two spots in the 4-lap (4x133) relay and adding a win in the 4x200 relay.
Heading into the meet, Kraemer said the plan was to take the team's four fastest runners, based on 40-yard dash times in practice, and stick them together as a team in the 4-lap. Additionally he took the next four fastest in the 40 to form a B relay in the event. The two squad dusted the field. The A squad of senior Josh Francisco, senior Anthony Kowalski, junior Nick Kriesel and freshman Caleb Olcikas won the event with a time of 1 minute, 9.47 seconds, 1.32 seconds ahead of the Rhinelander quartet of junior Drake Martin, junior Peyton Erikson, freshman Beau Howard and freshman Jaden Beske. Reedsburg finished third, 2.19 seconds off the pace.
"This meet was let get them all together and see how fast they can go," Kraemer said. "They impressed. They pulled away against a good team. That's encouraging. We'll see how their handoffs go outside, because it was all statue handoffs today. We'll see what happens when we get on a longer track and get outside with that because that's a big deal for the 4x1, but they did a great job tonight just gelling together and finish the race."
Kriesel and Olcikas were also on the winning 4x200 team (1:48.36), with junior Daniel Ritchie and freshman Alexx Huff.
Kowalski led the Hodag sprinters in the 50, tying for second with a time of 6.45 seconds, and added a win in the 400 (58.52). Kriesel was fourth, Olcikas and Francisco tied for fifth and senior AJ Kopplin was seventh.
"It's a bunch of kids competing against each other," Kraemer said. "We'd come in during the offseason and work on 40s and fly 10s. These guys, they called each other and said, 'Hey, I need you to get here and see how fast you are.' That's led by Anthony. He's taken a leadership role on this team that, if you would have asked me (his) sophomore year, I might have said, 'I don't know.' But he's starting the season as someone I can trust that he's going to continue to push all these athletes."
Some of Rhinelander's known commodities from last year came out of the gate strong. Martin won the boys' shot put, while Kopplin and Rebecca Lawrence swept the boys' and girls' high jump wins for the Hodags.
Martin's first toss of the day was his best, throwing 43 feet, 9 1/2 inches. He won the event by more than two feet.
"Drake would tell you he didn't have his best day today. But I would tell you I'm proud of what he threw and it's a win," Kraemer said. "That's what it is. He's just going to continue to push himself to get 45, 46, 47, 48 (feet). He wants to get into the deep 40s and into the 50s. That's his goal and he's the ultimate competitor."
Kopplin went 5-10 in the boys' high jump. Lawrence cleared 4-10 on the girls' side. That matched the personal-best mark she set last year in Rapids as a freshman and tied later in the season at the GNC meet.
"Rebecca, she's the ultimate coachable type athlete. She listened to a lot of coaching today. She made a few changes," Kraemer said. "Rebecca, she wanted to get going early and get over a few heights."
Freshman Cole Worrall also broke into the winner's circle for the Hodags, taking the 50-meter hurdles (8.45 seconds).
"The thing that impresses me about him is he's gone to the high hurdles and the height has not affected him," Kraemer said. "He's got good hip height, good lean and a good finish - and he had a very unexceptional start today, I would say. He fought through that and finished with a win."
Rhinelander added a third-place finish in the boys' 4x400 with the team of Calvin Schneider, Aden Bergman, Ty Welk and Beske. Schneider was also fifth in the high jump, Ritchie took fifth in the 400 and Will Swanson was fifth in the 50 hurdles.
On the girls' side, Rhinelander scored runner-up finishes in both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Junior Kendra Durkee, freshman Lily Sneller, junior Morgan Johnson and freshman Sage Flory made up the runner-up squad in the 4x200. It was Lawrence, Durkee, freshman Emma Germain and freshman Megan Brown for the Hodags in the 4x400.
Flory added a third-place run for the Hodags in the 50 while the Hodags took third in the 4x133 with Germain, Sneller, Durkee and Beth Theilman. Johnson was fourth in the 50 hurdles, Jackie Wells took fourth in the shot put and Germain finish fifth in the 400.
"I was excited to watch the 50 for the girls and get times on all of them," Kraemer noted. "I think now we have a chance to put our relays in and know what we have in our relays and open events. I saw Megan Brown (sixth) go really low in the 50. I saw Lily Sneller competing today."
The Hodags are back in action Tuesday at Lakeland. Kraemer noted the team will have a lighter contingent for the meet, which falls during Rhinelander's spring break.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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