January 20, 2020 at 12:25 p.m.
Up to the challenge
RHS skiers improve on last year's finish at Hodag Nordic Challenge
Up to the challenge
Sixteen teams and roughly 190 high school skiers took part in the 2020 Ascension Hodag Nordic Challenge at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.
The Hodags finished in the middle of the pack in the two-day event, placing eighth in the girls' division and ninth in the boys' division.
"Obviously, we're climbing the ranks," Rhinelander coach Charil Reis said. "The boys moved up one spot and the girls moved up two spots over last year for varsity teams. I can't be anything but happy with that. We're moving in the right direction still."
Junior Zach Goodrich had a strong weekend for the Hodag boys, placing in the top quarter of the varsity field, 16th overall, with a two-day pursuit time of 36 minutes, 54.9 seconds. Goodrich was 14th following Saturday's 5-kilometer skate races (18:24.1) before dropping back a couple of spots in the overall pursuit with the 24th-fastest classic time in the field (18:31.3).
"We've never had anyone place as high in recent history as Zach Goodrich on the varsity squad," Reis said. "I don't think you could have torn the smile off of Zach's face (Saturday). He had such a good race. The endorphins were going afterward. He was all set to have a banner race (Sunday) too and maybe maintain or get a little faster on the field. Unfortunately, I think we had a little bit of a wax pocket snafu with his skis. But Zach's not the kind of guy to let it keep him down. He'll just pick up his skis tomorrow, putting them back on and get after it."
Sophomore Kyle Morien had a strong weekend to end up the second-highest finisher on the Hodag squad, placing 32nd overall (38:48.3). Senior Levi Smith finished 36th (39:35.0), Daniel Goldsworthy was 51st (42.09.5), Breckin Younker was 52nd (42:21.8) and Nicholas St. Pierre finished 53rd (42:45.3) among the 65 varsity skiers.
"Levi Smith had a great Hodag Challenge for his last one," Reis said. "Kyle had a great day (Saturday). Kyle was flying fast. He seems to be starting to come into his own, for sure."
Sophomore Anna Wood continued to pace the Hodag girls, placing 29th overall (46:27.5). Fellow sophomore Liana Teter was 34th (47:45.7), senior Valerie Dalka was 48th (25:19.8), junior Gwyneth Lowry finished 40th (50:11.2) and senior Jenna Younker, thanks to the 33rd-fastest classic time, passed 16 skiers on Sunday, on her way to a 41st-place finish (50:11.8).
"Jenna Younker, she hasn't had that good of a classic race in quite some time," Reis said. "To be 33rd on the day, only four spots behind Anna Wood, that's commendable. This is her last Hodag Challenge. She's a senior. She'll be graduating and I'm really happy for her to be able to pull that together and put together such a good race today.
"Anna had a great classic day and Liana had a decent classic day. Fortieth (in classic) is still good. There's quite a few ladies out there."
Also skiing on varsity for the Hodag girls, Megan Lester finished 42nd (50:20.5), Abbey Henrichs was 45th (51:03.0) and Emma Germain was 53rd (54:09.0).
In general, the Hodags boys fared better, comparative to the field, in Saturday's freestyle race, while the Hodag girls posted better results in Sunday's classic race. Goodrich, Morien, Smith, Goldsworthy and Breckin Younker all placed higher in Saturday's freestyle. Wood, Dalka, Lowry, Jenna Younker and Henrichs all picked up spots in Sunday's classic.
"I actually had a coach from Wausau East/West come up to me and say, 'Your skiers are skiing so well,'" Reis said. "No one had every really come up and said that about our team. I attribute that to the fact that we've been able to break out in our practices and focus on our varsity separate from our JV because (each set of skiers) has different things we need to work on and correct."
Tricky conditions met the skiers over the weekend. Snow fell during both events, on top of the accumulation that the Northwoods received late Friday night and early Saturday morning, which made waxing a challenge.
"The conditions (Saturday) were quite challenging, but they were something everyone had to deal with," Reis said. "I think, throughout the day the course did get a little firmer because the temperature started to drop but, initially, everyone had to deal with quite a bit of mashed potatoes. The course stayed set for maybe the first 20 skiers or so that went through and, after that, it got torn up pretty good."
The weekend provided the last strong gauge of where the Hodags stand in the state ranks prior to the WNSL state championships in Cable Feb. 8-9. The majority of the teams in the field were WNSL squads and Reis said the team will need to bear down to reach their goals for this year's state meet.
"The guys, they've really got to focus," she said. "They're going to be up against about 13-15 teams at state and their goal is seventh. They want to be seventh this year, and so do the girls. We definitely need to keep pursuing that speed that's so elusive, but I'm kind of hopeful."
Including middle school competitors, the weekend races at CAVOC brought in more than 300 skiers and the course was once again met with rave reviews.
"It's just a wonderful place to have a meet, it's interesting terrain and we put a lot of effort into it," Reis said.
Reis thanked the volunteers from the Northwoods Nordic Ski Club for putting on another successful race.
"It was an extraordinary success and I say that in terms of how many skiers were able to attend and the effort of the club to be able to pull it off," Reis said. "Brian Hegge, our race director, has a (volunteer) sign up and there were 150 slots to fill to make sure the weekend went off without a hitch. All of our club members, all of our parents and all of our friends stepped up and made it happen. Not one spot went unfilled. The collaborative effort of all those people is just nothing short of extraordinary."
Rhinelander is scheduled to be back in action this weekend, taking part in the Badger State Games in Wausau.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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