January 27, 2020 at 12:31 p.m.
Nordic skiers rack up Badger State Games medals
Nordic skiers rack up Badger State Games medals
A smaller field, a strong ski setup and some fast performances led to a number of medals for the Hodag skiers at Nine Mile Forest in Wausau.
The day included the top overall finishes for the Hodag boys in the 7-kilometer classic, 7-kilometer freestyle and 10-kilometer classic races, and 12 medals overall for the high school squad for finishing within the top three in their age groups.
"I think we counted up 19 total medals today for the Hodags, by far our best event ever and, yes, there were other teams present," Reis said, counting an additional seven medals won by Rhinelander in the 4-kilometer middle school races.
Senior Nicholas St. Pierre had his best run of the season for Rhinelander in the morning's 7-kilometer classic race. He led most of the way and was the overall champion, completing the race in 25 minutes, 19.2 seconds.
"I couldn't be happier for him," Reis said. "It's never happened to him and he was just overjoyed. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. It was really good and it just snowballing from there, at the risk of using a terrible pun. It really did."
The strong results kept coming throughout the morning. Kyle Morien finished fifth overall in the 7K classic, and third in the 13-16 age group (26:16.7). Levi Smith was eighth overall (27:48.5) and Breckin Younker was 11th (28:44.5).
The Hodags had three girls medal in the 7K classic, led by Gwyneth Lowry, who finished fourth overall and third in the 13-16 age group (29:10.1). Valerie Dalka took fifth overall (29:32.9) and Jenna Younker was eighth (30:40.0) to finish second and third, respectively, in the 17-19 age group.
"Gwyn had a banner day. She looked really strong coming across the finish," Reis noted.
The strong performances carried over to the afternoon's 7K freestyle session. Zach Goodrich led a 1-2-4 overall finish for the Hodag boys with a time of 20:27.6. Daniel Goldsworthy finished second (21:16.2) and Morien, fresh off a fifth-place finish in the morning, took fourth in the afternoon (22:08.8).
Anna Wood recovered from what Reis described as some breathing issues in a 21st-place finish in the morning classic race to finish second overall in the girls' 7K skate, and tops in the 13-16 age group with a time of 24:54.6. Megan Lester was third overall and second in the 13-16 age group (25:20.6) and Abbey Henrichs was seventh overall and third in the 17-19 age group (25:57.1).
"All I said today is 'You all have a real opportunity here today. You know what I'm saying?' They all smiled and nodded their heads," Reis said. "I watched the boys go off and Zach just took off in the lead and the same with Anna. They just weren't going to look behind them."
Part of the reason the Hodags had an opportunity to fare well was the fact that Reis said she felt the team nailed the setup of the skis with the proper combination of waxes to handle tricky snow conditions.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Rhinelander had better kick than 90 percent of the field, including all of the adult racers," she said. "We were pretty lucky that we got a good day of kick in, even in those conditions ... It was a really good collaborative effort from us, as coaches to get the kick and glide right."
Another reason the Hodags fared well was the fact that the Badger State Games competed against a Junior National Qualifier event in Cable on Saturday that attracted the majority of the top high school skiers on the WNSL circuit.
"Our kids aren't blind. They know they weren't racing a lot of the same people that they're used to seeing at places like the Hodag Challenge or who they'll be skiing against at the Northern Conference meet on Tuesday," Reis said. "They do realize how beneficial it is to get another race in under their belts and what it feels like to be on top of the podium and that they deserved to be there and that they should give themselves permission to be there. They earned it. They showed up and they earned it. I couldn't be prouder of the team today. They really represented themselves very, very well. It was a great day overall."
Travis White and Emma Germain went a longer route than their teammates, both opting to take part in the 10K citizens classic race on Saturday. White won the 10K with a time of 42:25.3 while Germain finished second overall with a time of 48:23.2.
The Hodags compete in the Northern Conference race today at the OO Trails near Hayward that serve as part of the race course for the American Birkebeiner ski race.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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