October 7, 2020 at 1:22 p.m.
RHS boys finish 2nd at Pines
RHS boys finish 2nd at Pines
Cal Laggis set a personal-best time in a runner-up finish as the Hodag boys finished second in the five-team Northland Pines GNC invitational in Eagle River.
Laggis was one of four Hodags who medaled by placing in the top 10 on the boys' side in the weather-plagued event.
The boys were able to finish their race in the rain, but a couple of lightning delays eventually forced officials to scrap the girls' race.
Laggis was fast on the relatively flat course that loops around the Northland Pines athletic complex. He completed five kilometers in 17 minutes, 27.7 seconds, taking roughly 15 seconds off his previous best 5K time. He finished 12.3 seconds behind race winner Joey Sullivan of Medford.
Daniel Goldsworthy, Cody Ruetz and Jack DeNamur finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively for the Hodags, all with times under 19:30. Travis White was Rhinelander's fifth runner in 24th. Jake Losch was 29th and AJ Gillespie was 31st.
"Cal had a real strong race, PRed, finished second behind Sullivan from Medford," coach M.J. Laggis said. "Daniel Goldsworthy, outstanding race tonight. He was seventh overall, I believe. Then we had two other top 10s with Cody Ruetz and Jack DeNamur. Jack really had a nice finish to the race, so did Cody Ruetz and I can't say enough about Daniel Goldsworthy improving at the right time right now."
Rhinelander finished four points behind Medford for first place, and would have likely won the event if not for a mishap on trail that caused the Hodags' No. 2 runner, Jaden Beske, to retire from the race. Coach Laggis said Beske fell during the race and tweaked his ankle, forcing the retirement.
As it was, Medford edged Rhinelander 39-43 for the title. Northland Pines was third, followed by a short-handed Lakeland squad. Antigo did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
"Lakeland had a couple of kids not running with quarantine and we were down Ty Welk and we were also down Jaden Beske, who went down in the woods and sprained his ankle, got carted off," coach Laggis said. "That was a big loss for us."
Tuesday's event marked the second time in four years that the girls' division of the Northland Pines Invite was affected by thunderstorms. In 2017, the girls' race was stopped with the runners on course and Rhinelander's Alayna Franson leading with roughly a mile remaining, when lightning flashed to the north of the Northland Pines campus.
"I really feel bummed for the girls," coach Laggis said. "They were ready to go. I've watched them grow as a group so much in a lot of different ways. I wanted them to race tonight because we really felt, as coaches, they might have a breakout night as a group. We'll see what they do next week."
The Hodags head to Tomahawk next Thursday for the Great Northern Conference championship meet at Edgewater Country Club.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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