October 26, 2020 at 9:59 a.m.
Health-plagued Hodag harriers end season at subsectionals
Health-plagued Hodag harriers end season at subsectionals
The Hodags had seven varsity runners, including six on the boys' side, sidelined due to health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday as they took part in a weather-delayed WIAA Division 1 subsectional race at Medford.
That left Rhinelander with only four healthy runners on the boys' side - one fewer than the minimum required to qualify for a team score. The Hodags were down senior team captain Abbey Henrichs on the girls' side as they ran to a seventh-place finish in the nine-team field.
"It's not the ending that we wanted, but it was an ending and we got to have a season," said coach M.J. Laggis, whose team became the third RHS fall sport to reach the conclusion of a pandemic-compressed season. "That's about what we could have hoped for. That just left an empty feeling. Yeah, there was some closure that we had a season, but it was awfully empty on that side."
Along with Henrichs, seniors Daniel Goldsworthy and Jake Losch were denied a chance to compete in their final high school race.
"It's just a real bummer like a kid like that, a captain and a leader on our team like that, didn't get to run today," coach M.J. Laggis said, referring to Henrichs. "This isn't how we envisioned things ending for us. I think (assistant) coach (Melissa) Krueger and I both thought we were going to get a horse or two to the state tournament before it was all said and done, but that's not the case. Give those boys a lot of credit and I feel terrible for those that couldn't run today."
The number of students and teachers in the School District of Rhinelander in close-contact quarantine due to COVID-19 reached 185, according to district superintendent Eric Burke's weekly address Wednesday. Burke said there were 16 active COVID-19 cases within the district as of last Wednesday.
Junior Jaden Beske, back in the lineup after being scratched from the GNC meet due to health concerns, was Rhinelander's top finisher on Wednesday, finishing 19th overall in a time of 19 minutes, 13 seconds. That ended up being nine places, and 30 seconds off qualifying for sectionals. The top two teams plus the five fastest individuals not on a qualifying team advanced to Saturday's sectional race in Chippewa Falls.
Jack DeNamur finished 39th in the race (20:16), Travis White was 54th (21:32) and Jason Zheng finished 58th (22:20).
"It was very difficult for us, for the whole group, to lose the volume of boys that we lost here down the stretch and to not have your seniors - Jake Losch and Daniel Goldsworthy - running, and to not have Cody Ruetz, and Cal (Laggis) and Ty Welk and AJ (Gillespie). To lose all those guys was very difficult," coach Laggis said. "We're really lucky that we Jason Zheng step up and run varsity for us today, and Jack DeNamur had a very good race and showed a lot of character. I can't say enough about Jaden Beske. He just brought everything that he has, like he does every single day. Travis White really stepped up too and had a nice race."
Senior Ali DeNamur paced the RHS girls' squad in 21st place with a time of 22:29. She ended up missing sectionals by nine places and 1 minute, 14 seconds.
"Ali DeNamur, she is just the definition of an everyday plugger like I've said before," coach Laggis said. "I'm so proud of her. She runs through anything. She runs through any adversity that you throw at her - not that Abbey doesn't either because she does - but the conditions today, that's typical Ali DeNamur. She wasn't even fazed by it. She just went out and ran right through it and just has a fantastic attitude."
Freshman Leah Jamison was second-fastest for Rhinelander in 26th overall (22:47), senior Ella Schiek finished 35th (23:04), Emma Germain was 39th (23:14), Juliana Smith was 43rd (23:16), Audrey Schiek finished 54th (24:40) and Eva Hetland finished 57th (25:06).
"I'm very proud of Ella Schiek that she got better the second half of the season, for sure, and we felt like she really started to show some leadership," coach Laggis noted. "Coach Krueger pointed it out, she had a fantastic finish today. She worked really well and hard at the end."
The subsectional race was postponed one day due to the snowstorm that hit the westerner and northern parts of the state with the first significant accumulating snow of the winter season. Though the weather was tamer on Wednesday, the remnants of the storm made for a tricky race around the Medford High School campus.
In another change due to the COVID-19 situation, Wednesday's race was split into two separate heats. Wausau West, Wausau West, D.C. Everest, Marshfield and Mosinee competed in the first wave, which started at approximately 1 p.m. The five schools competed and were off the premises by the time the other four schools - Medford, Lakeland, Merrill and Rhinelander - arrived for the 4 p.m. wave.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.