September 14, 2020 at 8:07 a.m.
Cross country: Results repeat themselves for RHS in home race
Cross country: Results repeat themselves for RHS in home race
For the second meet in a row, the Hodag boys finished third and the Hodag girls were fourth as six of the seven Great Northern Conference schools gathered for a meet Thursday hosted by Rhinelander at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.
The team results mirrored a Sept. 3 race hosted by Mosinee at Nine-Mile Forest in Wausau in which every GNC school except Tomahawk participated.
Rhinelander was a little closer to the front this time around, especially on the boys' side, finishing only 10 points behind meet winner Medford. The Hodags were so close, coach M.J. Laggis said he could practically taste the results.
"We're not that far away," he said. "It's like we're cutting the pepperoni. We're dicing up the onions. We're slicing the mushrooms and grating the cheese. We just can't get it all on the pizza. But we keep getting closer."
Junior Cal Laggis finished one spot better than he did at Nine-Mile, taking third place overall for the Hodag boys, who placed six runners in the top 21 overall. Senior Abbey Henrichs led a tightly-packed RHS girls' contingent in 14th place. Rhinelander's top five runners Thursday were separated by only nine places, and less than 48 seconds.
Cal Laggis covered the undulating 5K course at CAVOC in 19 minutes, 10.1 seconds, with was roughly 1:05 behind winner Joey Sullivan of Medford. Northland Pines' Sam Gremban came across second, roughly 17 seconds ahead of Laggis, who has established himself as one of the GNC's top runners on the boys' side.
"I was happy. He started out running fifth, and then fourth and he made a push to third," coach Laggis said. "He couldn't catch Gremban and certainly couldn't catch Sullivan from Medford, but he was right on the heel steps of Gremban. There were two really good runners right in front of him. He's entrenched as a returning all-conference first teamer and he's got to prove it now every single week."
Jaden Beske was second across the line for Rhinelander in 12th overall (20:43.8), followed by Ty Welk in 13th (20:59.3). Sophomore Cody Ruetz, racing out of the slowest of the four waves in Thursday's race, placed 16th (21:28.2). Daniel Goldsworthy (20th, 22:04.7), Jack DeNamur (21st, 22:06.7) and Jake Losch (27th, 22:43.7) rounded out the Hodags' top seven.
"I'm happy with our improvement," coach Laggis said. "We got a third out of Cal. He ran a really, really good race. Jaden Beske at 12th was right there. Ty Welk in 13th and then Cody Ruetz and Daniel Goldsworthy. We're not that far away. We've just got to get faster in all ways."
Rhinelander's top three finishers on the girls' side were clocked at only seven seconds apart. Henrichs came across 14th at 24:25.6, Ali DeNamur was 15th at 24:28.8 and freshman Leah Jamison was 16th at 24:32.8. Emma Germain was only a short distance behind those three in 18th at 24:49.4
"Abbey Henrichs, she's getting close. She's going to medal soon, I can feel it," coach Laggis said. "She's getting faster. Ali DeNamur is just a solid workhorse. Leah Jamison is climbing that ladder fast for a freshman and I'm so proud of the way Emma Germain's coming on. That's really good."
Ella Schiek in 23rd (25:18.1), Juliana Smith in 25th (25:38.7) and Sage Flory in 28th (26:58.1) rounded out the scoring for the Hodag girls.
Thursday's race was held out at CAVOC, instead of the Hodags' typical venue in front of RHS in part due to the need to have a race course with fewer intersecting points and due to construction of a JV baseball field on part of the RHS course.
Recent trail upgrades at CAVOC have made the course more accommodating for cross country running and skiing races, but the hilly terrain makes it one of the most demanding courses in the conference.
"It's nice and wide. It's a great starting area. It's a cool finishing area. It's a great setup. The only issue, and the one that you're going to hear, is that it's a billy goat up and down course," Laggis said. "It is hard. I'm asking the coaches if they've been on a harder course and I haven't heard a yes yet."
Laggis said he was thankful for the work his assistant coach, Mellisa Krueger and her husband, Dave, put in for course and meet preparation. Rhinelander will host a second meet at CAVOC Oct. 1 with Tomahawk, Three Lakes and Ashland scheduled to attend.
The Hodags are back in action today in a five-team race hosted by Lakeland at Minocqua Winter Park.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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