April 26, 2021 at 9:15 a.m.
Team preview: RHS track & field
Hodags look to show off speed to GNC
Team preview: RHS track & field
"The first meet's like Christmas. You really don't know what you're getting and you're excited to see everything," he said.
Numbers are down for the team this year compared to two seasons ago, with a few more than 30 boys and few less than 20 girls out for the squad. Kraemer attributed that to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled the 2020 season, caused changes and limitations in other sports this school year and pushed the track season three weeks later into the summer than usual.
"Numbers are down, but the kids that are here are working their butts off and I can't wait to see them compete," he said.
The Hodags graduated a number of the boys who factored into the 2019 Great Northern Conference championship - the RHS track program's first conference title since 1967. Overall, Rhinelander returns a pair of state qualifiers in junior sprinter Caleb Olcikas and senior jumper Rebecca Lawrence. The team returns three other sectional qualifiers and one other all-conference recipient from 2019.
Just because the Hodags lost most of their state-qualifying boys' 4x100- and 4x200-meter relays teams from two years ago, doesn't mean there isn't any speed in reserve.
Olcikas, who was part of the Hodags' fifth-place finish at state in the 4x200, will be the center of the attention in the sprint events. He also placed in the top eight in both the 100 and 200 at regionals as a freshman and has only gotten faster since. In practice last week, Olcikas posted three consecutive 0.99-second fly 10-meter times - a measure of an athlete's top speed - which equates to roughly 22.6 MPH.
"Caleb's running great fly 10s right now and really showing his true speed," Kraemer said, noting Olcikas has also added long jump to his resume this year. "I think he's someone where track is the sport for him. He's a really, really well-rounded talent in track and field. He's someone who's going to be competing for the tops in the 100 and 200 and someone who will either anchor our 4x1 team or be somebody in that mix."
The other all-conference athlete returning on the boys' side is junior hurdler Cole Worrall. He was the conference runner-up in the 110 hurdles, and finished third in the 300 hurdles as a freshman. He went on to qualify for sectionals in both events.
"When I look at Cole, I see someone who has untapped potential." Kraemer said. "He has a 16 or 15 (-second time in the 110 hurdles) in him and he could be even faster than that by the end of the year, and could even factor in, in the short-sprint relays too. He's that fast."
From there, the Hodag boys figure to have several fast underclassmen, as well as some upperclassmen who are new to the sport. Sophomores Daniel Gillingham, Brandon Eckrich and Cody Ruetz all topped out at more than 20 MPH in the fly 10s, as did seniors Jacques Tulowitzky, Ross Skeen and Jackson Labs.
"I look at the veteran guys coming out - Ross Skeen, Jackson Labs, Jacques Tulowitzky - who had some great winters and falls," Kraemer said. "Now they're coming out for our sports and they're fitting in, in multiple places and trying out multiple new things in the long jump and sprint races."
On the girls' side, Lawrence - the D2 state runner up in the high jump two years ago - is back for one more run. But expect to see her in other events as well, as her average fly 10 speed of 18.34 MPH is tied for second-fastest on the team.
"I can't wait to see Rebecca in the high jump again," Kraemer said. "When I look back at the season that we lost, it's (not) seeing her progress and then the senior guys we lost that year. Getting to see her jump again has been great. Other than her jumping, she's very, very fast, too. I look to see her kind of work into some of those sprint events."
Junior sprinters Sage Flory and Megan Brown, both of whom were on the team's sectional-qualifying 4x100 relay two years ago, also return. Flory also qualified for sectionals in the 200 as a freshman and placed in the top eight at conference in both the 100 and the 200.
"I think with (Lawrence), Sage and Megan Brown and some of the other young girls that are running (we'll be OK). Kyleah Hartman has impressed me. Genna Fugle has impressed me," Kraemer said.
Add to that mix junior Emma Germain, who may be the team's most versatile athlete. As a freshman, she placed fifth at conference in the triple jump and eighth in the 400. She was looking to try the throwing events last year prior to the cancellation of the season and, this year, Kraemer said she's looking to dabble in other events.
"This year, she came in and said, 'I want to try hurdles,' so she's trying hurdling now. She can literally do everything and it's up to her what she wants to focus on," he said.
Kraemer said the boys' distance crew will be led by senior Daniel Goldsworthy and junior Jaden Beske. Senior Ali DeNamur and junior Ellie Van Camp are expected to pace the girls' distance crew.
Brock Snyder will be the most experienced of the throwers on the boys' side, while Abby Swanson and Lizzy Snyder are expected to handle the throwing events on the girls' side.
Things kick off from a competition standpoint today for the Hodags in Ashland. The event is scheduled to be the team's only indoor meet of the year. Rhinelander is back in Ashland next Thursday for an outdoor meet and has six other competitions scheduled prior to the Great Northern Conference meet, hosted by Northland Pines High School in Eagle River June 8.
"Right now we're just building technique," Kraemer said. "A lot of athletes are brand new to track and they're learning how to sprint the right way, and how to jump the right way. They're learning a lot fo physics and a lot of chemistry, which is good for them to understand the sport. But (the goal is) to be as solid as we can for tournament time."
As for the conference, Kraemer said it's hard to handicap which teams will be strongest following two years off but, based on the athletes they tend to produce, he expects a couple of Rhinelander's main conference rivals in other sports this year to be strong.
"Those guys down in Mosinee, they're great athletes. They're well coached. They're going to have a great team," he said. "Medford's always got a competitive team and a great distance program that you can never look by. Lakeland has the history and always seems to be solid. I don't want to disparage anyone else in our conference, because everybody else has great teams too, but those are the teams we're looking to beat and those are the teams we want to make sure we're with."
Though there is a WIAA D2 regional meet in Rhinelander this June, the Hodags will not be part of it. That's because the Hodags have bumped back up to Division 1 this year and have been assigned to an eight-team regional at D.C. Everest that includes all seven schools in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.
"We anticipate it, but we also look at it as an unbelievable challenge for us positively," he said. "We get to see the best in the state when we go to D1. Again, I don't want to disparage the D2 kids, because there are great D2 runners and athletes, but you see the best of the best in our regional and our sectional. You see D.C. Everest and the Wausau schools and all the Valley teams in that D1 regional. It's a challenge.
"My only regret, my only problem is now we get a host a regional here in Rhinelander and we don't get to run in it."
The Hodags do get to compete in one meet this spring at Mike Webster Stadium. They will host an invitational Thursday, May 13.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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