December 6, 2021 at 9:14 a.m.
Hodag girls take first in Nordic opener
Hodag girls take first in Nordic opener
The Hodags placed four skiers in the top 10 and edged out Ice Age Nordic on a tiebreaker to win the ABR Opener at the ABR/Wolverine Trails in Ironwood, Mich.
Reis said the aha moment came this past Thursday at practice when the team leaders -Liana Teter, Callie Threlkeld and Anna Wood - approached her to discuss the team's prospects of taking first in the team standings on Saturday.
"That sentiment has never been uttered since I started coaching with either my girls or my boys teams," Reis said. "I thought right there I could retire a happy woman. That's not something you can teach somebody. That has to come from within and they figured out their confidence level, based on how they skied last year, and they're seniors now, that they can go out and actually win some titles here."
Even with Threlkeld experiencing a fall that cost her a few positions on the course, the Hodags did just enough to get the team title. Wood led the way, covering the 5-kilometer freestyle course in 18 minutes, 31.9 seconds to finish third in the field of 22 skiers. Liana Teter was right on her heels in fourth, just 1.5 seconds back. Freshman Brynn Teter, Liana's younger sister, rounded out the scoring trio for Rhinelander, placing sixth at 19:17.2.
Threlkeld wound up 10th for the Hodags, Juliana Smith was 12th and Olivia Gillen finished 13th.
"All they've got to do is ski hard and ski hard for each other," Reis said. "That's exactly what they did today, the entire girls' team did. If it hadn't been for Brynn coming up and helping taking that spot that Callie left vacant because she fell, we may not have won that trophy today. That's the power of team. We're finally seeing that happen and it's been eight years in the making. I'm so excited to see them band together like that and really get after a goal in such a unified manor."
Rhinelander did not have enough skier to qualify for a team score on the boys' side. Travis White recovered from a series of early spills fo finish 11th in a field of 21 at 18:15.9. Teammate Charlie Loomis checked in 12th, 21 seconds further back.
"Travis made a little bit of comeback and pass back a few people, but it's really hard when you fall hard to come back, get your mind reorganized and get your breathing back under control," Reis said. "I was really happy that Travis was able to pull himself together, reel in a couple of guys again and finish how he did. He looked strong at the finish and Charlie was right on his heels.
"I think those two have a very promising season ahead of them. I wish we had more guys pushing them from the perspective of just having a younger squad coming up, but we'll work on them. We'll get them faster."
It was the team's first time on snow since the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League state championships last March. There was not enough snow locally for the team to practice on the trails prior to the race - something that changed following Sunday's winter storm.
Reis said the anticipation of getting back on the trails after racing only four times last season was tempered by the challenge of skiing in early-season conditions.
"The terrain was really undulating under foot, so it was really hard to balance," she said. "But it was exciting to see how hard they went after it anyway and just kind of threw caution to the wind."
Norah Lee of Ice Age Nordic won the girls' race at 17:25.7. Matt Lochner of Madison Nordic Ski won the boys' race at 15:51.4.
The Hodags will return to action Friday, Dec. 17 in the Lakeland Invite at Minocqua Winter Park. It will be the team's final race of the calendar year. With the exception of New Year's, the team will race every weekend to start 2022 leading up to the WNSL state race in mid-February.
Reis said Saturday's event provided a solid base from which the team can build.
"Today was a very good indication of how deep we can be on our squad with a smaller team," she said. "I'm very relieved. Our technique is very good. I think all that remains is for all of us to just find our speed again on the skis and just remind ourselves how to race."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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