February 1, 2021 at 9:50 a.m.
Rhinelander Nordic finishes mid-pack at Northern Conference race
Rhinelander Nordic finishes mid-pack at Northern Conference race
The Hodags finished fourth in both the varsity boys' and girls' divisions of the WNSL's Northern Conference meet, held at the Birkie Trailhead in Cable.
It was only the third race of the season for the Hodags, who have had more than half of their schedule nixed due to either a lack of snow or COVID-19 concerns. Though the Hodags did not record any varsity top 10s, they finished in the middle of the pack in the seven-team race.
"It's been a very good day for us, especially on the varsity end of things, and even on the JV side," Hodag coach Charil Reis said. "I saw a lot of growth today, which is exactly what I was looking for."
Senior Daniel Goldsworthy paced the Hodags in the varsity boys' race, taking 12th overall as he covered the 6.5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 58.5 seconds. Goldsworthy finished only 8.5 seconds outside the top 10, which Reis said was his stated goal for the race.
"The biggest difference between today and any other conference year that I've coached so far is that they had a goal," she said. "Daniel had a goal of top 10. While he didn't break that, it was just a monumental milestone to reach where I have more than one person on a varsity squad with a goal as lofty as top 10 and to actually state it out loud. I'm elated that he said that and set that goal for himself. I think he's just going to push himself even harder these next two weeks to see how far up the ranks he can crawl at state."
Teammate Travis White finished right behind Goldsworthy in 13th (20:10.1) and Sam Rutkowski rounded out the varsity contingent in 21st in a field of 35 skiers (21:56.2).
Junior Callie Threlkeld, recently promoted to varsity, led a pack of Hodag girls on Thursday, taking 13th in the varsity race. She crossed the line in 23:07.1.
"She's just really having fun with it," Reis said. "There are going to be times when racing and skiing really come together. Those are two different things, putting all that skiing together and all those tactics to have a good race. It's not an easy thing to do."
All five Hodag varsity skiers finished within 1:14 of each other in the girls' race. Liana Teter was 14th (23:12.1), Anna Wood finished 15th (23:13.3), Megan Lester was 17th (23:50.0) and Abbey Henrichs was 19th in the field of 29 (24:20.7)
"They've been pushing each other at practice," Reis said. "To put together a good race like that and come in so close to each other really does show that at practice they're putting in a good effort as well."
Rhinelander finished fourth in the JV girls' division, led by top-10 finishes from Juliana Smith (7th, 24:10.4) and Nora Rutkowski (8th, 24:40.5). Mason Shinners was Rhinelander's top finisher in the JV boys' race in 10th (21:50.2).
In the middle school ranks, Rhinelander place second out of six teams in the girls' division, led by top 10 finishes from Brynn Teter (3rd, 11:16.5), Macy Lester (4th, 12:10.6) and Violet Biolo (10th, 12:50.1). Rhinelander was fifth in the middle school boys' division, led by Olin Slette in 10th overall (10:48.7).
Reis said she expects the WNSL to use some or all the elements from Thursday's course when it returns to Cable in a couple of weeks for the state distance championships.
"It's a really great course and I think it's the same course they're going to use at state. If that's the case, it's a good warm-up for state," she said. "It was a screamer in some places. There were some places where all I had to do was tuck and ride it out for half a kilometer. It was a roller coaster."
The Hodags will split up this coming weekend in their final tune-up before the state distance races. The varsity squad will head to Madison this Sunday for the WNSL State Sprint Championships while the JV skiers will head north for the Ashwabay Summit Race at Mt. Ashwabay in Bayfield.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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