January 4, 2021 at 8:35 a.m.
Team preview: RHS Nordic skiing
Hodags prep for change whenever season comes
Team preview: RHS Nordic skiing
2020 has been anything but normal. Yet, so far, it has been a lack of snow, rather than COVID-19, that has kept the Hodags off the trails.
The Hodags' first two races of the season - Dec. 5 at the ABR trails in Ironwood, Mich. and Dec. 15 at Minocqua Winter Park (recently rescheduled for Jan. 12)- were nixed with not enough snow on the ground to make a suitable base for skiing. Then, on Monday, it was announced the Snekkevik Races in Wausau scheduled for Jan. 9 have been postponed to Jan. 30 due to a lack of snow.
Between a late arriving winter, and the knowledge that races could be altered or canceled entirely depending on how the ongoing pandemic unfolds, Rhinelander coach Charil Reis says she's taking it one day at a time.
"From the beginning of the season to the end of the season I intend to hold practices and act as though we are going to races - and train as though we are going to races - until we are not going to those races any more," she said.
When the Hodags hit the race course next month, expect a slightly different look from the squad, which has been stratified into three tiers - competition, developmental and recreational - based on the preference of each of the individual skiers.
Reis, in her eighth season at helm of the Hodags, said it's a tiered system commonly seen in the sport and one she feels the Hodag program is ready for at this stage of its development.
"It was time to make these divisions available to the skiers because there were some who were suffering by not getting enough and then there were those who were suffering because we were pushing them too hard," she said. "They get to choose what they want."
Nine members of the team opted for the competition squad, with the expectation that they compete on varsity in all competitions.
On the boys' side, senior Daniel Goldsworthy will lead the comp team after taking 67th overall at last year's WNSL state meet. He'll be joined on the squad by Travis White (73rd), Will Rutkowski (80th) and Sam Rutkowski (82nd).
"I would say we have very good speed out of Daniel Goldsworthy so far, also Travis White," Reis said. "Sam and Will are my other two comp skiers and they're gunning it. They're doing their best to make up in technique what they need to make up in order to get faster as well."
Not on that list, by their choosing, are Rhinelander's top two returning skiers from last year's state meet - Zach Goodrich (27th) and Kyle Morien (53rd). However, Reis said, due to their past accomplishments, the two would be listed as varsity skiers in any event that requires a varsity/junior varsity designation. The WNSL state meet does not require such designation, so anyone who competes for Rhinelander - regardless of if they are on the competition or developmental squads - is eligible to score team points.
"They can clearly ski at a varsity level. They just couldn't, with their schedules, commit to the extra Saturday work and some of the other expectations of comp. Therefore, they're skiing at the developmental level," Reis explained. "Jim Wood is the head coach of the devo(lopmental team) and he's been using them to the devo's advantage. They're kind of like the carrot out there and the other skiers on the team are trying to ski like them."
The girls' competition team includes juniors Anna Wood and Liana Teter, sophomore Megan Lester and senior Abbey Henrichs. Wood was Rhinelander's top skier most of last year, but missed the state meet due to illness. Teter led the Hodag girls with a 58th-place finish while Henrichs finished 61st. Lester was also scratched from last year's state meet due to illness.
"Anna Wood and Liana Teter come off of very strong prior two seasons in high school," she said. "Megan is coming off a very strong, non (mountain biking) season and all that work she put in on the bike is really paying off on skis. She's very coachable and she's a powerhouse. Abbey's working on some of her technique. As soon as she can get some of that down, she's going to be much faster than last year."
Senior Gwyneth Lowry, who was 60th at state last year, was also slated to be on the comp team, however Reis said an injury will likely sideline her for the entire season.
Before the Hodags can race, however, they're merely eager to get on snow. A couple of late-December trips to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have helped, but otherwise, the team has had to resort to mainly running and roller skiing in the area around RHS.
"It's tough. Once winter has set in and there's snow on the ground, it's hard to convince them to grab their poles and go running around with them, without skis on. So I have to get creative," Reis said.
Reis said that could include the possibility of practices or scrimmages on area lakes, if the trail conditions remain inadequate into next month. For now, all of next month's races - including the Hodag Nordic Challenge Jan. 23 and 24 at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom - are a go, but that could change depending on snow conditions and the state of COVID-19 within the area.
"Even if we do get to the point where we do have a state championship, what if that's our only race? That's a possibility," Reis said.
As such, she said turning to race results as a goal for the 2021 season is likely out of consideration. Even if the state meet goes off as planned Feb. 13 and 14 in Cable, the number of skiers could be lower and Reis said the race course would be different to eliminate overlapping sections of trail in the name of social distancing. Therefore, Reis said, the team's two main objectives this year are to have fun on the snow and improve their skiing technique.
"We've missed out on so much fun this year. Everybody in the world had missed out on so much fun that I don't want them not to have fun," she said. "If there's a little bit of joking around at practice, pushing each other over the snow that might come, I'm going to let it happen. That's how they interact. That makes it worth being outside. It's tough to be outside in our sport, especially when it's really cold, and you're running around in lycra. So fun is a big goal of ours. But, I think if they can come away from this and have learned better technique as well, that's a huge win. That will stick with them. Whether or not they got a race in, that won't stick with them as much as, 'did I make them a better skier?'"
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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