January 14, 2021 at 7:54 a.m.
Hodag Nordic takes 3rd at Lakeland Invite
Hodag Nordic takes 3rd at Lakeland Invite
The Hodags were third out of three teams in both the varsity boys' and girls' divisions of the rescheduled Lakeland Invite at Minocqua Winter Park. The race was originally scheduled for mid-December but delayed four weeks due to a lack of snow.
"Just a fun day overall, good weather, not a lot of wind. It was nice to be out there and see other teams," Rhinelander coach Charil Reis said.
A lack of snow has relegated the Hodags to training on area lakes, or going a long distance to hit wooded trails - such as their jaunt last weekend to the WinMan trails in Manitowish Waters for an intrasquad scrimmage.
Overall, Reis said she was happy with the team's performance, but the group's inability to get on hilly terrain, like what is present at Minocqua Winter Park, was evident during Tuesday's race.
"They had good fitness, but where we really needed to make up some work is the hills, the uphills of course," she said. "That showed and they know it. It's not news to their ears but, even with that being said, we really did well."
Junior Liana Teter recorded the best finish of the day, taking fifth overall in the girls' varsity 5-kilometer race, covering the course in 15 minutes, 7.7 seconds. That was roughly 1:08 off the pace of race winner Grace Kern of Lakeland. Reis said Teter found a way to make speed despite some softer trail conditions.
"She figured out early on how not to sink into the mashed potatoes by keeping up her tempo and not letting her skis slow down," Reis said. "I kept telling them if you let your skis slow down with a slow tempo, low turnover rate, in mashed potatoes, then you glide and sink and glide and sink. She was able to make that work for her."
Anna Wood was ninth in the girls' varsity field for Rhinelander (15:38.9), followed by Megan Lester in 11th (16:06.1) and Abbey Henrichs in 13th (16:35.9).
Senior Daniel Goldsworthy paced three Hodags in the top 10 of the boys' varsity race, finishing sixth overall at 13:11.9. Kyle Morien was not far behind in seventh (13:15.0) and Travis White was ninth (13:28.3).
'We had three in the top 10, very pleased with that," Reis noted.
Brothers Sam and Will Rutkowski finished 18th and 19th for Rhinelander.
The meet was a small affair with Lakeland edging Wausau Nordic United by a point for the title in both the varsity boys' and girls' divisions. Only a handful of other individual skiers were in attendance as organizers kept the field small to maintain proper social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The field was sent off in staggered, interval starts, instead of one large mass start, and face coverings were required when not actively competing.
"We were outside and stayed with our groups. Everyone wore their masks as they should have. It wasn't a huge event and I never felt uncomfortable," Reis noted.
In junior varsity competition, Lakeland edged Rhinelander 10-12 for the girls' team title. Callie Threlkeld won the JV race for the Hodags (15:23.2). Ryan Morien finished second for the Hodags in the JV boys' race (14:33.6). Rhinelander was third of four teams in the middle school girls' division, led by Brynn Teter in sixth overall (8:16.9) while the Hodag boys were fifth in the middle school division, led by Olin Slette in ninth (7:54.3).
The Hodags' next race was uncertain as of press time. Reis said the team has pulled out of this Saturday's Hinder Binder race in Rib Lake out of an abundance of caution due to the ongoing pandemic.
"It's definitely a precaution to maintain the sanctity of our practice. Maybe we'll just chose to do fewer events this year," she said.
Also, race organizers announced after the deadline for our Friday print edition that the Hodag Nordic Challenge has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. The race is scheduled for next weekend at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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