May 17, 2021 at 10:50 a.m.
Right at home
Hodag boys' track claims another victory in home invitational
Right at home
Not only did the Hodags claim yet another win in the boys' team standings, they got to do so at home, showing off the recently renovated facilities around Mike Webster Stadium to several other area teams.
"Great meet tonight. I was really excited about all the teams being here at our track, our facility," Kraemer said, noting it was just the second high school meet in Rhinelander in five years. "It's an amazing facility and it deserves to be shown off. Everyone that was here did a great job at the meet. I'm proud of the results, but also really happy that we were able to have a meet here in Rhinelander."
Rhinelander enjoyed the home cooking, winning five events and tallying six other runner-up finishes to take their fourth overall win in four meets in the boys' division. The Hodag girls scored a total of 10 top-four finishes as they placed sixth in their division.
Once again, the Hodags showed off their versatility on Thursday, with junior Jaden Beske being a prime example. He not only won the boys' high jump for the second straight meet - clearing 5 feet, 10 inches - he was part of a runner-up finish in Rhinelander's first crack at the 4x800-meter relay this season and added a fourth-place run in the 400.
"We took Jaden Beske out of the 1,600 and put him in the 400 and the 4x8 which, a fourth (in the 400) and a second in the 4x8 was really well done today," Kraemer said. "I know that was something he wanted to do, so good for him and good for the team."
Otherwise, a number of the usual suspects performed well for Rhinelander, helping the Hodags rack up points in all disciplines. Caleb Olcikas once again swept the 100 (11.66) and 200 (23.53) meters and Cole Worrall walked away with wins in the 110 (16.15) and 300 (42.45) hurdles.
Senior Ross Skeen made it a 1-2 finish with Olcikas in the 100 and the two nearly won another event together in the 4x100-meter relay. Skeen, Jackson Labs, Olcikas and Jacques Tulowitzky, were edged by Ashland at the finish line by 0.006 seconds.
In the throwing events, Brock Snyder was runner-up in both the shot put and discus. Kaden Chillemi was third in discus and fourth in shot put while Conner Jensen added a fifth in the discus.
Daniel Goldsworthy finished fourth in both the 800 and 1,600 for Rhinelander, while Cody Ruetz was fifth in the 400 and the 1,600. Beske, Kyle Brown, Goldsworthy and Travis White made up the runner-up quartet in the 4x800 while Daniel Gillingham, Brendon Eckrich, Labs and Tulowitzky were second in the 4x200.
Tulowitzky was also third in the long jump, Olcikas took fourth in the triple jump, Abraham Barlog was fourth in the 110 hurdles and Rhinelander was third in the 4x400 relay with Ruetz, Ty Welk, Aden Bergman and Worrall.
"For the boys and girls, we continue to get results from a lot of different places and a lot of different people," Kraemer said. "Our team, for being 50 strong, we have a lot of kids that can contribute. I'm really, really proud of everybody. I'm proud of our distance team for scoring points. I'm proud of our throwers for being as consistent as they are. Obviously, our top-end sprinters and hurdlers, they're great too, but every single person is putting in a shift for us and doing the best they can every meet. It shows in the points."
The Hodag girls scored another win the 4x100 with the quartet of Megan Brown, Lila Bielefeldt, Rebecca Lawrence and Sage Flory. Brown and Flory swapped third and fourth in the 100 and 200, with Flory edging Brown in the 100 and Brown getting the better of the battle in the 200.
Lawrence was the runner-up in the high jump, clearing 4-10. She finished two inches behind Three Lakes' Kallie Volk. Rhinelander's Emma Germain also finished behind Volk in the triple jump, but went a season-best 31-0 1/2 in that event.
"She's still not satisfied and neither am I," Kraemer noted of Germain's performance. "For me, she's a special athlete. I tell her all the time she's a renaissance woman, because she's good at a lot of different things - very powerful and strong. She's got a good attitude and when she has a good attitude she succeeds."
Germain added a fourth for the Hodags in the 400, Lizzy Snyder was fourth in the discus and Rhinelander took third in the 4x200 with the team of Rivers Eagleson, Genna Fugle, Augusta Gruett and Bielefeldt.
The Hodag boys finished 40 points ahead of Northland Pines for the team title with fellow GNC rivals Lakeland, Antigo and Tomahawk finishing third, fourth and sixth.
"It's always nice to win meets and our guys want to win but, at the end of the day for me, it's just beating the mark that you had last week," Kraemer said.
Ashland won the girls' division by 31.5 points over Antigo. Tomahawk, Three Lakes, Northland Pines, Rhinelander and Lakeland rounded out the running order.
"Antigo was here tonight, so we got an opportunity to face them too," Kraemer noted. "The last two to check off the list are Medford and Mosinee. I'm really excited to finally see them and see everybody in the conference. I'm hoping, that will be when we get to go to Medford. I'm hoping that's a dress rehearsal for what we're going to see in the GNC."
The Hodags are back in action today at the Northland Pines Invite.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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