October 20, 2021 at 10:42 a.m.
Strong bond gives Hodag harriers shot at state meet
Strong bond gives Hodag harriers shot at state meet
The Hodags won the Great Northern Conference title last weekend, their first conference title since 1987. Now the harriers are seeking Rhinelander's first WIAA state meet berth as a team since 1997.
"That's definitely in the picture for us," senior Cal Laggis said after finishing third at last Saturday's GNC meet in Minocqua. "It's not going to be easy, but we're in the fold for being one of those top two teams and going as a team."
The Hodags have come a long way this year, following three consecutive fifth-place finishes in the GNC. Right off the bat, Rhinelander won its home invitational and consistently finished ahead of its Great Northern Conference rivals at invites throughout the season.
The varsity group has a strong core of seniors - led by Cal Laggis, Jack DeNamur, Ty Welk and Jaden Beske. Over time, running has gone from something they've had to do, to something they want to do.
"I really just joined for conditioning for basketball, but it's really turned into something more," Welk said. "This team, these guys, the freshmen, sophomore, they're really just brothers now. It's great to do this with them and kind of set the tone for the next four years for them really."
"I think the guys are what made it a good sport," DeNamur added. "Nobody comes here to run. We come here for the camaraderie and, at the end of the day, that's what brought us home this (conference championship) trophy."
Coach M.J. Laggis said he really didn't know what to expect out of his boys' team coming into the season. One year ago, COVID-19 protocols derailed the team's chances of a strong showing at conference and prevented them from having enough healthy runners to qualify for a team score at last year's subsectional meet. But, right from the start of practice, Laggis said he noticed something different.
"We had kids come up and have performances this year and start to love running like I've never seen," he said.
After beating six other schools last weekend at the GNC meet, the Hodags are part of a 15-team sectional this weekend without a lot of familiar faces. Antigo and Northland Pines are the only other GNC schools in the field as the rest of the conference heads to Colby for another D2 sectional.
Only the top two teams will advance to next weekend's WIAA state meet in Wisconsin Rapids. Additionally, the five fastest runners from Saturday's sectional who are not already on a qualifying team will get to run next weekend.
"We've got to push even harder this week. Hopefully we can get second team there or even first, we'll see," said junior Cody Ruetz, who finished 13th at conference last Saturday.
Coach Laggis said his team's performance during the course of the season has changed his expectation going into tomorrow's meet.
"In the beginning of the year, if you would have asked me about the end of the year, I would have said, 'We're going to try to get Cal through (to state),'" he said. "After the year got going, I totally changed my opinion. We have a lot of boys that are very, very competitive."
The numbers back up coach Laggis' feeling. Compiling a mock sectional race based off the best times this season for each team's top seven runners, the Hodags are projected to finish third behind Shawano and Freedom. Cal Laggis has the fifth-fastest individual time and would earn an individual qualifying spot, based on the projections. However, Laggis would have to earn that spot. According to the projections, six of the top seven finishers in the sectional will not be on state qualifying teams - and the difference between his best time of the season and that of the first individual projected not to make state is only 3.5 seconds.
Shawano, ranked eighth in the latest Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association D2 poll, is projected to win the meet going away, holding four of the top 10 times in the sectional so far this season. Freedom, ranked 16th in the poll, is projected at 81 points while Rhinelander is projected third at 105. Seymour (110) and Oconto Falls (134) round out the top five in the projections.
Rhinelander's objective on Saturday is to have everyone finish a little better than their projection in an effort to close the 24-point margin on the Irish.
"There's no doubt in my mind Shawano is the clear No. 1," coach Laggis said. "They are fast, the fastest team there. After that, Oconto Falls, you look at Freedom, you look at us and there's a fighting chance, there really is. We've got to have a good week. We're going to get together, set the compass, set our goal and do everything we can to try to make a run at that No. 2 position."
Freedom and Fox Valley Lutheran are the two schools favored to advance out of the sectional on the girls' side, according to the WCCCA Poll. The Hodags don't enter with any state aspirations for its girls' squad but hope to finish strong and set a foundation for next year with a number of varsity runners returning.
"I think we have a girls' team that has a chance to do that if we can put the right pieces in place. I think you could see them take a jump next year," coach Laggis said following last weekend's GNC meet.
The boys' race will get underway at 11 a.m. tomorrow, followed by the girls' race at noon.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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