October 25, 2021 at 2:48 p.m.
Hodag girls take 9th at sectionals
Hodag girls take 9th at sectionals
"Our girls improved all year," coach M.J. Laggis said. "We've got some young, good runners coming back and I'm excited about what they do in the offseason."
Freshman Sophia Miljevich paced the Hodag girls on Saturday, placing 28th out of 79 runners with a time of 21 minutes, 57.3 seconds. That was roughly 1 minute, 13 seconds off the time needed to qualify individually for the state meet. Peshtigo's Sydney Lund took the final individual qualifying spot in 12th overall at 20:44.1.
"Sophia's a freshman," Laggis said. "I had a good talk with her before the race and she's had a year where she's learned a lot about herself, how to run these races and I think you're going to see a different Sophie next year as a sophomore with some season and experience."
Two seniors - Emma Germain and Sage Flory - were second and third across the line for the Hodags. Germain placed 35th overall (22:27.9) while Flory as 47th (23:03.6) as they ran their final high school race.
"So proud of Emma and Sage as seniors," Laggis said. "They're fantastic kids and led our kids all year long. It's going to be hard to see Emma and Sage go, just because of the cohesion and the kind of kids they've become. The legacy they left behind was team. They're all about the team. You really admire those kinds of girls."
Freshman Reese Gehrig had a breakout race for Rhinelander as the team's No. 4 runner. She finished 48th, right behind Flory, at 23:04.4.
"Reese has been an absolute improver all year and she just keeps plugging away at practice," Laggis said.
Freshman Luna Grage was 51st at 23:10.3. Kyleah Hartman was 66th (24:20.2) and Maria Hubler, who got the start when Juliana Smith was unable to run, took 68th (24:42.0).
Freedom and Shawano took the two team state qualifying spots while Northland Pines sophomore Nora Gremban won the race with a time of 18:41.9. Rhinelander was the only one of the three Great Northern Conference schools represented at the sectional who had the minimum of five runners required to qualify for a team score.
The Hodags, who placed fifth in the GNC, lose Germain and Flory to graduation, but return most of this year's squad. That includes underclassmen Leah Jamison and Eva Hetland, who were both sidelined for much of the season due to injury.
The Hodag boys' squad did not have the finish they wanted last year due to health issues but bounced back and qualified for the WIAA state meet this year. While making it to state next year would be a very lofty goal, Laggis said he sees the potential for a similar bounceback from the Hodag girls next season.
"You look at those younger girls with Sophie and Luna and Reese, and look where Leah was before she got hurt, we could put together a nice girls' side next year," he said. "It all matters what happens in the offseason. We've learned that. It's all about the offseason and the miles."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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