September 13, 2021 at 8:48 a.m.
Hodag boys win Ted Voigt Invite
Hodag boys win Ted Voigt Invite
The Hodags placed five runners in the top 11 on Thursday to win the Ted Voigt Invite hosted by Lakeland at Minocqua Winter Park. Rhinelander edged Medford by five points for the title in the five-team event, turning the tables on the Raiders, who defeated the Hodags by five in the Mosinee Invite nine days prior.
"We've got a group of boys that if we keep cycling along, keep moving at practice and keep being diligent with our workouts, they're going to have a chance," Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said.
The big difference for Rhinelander compared to its previous race in Mosinee was where the Hodags positioned their fifth and final scoring runner, Greyson Gremban. The freshman came in 11th overall at 20 minutes, 8.2 seconds, giving Rhinelander five runners across the line before Medford had its fourth in. That was enough for the Hodags to secure the win, even though the Raiders had the individual meet winner, Joey Sullivan.
"When you have a one, two, three and four that are really getting the job done nicely, and then you can throw a five in there that did what he did, that's a huge difference maker for us," coach Laggis said.
Senior Cal Laggis scored his third fourth-place finish in as many races this year, leading Rhinelander with a time of 18 minutes, 0.8 seconds. Jack DeNamur was sixth (19:26.1), Cody Ruetz finished seventh (19:45.1) and Ty Welk was eighth (19:50.2).
Gavin Denis (18th, 21:25.9) and Jason Zheng (26th, 22:37.3) were Rhinelander's sixth and seventh runners in the event.
"Cal didn't have his best race, but he was still top four. Jack DeNamur had a great race," M.J. Laggis said. "Ty Welk and Cody Ruetz are right there and had fantastic runs. Right on top of that was Greyson and that's a difference maker. Big credit to all five of those kids and Gavin Denis was right behind them and had a very good race in his own right."
As a team, Rhinelander has finished first or second as a team in each of the first three races, seeing every GNC school except Tomahawk along the way. The Hodags will cross paths with the Hatchets a few times later this season and M.J. Laggis said the defending conference champs are still the team to beat.
"I think Tomahawk's the horse, I completely do because they're so solid and they don't have maybe the fastest guy in the conference, but they're going to get five guys through there," he said. "They're going to run as a pack and they're just going to peak at the right moment. To me, that's going to be an incredibly tough team to beat."
A short-handed Hodag girls' squad finished third in Thursday race. Sophomore Leah Jamison, Rhinelander's top runner in each of the first two races, missed the meet with a scheduled rest day.
"We have a few kids who are a little nicked up. With Leah, it's a hip issue," coach Laggis explained. "I wouldn't be surprised that in some of our two-meet weeks coming up here that we just select a few kids we're going to rest here and there. She definitely needed it tonight."
Freshman Sophia Miljevich was back in the lineup for Rhinelander nine days after rolling an ankle on course and retiring from the Mosinee Invite. She led the Hodag girls in eighth place overall with a time of 22:48.3 - just over 1:50 off the pace of race winner Meredith Richter of Medford.
"I thought she had a really nice race last night. We had a few kids last night that weren't content with how they did and she was one of them, but she still had a nice race, was top 10," Laggis said.
Emma Germain finished 15th for Rhinelander (23:46.10) and the rest of the varsity contingent took up spots 20-24 in the running order. Sage Flory led the pack, followed by Juliana Smith, Eva Hetland, Reese Gehrig and Luna Grage.
"Emma Germain, she's strong and steady and does a really good job and someone that's kind of come out of the woodwork this year that wasn't running very strong last year is Sage Flory," coach Laggis said. "I'm really proud of what she's doing. On the girls' side, we're young and I think you're going to see the girls' team really be a strong side next year. They like to run."
Rhinelander added the Voigt Invite to its schedule late, swapping it for the Wittenberg-Birnamwood Invite which was held last Tuesday. Laggis said it was valuable to get a race in around a reconfigured course at Minocqua Winter Park, which will stage this year's GNC meet Oct. 16.
"It's a great course, and it's a challenge," he said. "You don't have that super-steep hill right in the middle that they go up and down. It's a laid out a little bit different. It's still hilly, and there's a lot of rollers on both loops, but I guess when I compare it to CAVOC (the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom) where Rhinelander held its two races last year), I think, 'Wow, it's relatively flat in spots.'"
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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