September 27, 2021 at 8:43 a.m.
Cross country: RHS edges Tomahawk for boys' title in Three Lakes Invite
Cross country: RHS edges Tomahawk for boys' title in Three Lakes Invite
The Hodags have already beaten Medford on a couple of occasions and, on Thursday afternoon, Rhinelander edged defending conference champion Tomahawk 35-47 for the title in the Three Lakes Invite at Big Stone Golf Course.
Both Rhinelander and Tomahawk placed all five of their scoring runners in the top 13 of the eight-team meet, but the Hodags got the individual win with Cal Laggis and had three runners across the line before Tomahawk's pack came in, which proved to be enough to win the title.
"Tomahawk's got that pack of five that runs together. I was in awe of how long those guys held it together as a pack. You don't see that," Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. "To our credit, we were able to have a 1, 2 and 3 that nudged ahead of that pack of five. That's what makes it so close.
"I thought the boys ran a really good race and I'm really proud of the way they stepped up."
The Hodag girls were third out of five eligible teams in Thursday's race, with two top 10 finishes.
Cal Laggis fended off Crandon's Taylor Karch down the stretch to win the race with a time of 17 minutes, 9.1 seconds. Laggis led virtually the entire race, but Karcz made a push to get right to Laggis' heels in the final mile. The Hodag senior found a little bit extra over the final 200 yards and held off Karcz by 3.6 seconds for the win.
"That kid from Crandon had Cal by about a minute in Rhinelander, something like that," coach Laggis said. "Today Cal had him, the kid reeled him in and Cal pulled away a couple of yards there at the end ... Cal had another level in him. I was proud of him."
Fellow seniors Jack DeNamur and Ty Welk medaled for the Hodags with fifth- and sixth-place finishes. DeNamur ran in fifth most of the race, finishing at 18:34.8 while Welk worked from outside the top 10 to overtake Tomahawk's pack of runners and finish at 18:45.3.
The Hatchets took positions seven through 10, but Greyson Gremban finished 11th for Rhinelander and Cody Ruetz was 12th - both finishing just ahead of Tomahawk's fifth runner.
"They were right there," coach Laggis said. "Greyson being Greyson, he was disappointed in himself, but he ran a great race and he's a hard worker for us. Cody Ruetz, from Day 1 he's just been a solid top five for us and doesn't quit. Ty Welk was a beast today and Jack DeNamur looked stronger as the race went."
Freshman Sophia Miljevich led the Hodag girls, taking seventh overall with a time of 21:56.4. That was just under a minute off the winning pace set by Tomahawk's Rachael Reilly. Senior Emma Germain also reached the podium for Rhinelander with a strong push down the stretch to finish 10th at 22:19.4.
"Sophie started out barely (out of the) top 10 - 11, 12 is where I had her. She got it into 10, nine, eight and then I had her at seven and she never relented from there," coach Laggis said. "Emma, at one point before the last mile, she was 14th or 15th for a second and she climbed all way back to 10th. What a race by Emma. I'm so proud. She's our leader all the way on the girls' side."
Juliana Smith was 19th for Rhinelander, Luna Grage finished 23rd, Sage Flory was 24th, Reese Gehrig finished 27th and Maria Hubler was 41st. The Hodags once again were without sophomore Leah Jamison (hip).
"The girls, we're not a top team in the conference at this point, but we are making improvements and their leadership as a group, and the way they conduct themselves, I'm just so proud of them," coach Laggis said.
Gavin Denis (21st) and Jason Zheng (35th) rounded out the varsity contingent for the Hodag boys.
Rhinelander has three meets remaining before the GNC meet Oct. 16 in Minocqua. The Hodags travel to Waupaca for an invite this coming Thursday, before races at Northland Pines and Tomahawk next week.
"The goal is to be really, really good at conference and peak that next Saturday (at sectionals). That's the goal," coach Laggis said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.