February 3, 2022 at 8:50 a.m.
Hodag Alpine wins tight three-way battle at Ashwabay
Hodag Alpine wins tight three-way battle at Ashwabay
The Hodags edged Rice Lake by six points and Wausau/D.C. Everest by seven points to capture the event at Mt. Ashwabay in Bayfield. The win gave Rhinelander/Northland Pines a leg up as it looks to defend its Northern Conference title. The Hodags have won two of the first three races and put themselves in position to secure the championship with a win in one of the final two events.
Rhinelander/Northland Pines held a three-point lead on Wausau West and was five ahead of Rice Lake entering Super G. The Hodags won Super G 28-30 over Rice Lake to secure the victory.
"It's always been a tough hill for us," coach Rod Olson said. "We've got some small guys and it's a flat hill that's always been kind of a nemesis for us. We ended up gaining on them (in GS and Super G), but it was a good battle. I don't look at the scores, I could tell that were close all day long.
"We just had a little bit more depth. Our four, five and six (seeds) were a little better than everyone else's."
The Hodags had four skiers in the top 11 overall, led by AJ Gillespie in third and Riley Zarm in fifth. Gillespie had top-five finishes in all three runs Tuesday, including a best finish of third in Super G. Zarm placed in the top six in all three runs.
Freshman Brody Kowieski had his best run of the year, finishing ninth individually while Brandon Bacon finished 11th. Jason Linn was 16th and Lukas Bishop finished 18th on the day.
"AJ's skiing with a sinus infection, so he did the best he could. Brody Kowieski had a good day. He skied well," Olson said.
Senior McKenna Nash posted her best finish of the season as the Hodags recorded a runner-up finish in girls' skiing, 20 points ahead of third-place Rice Lake.
Nash finished fifth in both slalom and Super G, and was sixth in giant slalom to take fifth overall on the day.
"McKenna, we pushed her hard this week in practice and at the race," Olson said. "She's been a little too content. I went up to the start and kind of got her jacked up as much as I could and it helped. She picked up a few spots. She was pretty happy about her day."
Callie Hoerchler recorded a pair of individual top-10 finishes, led by a ninth-place run in giant slalom as she placed 12th overall. Sophie Miljevich was 13th and Maddie Ewan was 17th.
"The girls did well, Callie's really coming on. She's improving. Even if she's staying in that same (placement) range, she's definitely improving," Olson noted.
The Hodags were without their top snowboarder, Max Durkee, due to illness on Tuesday but still had four riders place in the top six overall. Freshman Owen Repenshek led the way. He won the second run in giant slalom and finished second overall. Isiah Willoughby finished third, Reese Frisque was fourth and Ryder Will finished sixth, hampered by a disqualification in the second run of boarder slalom. Will had runner-up finishes in two of the four runs on Tuesday.
"Ryder had a good day, he just had a DQ. He got a couple of seconds in there and then Owen Repenshek had a good day too for two freshmen," Olson said. "Reese Frisque continues to improve. He's really getting some carving going. The snowboard team's coming into their own."
Nicole Long won the first run of slalom Tuesday and took second overall in the girls' snowboarding division.
The Hodags' next competition is not until Saturday, Feb. 12, when it will host the fourth Northern Conference Meet at Ski Brule in Iron River, Mich. The conference finale takes place two days later at Granite Peak in Wausau.
The team was supposed to compete this coming Monday in the Mt. La Crosse Cup, but that event has been canceled. Olson said the team was deliberating whether to still head to La Crosse for a training day at the venue of the WIARA State Meet or to instead focus on its home conference race.
"That gives us some experience but Brule, for me, would be just as well. For that boys' title and for the girls to climb, we really need to do well at our home hill," he said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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