March 21, 2022 at 7:53 a.m.
Team preview: RHS Track & Field
Hodags seek to build on 2021 campaign
Team preview: RHS Track & Field
As a team, the Hodag boys came within 5 1/2 points of defending their 2019 conference title (the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), only to see Mosinee's all-in assault on the sprint events deny them a repeat.
"I think that the boys are hungry, considering what happened last year at the conference meet," coach Aaron Kraemer said. "I think they're really hungry to come back and show that they belong at the top. We'll see. If the year goes the way I think it's going to go with all the contributors coming back on that side, and some other pieces coming in, I think we should be very, very competitive."
Of course it is not just the boys' team looking to improve from last year. Everywhere you look there are stories of athletes looking to do a little bit better than a season ago, whether it's Cole Worrall looking to get to the state finals this year in the hurdles after entering the state meet with one of the fastest times in Division 1, or the girls' 4x100-meter relay team looking to bounce back from a bad exchange that cost it a trip to sectionals, or Brock Snyder looking to affirm himself as one of the best throwers in the Great Northern Conference after not making the finals in the discus last season.
The great news for the Hodags is that many of the athletes from last year's team will get that chance. The team graduated only one of its state qualifiers from last year - successful high jumper Rebecca Lawrence. While the boys' side graduated some senior depth, especially in the sprint events, the team returns three former state qualifiers, all of whom are seniors.
The competition season gets underway for the Hodags Thursday afternoon in an invite at Ashland High School. It's one of only two indoor meets the team is scheduled to have this spring, with the Great Northern Conference Indoor Invite at Northland Pines April 7 being the other.
Kraemer said the lack of indoor meets is partly due to the low number of indoor track facilities in the area and when those meets have been scheduled. However, it's also partly by design in a backloaded schedule that includes eight outdoor meets in four weeks leading up to the GNCs May 17 in Antigo.
"I think that's going to benefit us because, honestly, that means we can really hone our craft in the indoor season when nobody's going to have the opportunity to be outside," he said. "We will get the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the outdoor season with skill-based practice, rather than a track meet."
Here's a closer look at each squad:
Boys' team
Three seniors headline the Hodag boys' squad - Worrall, Jaden Beske and Caleb Olcikas - and all three come in with previous WIAA state meet experience.
Worrall was a state qualifier in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles last year, placing 15th and 23rd in Division 1 in those events, respectively. Beske qualified in the high jump last June but did not place at state, failing to clear the starting height as the competitors jumped in monsoon-like conditions at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse.
Olcikas was part of the a fifth-place finish in the Division 2 4x200-meter relay for the Hodags as a freshman in 2019. He came just short of making it back as an individual last year, taking sixth at sectionals in both the 100 and 200 meters.
"Those are guys you can start with right away, that you can plan your season around," Kraemer said. "Those are two guys that are explosive, have great attitudes, are great people and they're an amazing group to build around."
The Hodags return another sectional qualifier in senior Ty Welk, who made it last year in the 400. He should be part of what figures to be an improved distance crew that features five of the seven members of Rhinelander's GNC-champion and state-qualifying boys' cross country team. Beske is also part of that quintet, along with Cody Ruetz, Jack DeNamur and freshman Greyson Gremban.
"Ty Welk was in last year's sectional," Kraemer said. "He's another guy you can always count on. Ty's leadership, when I look at replacing Daniel Goldsworthy from last year, he's a guy that does that. He's a straight-up leader. He's a person that his teammates will rally around."
Welk, Ruetz and Beske teamed with Cole Worrall for finish second in the 4x400 meter relay at conference last year.
"I'm excited to see what (Welk) and Cody Ruetz and some of those other guys can do in an event that I think it's kind of gaining more stigma as the years go on," Karemer said. "It used to be a point of pride to run the 400 and these guys are bringing that pride back in our program."
In the throws Synder, a senior, will lead the way along with junior teammate Conner Jensen. Jensen finished third in the discus for the Hodags at conference last year. Synder, who was also on the Hodags' GNC-winning 4x100 relay last spring, was the runner-up at conference in the shot put last season and was the top seed in the discus, but did make the finals after failing to keep any of his preliminary throws in bounds.
"I know Brock is going to be determined not only to right what happened last year at the conference tournament but to also push himself into an opportunity to compete at regionals and sectionals," Kraemer said. "We're really excited about those two guys in the throws. They can really do some damage in the throws. They helped each other last year and we have a growing throws room, both in the boys' and the girls' team."
Seniors Peter Danh and Beau Howard may prove to be versatile X-factors, much like Jackson Labs, Ross Skeen and Jacques Tulowitzky were for the Hodags last year. Both Danh and Howard were among the four fastest on the team in both 40-yard dash and 10-yard fly trials at the start of practice.
"There's just a whole, fresh group of faces," Kraemer said. "Last year we had Jackson and Ross and Jacques that contributed. There's a bunch of other fresh faces that are ready to contribute around the three core guys."
Brenden Eckrich and Kaleb Winter are back after being part of Rhinelander's runner-up showing in the 4x200 last year at conference while Winter was also the conference runner-up in the pole vault. Bryan Glover is also back after being part of the Hodags' third-place showing at conference in the 4x800.
Girls' team
Not only was Lawrence a two-time state qualifier in high jump, she was also on last year's conference championship squad in the 4x100. That team was in line for a sectional berth, before a bad exchange at the 200-meter mark led to a disqualification.
The good news is three-fourths of that squad - seniors Megan Brown, Sage Flory and Emma Germain - all return and are eager to build upon last season.
Germain returns after winning the conference title in the triple jump last year while Flory and Brown were both top-six finishers, individual, in both the 100 and 200.
"I'm really excited about what Megan Brown and Emma Germain and Sage Flory can do coming back," Kraemer said. "Last year their season ended abruptly. I know that they remember and want to improve from where they were last year. Three of the best people I know - Sage, Megan and Emma. If I could take their hearts and put them into all of our athletes, even on my football program, we'd be in a great position."
The question will be who becomes the fourth member of that team. Junior Gussie Gruett looked strong in beginning-of-season speed testing, as did freshmen Reese Gehrig, Lexi Bishop and Callie Hoerchler.
Senior Rivers Eagleson, fourth at conference in the pole vault, returns along with junior Abby Swanson, who was fifth at conference in the shot put.
"I'm really excited to see how they kind of gel together," Kraemer said. "It's a bigger team than it has been in the past so how can they gel together, how can they contribute and can they push to change where were finished in the last couple years."
Hurdler Kyleah Hartman returns and Kraemer said the girls' team also has a budding distance crew and expects sophomore Alyssa Smith, freshman Luna Grage and others to contribute to that group.
Schedule highlights
The team is scheduled to head outdoors for the first time April 19 at Lakeland. The team will race at six of the seven GNC venues during the outdoor slate. The only non-conference venues will be Three Lakes May 2 and Merrill May 5 for the annual Otto Bacher Invitational.
Rhinelander will host its home invite May 12, the team's last competition before conference. Kraemer said the outdoor season will be a balance of getting athletes plenty of competitive reps in their events while trying to keep them fresh and ready for the championship portion of the schedule.
"The kids get the opportunity to compete so many times outdoors that competition becomes second-nature and there's not a ton of pressure when they get to the last few meets of the year," he said.
After dropping to D2 in 2019 the Hodags are back in D1 for the second year in a row and will compete against the entire Wisconsin Valley Conference in a regional competition May 23 at Wausau West. Sectionals will take place three days later in Marshfield with the state meet taking place June 3-4 in La Crosse.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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