May 12, 2022 at 8:54 a.m.
Track: Hodag boys bounce back, win Hatchet Invite
Track: Hodag boys bounce back, win Hatchet Invite
The Hodag boys won six events and defeated Northland Pines by 14 points to win the Hatchet Invite in Tomahawk. Senior Cole Worrall had a big day winning a pair of events, and the Hodags recovered for wins in the 4x100-meter relay and the discus following struggles in those events last Friday in Merrill.
The 4x100, in particular, loomed large at the Otto Bacher as the team was disqualified for a dropped baton in a meet Rhinelander lost by only 5 1/2 points. The team, comprised of Brendon Eckrich, Payton Campbell, Caleb Olcikas and Beau Howard, nailed the exchanges Tuesday and won the event with a season-best time of 44.80 seconds.
"The question was how were they going to respond to the adversity and they handled it exactly how I wanted them too," Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. "They all took the challenge on Monday, practiced for it and today they had unbelievable handoffs and a PR time for them in the 44s, which is good. They needed to see that on the board and gain confidence heading into the GNC meet."
Brock Snyder also bounced back in the discus with a season-best throw of 132 feet, 11 inches, as he took first in that event.
Worrall, a senior, put down big times to win a pair of individual events. He went under 16 seconds in the 110 hurdles for the first time this season, going 15.71 to win that event by more than eight-tenths of a second.
The bigger surprise came in the 200-meter dash where Worrall laid down a blistering time of 22.60 seconds, a time that currently ranks among the top 25 statewide according to MileSplit.
"He came out so fast in the 200 that the other guys were thinking to themselves, 'Well, surely he's got to come back to us.' He never came back," Kraemer said. "He just finished strong like you know Cole will and finished in the 22s ... There's a long way to go but if we took the times right now in the sectional, Cole would have been through to state with a third-place. For a race that he has run one before today, that is unbelievably impressive."
Rhinelander scored a win in the 4x800 relay with the team of Jack DeNamur, Ty Welk, Cody Ruetz and Jaden Beske (9:08.23). Freshman Greyson Gremban scored the win the 3,200 (11:06.50).
"I'm sure he's a little down on himself because he didn't run in the 10s. He ran in the 11s. He wants to be down around 10:45 and beating his time every week, but he's someone his teammates can rally behind," Kraemer said of Gremban. "People respect him. He's very confident in himself and I can't wait to see how he stacks up against the rest of the conference."
Olcikas, Howard and Eckrich finished 2-3-4 in the 100. Ruetz took second in the 400 and Jaden Beske cleared 5-8 to take second in the high jump. The Hodags also took second in the 4x400 with Welk, Ruetz, Worrall and Jaden Beske. Truman Lamers was third in the triple jump. Abe Barlog was fourth in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles. The Hodags got fourth-place runs from its 4x200 team, Kaleb Winter in the pole vault, Conner Jensen in the discus and newcomer Shane Petrick in the long jump.
"I had Shane Petrick jumping in the long jump for Beau. He subbed in and jumped 18-3 tonight, which is awesome to have somebody just starting jumping 18 feet," Kraemer noted. "I'm excited with what we've seen from the boys and where we're at."
Dresden Klaver added a fifth-place run in the 100 hurdles, Arik Beske took fifth in the long jump and Snyder was fifth in the shot put.
Hodag girls take 4th
Rhinelander won the sprint relays again as it finished fourth on the girls' side of the eight-team meet.
The senior trio of Sage Flory, Megan Brown and Emma Germain once again ran both relays. The teamed with Gussie Gruett to win the 4x200 (1:52.17) and with freshman Reese Gehrig to win the 4x100 (52.92).
"That's something they take pride in. In the 4x1 we had very good handoffs and you saw it in the time, a PR time in the 52s," Kraemer said. "In the 4x2, we're still missing one handoff. Gussie Gruett is new to that 4x2 and she's learning. The 4x2 handoff for her was just kind of standing still. It's getting better, but still standing still. There's time to be dropped there."
Germain added a win for the Hodags in the triple jump, going 32 feet, 0 1/2 inches.
Senior Rivers Eagleson was part of a pair of runner-up finishes for Rhinelander. She tied for second in the pole vault, clearing 7-6 and was part of a runner-up effort in the 4x400 with Luna Grage, Gruett and Kyleah Hartman.
Kraemer said he was equally proud of Eagleson's personal best in the pole vault as he was with her recent time drops in the 4x400.
"I know her goal was a 1:10 and that makes the team more competitive," he said. "She just keeps responding to the challenges and I'm very proud of what she's been able to do."
Callie Hoerchler tied for third in the high jump and was fourth in the 100 hurdles. Grage finished fourth in the 800, Gehrig was fifth in the 100 and Averie West took fifth in the 300 hurdles.
Rhinelander hosted the Hodag Invite at Mike Webster Stadium yesterday, its final tune-up prior to the GNC meet this coming Tuesday at Listle Field in Antigo.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.