November 7, 2022 at 8:49 a.m.
Ruetz, Smith named fastest harriers
Ruetz, Smith named fastest harriers
Seniors Cody Ruetz and Juliana Smith earned the team's fastest harrier awards, headlining the list of winners. The runners who pushed those two much of the season -sophomore Greyson Gremban junior and Leah Jamison - were named the team's most dedicated runners. Brody Kowieski and Aubrey Younker were named the most improved runners and the team's long hauler awards went to Gavin Denis and Maria Hubler.
The team has done a fastest harrier award in lieu of most valuable award for the majority of coach M.J. Laggis' time at the helm of the program. As the name suggests, it is an objective award given to the fastest runner for each team during the course of the season.
The boys' award was fairly cut and dried as Ruetz led Rhinelander in nine of the team's 11 races during the season. He finished seventh in the Great Northern Conference meet and was the only athlete to qualify for the WIAA state meet, following a fifth place finish at the D2 sectional in Oconto Falls. Ruetz finished 84th at state meet, recovering from a fall in the opening half mile.
"He came on big time and was a great finisher. His position as an all-conference runner and what he did at sectionals, I'm so glad he got to end it that way," Laggis said. "It's great to see a kid reach his potential. We know at the state meet he had a little bit of trouble. He had a little bit of misfortune there, but he got up and he had a nice finish.
"He's been a very good part of our program. He was here to by the guy and be a leader. He's going to be missed big time," Laggis said.
On the girls' side, it was a tight race between Smith and Jamison. Assistant coach Melissa Krueger noted both led the Hodags in five races this year, and Smith's cumulative time on the season was roughly 1 minute, 24 seconds faster than Jamison's.
Smith finished 17th at conference and 25th at sectionals.
"It was very close, but you did persist. It was really fun to see that the competition between the two of them and how hard you worked to improve yourself," Krueger said. "She was a solid No. 1/ No. 2 runner all season long for us. She went back and forth with Leah and they really pushed each other at practice, as well as the other girls. She has just a graceful racing posture. She's out there running at meets and working hard and she showed so much improvement even during the season."
Jamison finished 18th at conference and 27th at sectionals, bouncing back after missing mores of the 2021 season with a hip injury.
"When it came to most dedicated female, there was no question in our mind who was most deserving of the award," Krueger said. "You look at the time in the offseason, with the offseason training, she just continued to keep her focus on her season and making improvement from her injury from last season. She came into the season and she was ready to go. She did what she could to make her season the best it could possibly be."
Gremban narrowly missed the WIAA state meet. He finished ninth at sectionals and failed to qualify by one position and roughly six seconds. He was the Hodags' top finisher at the GNCs, taking sixth.
"For most, that would be a bitter pill to swallow but, for him, I think it's just the energy he needs," Laggis said.
Laggis said the sophomore, who was part of Rhinelander's team trip to state last year, put in a copious amount of miles in the offseason, helping him to earn the dedication award.
"Greyson, in the summer, to give you an idea of his training, got 850 miles in," Laggis said. "That's hard to do, coming from someone who's running every day. He is just an absolute animal of a worker. Here's there to train but, most importantly, he's there to compete."
Younker emerged as the season went on for the Hodag girls. She was the team's fourth-best finisher in the GNC meet, placing 28th. She was the third-fastest for the Hodag girls at sectionals, placing 48th.
"I can't believe what a leader she emerged as. As I think of my time as a cross country coach, she would definitely go down as a top five or six leader," Laggis said. "She wasn't our fastest runner by any stretch going into it, but she just kept working on her leadership which led into her running, and her running led into more leadership. By the end of the year, she was nailing it for us as a varsity runner."
Kowieski was among Rhinelander's five fastest runners much of the season. The sophomore was Rhinelander's fifth finisher at conference (24th) and sectionals (53rd).
"He emerged this year," Krueger said. "When I looked at the numbers there's no question Brody dropped the most time from the beginning of the year and I think a big help to that was just coming in last year, getting his sea legs under him from cross country and then he came in this year and just absolutely made a mark."
Denis was Rhinelander's fourth finisher at conference (22nd) and third finisher at sectionals (43rd) on the boys' side. Hubler was Rhinelander's sixth finisher at conference (30th) and the team's fourth finisher at sectionals (60th).
Rhinelander finished fourth in both the boys' and girls' divisions of the Great Northern Conference this season. The Hodag boys were sixth in a 14-team sectional while the Hodag girls placed ninth.
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.