October 6, 2022 at 8:44 a.m.
Hodag harriers sweep Northland Pines Invite
Hodag harriers sweep Northland Pines Invite
The Hodag boys and girls had similar success. Rhinelander placed five runners in the top 12 of the girls' race and five in the top 13 of the boys' race to sweep the Northland Pines Invitational in Eagle River.
The Hodags beat a field that included GNC rivals Northland Pines and Antigo, Merrill from the Wisconsin Valley and a handful of smaller Northwoods schools.
"It's only a seven-team meet, but that's still decent. Pines, they've grown this meet a little bit and did a nice job with it. The course is in fantastic shape." Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. "It was nice for the girls to gain a little confidence and compete against some teams we don't always see. Hurley's a great example and we haven't seen Antigo or Merrill much. It's nice to run against those teams and come out on top. I was proud of the girls."
Rhinelander cruised to the title in the girls' race, beating Crandon by 34 points. Senior Juliana Smith led the Hodag contingent, passing teammate Leah Jamison over the final mile of the race to finish sixth overall with a time of 22 minutes, 3.5 seconds. Jamison finished seventh (22:18.0) and sophomore Sophie Miljevich was eighth at 22:34.7.
Luna Grage rounded out a quartet of Hodags on the podium, coming home 10th at 23:43.7. Maria Hubler was 12th (23:47.7). Aubrey Younker (16th, 24:23.8) and Kyleah Hartman (18th, 24:36.8) rounded out the Rhinelander varsity.
"Leah Jamison had a fantastic start. Juliana got her right after mile 2. Sophie Miljevich got stronger as the race went and I thought she had a fantastic finish," Laggis said. "I don't think Maria was feeling great at about 2 1/2 miles and she just kept absolutely plugging away. And Luna today had a fantastic sprint at the end and finish. That was her best finish of the year."
The Hodag boys were again led by the tandem of senior Cody Ruetz and sophomore Greyson Gremban. Ruetz took third overall at 17:45.8 with Gremban close behind in fourth at 17:47.5.
Junior Gavin Denis (ninth, 19:04.5) and freshman Olin Slette (10th, 19:13.6) gave the Hodags four runners in the top 10. Brody Kowieski checked in 13th (19:46.2), Shawn Denis was 16th (20:17.9) and Payton McCue was 31st (22:36.8).
"We're young and you look at Olin and you look at Shawn Denis and look at some of these guys that are getting some real good varsity experience right now, they love cross and they're going to be really nice runners next year," Laggis said. "While Cody's that senior anchor and leader, we've got Greyson Gremban who's that second guy and he's going to be a fantastic anchor for us next year. Then I can't say enough about Gavin Denis, the way he's plugged and come along as a runner. And Brody Kowieski's a scorer for us. He's a varsity runner now and he's really starting to emerge. I'm proud of all of them."
The Hodags defeated Northland Pines by 28 points for the boys' title. Crandon's Taylor Karcz (16:45.7) took the boys' race while Northland Pines' Nora Gremban claimed the girls' race (18:26.4).
Laggis said the race was a nice confidence boost for the team as it nears the end of its peak training for the season.
"We haven't won a bunch this year, obviously, so I thought maybe be in the top couple of teams today and just keep improving our times," he said. "Every team is tired right now. I was talking to Lakeland's coach this morning and they've got 210 miles on the season. We just clipped over 200 yesterday. Teams are tired. People are tired and we're in the final week before we start to eventually taper."
Rhinelander has one more race before conference. That will be the Hatchet Invite this Saturday. According to Tomahawk's rSchool scheduling website, the venue for that race has moved to Inshalla Country Club this year after years at cross-town venue Edgewater Country Club.
"I'm really excited to go run at a different place there," Laggis said. "I like Edgewater, but we're running this at Inshalla and that's a total shocker to me. Inshalla's a nice place to run and I understand that it's going to be a pretty cool layout out on the course. I'm excited for that. Tomahawk's a fantastic team. Lakeland's good. I don't know if Medford will be there or not, but a lot of the top players in the conference are going to be there and, for us on the boys' side, it's how much closer can we inch to Lakeland and Medford. On the girls' side, it's how much improvement can we continue to make."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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