Notebook: Volleyball starts in the dome

The Rhinelander High School volleyball team will be temporarily displaced for the first couple of weeks of the season.

Delays in the resurfacing of the floor in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium have forced the Hodags to use alternate locations. The team is utilizing the two temporary sport courts inside the Hodag Dome and will also use the James Williams Middle School gym while the project is ongoing. 

Resurfacing and repainting of the floor is ongoing this week and RHS activities director Brian Paulson said the Miazga Gym should be ready for use by the end of next week. 

“We were able to shift a few things around have some practices in the dome and we’ll be utilizing the middle school, which has a beautiful court too,” he said. “It’s not ideal but we’re making it happen and, in the end, it’s going to be an amazing floor.”

In the meantime, though, the Hodag volleyball team is adjusting on the fly as practice for the fall season opened on Monday. Not only will the first couple of weeks of practice be located in the dome, so will the team’s scrimmage against Rib Lake on Saturday and the season opening Hodag Quad this coming Tuesday. 

“Being able to shift to a dome is going to be a change for all. The only good thing is we’ve been doing open gyms out there all summer. There is some comfortability with the girls that have been showing up for that,” coach Dan Wolter said.  “Obviously having only two courts is a little bit of a disadvantage with 57 girls in the program. We’ll kind of roll with the punches here for a few weeks until we can get back in our gym.”

With a large group, Wolter said the first key was to break the squad down into the varsity, JV, JV-2 and JV-3 units, which he said he hoped to have completed by Wednesday. From there, each group will split off for more individual work.   

“The first couple of days here we want to be able to get an eye on the girls that we have out and get them positioned for the best success for their skill level and for our varsity team to put together a winner,” Wolter said. “Once we break into teams we’ll slim it down a little bit. It’s the first week. I know everybody’s excited to get in here.” 

    Coach John Weigel, right, talks to members of the Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team during practice in the Hodag Dome Monday, Aug. 14. Weigel takes over as head coach for the Hodags this year. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Soccer: Weigel takes over

Following last year’s run to the WIAA Division 3 state semifinals, the RHS boys’ soccer team and new head coach John Weigel know they have a tough act to follow. Yet that did not dampen the enthusiasm on Monday as the team kicked off two-a-day practices in preparation for next Tuesday’s non-conference opener at New London. 

“It’s going really good so far,” said Weigel, who was promoted from an assistant’s position after Nathan Bates stepped away following the end of last season. “The kids seem really excited about the season, ready to get back out there and play some more soccer.”

Weigel said most of the first week has been geared toward “getting the rust off” in terms of conditioning, fundamentals and tactics. To that end, he added, what the team did under Bates the past four seasons will remain largely intact.

“Some of our set pieces might be a little different, things like that but, in general, it will be somewhat similar,” Weigel said.

The Hodags come in with some momentum from over the summer as the Hodag Soccer Club’s U18 boys’ team — which featured many of the players on the high school squad — fared well in tournaments in Eau Claire and Stevens Point. 

“We do have seven juniors coming back as senior now. We have a good core group and some of the sophomores that are juniors now are really stepping and grew a lot over the summer,” he said. “We’ll have a really competitive, good team, I think this year, but they’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

Tuesday’s opener at New London is one of two non-conference games the Hodags will have next week ahead of the GNC opener Aug. 29 against Medford. The team will also host Wausau East next Thursday. Tuesday is the earliest the Hodags are allowed to play a game, under WIAA regulations, and Weigel said the team is eager to get underway.

“There are not many practices before our first game, just the bare minimum of what you have to have in there,” he said. “That’s the way the schedule worked out but I think we should do fairly well.”

    From left to right, Brynn Teter, Sophie Miljevich, Luna Grage and Maria Hubler, lead a pack of runners during Rhinelander High School cross country practice near Hodag Park Monday, Aug. 14. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Cross country looking to carry over offseason work

Nearly two months ago, there was a noticeable contingent of Rhinelander High School cross country team members at the YMCA of the Northwoods’ Hodag Run for Your Life. 

That was part of a summer-long training program team members had the opportunity to participate in. Coach M.J. Laggis said a number of returning runners did and have a leg up as practice gets underway.

“We had two really nice opportunities for kids, along with our strength and conditioning in the weight room,” he said, noting weekly Saturday morning group runs and weekly speed workouts that were made available. “For kids that took advantage of that, I think it’s going to pay off.”

“It’s such a fine line between trying to push kids hard enough to get them ready to go and to realize who’s got the summer miles … Those kids will be ready to go, ready to take it. The ones that aren’t you’ve got to be careful to try to push them but not have them injured right away.”

Numbers are slightly down for the team this year, with Laggis noting that the opening day roster included just under 20 kids. He was hopeful to pick up a couple of late additions, but said he’s like to see the number closer to 26-30.

Laggis said the first week will be about establishing a baseline of where athletes are at in terms of their fitness, and tailoring practice to the roster moving forward. As it has the past several years, the highlight of Week 1 is the triathlon that Laggis hosted Thursday on the Rhinelander Flowage.

“We’ve made the swim a little more official. They can’t water walk,” he said. It will be a good bike and Rhinelander will open competition next Thursday when it hosts the Hodag Invite at Rhinelander High School. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@rivernewsonline.com.