Team preview: RHS cross country

Rhinelander High School cross country coach M.J. Laggis concedes that the big three programs in the Great Northern Conference are Medford, Lakeland and Tomahawk. Medford has dominated the girls’ ranks over the past several years, Lakeland returns most of its conference championship boys’ team from last year and Tomahawk has been consistently good for years.

With a mix of returning athletes and a solid freshman class, however, Laggis said he wants the Hodags to be a team that turns heads at season’s end like they did two years ago when they emerged from the pack to win the GNC boys’ title.

“In 2021 nobody thought we had a boys team that could do it — and we didn’t at the beginning of the year — but by the end of the we thought we did, and we did,” he said. “That’s the attitude we’re taking with this group, don’t put a ceiling on them, try to grow it. Let’s get into the top four and try to make a run at the conference meet.”

Rhinelander began to figure out its squad yesterday in the annual Hodag Invite at RHS, which concluded after press time for today’s edition. That kicked off an 11-race regular season schedule that concludes with the GNC meet hosted by Mosinee at Nine Mile Forest in Wausau Oct. 14. 

The Hodag boys return a solid nucleus of four starters from last year’s team that lost out on third place in the conference in a tiebreaker with Tomahawk. The two key losses from that squad are state qualifier Cody Ruetz, who graduated, and Olin Slette, who transferred out of the district earlier this month after earning honorable mention in the GNC last year as a freshman. 

Greyson Gremban was Rhinelander’s top finisher at conference last year, placing sixth, and he nearly joined Ruetz at the WIAA Division 2 state meet. Gremban finished ninth at sectionals last year, missing state by one position and just more than six seconds. 

Laggis called Gremban one of the hardest workers he’s been around in his 11 seasons as head coach of the program and said, if anything, last year’s near miss has only made Gremban work harder to make it to Wisconsin Rapids this year.

“He had a really good offseason and put a ton of time into his speed work, hills and logging a lot of miles,” Laggis said. “I’ve had some really skilled runners, really fast kids, kids that can score and go to state — on both sides, girls and boys — but, I’ll be honest, other than (three-time state qualifier) Alayna Franson, he’s been the hardest worker, the most committed just to running and trying to get to that goal. I’m really proud of him. I want to see him fulfill that.”

Gremban is joined by three returning letterwinners in senior Gavin Denis, junior Shawn Denis and junior Brody Kowieski. All three narrowly missed the all-conference team last year, with Gavin Denis placing 22nd, Kowieski taking 24th and Shawn Denis taking 28th. 

Those four have looked really good,” Laggis said. They’ve done some speed work throughout the summer. They’ve done Saturday runs, gotten good miles in. There have been a number of Saturdays where they’ve logged seven miles and I’ve watched them run really strong. 

“Greyson is the No. 1 guy right there. I just think Gavin, Shawn and Brody, if they bring it, we’ll have a real tough top four. Then we’ve got some freshmen that need to fill in the blanks right there. We’ll see what comes with that.”

The Hodag girls graduated Juliana Smith, their top finisher at conference last year, along with Aubrey Younker who turned into a consistent varsity scorer by season’s end. 

    In this Sept. 17, 2022 file photo, Rhinelander’s Leah Jamison, right, runs toward the finish of the Bill Smiley Invitational cross country meet in Wausau. Jamison is the top returning runner for the Hodag girls after taking 18th at conference last year. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

The Hodags bring back six of the eight runners from the team that took fourth at conference last year, led by senior Leah Jamison, who earned all-conference honors with an 18th-place finish. Junior Sophie Miljevich is looking to return to all-conference form. She placed 18th at conference as a freshman and was 26th last year. Other notable returning runners include seniors Brynn Teter, Maria Hubler and Kyleah Hartman, and junior Luna Grage. 

“Leah has looked very strong. Sophie Miljevich has also looked really strong, so have Brynn and Luna,” Laggis said. “You have four really strong returners right there and, again, some young freshmen girls and some other girls that have been in the mix before that can fill in the cracks. They could be a decent team. We have some kids that are athletes in that group.”

Laggis also noted sophomore Grace Cornelius, who primarily ran JV last year, looked strong in last week’s opening practices. 

The Hodags welcome in seven freshmen to the program this year, and a number of them could factor into the scoring right away. 

On the boys’ side, Avrom Barr and Jackson Weinzatl come in after consistently being the top two runners for the James Williams Middle School team last year. Those two, plus freshman Jonathan Campbell, will be in the varsity mix right away as the Hodag boys have only seven runners on the roster. 

“They’re in a situation where one of them’s got to score points for us,” Laggis said, noting that both Barr and Weinzatl showed flashes in practice last week. “Jackson is just a really gritty kid from what I can tell, and works hard, and we’re just delighted with Avrom Barr, too. He’s a fantastic kid. He’s a really natural runner.”

Ella Miljevich and Hayley Schiek lead the list of incoming freshmen on the girls side, and were consistently part of a top five that had the JWMS girls in contention to win the majority of their meets last year. Though Kara Monk did not run cross country last fall, she showed some sprinting prowess for the JWMS track team last spring. Aubryn Clark rounds out the list of incoming freshman, though Laggis noted she was limited in practice last week due to injury.

“I didn’t know Kara Monk at all and she’s been a really nice surprise this week,” Laggis said. “Ella, as a freshman, has been really strong, so has Hayley Schiek, in our practices. I think they’re going to contribute. They really can.”

Rhinelander’s schedule includes a couple of different stops this year. The team returns to the Marshfield Invite Sept. 5 for the first time in more than a decade and has also added the Colby Invite to its schedule Sept. 9. That meet will serve a preview of the course for Division 2 sectionals this year. 

The schedule also includes some typical events. The team will take part in the Bill Smiley Invitational in Wausau Sept. 16 an will head into conference by running at Northland Pines Oct. 3 and Tomahawk Oct. 7. 

Overall, Laggis said he’s excited to see how the team progresses throughout the season. 

“I don’t want to limit us at all. I want to see how much we can grow,” he said.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

RHS Cross Country Schedule

Date    Event    Time

8/24    HODAG INVITE    —

8/29    Mosinee Invite    4:30 p.m.

9/5    Marshfield Invite    4 p.m.

9/9    Colby Invite    10:30 a.m.

9/12    Antigo Invite    5:45 p.m.

9/16    Bill Smiley Invite at Wausau    8:30 a.m.

9/21    Three Lakes Invite    4 p.m.

9/28    Medford Invite    4 p.m.

10/3    Northland Pines Invite    4 p.m.

10/7    Tomahawk Invite    10 a.m

10/14    GNC Meet at Mosinee*    11 a.m.

10/21    WIAA Sectionals  at Colby    10:30 a.m