January 9, 2023 at 8:03 a.m.
Nordic skiing: Hodags race at Snekkevik
Nordic skiing: Hodags race at Snekkevik
The Hodag girls were eighth out of 10 complete teams and the Hodag boys were 10th in a field of 12 at the Snekkevik Ski Races in Wausau.
Recent warm temperatures rendered the race's usual venue, Nine Mile Forest, unusable. Wausau Nordic Ski Club, the host of the event, made a last-minute switch to Tribute Golf Course - the former home of the Bill Smiley Invitational cross country meet - and was able to lay down a track for its classic-technique race.
"It was much better than I expected," Hodag coach Dave Slette said. "I came down and skied it a day early to see what we were getting into and the conditions were surprisingly good. The kids had good skis. We didn't need a lot of kick out here today. We definitely had them waxed toward glide and I think they appreciated staying fast on course."
Three underclassmen paced the Hodag girls on Saturday, led by freshman Kayla Skubal, who completed the roughly six-kilometer race in 26th out of a field of 63 racers with a time of 26 minutes, 0.1 seconds. That was roughly 4 minutes, 20 seconds off the pace of race winner Grace Kern of Lakeland.
"Kayla Skubal coming in 26th as a freshman is a very impressive result," coach Slette said. "She had some success classic skiing last year, especially as she switched from skins to wax (skis). I was expecting her to do well and I'd say she met or even exceeded those expectations."
Sophomore Brynn Teter finished 33rd for Rhinelander (26:33.7) while freshman Violet Biolo, making her first start of the season, finished 38th (27:18.7).
"They're competitive with the other teams and competitive with themselves too and they were really giving it out there," coach Slette said. "Two freshmen and a sophomore, I think that really bodes well for us going into the future. The girls are skiing well, they're skiing well together and I'm hoping to see a lot more of that this season."
Olivia Gillen (47th, 29:15.3) and Luna Grage (50th, 30:49.8) rounded out the Rhinelander contingent.
On the boys' side, freshman Olin Slette led the way, coming home 25th in a field of 89 skiers. He completed the scores in 20 minutes, 52.1 seconds, roughly three minutes beginning winner Ben Dohlby of Peak Nordic. Travis White was 58th (23:49.6), Charlie Loomis was 71st (25:12.1) and Iain Rumney was 84th (27:58.6).
"I thought the boys did very well, double-polling almost the entire course," coach Slette said. "I think they had to run maybe one or two hills and that was it. They largely seemed happy with how they did. Iain did well for the first time - literally had never even practiced on his new classic skis and he did quite well.
The lack of snow for much of the southern half of the state resulted in a larger than usual turnout for the race. Chippewa Valley Nordic edged Peak Nordic, Ashwaubenon and Iola on the boys' side as the top four teams were separated by nine points. Rhinelander lost at tiebreaker for ninth with North Kettle Moraine.
Lakeland placed three skiers in the top seven to win the girls' meet going way by 22 points over Peak Nordic. The Hodags were only 11 points behind fifth-place Bay Nordic.
Rhinelander's next race is the Hinderbinder this coming Saturday at Camp Forest Springs in Rib Lake.
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.