January 25, 2023 at 1:59 p.m.
Hodag skiers gear up for state meet
Hodag skiers gear up for state meet
The field and format were similar to state on Sunday as the team wrapped up the Hodag Nordic Challenge at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom, finishing 14th in the boys' standings and 12th in the girls' standings.
The team then skied the venue that will once again host this year's state championships, placing fifth on the boys' side and third on the girls' side in the WNSL Northern Conference meet Tuesday at the American Birkebeiner trailhead in Cable.
"I think that gives us a lot of confidence," Hodag coach Dave Slette said following Tuesday's race. "They can come off this performance and say, 'We were able to hold our own in a tough conference.' You've got teams like Chippewa Valley, Lakeland, Spooner and Hayward. None of these teams are slouches."
Hodag Challenge
Both Hodag teams made gains Sunday in the second-day of the two-day event at CAVOC, picking up spots during the 5-kilometer freestyle pursuit.
Six of the eight Hodag skiers who competed in both races improved their placement on Day 2.
"We saw high school kids picking up positions today and, in general, the team didn't pick up or lose massive amounts of time," coach Slette said. "Which is nice to see because you know your kids are, one, recovering well from day-to-day and, two, able to ski both techniques strongly.
"It was a very successful weekend both in terms of seeing growth in the kids and in seeing results on the board."
Sophomore Brynn Teter had the team's highest finish of the weekend, finishing 31st overall in the girls' pursuit. She sat 29th following Saturday's classic race and backed that up with the 31st-fastest time on Sunday as she completed the twin 5-kilometer races in 41 minutes, 50 seconds.
"Brynn Teter's classic race on Saturday was just a standout race," coach Slette noted. "She really, I think, surprised all of us a little bit. I don't know what got into her, but she showed us some stuff in her classic technique that we haven't seen in a couple years."
Kayla Skubal jumped four spots on course Sunday to finish 43rd overall (44:05). Olivia Gillen moved up six spots from Saturday to finish 52nd (50:16) and Luna Grage was up four spots on Sunday to finish 56th (54:23).
"Luna Grage I saw giving effort I have not seen in a while, digging very deep at the back of the varsity pack." Coach Slette noted. "She would have placed better in the JV field but kind of gave one up for us to allow us to have a fourth person in the lineup, in case something happened to one of our higher skiers. I was very proud of her for taking that role and really grabbing on to it."
Violet Biolo, working her way back from injury, competed in only Sunday's freestyle race, where she placed 45th (20:34).
"It was nice to have her on course today," coach Slette said. "We're talking about a fierce competitor. She had a hard time sitting on the sideline on Saturday and she decided it was time to give it a go on Sunday - mostly wanting to make sure her injury was going to allow her to do so. She went out there and had a very strong race."
Freshman Olin Slette led the Hodag boys both days. After taking 39th in Saturday's classic race, he picked off five spots on the trail Sunday to finish 34th overall (34:28).
"Olin had a nice, strong classic race on Day 1. I was very happy where he was," coach Slette said. "He knows he's maybe slightly stronger in the freestyle, but that's a day-to-day thing as well. It panned out today. He worked his way through the course, trying to take down one skier after another in the pursuit format."
Travis White made the biggest jump from day to day. He was 77th after Saturday's race but posted the 59th-fastest time on Sunday in freestyle to move up 11 positions to 66th overall (38:24). Charlie Loomis picked up three positions on Sunday to finish 77th (39:52) and Iain Rumney was 85th overall (42:07), after starting Sunday's race in 83rd.
"Travis White had a very strong day today. He took down, I think, 11 places to work his way up in the over," coach Slette said. "Travis just really reversed his days and spent his entire day just passing people up. He couldn't have been more happy. Charlie Loomis also had a nice day today. He took several spots down and even Iain Rumney was able to plug off a skier to improve his lot in the pursuit."
Twenty teams and more than 220 skiers were represented in the varsity and JV fields over the weekend at CAVOC in the largest high school ski race in the state outside of the state distance championships.
"Every team in the state was represented there and if some of those teams left skiers home, they were not likely to be their fastest ones," Slette said. "The fastest skiers and best skiers were universally there. We also had three teams come down from the U.P., including the two biggest clubs. They're bringing plenty of quality skiers and great competition down to challenge our kids."
Northern Conference meet
The Hodags ended up with a pair of podium finishes and a number of skiers in the top half of the field Tuesday in Cable.
The Hodags were fifth of five eligible boys' teams, and handful of points behind fourth-place Spooner while the Hodag girls edged Hayward for third spot.
"It was a really good day on the snow for the Hodags today," coach Slette said.
Olin Slette paced the Hodag boys in ninth place, covering the roughly seven-kilometer freestyle course in 20:20.6. White ended up in the top third of the field, placing 18th out of 54 skiers (22:00.0). Loomis came home 23rd (22:23.5) and Rumney finished 38th (24:36.1).
Teter also finished ninth (24:21.2) to lead the Hodag girls, with Skubal not far behind in 12th (25:23.1). Biolo (17th, 26:29.6), Gillen (20th, 27:54.2) and Grage (26th, 30:13.3) rounded out the Hodag contingent.
"Top to bottom, I'm just supper impressed with the effort level that the kids gave today," coach Slette said. "They just laid everything out there - the entire high school team, the entire middle school team - using the skills they've been given and really just going all out. I think there were a lot of smiles going home today because kids performed remarkably well."
Up next
The races ended up being Rhinelander's final official opportunities to compete prior to the WNSL championship series. The team was slated to take part in the Badger State Games this weekend in Wausau, but that event has been canceled due to poor trail conditions.
Coach Slette said couple of his skiers plan to head to Brillion this weekend to compete in a junior national qualifier, while Teter is set to take part in a 27-kilometer citizens race in Marquette, Mich. Otherwise, the team will not be back on trail until the WNSL state sprints Feb. 4 and 5 in Middleton.
"We've got to keep working a little bit of everything at different intensities and working on sprinting and sprint tactics as well in anticipation of that sprint race coming up," he said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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