May 10, 2023 at 2:24 p.m.
Track: Hodag boys win, girls take 2nd in Tomahawk
Rhinelander won nine events on the boys' side and cruised to a 28-point win over host Tomahawk in the five-team Hatchet Invitational. Despite resting nearly their entire distance crew on Tuesday, the Hodags finished second in the girls' standings only 22 points behind Tomahawk.
It was the first of two meets for the Hodags in the final week of the regular season, and coach Aaron Kraemer said the goal was focused more on individual performances rather than putting together a lineup to compete for a meet title.
"It was good to see so many different athletes do so many different things," he said. "Our busses were full today and the boys, at the end of the day, were able to come out on the winning end. But that's not necessarily what we were going for. We were just going for our best efforts, our best times, our best distances. I know it sounds cliche, but that's kind of how track is. It doesn't matter how many wins you have during the regular season, it's about being the best at tournament time."
Kaleb Winter returned to the pole vault on Tuesday after skipping the event for several meets due to a hand injury. He cleared 11 feet, 6 inches to lead a 1-2 Hodag finish with teammate Dresden Klaver (8-6) in the event.
"It was good to see him back," Kraemer noted. "He was able to get on his new pole that we purchased this year for him. He's flying through 10, 11 feet and 11-6, but that 12 number is his number. Once he gets over that I think it's going to start to fly for him. We just hope that's at the right time of the season here."
In the meantime, Winter did well in a couple of events he picked up during his pole vault absence. He took the long jump with a leap of 18-8 and was third in the triple jump (36-9).
"One thing about the long jump is if you can figure out the triple jump, the long jump comes a lot easier," Kraemer said. "And, for Kaleb, it's a lot easier too, because he's someone that does a run with a pole in his hand. He understands the importance of repetition in the approach, takeoff angles and all that stuff. He understands it. So it was real easy to teach him the long jump last week."
The Hodags swept the top three in both the long jump and the triple jump. Senior Shane Petrick was second in the long jump (17-7 3/4) and Truman Lamers came home third (17-5 1/4). Lamers, a sophomore, scored two wins on Tuesday. He went 5-8 in the high jump to claim that event and then jumped a personal best 40-9 in the triple jump to score the win ahead of teammate Myles Eagleson (36-10).
"He let it rip tonight. I was really proud of him," Kraemer said. "He worked on one thing in his first phase, just actively landing. That's really all it was, instead of just letting your body come to the ground and react to the ground, it was actually pushing the ground away. That was the difference. Plus, it was a lot warmer today, so he was able to open it up and let it fly."
Abe Barlog claimed the win for Rhinelander in the 110-meter hurdles (18.63 seconds) while Cody Ruetz claimed the 400 (54.22). Freshman Cyrus Leisure was one of the few distance runners for the Hodags on Tuesday and scored a win in the 800 (2:24.80).
"He cut 10 seconds in his 800 and he cut 30 seconds in his 3,200," Kraemer said. "Because it was such a small meet, it was like 15 minutes in between those two races. It was impressive for him to do those things."
Additionally, the Hodag boys claimed wins in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays. Ben Olson, Daniel Gillingham, Payton Campbell and Mason Baker made up the winning squad in the 4x100 (48.32). Rhinelander went with an all-freshman quartet of Olson, Jackson Fuss, Sam Zwaard and Connor Dumpprope to take the 4x400 (3:48.72). Rhinelander also won the 4x400 on the girls' side with the team of Reese Gehrig, Violet Biolo, Aila Bergman and Gussie Gruett (4:40.27). Kraemer said sprint coach Drake Biolo has put a lot of stock into the longest of the sprint races, which appears to be yielding dividends.
"He wants that race to be a marquee race, a race people want to run," Kraemer said. "It's hard. It's one of the most difficult races in track and field. He's kind of building them toward the hard so that everything else is easier. It's working for them. They're getting into it and running it well."
Gruett added a win for Rhinelander in the open 400 meters, setting a personal-best time of 1:04.32. That was more than two seconds faster than the time Gruett posted to qualify for sectionals in last year's WIAA Division 1 tournament series.
"Gussie tonight ran a PR. A kid that makes the sectional in Division 1, running a new PR, that's look out people. She's flying," Kraemer noted.
Rhinelander's other win on the girls' side came in the discus, where freshman Libbey Buchmann recorded a personal-best throw of 111-6.
"Libbey, right now, she's just working on her speed through the zone," Kraemer said. "We keep talking about centrifugal force and trying to get her body moving quicker so that she can use the angles and the force, rather than just using her pure strength. She did it today, had a great release and great throw."
The Hodags scored droves of podium finishes in a smaller meet that also included Mercer, Three Lakes and Hurley. In addition to a runner-up finish in the pole vault, Klaver took second in the 300 hurdles and was third in the 110 hurdles. Fuss took second in the 400, Ruetz was the runner-up in the 200, Olson claimed third in the 100 and Dumpprope was third in the 300 hurdles. Rhinelander also took second in the boys' 4x200 relay with Campbell, Baker, Kyrle Vanney and Gillingham.
Callie Hoerchler scored top-three finishes in all four of her events. She was second in the long jump and third in the high jump. She scored a runner-up finish in the 4x200 with Maddie Legrey, Kyleah Hartman and Lexi Bishop. Hoerchler, Gehrig, Bishop and Emma Deede were third in the 4x100.
Mya Swanson took second in the 300 hurdles and was third in the long jump, Charlotte Shertleff took second in the 1,600 meters, Bergman finished second in the 100 hurdles, Gehrig was the runner-up in the 200, Violet Biolo took third in the 400, Hartman was third in the 300 hurdles and Buchmann added a third-place toss in the shot put.
Tuesday also marked the return of senior sprinter Brendon Eckrich, who has been sidelined much of the season due to a lingering groin injury suffered in football last fall. Eckrich, who was on the conference-winning 4x100 relay last spring, took fourth the 100 meters.
"He's got to get back into form, but I was happy to see him finally back in this meet. We'll re-evaluate how he's feeling and that will give us and indication of whether or not he can go again next week Tuesday," Kraemer noted.
Rhinelander was home Thursday competing in the Hodag Invite at Mike Webster Stadium, which concluded after press time for today's edition. It served as the final tune-up for the Hodags before Tuesday's Great Northern Conference meet at Lakeland.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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