RNC mountain bikers score top 10s in Wild Rose

Both partitions of the Rhinelander Northwoods Composite mountain bike team scored top 10 finishes in Division 2 on Sunday as the Wisconsin Interscholastic Cycling League held the sixth round of its 2023 season at Nordic Mountain in Wild Rose.

The RNC squad, made up of schools surrounding Rhinelander, finished fourth out of 26 teams while the Rhinelander High School squad place ninth in a field that included roughly half of the WICL programs.

Macy Lester led the RNC contingent and was the runner-up in the girls’ varsity race, covering a roughly 16-mile course in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 58.00 seconds. Cody Price was seventh in the boys’ JV-3 race (51:17.76), William Gregersen was 13th in the boys’ JV-2 race (50:43.34) and Everett Smith was 26th in the boys’ freshman race (1:01.03.63). The subvarsity divisions raced a shorter course than the varsity contingent.

Holden Schmitz led the RHS squad, taking sixth in boys’ JV-3 (50:23.3). Emma Mankus was 11th in the girls’ JV-2 race (59:18.83), Nathan Cordy was 17th in boys’ JV-2 (57:31.06) and Michael Tredupp was 21st (52:30.32).

In middle school action, Henry Schmitz was the runner-up in the eighth-grade boys’ race (22:29.11) while Tyler Price was 11th (23:59.8). Jacob MacFarland (9th, 26:32.49), Alexander Rusch (18th, 28:41.09) and Jace Houg (21st, 30:12.92) competed in the sixth-grade boys’ division. 

Sunday served as the penultimate round of the WICL season. The RNC squad sits seventh overall while the RHS team is 15th in the Division 2 team standings. Lester is seventh in the overall varsity girls’ standings, Henry Schmitz is 10th and Price sits 14th in the boys’ JV-3 standings. Mankus is 20th in the girls’ JV-2 ranks.

The season finale takes place Sunday, Oct. 22 at Trek Trails in Waterloo.