Cross country: Hodag boys finish 2nd at GNCs

WAUSAU — After a couple of key injuries, coach M.J. Laggis was resigned to a likely mid-pack finish for his RHS boys’ cross country team heading into Saturday’s Great Northern Conference meet. 

The Hodags exceeded expectations, however, and ended up the best of the rest in the conference. 

Greyson Gremban ran a lifetime-best 16 minutes, 36.6 seconds, leading a slew of personal records for the Hodag boys as they slipped into the runner-up spot at Nine Mile Forest. Rhinelander edged Tomahawk by a point for second and finished five markers ahead of fourth-place Medford. 

The Hodag girls finished fourth on the day.

Thin on the boys’ side following a season-ending knee injury for No. 2 runner Brody Kowieski, the Hodags stepped up on conference meet day and still found a way to get second. 

“It was really satisfying. Once we lost Brody it was hard to keep focused on getting that No. 2 spot, but I thought our kids did a great job rebounding,” Laggis said.

Gremban earned first-team honors in the GNC for a second year in a row. After taking sixth in last year’s meet, Gremban bettered that by two spots to finish fourth this time around. He battled Antigo’s James Meade for third over the final half mile. Though Meade won the race to the line, Gremban was still ecstatic after breaking the 17-minute mark for the first time in his high school career.

“I’ve been hanging around that low 17 mark for a couple of weeks now. It feels fantastic to get under that 17-minute barrier, definitely smashed it today,” he said. “This was a very fast race. We sat on (GNC champion) Owen Clark (of Lakeland) that first mile, were under 5 minutes, and that last 1,200 (meters) was almost all downhill.”

“I’m really impressed with that,” Laggis added. “He was super focused today. You just had a feeling he was going to have a really, really good run.”

Gremban was far from the only one to turn in a career race on Saturday. Freshman Avrom Barr broke out in a big way, coming home ninth on the day to earn second-team all-conference honors (17:29.0). Another freshman, Jackson Weinzatl, also cracked the 18-minute mark for the first time (17:58.2) as he was the first runner to receive honorable mention, in 15th overall.

“Avrom and Jackson have just grown so much this year,” Laggis said. “Avrom’s been very time-conscious. He talks to me in school all the time about dropping time, dropping time. It’s on his brain. He’s telling himself he can do it and he just keeps doing it. Jack’s the same thing. I’m totally impressed with those two kids.”

Senior Gavin Denis narrowly missed all-conference honors, finishing 22nd for the second year in a row (18:24.3). Only the top 21 finishers make the all-conference team. Shawn Denis returned to the lineup after missing a couple of races due to injury and finished 36th on Saturday. Augustus Porter was 37th and Hank Kowieski finished 45th. 

    Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich runs in the final half mile of the GNC cross country meet in Wausau Saturday, Oct. 14. Miljevich finished 17th to earn all-conference honors for the second time in her career as the Hodag girls placed fourth on the day. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

While there were some fast times on the girls’ side, a generally slow start mired the Hodags back in traffic and made it difficult to pick up places. Senior Leah Jamison posted a personal-best time of 20:53.8, but was passed by three runners in the final quarter mile to fall from second-team contention to 15th overall and the first on the honorable mention list. It was her second straight all-conference finish after taking 18th in last year’s GNCs. Junior Sophie Miljevich finished 17th to earn all-conference honors for the second time in her career. She missed the top 21 last year, but placed 18th as a freshman. Miljevich also set a personal best on Saturday, going 21:21.8.

“Sophie, I say this every meet, but it’s true, she’s just grown and turned into a real competitor for us,” Laggis said. “She’s challenged Leah and been right there behind her. I’m really proud of those two. They scored really well.” 

Behind them, three freshmen set personal bests but just missed out on all-conference honors. Ella Miljevich (22:12.0), Hayley Schiek (22:13.5) and Kara Monk (22:21.5) all broke the 23-minute mark for the first time as they finished 22nd, 23rd and 25th, respectively.

“Hayley and Ella and Kara, that’s such a base for next year, it’s just crazy,” Laggis said. “They’ve got to get more competitive, and they will, and they’ve got to keep improving.”

Luna Grage (29th, 23:00.7), Maria Hubler (33rd (23:55.8) and Brynn Teter (38th, 24:29.6) rounded out the group for the Hodag girls. 

Lakeland dominated the boys’ race, placing all eight of its runners in the top 17 as they rolled to a 52-point win over the Hodags. Clark (15:43.3) defended as GNC champion ahead of teammate Ashton Bremer. 

Tomahawk upset six-time defending GNC girls’ champion Medford by six points on Saturday. Northland Pines senior Nora Gremban won her third straight individual title, clocking in at 17:06.5, roughly 1:17 ahead of runner-up Meredith Richter of Medford. 

Rhinelander, and the rest of the GNC, will head to Colby on Saturday to race in a 16-team WIAA Division 2 sectional.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].