Hodag harriers battle the heat in Marshfield

The Rhinelander High School cross country team raced at a new venue on Tuesday and drew one of the hottest days of the year to do so. 

The Hodags finished third overall in the boys’ division and fourth in the girls’ division of the Marshfield Tiger Invite at Wildwood Park. Though Rhinelander finished as the top large school on the boys’ side, the weather dominated the storyline on Tuesday.

With near-record heat and increasing humidity, race officials moved the start back nearly two hours to 6 p.m. in an effort to escape the heat. While that helped somewhat, according to the National Weather Service, the race-time temperature was still 83 degrees with a heat index of 87. Gusty winds out of the south added to what were already difficult conditions. 

“It was really windy and it was hot and, I tell you, there was a whole stretch of that first part that was just up a gradual hill on the side of the zoo there,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. “That was a pretty difficult run I thought today. It was a little more difficult course than people talked about. 

“It was hot and it was windy and those guys battled.”

Junior Greyson Gremban once again paced the Hodag boys, taking fourth overall in the field with a 5-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 42.7 seconds. He edged Pacelli’s Luke Eiden at the line for fourth by 0.4 seconds and finished roughly 53 seconds behind race winner Isaac Scheer of Marshfield Columbus.

“Greyson came out of the gate pretty fast,” Laggis said. “He lost a little bit there but then kind of reeled in (the leaders) and finished fourth overall. He had a really good run. I was happy with how he dealt with the elements today.”

With Shawn Denis scratched from the lineup, and both Hank Kowieski and Jonathan Campbell racing in the JV division, the Hodags had only five in the varsity starting lineup on Tuesday. Junior Brody Kowieski was second in for Rhinelander, finishing 22nd overall at 19:33.6. Senior Gavin Denis was right behind in 23rd, 3.1 seconds further back. Freshman Avrom Barr (38th, 20:22.8) and Jackson Weinzatl (43rd, 20:41.4) rounded out the Hodag pack. 

“Brody Kowieski was our No. 2 today and a real strong performance from Brody. He’s come a long way from a year ago. Gavin wasn’t far off of him and Gavin had a real nice finish,” Laggis said. “Obviously, Lakeland’s boys weren’t here and we’ve had a knack of finishing behind them in some meets, but our boys did a really nice job.”

Senior Leah Jamison was Rhinelander’s top runner on the girls’ side for a third straight race, coming home 15th overall (22:54.9). Junior Sophie Miljevich turned in her fastest time of the season, coming home 24th (23:36.1). Freshman Kara Monk took 33rd (24:29.3), junior Luna Grage was 35th (23:34.8) and freshman Ella Miljevich finished 36th (24:38.6).

“Really nice performance from Leah Jamison,” Laggis said. “Our No. 2 was Sophie Miljevich and Sophie had a really strong run and really finished strong. She was really nice, nice addition to the field today the way she ran. Our third girl was Kara Monk and that’s right about where she’s been, in that realm. Then Luna and Ella Miljevich was in the top five. Those five girls scored, had nice runs and we finished fourth. It was really respectable on the girls’ side.”

Maria Hubler (46th, 25:11.9), Brynn Teter (47th, 25:24.2) and Kyleah Hartman (69th, 27:26.2) rounded out the Hodag contingent. 

Medford was the only other GNC school represented in the 17-team meet. Pacelli took the overall boys’ title with 84 points. The Hodags scored 121 points and finished four points behind Marathon for the runner-up spot. Medford took seventh. 

The Raiders edged Stratford 52-67 for the win on the girls’ side, followed by Marshfield in third. Rhinelander (138) finished well ahead of Sparta (165) for fourth. Medford’s Meredith Richter (20:12.7) was the individual winner.  

A traditional stop when the Hodags were in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, Tuesday marked Rhinelander’s first race in Marshfield in well over a decade. The Hodags will compete at another new venue on Saturday as they take part in the Colby Invite. Laggis said that race holds extra significance as it pertains to the postseason.

“That’s the sectional race course and we want to see it. We want to go compete at it,” he said. “No matter what happens on Saturday, it’s a second great training day of the week. You’ve got something to build on going into the weekend and we want to run our best race. Either way, you step back afterwards and say, ‘OK, what do we have to do to be better or run this more effective at sectionals?’”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].