Hodag harriers finish near back of Smiley pack

WAUSAU — As is the case most years, the Rhinelander High School cross country team ran into some tough competition Saturday in its largest regular season meet of the year. 

The Hodags finished near the back of the Division 1 pack, taking 18th out of 21 in the boys’ field and 15th out of 16 in the girls’ field, in the 67th annual Bill Smiley Invitational in Wausau.

Billed as the oldest invitational cross country meet in northern Wisconsin, the event drew 55 schools from around the state. 

“It’s the best of the best,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. “If you don’t want to run at Smiley, you don’t want to run. Those are the best teams around and that’s why there’s a waiting list for kids to get in there.”

The Hodag boys’ were short-handed Saturday, running without junior Brody Kowieski (knee). Rhinelander went to the line with only five boys in the varsity race and finished behind Medford (15th) for the first time this season. 

Greyson Gremban paced the Hodags again, taking 25th overall in a field of more than 160 runners in the Division 1 race. He covered five kilometers in 17 minutes, 14.1 seconds. Though Gremban turned in a solid time, he was only fifth-fastest among the GNC runners in the field, behind Lakeland’s Owen Clark (fourth), Lakeland’s Ashton Bremer (17th), Medford’s Tanner Hraby (21st) and Antigo’s James Meade (23rd).

“He ran a really good time, Greyson did, a really nice time,” Laggis said. “He’s never overly pleased and that’s part of his mentality of working harder and trying to be better. He got beat by a couple of conference kids today, that will sit in his craw and I think that’s a good thing because that will just drive him to keep competing harder ... For Greyson, that’s fuel for the fire.”

A pair of freshmen were second and third for Rhinelander. Avrom Barr came home 96th (19:18.2) and Jackson Weinzatl was 105th (19:25.4). Senior Gavin Denis was 116th (19:39.1) and junior Shawn Denis was 145th (21:22.1). 

“We’ve talked to Avrom and Jackson a ton. They’ve really done a nice job of staying right with Gavin and being that mold of scoring in the top four,” Laggis said. “They both nudged out Gavin a little bit today, but those three have been really, really solid. 

“You can just see what an impact it is not to have Brody Kowieski because he was having a breakout year and running fantastically and is sidelined with a knee. We’re reeling from that a little bit and just trying to compete.”

    Rhinelander’s Sophie Miljevich rounds a corner in the opening mile of the Bill Smiley Invitational cross country race in Wausau Saturday, Sept. 13. Miljevich was the second-fastest runner for the Hodag girls, finishing 80th overall. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Senior Leah Jamison was again the fastest runner on the Hodag girls’ side but finished roughly a minute slower than she did a week prior in Colby as she came home 79th (22:47.6), just ahead of junior teammate Sophie Miljevich in 80th (22:51.3).

Freshman Kara Monk led the rest of a closely-packed Rhinelander contingent in 88th (23:35.8). Senior Maria Hubler was 92nd (23:48.6) followed by freshman Ella Miljevich (93rd, 23:50.0), junior Brynn Teter (98th, 24:02.3), freshman Hailey Schiek (99th, 24:03.8) and junior Luna Grage (105th, 24:39.8).

“Leah Jamison wasn’t feeling great,” Laggis said. “She was our No. 1 and she finished and I was happy that she gutted it out. That was a nice effort. Sophie Miljevich had an awesome race today. She really is improving. She ran with a lot of guts today. I was really pleased with that. Then another big breakout today, Maria Hubler, who was our fourth, right behind Kara. Maria just had a fantastic run and really gave a great effort.”

There weren’t many personal-best times on Saturday, which was partly due to the course and the warm conditions, but also partly due to where the Hodags are at in their training at this point of the season.

“If you’re one of those emerging types, which I would put us in that category, you’re still trying to improve and get better and drop time,” Laggis said. “Trying to do that without getting kids hurt, it’s a real juggling act and it’s a lot harder than it might seem, I can assure you of that. We’ve got to try to get the speed work in, the hills, the miles, the weight training and, at the same time, have them healthy.” 

Stevens Point won the overall title in D1 while Shorewood (fourth) was tops among the D1 small division schools. The Hodags were 11th of the 13 teams in the D1 small classification. 

Madison West took the D1 girls’ title with Shawano (fifth) taking the D1 small division. 

Up next, the Hodags travel to Three Lakes for an invite on Thursday. A flat trail on Three Lakes’ Big Stone Golf Course typically leads to some of the fastest times of the season.

“It just sets up nice. It’s a really cool venue up there to run a cross country race and it is flat and fast and kids score well,” Laggis said. “Usually there’s a positive affirmation after a race like that. We’re looking forward to it. We want to see if we can drop some time.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].