RHS/Pines skiers battle slippery slopes at Snow River

The Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski and snowboard team did not have its strongest day on the snow Tuesday in the Northern Conference finale but did enough throughout the course of the season to take home some team and individual hardware.

The Hodags finished fourth in both boys’ and girls’ skiing Tuesday at Snow River in Wakefield, Mich. Unseasonably warm temperatures led to soft snow conditions and caught a number of the Hodag skiers, coach Rod Olson said. 

“When we started racing, it was like 38 already and the snow wouldn’t hold together. It was constant work for everybody trying to keep the course clean. It got the best of us,” he said. “We really struggled as a boys’ team, issues on every skier’s runs.”

    Rhinelander’s Ben Olson competes in Super G during a Northern Conference boys’ ski race at Snow River in Wakefield, Mich. Tuesday, Feb. 6. Olson finished 29th on the day after a couple of crashes but placed fourth overall in the final Northern Conference standings. (Kate Reichl/Lakeland Times)
  

Jason Linn finished the best for the Hodag boys, taking 11th overall. Eli Repenshek was 17th, Holden Schmitz finished 19th, Lukas Bishop was 21st, Robert Guolee was 23rd and Ben Olson suffered two crashes on the day to finish 29th. He had to settle for fourth in the final standings for the season after coming into the day in second.

“We were still chasing. We had some individuals that wanted to up their standings. Ben was kind of sitting in second overall in GS and Super G so he went for it and it just wasn’t the day to do that,” coach Olson said. “Some of the kids that had better times just kind of rolled the rut and made it down.”

Maddie Ewan paced the Hodag girls in 12th place, Eliana Conrad was 17th, Aila Bergman finished 20th, Karlie Yunkers was 21st and Kelsey Yunkers finished 28th. 

In girls’ snowboard, Sydney Sarkauskas won four of the six runs on the day — two each in slalom and giant slalom — as she scored her first victory of the season.

“Sydney had a good day. She had good performances today,” coach Olson noted.

Owen Repenshek entered the day with a chance to win the conference title in boys’ snowboarding with a victory, but settled for third on the day and in the final conference standings. Isaiah Willoughby was fourth and Marshal Durkee finished fifth.

“Not to take away from the other boarders, but Marshal and Owen are really struggling with going to the straight board,” coach Olson said. “They’re better athletes and better performers but they were inconsistent. That’s the thing about this sport. There’s fast and then there’s making it (down the hill). “

Overall results

Despite the off day, both the Hodag boys and girls’ ski teams managed to hold on to their overall positions in the Northern Conference, with the boys taking second and the girls finishing third. That allowed both teams to qualify for the WIARA state championships next weekend down in La Crosse. 

That feat was exceptionally satisfying for the Hodag girls in a rebuilding year.

“We don’t have the experience to be really competitive (at state) but we talked it over and we feel it’s a good experience for them,” coach Olson said. “We have a senior, Maddie, who hasn’t been able to make it there. Now she has a team that will get her there. I think it will be good for them to go experience that big hill.”

Additionally, Rhinelander’s girls won the inaugural Northern Conference Cup, a competition within a competition that breaks up the co-ops in the league into individual schools for scoring purposes. The Hodags won four of the five meets in that competition to claim the title by three points over Wausau West.

“That was awesome. We got a nice trophy,” coach Olson said. “We’ve got seven girls from the team that are returning. They’re all excited about it. We’ve got some kids interested in the sport. The girls program I’m real excited about the depth.

“The cup conference trophy I think is good. It would be great to get back to the numbers where every school had numbers that could sustain (a qualifying team), but it was cool to see that.”

Rhinelander tied for third with Rice Lake in the boys’ conference cup standings.

Individually, Ben Olson and Linn both placed in the top 10 in the final conference standings overall and in each individual event. Olson was third in Super G, fourth in giant slalom and seventh in slalom, taking fourth overall. Linn was eighth in Super G and slalom, and ninth in giant slalom as he took eighth in the final conference standings. The Hodag girls did not have any top 10 individuals. Ewan was the team’s top overall finisher in 14th. Individual results factored in an athlete’s best three results during the season in each event.

In snowboarding, Owen Repenshek, Willoughby and Durkee finished third, fourth and fifth, overall. Repenshek was the top boarder in the conference on the year in boardercross while Willoughby won the conference title in slalom. 

Sarkauskas was third in all three events on the season and third in the overall in girls’ snowboarding.

State ahead

Despite the ongoing heat wave, organizers are still planning to hold the WIARA state meet as scheduled at Mt. La Crosse next weekend, and the Hodags will bring their whole squad down for the event.

“They’ve got a lot of it stored in the valleys, where the sun doesn’t hit, and they’ve got some depth,” coach Olson said. “They’ve got stuff to push on there but they’ve basically eliminated all practicing up until state. It’s too big of a deal. That weekend brings in a ton, not just for the hill but the hotels and the restaurants and stuff.”

The snowboarding competition at state is set for Saturday, Feb. 17, with skiing taking place Feb. 18 and 19. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].