Hodag girls take 2nd at WNSL Northern Conference meet

The Hodag Nordic skiing girls’ squad turned in a strong showing on Tuesday in its final tuneup prior to the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League state championship races.

Brynn Teter and Kayla Skubal recorded top-five finishes individually and the Hodags finished as the runners-up in the WNSL’s Northern Conference meet at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead in Cable. 

The race was slightly longer, but featured many of the same teams that competed in the Seeley Hills Classic in Cable a week and a half earlier. The Hodag boys finished fifth out of a field of six on Tuesday’s 6 1/2-kilometer class technique race.

“Yeah, I’m ecstatic about the second place finish. I was wondering where we’d fall, especially with two skiers out, but the team stuck together and it was an impressive second place,” Hodag coach Andrew Seaman said of his girls’ squad. “The boys, individually, raced really well. The boys’ field was just a little bit stronger and there were a lot more skiers as well. Even though we didn’t get the places that would have propelled us toward the top of the conference standings, all three of those boys had really strong races.”

Junior Brynn Teter drew the pole position for Tuesday’s interval start and set a solid pace, clocking in at 27 minutes, 45.5 seconds. She was passed by only one skier on the trail, Lakeland’s Stella Meza, who went out second. Meza ended up winning the race with a time of 24:24.7. Lakeland’s Miranda Schneider, who went out well after Teter, bumped her out of the runner-up spot with a 27:24.6.

“I think it’s kind of a double-edged sword going out first,” Seaman said. “Normally in a interval start you can pick off runners and have a target to shoot for, but it also gave Brynn a chance to race her own race right away and set the pace for everyone else. A third-place finish was impressive.”

Kayla Skubal, who went out 11th, picked up a few places on the trail and clocked in with a 29:29.2, taking fifth overall. 

“I was so impressed with their races. The whole race they looked strong, their finishes looked strong. They held their technique together the whole time,” Seaman said. “With the interval start we weren’t sure where they’d fall in, with skiers coming in and possibly bumping them down but Brynn in third place and Kayla in fifth was exciting for the whole team.”

Kali Skubal was the team’s third finisher, taking 20th (34:58.2). Mya Gillen clocked in 23rd (37:12.4). The Hodags were still without Lucy Eddy (shoulder) and Luna Grage (elbow). 

Iain Rumney led the Hodag boys as he finished 24th overall (25:12.2). Jonathan Calhoun was 39th (28:02.8) and Charlie Loomis finished 43rd (28:21.9).

“Iain had a really strong race,” Seaman noted. “The boys’ did quite a bit more double poling then the girls did. They wanted to use their arm strength and glide to get them to the finish line. They did great.”

Lakeland won the girls’ division, placing three skiers in the top five overall. Chippewa Valley Nordic won the boys’ meet, led by individual champion Kristian Hudacek (20:34.4).

While it was just the Hodags’ third race of the year, it was also their last prior to the state championship series, which kicks off with the WNSL State Sprints in Brillion Feb. 3-4. The league will return to Cable for the state distance championships Feb. 10-11.

“Toward the beginning of the season we were worried we’d have to play catch-up with all of these meets missing, but I think we have a really strong foundation,” Seaman said. “After seeing how strong the skiers were today and how comfortable they felt on their skis, I think we should all be looking forward to some success at those state meets.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].