Hodag track finishes 6th at regionals

The Rhinelander High School track team had a solid day Monday as the WIAA tournament began. Both squads finished sixth in a nine-team Division 2 regional at Rice Lake High School. Eleven entries — six on the girls’ side and five on the boys’ side — advanced to Thursday’s sectional round in Colby.

Coach Aaron Kraemer said the Hodags acquitted themselves well against a field that featured the top two teams in the GNC — Lakeland and Northland Pines for the boys and Tomahawk and Northland Pines for the girls — as well as a number of strong programs from the northwestern portion of the state. 

“I thought that we did what we came to do today. In most places were we were seeded to go through to the sectional, we made it through,” Kraemer said. “I’m proud of the amount of kids we got through and excited about Thursday, because I think we’ve got some chances to make it on to the state championships.”

The Hodags had only one regional champion. Sophomore Libbey Buchmann bolstered her case for a repeat run at the WIAA state tournament in the discus, winning that event Monday with a toss of 125 feet, 6 inches. While that didn’t match her school record throw of 134-9 set last Thursday in Antigo, it was still the best toss out of the four regions that make up the Colby sectional and the third-best throw across the state in D2.

Buchmann also punched a ticket to sectionals in the shot put, taking third in that event Monday with a personal-best toss of 33-6 1/2.

“Libbey, she doesn’t feel the same way about the shot as she does the discus. She’s got a lot of use on that right shoulder with volleyball and softball, so she’s feeling the pain a little bit, but she pushed through it and did a great job getting through in the shot put and then popped of a big disc in her second throw,” Kraemer said. “I know that she feels she can do more and she’s excited about the opportunity to get through to sectionals. Ultimately, she wants to get through to state again and do her thing.”

Fellow sophomore Aila Bergman also qualified in two individual events, taking third in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles. She posted a personal-best time of 16.09 in the 100 hurdles and went 47.06 in the 300 hurdles, roughly two-tenths of a second off the school record she set at last year’s sectional meet. 

Bergman nearly added a third event to her sectional program as she took sixth in the 200-meter dash. She missed the top four, and a spot at sectionals, by 0.09 seconds.

“By the end of the year we were just trying to give her as many chances to make it to sectionals as possible. Now, for her to just be able to focus on her hurdle races, I think that’s going to be a blessing in disguise a little bit,” Kraemer said. “Aila’s getting back into form, getting to where she was last year, especially in the 300 and she’s going to be competitive in the 100 hurdles too. She ran a really good 200 race too and that just goes to show you where she’s at as far as her athleticism and the hard work she’s put in to get where she is right now.”

    Rhinelander’s Logan Schwinger throws the shot put during a WIAA Division 2 regional in Rice Lake Monday, May 20. Schwinger finished second in the event and qualified for sectionals along with teammate Reid Schultz, who placed fourth. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Overall, Monday was an afternoon of successes and near misses for the Hodags, who saw one teammate bump another out of sectionals in the boys’ shot put. Junior Logan Schwinger dropped a throw of 47-2 early in the prelims which held on to second overall in the event. Fellow junior Reid Schultz was fourth through the prelims with a toss of 44-7. He was momentarily bumped out in the finals by senior teammate Sam Balge, who went 44-11 to move into fourth. Schultz answered with a 45-2 on his final throw of the day to advance, knocking out Balge in the process.

“Logan threw a far one in the prelims. That’s a huge PR for him to start the region like that and get into the finals, knowing you’re in first place and it’s going to take a big effort to try to catch you,” Kraemer said. “Sam was in fourth pretty much the whole flight until the last throw and Reid ended up beating him by three inches. That’s kind of bittersweet too. You want to applaud your teammate, be excited for them, but it’s hard, especially as a senior, knowing that’s your last throw. Sam handled it with great (class) and he’s good kid. We’re going to miss him next season for sure. Reid deserves this. He’s a kid that’s working really hard to hone his craft. He had a rough meet last week. For him to get through, that’s got to feel good for him and I’m happy for him.”

Sophomore Myles Eagleson also moved on, taking third in the long jump with a leap of 19-10 3/4. That will be his only event at sectionals after taking sixth in the triple jump, missing the top four by roughly seven inches.

“If you take away two hours of activity for him (by not competing in the triple jump) and you add that extra energy into the long jump, I think he’s going to be even better when it comes to the sectional,” Kraemer said. “He’s going to have to be. We looked at the Medford region and there were six guys that jumped over 20 feet. It’s going to be tough. It always is in the long jump to make it to state but, if anybody’s gonna do it, it’s going to be Myles.”

    Rhinelander’s Zach Germain runs the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay during a WIAA Division 2 regional in Rice Lake Monday, May 20. Germain qualified for sectionals as part of the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Additionally, Rhinelander advanced in four relays, taking second in the boys’ 4x100, third in the boys’ 4x200 and third in both the girls’ 4x100 and 4x400. 

Those relay results served as a bit of redemption for few athletes who narrowly missed advancing in open events. Zach Germain was on both the 4x100 and 4x200 squads for the boys after finishing fifth in the 100 meters (11.56), and missing the top four by 0.09 seconds. On the girls’ side, Lexi Bishop and Violet Biolo finished fifth and sixth in the 100 but made up two legs of the 4x100 with Olivia Ruetz and Lena Timphus.

“It was tough for Zach, but he’s done a great job in the 4x1 team and the younger guys have kind of taken him under their wing. He’s running with two sophomores and they’ve done a good job banding that team together. For Zach, it’s tough that he didn’t make it through in the 100, but he got to go through in the 4x100 and 4x200, which is good for him,” Kraemer noted. “Lexi, I think she’s one good year away and she’s going to be someone that works her tail off all year long to get back where she needs to be and be better next season. She’s had a great year and we’re proud of her.”

Germain, Ben Olson and Sam Zwaard made up three fourths of both qualifying relays. They were joined by Paul Van Camp in the 4x100 and Abe Barlog in the 4x200. Olson was seventh for the Hodags in the 100, Barlog finished eighth in the 110 hurdles and Van Camp was eighth in the 200.

    Rhinelander’s Olivia Ruetz competes in the 4x400-meter relay during a WIAA Division 2 regional in Rice Lake Monday, May 20. Ruetz qualified for sectionals as part of the Hodags’ 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

On the girls’ side, Biolo and Ruetz were on both qualifying relays. Freshman Lucy Eddy and senior Kyleah Hartman rounded out the quartet in the 400.

There were several near misses for the Hodags on Monday, but none closer than junior Truman Lamers who was, essentially, an inch away from qualifying in two events. He took fifth in the triple jump, his leap of 39-0 3/4 eclipsed by a half inch by Northland Pines’ Kyan Lins for the final transfer spot. He was also one of six jumpers to clear 5-10 in the high jump, but he needed all three attempts to do so. That dropped him into a tie for fifth place after he failed to clear 6-0.

Kraemer lamented that Lamers was not at 100% on Monday, still bothered by an ankle he rolled earlier this month during the Otto Bacher Invite in Merrill.

“I blame myself for it a little bit. As the year goes one, we’ve got to be a little smarter in taking care of him and making sure he gets to the end of the season and has his best events at the end of the year,” Kraemer said. “For him to struggle late in the season, that’s hard for me to take. I definitely don’t blame him for that. Things happen, injuries happen, but I think we could have been a little more cautious with him as the year went on.”

The Hodags also missed by one spot in the girls’ 4x200. The squad of Reese Gehrig, Nicole Long, Shyanne Hueckstaedt and Emma Deede ran 1:53.65, missing the top four by 0.71 seconds. The Hodags were sixth in the 4x800, Bishop took seventh in the 200, Averie West was seventh in the 100 hurdles and Ruetz took ninth in the high jump with a height (4-8) that was good enough to advance Eva Heck to sectionals in that event last year. Heck went 4-6 on Monday, tying for 11th.

Olson added a seventh-place run for the Hodags boys in the 100 and Balge was eighth in the discus. Rhinelander finished seventh in the boys’ 4x400 and eighth in the boys 4x800.

Sectionals took place Thursday in Colby after press time for today’s edition. The top four finishers in each event, along with anybody outside the top four whose performance is among the top eight in the state in a particular event, will move on to next weeks WIAA state meet in La Crosse.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].