Track qualifiers gearing up for state

From both a team and individual perspective, 2024 has likely been a turning point for the Rhinelander High School girls’ track team. The Hodags recorded their best finish in an outdoor conference meet since 1995, the team has already broke two school records and, for the first time in more than two decades, is sending multiple entries to La Crosse for the WIAA state track meet.

There’s a chance more school records could fall over the next couple of days as sophomore Aila Bergman gets set to compete in the 100-meter girls, sophomore Libbey Buchmann takes part in the discus and the 4x100 team of Lena Timphus, Violet Biolo, Olivia Ruetz and Lexi Bishop races in La Crosse. All three entries have personal records on their mind which, if achieved, will either eclipse or come awfully close to school records. 

It’s been a light week of practice leading into the state competition. Coach Aaron Kraemer said that’s by design.

“You set up a plan to taper at the end of the season so we can be our best and most fresh this week,” he said. “We hope we peak at the right time and we know that the girls’ 4x1, Aila and Libbey, will have their best performances at state. It’s not just getting there, they want to do their best.”

Regardless of what happens over the next couple of days, Kraemer said their success has set the foundation for next year. Timphus, a German foreign exchange student, is the only one of the state qualifiers who is not slated to return in 2025.

“That’s the special thing about the girls’ team, they’re very, very young,” Kraemer said. “Obviously, we’re going to miss some of our senior girls … It’s going to be tough to replace them, but we have a very, very young team and a lot of talented and exciting girls moving forward.”

Buchmann hopes to vie for state title in discus

Even given a few days to process what happened at sectionals, Buchmann did not seem overly enamored with her toss of 129 feet, 2 inches that took fourth in the sectional and was the fifth best throw overall in Division 2. 

That’s the third-longest throw in competition of her career, and a full 12 feet further than the toss she used to claim sixth at state last year as a freshman. Even so, that wasn’t enough for the usually effervescent Buchmann to crack a smile over her sectional performance.

“I’ve had a rough couple of days. I’m due for a good one,” she said. 

That’s because Buchmann knows what replicating her career-best and school-record toss of 134-3, set May 18 at the Dale Peterson Invite in Antigo, may bring. If she could duplicate or better that throw on Saturday, a D2 state championship is not out of the question. Arcadia’s Casidi Pehler comes in with the top seed in the event after winning the Colby sectionals with a toss of 133-11.

In fact, six of the top eight seeds in the discus came out of the Colby Sectional, including two special qualifiers who weren’t among the top four finishes to earn automatic bids.

“If I throw my PR, hopefully I’ll be in the top three,” Buchmann said. “We have tough competition. You saw how it was at sectionals. It’s going to be tough at state.”

“Now I think she expects to get on the podium but, at the same time, we saw what happened at sectionals. Anything can happen in those events,” Kraemer said. “If you’re throwing well on that day or you hit the wind the right way, you can throw a big one and be a state champion. I think she’s trying to remain consistent, throw her PR range, get to the finals and then let one go.”

If Buchmann were to win state, she would become the first female track and field champion in RHS history. The closest Rhinelander has come previously was a runner-up finish by Rebecca Lawrence in the high jump in 2019. Buchmann is vying to  be the first state champion for the Hodags in La Crosse since Kevin Langlois won the D1 pole vault back in 1999.

Bergman readies for state debut

    Aila Bergman speaks with Rhinelander High School track team hurdles coach Rod Olson during practice at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, May 28. Bergman comes into today’s preliminaries at the WIAA state track meet in La Crosse seeded ninth in Division 2 in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.86 seconds. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Sophomore Aila Bergman narrowly missed out on the state meet last year and, though she nearly had a two-event program at state this year, she said she’s happy to get down to La Crosse.

“I was hoping I would be able to run two but, I don’t know, I guess it’s meant to be, just one,” she said after taking fifth at sectionals in the 300 hurdles and missing a special qualifying spot in that event by 0.02 seconds. “I’m nervous but, hopefully, I do good. I think I probably will. Hopefully I get to the finals.”

That near miss may be a mixed blessing as Bergman turns her full attention to the 100 hurdles today and, hopefully, tomorrow. Hurdles coach Rod Olson said the cadence between the two events is different, so spending all of the practice time this week focusing on the 100 has been a positive.

“Aila’s peaking at the right time. We’ve made some big improvements all year long,” he said. “She’s fast. She’s very fast, but spending less time over the hurdle is really what we’re concentrating on. Basically there’s a rule that says whatever your 100 time is, you should add about 2 1/2 seconds in the women’s 100 hurdles. We’ve been working to get like a quarter of a second per hurdle, to have that take less and less time — to spend less and less time in the air and more in the sprinting technique of hurdling.” 

She’s seeded ninth overall in the event after her lifetime-best run of 15.86 last Thursday in Colby. That puts her less than a half second off the school record of 15.40 set back in 1988 and in a position to potentially make her way into Saturday’s finals in the event. The winner of each of the two heat races on Friday will make it to Saturday’s main event along with the next eight fastest times between the two races. Winning her heat will be difficult as she’ll run against defending state champ Elletta Uddin of Osceola, who also won the Colby sectional ahead of Bergman with a time of 14.42.

“Beating Uddin from Osceola is going to be tough. She’s the reigning state champ in both of those events but, at the same time, it’s good we’ve already seen her,” Kraemer said. “I think she’s going to want to do the best she can to get on the podium and challenge for a state championship.”

4x1 team eyes improvement, school record

    Rhinelander’s Violet Biolo takes the baton from teammate Lena Timphus in the 4x100-meter relay during a WIAA Division 2 regional track meet in Rice Lake Monday, May 20. The team says crisp handoffs will be key as they try to improve upon their 51.04-second seed time and 16th qualifying position as they run D2 preliminaries today in the WIAA state meet in La Crosse. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Bishop said she was too nervous to contemplate exactly what was happening last Thursday as she raced Amery’s Hannah Rosenberg stride for stride over the anchor leg of the 4x100 with a trip to state on the line. 

“I didn’t want to look either way because then it would have slowed me down. I just had to hope for the best and run,” she said. 

Because of that, it took a few moments for her to realize she had out-leaned Rosenberg to the line by 0.04 seconds for fourth place, and a ticket to La Crosse.

“At the end, I didn’t really celebrate at all. Then I saw everybody on Rhinelander was freaking out and I looked at the (scoreboard) and we were fourth place,” she said.

Much like sectionals, the Hodag 4x1 comes into state playing with house money. They were a bit of a upset to advance to state, entering sectionals as the eighth-fastest qualifiers out of regionals. At state, they’ll be seeded 16th out of 16 entries and will likely need to shave at least a half second off of their 51.04-second sectional time to have a chance to be one of the 10 teams that advance to Saturday’s finals.

“I know they want to PR. I know they want to challenge their seed position,” said Olson, who also oversees the relays for the team. “If we can jump up in seed, that’s a big accomplishment. I think that’s going to be an awesome thing for them. We’ll celebrate that, and they’ll learn a lot.”

If they can PR, a 40-year-old school record of 50.78 seconds, is also not out of the question.

“Their time was good enough to get to state but I think they would say to you that they didn’t run their best race on Thursday,” Kraemer said. “They’re happy that they get another shot. They’re not far away from our school record. They’re working to try to do what they need to do to break the school record.”

Specifically, Biolo said the team’s handoffs could be crisper, which has been the primary point of emphasis at practice this week. 

“I think our handoffs could go a little smoother. We’ll practice a ton. They’ve got a lot better, but they can always been improved,” she said.

“The handoff from 1 to 2 is key for us, and the handoff from 3 to 4 is key,” Olson added regarding the exchanges between Timphus and Biolo, and between Ruetz and Bishop. “Lexi has a great top speed, but we had to lengthen the number of steps that she (uses to) take off when Olivia comes into her zone. That was key. The other day Lexi went out and got the baton when they were both going wide open. That’s really the key.”

Olson added getting the 4x100 relay to state has really been about finding the right mix of talent to place on the team. A couple of pieces of the puzzle fell into place late. Timphus, who didn’t compete in track back home, tried a bit of everything this year before finding a place on the relay.

“I did cross country in the fall and I was like, ‘yeah, maybe distance is not like what I’m good at.’ So I started to sprint and I did an 800 to see how that would go, didn’t feel that great and I really enjoyed the sprints,” she said. “I’m really grateful to be on this team now and it’s a lot of fun. I really enjoy the fast races a lot more than the slow ones.”

Meanwhile, there was plenty of deliberation over the month of May whether Ruetz’s best fit was in the 4x100 or the 400-meter dash that immediately preceded it. She ran sub-1:03 in the 400 in Antigo, which would have been more than fast enough to qualify for sectionals in that event. The gamble to keep her in the 4x100 paid off as it would have taken a 59.42 for her to have made it through to state in the 400. 

“I’m very happy to be in this position and I know a lot of freshmen don’t get to do this. I’m very grateful,” she said.

In addition to the four qualifiers, junior Reese Gehrig and senior Nicole Long will serve as alternates in the 4x100.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].