Team review: RHS cross country

For the 2024 Rhinelander High School cross country team, 2021 felt so close and so distant at the same time. This fall, the Hodags’ returned to the WIAA state meet as a team for the first time since 2021. The three-year trek to get back to Wisconsin Rapids felt more like an odyssey at times — filled with highs and lows that eventually culminated with a 14th-place finish for the boys’ squad at the D2 state meet earlier this month.

“A lot’s been said but I can’t overstate it, their accomplishment was awesome,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said during the team’s banquet.

While the Hodag girls narrowly missed having their first state qualifier in seven years, that program took a step forward as well in 2024, taking third at conference and sixth at sectionals.

Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.

Greyson’s mission

    In this Oct. 8, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Greyson Gremban, left, and Avrom Barr, center, race with Lakeland’s Ashton Bremer in the opening mile of the Northland Pines Invitational cross country race in Eagle River. Gremban and Barr were Rhinelander’s top two runners most of the year, scoring top-five finishes at both conference and sectionals. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Moments after missing out on qualifying for the WIAA state meet in 2023, Greyson Gremban called his shot regarding the aspirations for both he and his team in 2024.

“Luckily, I get one more crack at it and I get the opportunity to do that with a lot of underclassmen,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll see seven green shirts next year (at state). Really optimistic.”

Those words proved prophetic as the team made it back to the state meet this year with Gremban leading the charge. He was Rhinelander’s top runner most of the year, with the highlights of his season including at 10th-place finish in D1 at the Bill Smiley Invitational, a runner-up finish at the Great Northern Conference meet, a third-place finish at sectionals and a 48th-place run at state.

“I’m really proud of all the hard work I put into this sport, how much it’s allowed me to grow as an individual. I’m so proud of how I’ve been able to contribute to this team, to this program, help bring Rhinelander back into a top setting in cross country,” Gremban said after capping off his high school career in Wisconsin Rapids.

According to Laggis, Gremban’s success was no accident, considering the number of miles he logged and the training he endured in the offseason to get ready for his senior campaign.

“The biggest thing I can say is when people say they want success, they want this to happen or that to happen, my question is did you do the work on the front side,” Laggis said. “He does the work. That can’t be understated. He put in all the miles, all the effort. The achievement that he has wasn’t luck.”

Finding a fifth

Gremban had plenty of returning company as the Hodag boys made a run to state. Avrom Barr emerged as the Hodags No. 2 runner last year as a freshman and continued his ascent this year. He was third at the conference meet, fourth at sectionals and Rhinelander’s top finisher at state, placing 44th. 

Senior Brody Kowieski returned to the lineup after being shut down roughly a third of the way through his junior year with a knee injury and sophomore Jackson Weinzatl was back after emerging as a solid No. 3 option for the Hodags in 2023. 

The biggest question for the Hodags entering the year was if they could find a fifth runner to go with those top four and solidify a team score. That answer was very much up in the air at the start of the season, but a couple of runners emerged toward the end of the season who were able to shore up the back end of the Hodags’ lineup.

Freshman Michael Brunette broke the 19-minute mark for the first time during an Oct. 8 race at Northland Pines and stayed there pretty much the remainder of the season, including a 15th-place finish at the GNC meet. The Hodags also had a card up their sleeve in junior Ayden Myers. He joined the squad late in the season, made his debut at Northland Pines and wound up finishing 12th at the conference meet. 

Their contributions, along with those of No. 7 runner Grant Gremban, helped give the Hodags a team that could score well entering championship season.

“Mikey Brunette came out of nowhere and not only was he our No. 5 for basically all year, but just the way he did it to have that kind of character and attitude as a freshman and kind of be the life of the party in the huddle just being Mikey,” Laggis said. “Ayden joined us late and has just been a rock for us. I’m really happy. Without what Mikey did, without the work that Jackson Weinzatl did, we don’t get there as a team. It takes all of them.”

Heartbreak and redemption

The Hodags had momentum going into championship season, winning three straight races on the boys’ side. That plus an injury to Lakeland No. 3 runner Charlie Ernst had the team bullish about its chances to knock off the T-Birds for the conference title. 

It was all going to plan right up until the point that it didn’t. Kowieski broke down from exhaustion over the final 400 meters, going from fourth to outside the top 21. Weinzatl faded out of the top 10 late in the going as well. 

In a few short minutes, the Hodags went from thinking they were going to win the conference title to barely holding off Tomahawk for second. 

Dejected afterward, Laggis said the team committed to following the same training plan it had when it won the conference title in 2021. What the Hodags didn’t bank on was an unseasonably warm day at this year’s conference meet, with a race-time temperature in the 70s.

“As a group we decided that’s what we’re going to do. The boys were all-in on that. I guess you wouldn’t change that, but I would change what happened today. That’s for sure,” Laggis said.

After receiving some additional medical attention over the weekend, Kowieski was back at practice the following Monday as the team regrouped and set its sights on a good run at sectionals — where the Hodags and Lakeland were projected to grapple for the second and final team qualifying spot to the state meet.

The sectional race in Colby came down to one word for the Hodags — redemption. 

While Greyson Gremban and Barr led the way with top-five finishes, Kowieski came home solidly in 15th, Weinzatl was 24th and Myers finished 40th as the Hodags beat Lakeland by 15 points for the runner-up spot and a ticket to Wisconsin Rapids.

“Especially with the emotions of a week ago, wow, it was good to see that turnaround,” Laggis said afterward. “To see the resilience of our boys and how they practiced Monday, everybody was just in a complete good mindset. I couldn’t believe it. They had a great week and there was a lot of confidence today that they were going to come out and have a great race. That’s just what they did.”

Rhinelander went on to beat sectional champion New London at state. Both Barr and Greyson Gremban placed in the top 50, Kowieski was 106th, Weinzatl finished 114th, Brunette was 138th, Myers was 140th and Grant Gremban finished 148th.

Girls’ squad

    In this Oct. 19, 2024 file photo, Rhinelander’s Macy Myers leads teammate Brynn Teter to the finish line of the GNC cross country meet in Eagle River Saturday, Oct. 19. Myers and Teter consistently were the top two runners for the Hodag girls during the 2024 season. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodag girls turned in a solid season, finishing third at the Great Northern Conference meet and fifth at sectionals. Their season was highlighted by breakthrough years for their two top runners — senior Brynn Teter and Macy Myers.

Teter was slowed by injury at the end of last season and was not part of the Hodags’ sectional lineup. She bounced back this year and was Rhinelander’s top runner virtually all season.

“Brynn, from wire-to-wire, she was a totally different runner this year than last year,” Laggis said. “She had a different attitude. She carried herself differently. She got into a race and she was a bulldog. She wanted to race and race well.”

Myers, meanwhile, was new to running competitively, but burst onto the scene as the team’s No. 2 runner at the season-opening Hodag Invite and never really gave up that spot except at the end of the season — when she finished ahead of Teter as Rhinelander’s top runner at conference and sectionals.

Rhinelander had four runners earn all-conference honors. Myers finished fourth at the conference meet, Teter took fifth, sophomore Hayley Schiek was 15th and senior Sophie Miljevich finished 21st. 

“Brynn looked strong the whole race. Macy had a great kick at the end. Macy and Brynn, both first teamers and really, really happy with that. They had great runs,” Laggis said. “Hayley and Sophie putting in good runs today and getting conference recognition, you always want to see a senior get recognition like that. That’s really cool.”

Myers and Teter finished eighth and ninth at sectionals and were the first two individuals to miss qualifying for the WIAA state meet.

What’s next

The Hodags will have to reload next year on the boys’ side without Greyson Gremban and Kowieski, but could return as many as five starters from this year’s state squad — led by Barr and Weinzatl who will both be juniors. 

The Hodag girls will also bring back a number of starters, but bid farewell to Teter, Sophie Miljevich and Luna Grage. The good news on the girls’ side is that there were a number of underclassmen who ran with the varsity seven at some point during the year, the majority of whom will be juniors and sophomores next year. 

The Hodags are not expected to get a huge crop of new runners into the program, at least through the traditional pipeline. There were only two eighth-grade runners on the middle school cross country team this fall. 

Regardless, Laggis said he is hopeful that the team’s recent success will build to the point where Rhinelander is a contender for conference champions and state meet appearances on a yearly basis.

“My hope is that the younger group here understands what the older group brought to you and make that go again,” he said. “On the girls’ side, there’s no reason that can’t happen. The dedication is there It’s something to look forward to on all sides.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].