Hodag mountain bikers fare well at home

The Rhinelander-Northwoods Composite mountain bike team had a season-high 18 riders take the starting line Sunday in the Hodag Hustle at Tesomas Scout Camp, round 5 of 6 in the 2024 Wisconsin Interscholastic Cycling League season.

The Hodags fared well with their two squads. The RNC team, made up of riders outside the School District of Rhinelander, finished 12th in the 66-team Division 2 field while the Rhinelander High School squad was right behind them in 13th. 

    Macy Lester competes in the varsity girls’ division during the Hodag Hustle WICL mountain bike race at Tesomas Scout Camp in the town of Pine Lake Sunday, Oct. 6. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The team had a few riders narrowly miss out on podium positions. Three Lakes senior Macy Lester came home sixth in the field of 25 riders in the varsity girls’ race, completing four laps of the 5-plus-mile course in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 41.56 seconds. That was just over four minutes off the pace of race winner Sam Paternoster of Marquette (Mich.) and 25 seconds behind fifth-place Sami Doberstein of D.C. Everest. 

The RHS squad had a pair of seventh-place finishes. Henry Schmitz was seventh in the D2 freshman boys’ race (48:55.57, 2 laps) and Michael Tredupp was seventh in the D2 boys’ JV2 race (50:14.24, 2 laps). 

    Holden Schmitz competes in the varsity boys’ division during the Hodag Hustle WICL mountain bike race at Tesomas Scout Camp in the town of Pine Lake Sunday, Oct. 6. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Holden Schmitz was 20th in the varsity boys’ race (1:36:14.26, 4 laps) for RHS. Emma Mankus, in her first ride of the season for the Hodags, finished 22nd in the JV-2 girls’ division (1:10:33.93, 2 laps) and Nathan Cordy was 44th in the D2 boys’ JV2 race (1:04:03.23, 2 laps). 

Cody Price was 11th (1:14.41.91) and William Gregersen took 30th (1:23:33.57) for the RNC squad in the three-lap JV-3 boys’ race. Conley Meyer was 22nd in the D2 freshman boys’ race (55:54.64, 2 laps). Miles Kirschbaum (57:31.05) and Everett Smith (1:03:04.66) were 31st and 43rd, respectively, in the D2 boys’ JV2 race. 

    Hans Sommer (7578) and Jacob MacFarland (7577) take off from the starting line in seventh grade boys’ division during the Hodag Hustle WICL mountain bike race at Tesomas Scout Camp in the town of Pine Lake Sunday, Oct. 6. Sommer and MacFarland finished first and fourth, respectively, in the race. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

As they have all season, Hodag riders cleaned up in the seventh-grade boys division, placing four riders in the top seven overall. RHS rider Hans Sommer made it four wins in four starts as he scored the win (24:12.85, 1 lap), RNC rider Emmett Tuckey was third (25:52.29), followed by Jacob MacFarland for RHS in fourth (25:53.49) and Liam McKissack for RNC in seventh (27:01.97).

Alexander Rusch (30:03.87) and Jase Houg (32:59.25) were 26th and 37th, respectively in the seventh-grade boys’ field while Justin Liebscher was 20th in the sixth-grade boys’ race (30:07.58). 

It marked the first time the WICL made a stop in the Northwoods as the event brought in roughly 1,000 competitors and more than 2,000 spectators to the outskirts of Rhinelander. 

One race remains in the 2024 WICL. That will take place Sunday, Oct. 20 in Waterloo. The RNC squad is 18th overall and the RHS team sits 33rd in Division 2 heading into the finale. 

Individually, Price is eighth in the JV3 boys’ standings and Henry Schmitz is tied for eight in the freshman boys’ standings. Holden Schmitz sits 22nd in the varsity boys’ standings and Lester is 23rd in the varsity girls’ rankings, though she stands to pick up several positions with a good finish Oct. 20 after missing a race earlier in the year. The WICL factors in a riders’ best four out of five performances for individual rankings.