Boys’ track: RHS takes fourth in Wausau

The RHS boys’ track team scored three victories and tied for fourth Friday in the Boys’ Warrior Invitational at Wausau West High School.

Much like the Hodag girls the day prior, the Hodag boys used their final indoor meet of the season to mix around the lineup, sprinkling in some of their top-line starters while giving a number of underclassmen an opportunity to compete. 

“That was a goal,” coach Aaron Kraemer said. “As much as possible during the indoor season we want to get guys the opportunity to compete, which means that some of the guys that might run two or three events during the outdoor season are only running one or two, trying to get as many guys as meet-ready as possible.

“It was a good performance tonight had a couple first place, which was nice and some guy stepping up in different places and showing us what they can do.”

Senior Truman Lamers won his only event, claiming the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, 10 1/2 inches. After struggling with injury during the second half of last season, Kraemer said the goal has been to get Lamers back to his 2022 form while keeping him fresh for late May and championship season.

“For him, it’s just about getting back to the mark from last year and then going bigger and better. I know that he’s going to this year. I mean he’s poised for it,” Kraemer said. “Just watching him in triple, he had a couple good jumps early but there was some coaching between him and (jumps coach) Andy (Wyss) that was going on and he was asking some questions and then popped off a big one on third jump.”

Junior Ben Olson scored the win in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 1 minute, 0.27 seconds around West’s tight 145.5-meter track. He ran the penultimate heat of that race and edged Northland Pines speedster Eli Kerner by 0.05 seconds after Kerner won the final heat. 

“Ben was running out in front of his entire pack in the heat before the final heat, set a great pace and finished really strong,” Kraemer said. “It’s really hard on that track, 145 meters, difficult to keep your pace. You can see that with a guy like Kerner running a minute. Ben did this thing tonight. I think it’s something that you can see outdoors from him. We need to get some open times on him in the 400 and the 200 early on and give him racing in the fastest heat because I think he can do a lot of damage. He’s a fast young man.”

Rhinelander’s third win came in the 20-lap (4x727.5-meter) relay. The Hodags’ distance crew of sophomores Avrom Barr and Jackson Weinzatl, and seniors Greyson Gremban and Shawn Denis won that race with a time of 8:26.40, beating Wausau East by 10 1/2 seconds. 

“They won the event and it was really, really great to see Greyson back on track for them,” Kraemer said. “He dealt with that foot injury last year and I know it broke his heart, not to be able to compete with his teammates (mostly) all season long. But it is good to see him back on the track and see the joy come back to his face. He has a solid distance crew behind him, guys that are veterans after last year kind of picking up where he couldn’t.” 

Ryley Hull added a third-place finish for the Hodags in the 200 hurdles (30.95) while Michael Brunette and Weinzatl scored fourth-place finishes in the 1,600 and 800 meters, respectively. Myles Eagleson added a fifth-place performance in the long jump, barely missing 20 feet (19-11 1/4). Landon Catlin added a fifth-place finish in the triple jump. 

Junior Cyrus Leisure was Rhinelander’s only finals qualifier in the 55-meter dash, coming home eighth. 

Though it did not score any points for Rhinelander, junior Ayden Myers smashed a personal best in pole vault, clearing 11 feet in only his second competition in the event. 

“I know the goal tonight was getting over 10 feet in and to pop off a PR by 2 1/2 feet is something special on your second time pole vaulting,” Kraemer noted. “We’re waiting for him to get healthy after the beginning of the year, and technique wise, he’s got a long way to go yet. He’s just learning and trying to jump over 11 feet in the meet so early in the year is a great accomplishment for him.”

Rhinelander opens the outdoor portion of the season tonight in the Hodag Hybrid meet at Mike Webster Stadium. Despite a chilly forecast of 40 degrees at race time, Kraemer said his team is eager to get outside. 

“I am excited to see the fullness of the track season,” he said. “You add a couple extra events and your team starts to stretch a little bit, and I think that’s where we’re very, very strong. We have depth season both on the girls side and the boys side being, nearly 50 on each team. We have the depth we need to compete outdoors.”

The Hodags will also be in action Thursday at Marathon. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].