Pole vault record falls again as Hodag girls take 3rd in Wausau

The Rhinelander High School girls’ pole vault record was rewritten for the third time in four meets this season Thursday night in Wausau. 

Sophomore Macy Myers broke her own record, leaping 9 feet, 10 inches, to win the event at the Girls’ Warrior Invitational at Wausau West. That beat the mark of 9-6 she set March 25 in Ashland and is more than a foot and a half better than what the school record was entering this season.

Sophomore Emeline Hintz added a runner-up finish in the event, clearing 8-6. Hodag girls’ track coach Andy Wyss said the pole vaulters are getting back on track following a disruption in their training after much of their equipment was trapped inside the Hodag Dome following its temporary closure and deflation March 30.

“They practiced on Wednesday night and that was much needed,” he said. “They just needed to get back into the pit and do some stuff again, because the prior meet it looked like we were just like ducks out of water and not exactly sure what was happening. It was good to get another practice in. It seemed like we were kind of able to pick back up where we left off.”

After making 9-0 and clinching the win in the event, Myers moved the bar up to 9-7 in an effort to beat her previous school record. After clearing that, she moved the bar up three more inches and made 9-10 before narrowly missing out on becoming the first female in RHS history to clear 10 feet. 

Myers added a runner-up showing in the 800 meters (2 minutes, 38.89 seconds) for the Hodag girls who, without their strongest lineup, still managed a third-place finish in the 14-team meet. Wyss said Myers, who is having a breakout sophomore season, could be a key piece in the Hodags’ lineup come championship season.

“One of the keys is keeping her healthy so we can utilize her, because she has a lot of potential and I think she’s got a lot in the tank that we haven’t tapped into,” he said. “She’s really competitive and you’re starting to see a little bit of it in these races when she’s close to, neck and neck, with somebody. She starts to pull out a little something and there’s something deep down in her that we’re going to get out yet that she’s going to have a really good season, provided we keep her healthy and keep her going.”

    Rhinelander’s Violet Biolo (left) and Lexi Bishop (right) compete in the finals of the 55-meter dash during the Warrior Girls Indoor Invite track meet in Wausau Thursday, April 10. Biolo and Bishop finished second and third in the event. (Andy Wyss/Submitted)
  

Junior Aila Bergman won the 55-meter hurdles (9.29 seconds), edging out Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Faith Resch by 0.08 seconds in the finals. Senior Avery West joined Bergman in the finals of the 55 hurdles, taking sixth. The Hodags also got two of their three entries in the 55-meter dash through to the finals. Junior Violet Biolo was the runner up (7.98) with senior Lexi Bishop right behind her in third (8.00).

“Between the 55 and 55 hurdles, we had five entries in that, and four of them made it to the finals, which against the competition there was, I thought, great,” Wyss said.

Otherwise, it was a fairly low-key meet for the Hodags, which Wyss said was by design in what will likely be the squad’s final indoor competition of the spring. 

“This was kind of last chance in indoors that I wanted to get some comparable times on some different girls,” he said. “We mixed up the lineup a little bit, had my triple jumpers long jumping and things like that, switching up a little bit, but I think it went really well. I thought, given that you know the track’s a little tighter and competition’s a little stiffer, I thought we thought we did well.”

In addition to her third-place showing in the 55, Bishop took third in the 400-meter run while sophomore Lucy Eddy was fifth in the 200. Olivia Ruetz added a sixth-place showing in the high-jump and freshman Mady Treder took seventh in a competitive triple jump field, recording a jump of 31-1 1/4 in her maiden voyage into the event. 

“She hopped in that, was a little nervous getting out, but she had four jumps and each one was better than the last then she ended up at over 31 feet and placed for us in that event,” Wyss said, noting that Treder triple jumped at practice for the first time only one day prior to the meet. “There’s a lot to fix yet, so that’s also exciting potential to come.”

Wausau West won the meet, beating Wittenberg-Birnamwood 142-108 for the title. Rhinelander scored 70 1/2 points and edged Bonduel by a half point for third position. 

Rhinelander is scheduled to return to action today in the Hodag Hybrid meet at Mike Webster Stadium and then head back to the Wausau area this coming Thursday for the Marathon Invite.

“We’re supposed to be home on Tuesday and that is supposed to be the coldest day of the week. So we’ll see how that goes but yeah, we’re ready to get outside,” Wyss said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].