Hodag Nordic competes at state sprints

The Hodag Nordic ski team was at the Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion this past weekend for the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League State Sprint Championships. The two-day event was divided into team and individual components, with team relay races on Saturday and individual sprints on Sunday.

The Hodags had a handful of A-final appearances on Saturday and five different skiers advance to the knockout stages of Sunday’s individual sprints. 

While the races were short —just over a kilometer per lap —there were multiple races each day for the skiers, which made for a long weekend. 

“It definitely does take a toll from just getting everyone down here and in ski condition and ready to race,” coach John Gillen said. “The races are short and quick and really spread out so the athletes need to pay attention to their start times and a lot of competition out there and our venue is really spread out. So it’s a lot of effort to get from place A to place B and then put in a great effort on the skis.”

The Hodags had some success in the JV girls’ division of Saturday’s relay races. Sophomore teammates Kali Skubal and Mya Gillen finished second in the nine-team filed, covering a 4.8-kilometer race with exchanges after each lap in 18 minutes, 34.2 seconds. Senior Emma Mankus and junior Kayla Skubal were eighth in that race (21:44.4), with Mankus earned a medal in the adaptive category.

“Emma, as our only adaptive skier in the state, came in and skied fantastic with her teammate Kayla supporting her and then Mya and Kali reaching the podium with second place yesterday was really nice,” coach Gillen said.

Senior Iain Rumney was the only Hodag boy able to compete over the weekend, but still got involved in the sprints. He partnered with August Roberts of the Snowflake Ski Team to for an All-Star pairing that finished sixth in the JV boys’ race (15:12.2). He also took part in the mixed team relay where he and Kayla Skubal took seventh in a 7.2-kilometer race that featured 12 teams (24:16.5).

Rumney even aided middle schooler Alexander Rusch in the relays on Saturday, giving him someone to race with despite the Hodags having an odd number of skiers and being unable to find a skier from another team to compete with to form an all-star team.

“Iain, as our high school boy, was supporting teammates from the high school level right down the middle school,” coach Gillen said.

In middle school action, the pair of eighth-grader Noelle Mayo and seventh-grader Kelsie Skubal finished sixth out of 23 competing pairs. They took fourth in their semifinal to advance to the A-final, where they finished sixth. Scarlett Hartmann and Evelyn MacFarland took eighth in the B-final to place 20th overall.

On the boys’ side, eighth-grader Sam Loomis and seventh-grader Jacob MacFarland were fifth in the B-final to take 17th overall.

Kayla Skubal had the best finish for the high school squad in Sunday’s individual sprints. Her qualifying time of 3:42.20 seconds over a 1.2-kilometer skate course was good enough for 30th and a spot in the quarterfinals. That earned her three more laps around the course later in the day. She took eighth in her quarterfinal, sixth in her semifinal and fifth in the D final to place 29th overall.

Skiers who didn’t make the top 32 got the chance to compete in one more race against opponents of similar speed to determine their final placement. Rumney finished 59th on the boys’ side after qualifying 58th. On the girls’ side Mya Gillen finished 45th after qualifying 43rd, Kali Skubal was 47th after qualifying 48th and Mankus both qualified and finished 55th.

“Some of the kids that had great races yesterday, and wished they would have done a little bit better today, but they really put in a good effort,” coach Gillen noted. “Kayla got up there in the top 32, so she had three more races and ended up picking up another spot during her finals and final and semifinal heats.”

The Hodags had three skiers finish in the top 24 in the middle school division. Both Kelsie Skubal and Mayo raced their way into the C-final on the girls’ side, with Skubal taking 20th overall and Mayo finishing 22nd. Loomis qualified 29th on the boys’ side, but advanced to the C-final with a top-four finish in his semi and then took fifth there to place 21st overall. Hartmann was the last girl into the field of 32 and nearly made it into the C final, finishing fifth in her semifinal. She ended up seventh in the D-final  and 31st overall.

On the boys’ side Jacob MacFarland finished 37th after qualifying 35th. Rusch qualified and finished 32nd. Evelyn MacFarland took 38th on the girls’ side after qualifying 36th. 

The Hodags will wrap up their 2024-25 competition schedule this Saturday and Sunday in the WNSL Distance Championships at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead in Cable.

“There’ll be a lot of athletes there and there’s a lot of tough competition in the state. But the kids, I think, with how they raced this weekend and a lot of success, will be ready to race,” coach Gillen said.