RHS/Pines boys’ skiers finish third in D2 at state

Even with a smaller team — both in numbers and stature — the Rhinelander/Northland Pines boys’ Alpine ski team held its own over the weekend at the WIARA State Championship in La Crosse.

The Hodags finished third out of six teams in Division 2, and 11th of 21 overall, in the state meet that wrapped up Monday. 

Rhinelander/Northland Pines recovered from a rough performance in Sunday’s slalom competition to be the second-best D2 team, and in the top 10 overall, in both giant slalom and Super G on Monday. That allowed the Hodags to vault up the leaderboard. 

“We’re super proud of being in third, and I think some of the teams that we competed against if you have a few seniors,” coach Rod Olson said. “We’re losing one who’s, he’s kind of our anchor but, it seems like the people at the top (are losing) more than we are for sure. We’re hoping we can continue to be up in that tier.”

That senior, Jason Linn, ended up with one of the team’s best overall performances. He finished 43rd in the combined standings out of 158 skiers who participated. His meet was highlighted by a 44th-place showing in giant slalom after finishing just outside the top 60 in the other two events. 

Rhinelander junior Ben Olson recovered from a spectacular incident in Sunday’s slalom competition to finish 73rd overall. 

“The ski got into (a hole) and he was in fine shape, but the ski bent up and the binding did it’s job of releasing,” coach Olson said, describing his son’s mishap in slalom. “He was really pressuring on it. He flew out of there on one ski, skied for over 100 feet, did a flip and landed on one ski, still remarkable balance.” 

Ben Olson recovered from that incident to finish 15th Monday in giant slalom and 22nd in Super G. 

“Ben had a really good GS run. It wasn’t without things we can work on,” coach Olson noted. “He got a little low on one turn and it probably cost him a half second there. With these guys he’s raced against often he can probably cut that in half with a clean run, but he did have a nice giant slalom run.”

Eli Repenshek recorded the team’s best finish in 38th overall, highlighted by a 29th-place run in giant slalom. Wyler Koput recovered from a 70th-place finish in slalom to take 61st in giant slalom and 42nd in Super G to place 45th overall. Holden Schmitz finished 66th, Henry Schmitz placed 88th.

“I was real proud of the guys and they knew what was in their sights,” coach Olson said. “It was really awesome. Jason anchored us. Ben pulled off a fast one. Holden’s real solid. He’s an anchor too. I seed him in places where I know I can count on him finishing and then let the other guys go. 

“Our freshmen, Wyler and Eli and Henry, they really went after it and they had some good scores too to bring our point total down. It was fun.”

Coach Olson said the same hole that caught out Ben Olson caused trouble for a number of his skiers in slalom.

“Wyler, Jason and Eli  all fell down to their hip. They bounced off the snow and popped back up. I know that Jason was down for two, three seconds there. That one little thing gave us some big trouble in slalom,” he said.

The Rhinelander/Northland Pines girls were fifth out of eight teams in D2 and 19th of 22 overall over the weekend.

Freshman Jessica Linn led the Hodags in 68th place despite sustaining a hand injury in a training crash on the eve of the state meet. 

“She skied with a broken hand the whole weekend, but she still did pretty well. Slalom was hampered. Her Super G today was pretty exciting, but she’s tough,” coach Olson said. 

Senior Callie Hoerchler finished just outside the top 100, finishing 101st overall, hindered by a disqualification following a fall in Sunday’s giant slalom. She bounced back in the girls’ only race Monday, posting the team’s best finish in Super G in 45th. 

“Today she had a good Super G, a lot of speed. Usually she scares me. We’ve had some injuries with her and I’ve wanted her to really experience state,” coach Olson said. “I think she had a really good time and a real good run to end her career.”

Lyndsey Hoerchler was 73rd overall for the Hodags, Aila Bergman finished 85th and Eliana Conrad was 95th. Karlie Yunkers skied two of the three events, with a best finish of 90th in slalom. Lucy Eddy finished 100th in her lone event, Super G. 

“Aila and Lucy and Lyndsey and Karlie still continue to improve and learn a lot. They had a lot of success on there and some things that gave them opportunities to learn too. They were pretty proud of themselves,” coach Olson said. 

The snowboarding competition kicked off the three-day state meet on Saturday and the Hodags fared well. Junior Soren Dumar and sophomore Marshal Durkee both placed in the top 10 overall as Rhinelander/Northland Pines came home sixth in the 10-team field. 

Dumar’s first state meet — he missed the last two seasons due to separate injuries — was highlighted by a runner-up finish in the opening race of the day, boardercross. Durkee, meanwhile, took 14th in boardercross, ninth in giant slalom and 11th in slalom. 

“Marshal’s run in slalom and GS, he was using everything he had to stay with it. Soren as well. The course just kind of stacked up on them and they didn’t have the runs that we expected they would have, but still came out great,” coach Olson said. “They did well both being in the top 10 … I like it for me as a coach because I know what we can work on. If we had those performances and were maxed out, that’d be one feeling, but I love feeling that I can identify exactly what we need to focus on and improve on as a coach and as an athlete. That’s a pretty cool place to be in.”

Freshman Kamden Kostrova took 24th overall for the Hodags while freshman Owen Sarkauskas finished 39th. 

“Kamden had a good season, Owen had a good experience. I’m pretty pumped and hopefully this will help our numbers, some of the success will drive some more kids into the sport,” coach Olson said.

The team’s lone girls’ boarder, junior Sydney Sarkauskas, came home 11th overall. She was 15th in boardercross and 12th in both giant slalom and slalom. That was two spots better than Sarkauskas placed at state last year despite having some struggles, according to coach Olson.

“Sydney did not have her best day. She was consistent but battling back kind of mentally from boardercross,” he said, noting that Sarkauskas crashed in practice for the event. “I think she kind of speed-checked a little bit and didn’t need to. That kind of was something she had to deal with the rest of the day going into the next course, but still consistent. I think she bested her last year’s performance by a couple of places. She stayed on par, even with a bad day.”

The races put a wrap on the 2025 season for the Hodags, who won the Northern Conference title in boys’ snowboarding and were runners up in both boys’ and girls’ skiing. 

“It’s been a fun year with this group,” coach Olson said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].