Hodag Nordic takes 5th at Northern Conference meet

Both the Hodag Nordic boys’ and girls’ high school ski teams finished fifth on Tuesday in the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League’s Northern Conference meet, held at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead in Cable.

The teams raced at the same venue, and on a similar course, to what will be used next weekend at the WNSL state distance race. 

“I think mentally the kids really are coming out of this with a really positive attitude and ready to race,” coach John Gillen said. “We really had a lot of great skis from our oldest high schooler to our youngest, first-time skiers in the middle school level. They really did a bang-up job today.”

Junior Kayla Skubal led the Hodag girls’ contingent, placing 12th in the race. She covered the 6.2-kilometer freestyle course in a time of 24 minutes, 31.0 seconds — which was roughly four minutes behind race winner Stella Meza of Lakeland. 

Kali Skubal was next across the line for the Hodags, in 24th overall (29:53.2), Mya Gillen was 25th (29:57.4). Emma Mankus was 28th overall, but tops in the adaptive category at 38:18.4.

“The girls, for not having many races under their belt this year and then coming to a fairly challenging course here in Cable, they really did well to have the placement where they landed today and they skied really well,” coach Gillen said. 

    Rhinelander’s Aaron Calhoun skis toward the finish of the WNSL Northern Conference Nordic ski meet in Cable Tuesday, Jan. 28. Calhoun placed 28th to lead the Hodag boys’ high school squad to a fifth-place team finish. (Submitted photo)
  

Freshman Aaron Calhoun led the Hodag boys in 28th overall, crossing the line in 21:40.3. He barely edged out senior teammate Iain Rumney who was 29th (21:41.9). Jonathan Calhoun was 33rd (22:09.9) and Douglas Hartmann finished 42nd (31:00.8).

“(Iain) and then Calhouns were right there together and Douglas, who hasn’t been feeling well for a number of weeks, did really well, completed a hard race with recovering from an illness,” coach Gillen noted. 

The middle school girls’ squad served as the highlight of the day for the program. The team got three racers onto the podium with top-10 finishes as it took third overall in a field of five qualifying teams.

    Rhinelander girls’ middle school skiers, from left to right, Noelle Mayo, Pearl Calhoun and Kelsie Skubal, pose with their medals after all three placed in the top 10 of the WNSL Northern Conference Nordic ski meet in Cable Tuesday, Jan. 28. (Submitted photo)
  

Seventh-grader Pearl Calhoun led the way, coming home fourth overall, covering a 3.1-kilometer look in 12:07.6. Eighth-grader Noelle Mayo finished ninth (12:46.5) and seventh-grader Kelsie Skubal joined Calhoun and Mayo on the podium with a 10th-place finish (12:51.7).

Scarlet Hartmann placed 14th over the Hodags, followed by Evelyn McFarland in 18th, Adeline Olson in 21st and Bekah Koch in 23rd. 

“Very exciting to see that group of young ladies, seven of them who race today, from those who have some experience to those who skied their first race today.” coach Gillen said. “They really rallied together to ski well individually, but also put together a team effort to get a third-place team (finish).”

The Hodag boys took fifth in the middle school division. Eighth-grader Samuel Loomis was the team’s top finisher in 14th (11:37.9). He was followed by Jacob McFarland in 17th (12:00.2) and Alexander Rusch in 23rd (13:33.1).

The Hodags will travel to the Ariens Nordic Center in Brillion this weekend for the WNSL State Sprint Championships. Team relay competition will take place on Saturday with individual sprint races on Sunday. 

“We worked on some drills this week that’ll set us up well for sprints and the kids really enjoy that,” coach Gillen said. “And I think especially after a longer distance race today, they’ll embrace that sprinting and some of those team sprints really well.”