Hodag Nordic holds banquet

The Hodag Nordic ski team closed out its 2024-25 season with a banquet last Tuesday at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom. The team presented varsity letters to six of its eight high school athletes as part of the program.

“This is a good group of young adults and I appreciate all the work that each of you put in, and the support of efforts — not only to support your own high school and teammates and friends — but also to support your youngest athletes on the team, and us as coaches,” coach John Gillen said during his remarks. 

The team presented one special award on the night, giving the Hodag Spirit Award to junior Kayla Skubal. Skubal was the Hodags’ top skier, from a performance standpoint, in the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League this season. She placed 30th at the WNSL state sprints and 37th at the state distance race to finish 35th overall in the final state standings. 

“Kayla, I viewed as the big leader on our team this year — very supportive, very determined,” Gillen said. “All of the athletes completed a survey and set goals for the season, and Kayla definitely had the most straight and narrow goals of all of them. Some of those weren’t met, but you tried and you put in a lot of effort. Kayla worked through some illnesses as well, but really, I don’t think you missed one race and took on some additional races, was exploring more racing and is fired up to work hard for next part of the season.”

Kayla Skubal, her younger sister Kali, Emma Mankus and Mya Gillen received Rhinelander High School varsity letters on the girls’ side while senior Iain Rumney and freshman Douglas Hartmann earned varsity letters on the boys’ side. 

    Senior Emma Mankus speaks during the Hodag Nordic ski team banquet at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom Tuesday, March 4. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The most poignant moment of the night belonged to Mankus, who earned her first high school letter as a senior. Mankus, who has Cerebral Palsy, made her way through the entire Hodag program — from SnoDags program from elementary students to the high school team. Coach Gillen noted she battled her condition throughout the years, and even competed in the state sprints last month despite suffering a seizure roughly an hour prior to competition. Along the way she served as a trailblazer, earning state titles the last two seasons as the WNSL’s only adaptive skier.

“I just want to say thank you to the coaches for all your hard work that is put into the season to make us a more team,” Mankus said, addressing the room. “I will always remember the season, not because it’s my last season, but I will miss all the interactions that I’ve had with the coaches and these athletes. 

“I want to thank my coaches for helping me carve out a place on this team for the past 11 years. I joined SnoDags in 2014 at the age seven. And even through brain surgeries and a foot surgery, I managed to stick with the team. It was not easy, because I am slower than most. By pursuing through 11 years, I hope that I have shown that you should never compare yourself to others and that you should just challenge yourself to do your best. 

“It makes me proud to know that I was able to show our community and Wisconsin Nordic skiing that people with developmental and physical disability can still participate in sports along side their able-bodied peers. As an adaptive athlete, I made it my mission to pave the way for others in similar circumstances … I hope that it inspires others to participate this sport.”

“Really proud of Emma,” coach Gillen added. “She’s our first athlete to come through from SnoDags right through her senior year, with the Hodag Nordic team … We’re very glad that you stuck around through it all, Emma. Emma works through a lot of pain and health concerns and rarely complains about things and gets out there and skis.” 

The Hodag girls wound up tied for 13th in the final WNSL standings after being unable to field enough skiers for a qualifying score during the second day of the state distance race in Cable due to illness. The Hodag boys finished tied for 12th and also dealt will illness and low numbers throughout the year. 

Despite the low numbers, coach Gillen commended the roughly 25 skiers between the team’s middle school and high school programs for their improvement during the season. 

“I had an enjoyable season. I thought we were successful, and I saw tons of improvements from all the athletes,” coach Gillen said. “I think I heard many coaches as well as parents that made the comments to them, ‘Wow, I saw this athlete or my own athletes and how much they’ve improved through the season.’ I think that’s very much a sign of success with our season. 

“Athletes, thank you for all of your listening and trust, participation. Trust is a big word that I really value and that you all trusted me to lead the team and along with all the other coaches on the team, to be with your kids and to teach them not only how to ski, but, a lot of other lessons that come along with being part of a team and working together, so that was fantastic.”