Hodag boys take 4th at Otto Bacher

MERRILL — The Rhinelander High School boys’ track team wasn’t quite able to match the success of its female counterparts on Friday, but still managed a win and 14 top-five finishes as it took fourth out of 13 squads at the Otto Bacher Invite in Merrill. 

Similar to the Hodag girls, the Hodag boys got a look at most of its competition for next week’s Great Northern Conference meet. Mosinee was tops among the GNC teams in the field, taking second with 97 points while Medford was third at 90.5. The Hodags finished with 81 points and edged defending GNC co-champion Northland Pines by two points. 

“Lakeland had their JV tonight, but everybody else kind of ran their toughest teams,” Hodag boys’ track coach Aaron Kraemer said. “And it’s good to see for our athletes, how they stack up  with everybody else in the conference, where we need to grow and where we need to go. 

“We’re excited about moving forward what that’s going to look like in the next two weeks.”

The Hodags again found success with their distance crew, scoring points in several different events. The squad of seniors Shawn Denis and Greyson Gremban, and sophomores Jackson Weinzatl and Avrom Barr claimed the 4x800 relay in a time of 8 minutes, 26.5 seconds. 

Gremban added a runner-up showing in the 3,200 meters (10:09.03), Barr took fifth in the 1,600 (4:47.70) and Denis took fifth in the 400 (54.65). 

“We’re getting points six spots deep in that lineup, which is going to be big.” Kraemer said. “We certainly are deeper than we’ve ever been, and they’re doing a fantastic job every single meet.”

The Hodags added a 2-3-5 finish in the shot put with seniors Logan Schwinger (45-0), Bo Stott (44-11 1/4) and Reid Schultz (43-3).

“Bo is trending in the right direction now. At the beginning of the season, there were things that he needed to work on in his form. He was throwing far, indoors. Then as the (outdoor) season began, things started to drop off and there were just things we were working on, and he was thinking about it. Now he’s, kind of got things figured out, and he had a big throw today, big PR in the 44s,” Kraemer said. “Logan would tell you he didn’t have his best throw tonight, but 45 feet gets him a second place, and that’s what we need for him. I’d love to see him win the shot put (at conference). I think that’s my goal for him. Reid’s figuring out his footwork, he’s getting things figured out.”

Sophomore Ryley Hull scored for the Hodags in both hurdle events. He made the finals and took fourth in the 110 hurdles (18.60) and followed that with a third-place run in the 300 (44.74).

“Ryley is tough and that’s all I can say about it,” Kraemer said. “You look at the high hurdles, that’s a race that has got to be extremely difficult for him, being a guy that’s not as tall as some of the other conventional hurdlers. But he’s a tough kid and he’s standing out to me.”

Kraemer said the Hodags have been dinged up the last few meets and are trying to get back to as close to full strength as possible prior to conference. Senior Truman Lamers competed in only one event Friday, taking fourth in the high jump (5-10). Cyrus Leisure ran only in the 4x400 relay, where the Hodags took fourth and Myles Eagleson added a fifth-place showing in the triple jump. 

“It’s good to get some of our guys back that have been maybe dinged up a little bit over the last couple weeks,” Kraemer noted. “Cyrus Leisure, it’s good to have him back and he ran a 53-low split in the 400. It’ll be good to have him back healthy. We’re getting guys that are unhealthy right now to be healthy come the stretch. Myles and Truman, we got to make sure those guys get where they need to be so that they can compete.”

Ayden Myers added a sixth-place finish in the pole vault (11-6) while Sam Zwaard made the finals in the 100 meters, placing seventh. 

Like the Hodag girls, Kraemer said the Hodag boys will likely use this afternoon’s meet at Tomahawk as a chance to extend the lineup a bit and try to give as many athletes opportunities as possible in Thursday’s home invite at Mike Webster Stadium.

“You’re going to see everybody have an opportunity next week and you’re going to get to see the best of us before we head into the conference season,” he said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].