Hodag track finishes top three at Tomahawk

The Rhinelander High School track team rested a few key pieces, got some other pieces back and performed well Tuesday in the Hatchet Invite in Tomahawk.

The Hodag boys claimed four events and finished second out of seven teams in the meet while the Hodag girls scored five victories and placed third out of eight teams. 

The Hodag boys bested the three other GNC schools in the field — Tomahawk, Lakeland and Northland Pines — and finished the day only 19 points behind Edgar for the top spot. 

“Edgar is normally in the conversation for a state championship and they really do have some special kids in the hurdles and in the sprints and in the jumps,” Hodag boys’ track coach Aaron Kraemer said. “They got a very solid team … So for us to be able to keep up with them, scoring the 140s and only be 15-some points behind them, that’s a testament to what we were able to accomplish.”

On the girls’ side the Hodags were 19 1/2 points behind Tomahawk and 13 1/2 markers behind Lakeland, both of which appeared to use the meet as their final big dress rehearsal for next Tuesday’s conference meet — based on the lineup they ran. Rhinelander, meanwhile, stuck to its plan according to girls’ coach Andy Wyss. 

“We had a workout the day before meet, which is very atypical for us, but, you know, we’re looking ahead to what we want to do at conference, what we want to do at regionals,” he said. “So this meet, we kind of used it as part of our part of our training. Definitely, we still want to have a good team showing, but it was it’s part of a bigger picture for us.”

As has been the case much of the season, the Hodag boys racked up points in the distance events and the throws on Tuesday. 

Rhinelander went 1-2-3 in the shot put as the senior trio of Logan Schwinger (49 feet, 2 1/2 inches), Bo Stott (46-10) and Reid Schultz (46-5 1/2) all turned in season-best throws. 

“All three of these guys, I could see him hitting 50 feet and doing something special at the end of the season,” Kraemer said. “It would be really cool to see all three of them make it through the region, which is something that we certainly could do. But to see one of those guys, or two of those guys, challenging for state, that would be really special.”

Senior Greyson Gremban nearly pulled off the distance triple on Tuesday. He claimed the 1,600 meters (4:32.43) and the 800 (2:06.72), but was bested by teammate Avrom Barr in the 3,200. Barr crossed in 10:26.26, exactly five second ahead of Gremban. 

“Today, they’re running and they’re yapping at each other and running next to each other for the whole race,” Kraemer said of the battle between Barr and Gremban in the 3,200. “But man, it’s just fun to watch them compete. Come conference, they’re going to be a big part of how we score.” 

On the girls’ side, senior Lexi Bishop was back in the lineup after missing the last several meets due to injury. She contributed to the Hodags’ victories in the 4x200- and 4x100-meter relays along with junior Violet Biolo and freshman Ellie Cummings. Junior Aila Bergman ran with the trio in the 4x200 (1:49.03) while sophomore Shyanne Hueckstaedt was the team’s fourth in the 4x100 (51.52).

“I think maybe still a little bit of rust because she’s been a few meets here now without anything and then coming back and trying to be full speed. We’ve got to work into it just a little bit, but it was so good to see her back out,” Wyss said of Bishop’s return. “She’s a definite need for this group.” 

With Bergman taking the night off from hurdles, senior Averie West was able to step into the spotlight, winning that race with a time of 18.08 seconds. While Bergman is the favorite to defend her 100 and 300 hurdle titles next week at conference, West has worked herself into position to factor heavily in the scoring in both events as Rhinelander attempts to win its first ever girls’ conference title.

“It’s happening at practice. Averie comes and she works very, very hard. I think that she has some pretty serious goals in mind,” Wyss said. “And yeah, she does get overshadowed a lot, but where she has been shining lately is kind of leading the workouts and stuff and practice. And she’s been doing really well. And then she comes in today’s meet and does really well in the hurdles and then comes back and she was a member of that 4x4 and ran a personal best time in that. She has turned into such a great leader for us. So that was just great to see her make those strides in the times that come back on the sheet.” 

Sophomore Macy Myers added another win for the Hodags in the pole vault (10-0) on Tuesday while Libbey Buchmann claimed her only event of the night, winning discus (118-11).

On the boys’ side of the ledger Macy Myers’s older brother, Ayden, threw his name in the conversation in the conference pole vault as he came home second in the event Tuesday with a personal-best height of 12 feet, 6 inches. 

“It’s always good to hit that mark,” Kraemer said. “And we know, 12-6 is going to compete in our conference. If you jump 13 feet, you could win it. And that’s getting close to making a push to sectionals. If we’re just seeing the best of Ayden right now, I think he’s going to get even better.”

Sophomore Amos Bergman was also back in the lineup Tuesday following an extended period on the injured list. He returned with a third-place finish in the 110 hurdles (17.15).

“It was really nice to see him back on the track and, and to see him running in the hurdles,” Kraemer said. “And I said to (hurdles) coach Rod (Olson), we really need that. We’re going to need him running 17 in conference and challenging Medford for points and taking some points away from some of those teams.”

Shawn Denis (54.02) and Sam Zwaard (54.08) went 2-3 for the Hodags in the 400-meter dash while Denis added a runner-up finish in the 800 (2:08.49). David Houg took third in the discus (120-1). Jackson Weinzatl added a fourth-place run in the 3,200 (11:01.27). Matthew Haselton was fifth in the triple jump (39-3 1/2) and Evan Shoeder was fifth in the high jump (5-4). Rhinelander also took fourth in both the 4x800 and 4x400 relays and was fifth in the boys’ 4x200.

On the girls’ side, the Hodags rolled out a different 4x800 lineup as freshman Gretchen Fiebke was joined by three who have focused more on sprints this season — Lucy Eddy, Mady Treder and Alexa Segovia — and the quartet ran to a runner-up finish (11:33.64).

“We had a few girls that, that wanted to try an 800 and, honestly, did pretty well at it,” Wyss said. “I don’t know how much they loved it, but, you know, it might be something where we do a little bit more of that in their future.”

Jalyn Zadnik scored a runner-up finish for the Hodags in the shot put (32-1). The Hodags were third in the 4x400 and senior Brynn Teter added a third-place showing in the 800 (2:41.95). Luna Grage was fourth in the 1,600 and fifth in the 800, Macy Myers was fourth in the 400, Emily Schiek took fourth in the 3,200, Kara Monk was fifth in the 1,600 and Lucy Eddy took fifth in the 200.

Rhinelander was scheduled to host the Hodag Invite at Mike Webster Stadium Thursday afternoon, which took place after press time for today’s edition. It was the Hodags’ final tuneup prior to the GNC meet in Mosinee this coming Tuesday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].