RHS Sports recap: Thursday, May 22

Track: RHS boys 1st/7, girls 1st/7, GNC Meet

History was made Thursday in Mosinee as both the Rhinelander High School boys’ and girls’ track teams claimed the Great Northern Conference championship. 

It marked the first girls’ conference title in program history, the third in the last six seasons for the Hodag boys’ team and the first time a school has swept the boys’ and girls’ conference title since Mosinee accomplished the feat in 2021. 

On the girls’ side, the Hodags broke or tied three conference records. Libbey Buchmann, who was named the conference’s field athlete of the year, tied the conference mark in the discus (126 feet, 2 inches) as she won that event, and also laid claim to the shot put (34-7). Aila Bergman set the conference mark in the 300-meter hurdles (46.97) and also claimed the 100 hurdles (16.20). Macy Myers set new school and conference marks in winning the pole vault (11-2).

Rhinelander also claimed three of the four relays winning the girls’ 4x200 with Shyanne Hueckstaedt, Mady Treder, Ellie Cummings and Violet Biolo; the 4x100 with Hueckstaedt, Treder, Cummings and Lexi Bishop and the 4x400 with Bergman, Cummings, Lucy Eddy and Myers.

Senior Greyson Gremban was named GNC boys’ runner of the year after sweeping the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters on Tuesday. Logan Schwinger added a victory in the shot put and the Hodags took the 4x100 with Ben Olson, Sam Zwaard, Cyrus Leisure and Landon Catlin.

The Hodag girls defeated Lakeland by 31 points for the conference title while the Hodag boys edged Medford by nine points for the championship. 

Rhinelander will host a WIAA Division 2 regional Tuesday at Mike Webster Stadium.

Boys’ tennis: RHS 1st/5, GNC Meet

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team’s run of dominance in the Great Northern Conference reached historic proportions on Tuesday.

Rhinelander captured four of the seven flights and finished runner-up in two others as it won the GNC tournament in Minocqua and, in the process, clinched its 11th consecutive conference title. That tied the Hodags with the Mosinee softball team for the most consecutive GNC championships won by a team in a single sport.

Asher Rivord and Calvin Loomis rallied to win match tiebreakers to claim the individual conference titles at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Loomis’s win over Lakeland’s Sawyer Brown was enough to give Rhinelander a 34-30 edge over Lakeland for the tournament title and secure a 14-point victory over the T-Birds in the final conference standings.

Van Tulowitzky and Hart Hokens won the conference title at No. 2 doubles while Danek Koniar and Aidan Lueder were conference champs at No. 3 doubles. 

Rhinelander will host a WIAA Division 1 subsectional Tuesday at the RHS tennis courts. 

Girls’ soccer: Rhinelander 4, Northland Pines 0

The Rhinelander High School girls’ soccer team will lay claim to at least a share of the Great Northern Conference title for the first time since 2018. The Hodags locked up the honor with a 4-0 victory over Northland Pines Thursday in Eagle River. 

Freshman Jordan Manske had a pair of goals in the contest for Rhinelander. Vivian Lamers and Sophie Miljevich both scored in the game and Ella Miljevich added a pair of assists. 

The Hodags outshot the Eagles 33-7 in the contest. Rylee Mickevicius made two saves in the win. 

Rhinelander nearly won the title outright on Thursday, but Lakeland escaped Medford with a 77th minute goal and a 1-0 victory that kept the T-Birds mathematically alive to split the conference title. 

The Hodags (12-4-0, 9-0-0-0 Great Northern) can clinch the title outright with a regulation win, a shootout win or a shootout loss at home next Thursday against Lakeland.

Baseball: Rhinelander 8, Medford 0

Conner Rappley achieved perfection Thursday afternoon in Medford. The Hodag sophomore sat down all 21 batters he faced, striking out six, as he tossed a perfect game and Rhinelander defeated Medford 8-0.

Rhinelander gave Rappley plenty of run-support in his complete-game effort. The Hodags scored three times in the second inning, twice in the third, once in the fourth and two more times in the fifth. Sawyer Bishop doubled twice and drove in three runs while Abe Gretzinger was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

Rappley’s perfect game was the the first for Rhinelander since at least 2007. It’s the first no-hitter by the team since Ryan Jamison and Jacksen Smith combined to no-hit Merrill in the 2022 WIAA playoffs and the first individual no-hitter for the Hodags since Kyle Comer in 2012.

Rhinelander finished in a second-place tie in the GNC with Medford as a result of the win, the Hodags’ best finish in conference since 2021. 

Rhinelander (10-9, 7-5 Great Northern) hosts Marathon on Friday. 

Softball: Waupaca 4, Rhinelander 2

The RHS softball team saw its season come to an end Thursday with a 4-2 loss at Waupaca in the WIAA tournament. 

The Comets scored a run in the first and three more in the fifth, which proved to be enough to hold off a late Rhinelander comeback as the Hodags scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. 

Aleece Johnson allowed four runs on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts in the loss. The Hodags mustered only two hits on the game — one each by Kalyn Miller and Nevaeh Anderson.

Rhinelander’s season ends with a 5-16 record.

Full reports will be published in Tuesday’s River News.