Hodag boys win regional track title

Having a shot to win Tuesday’s WIAA Division 2 regional track title was not the main objective for either the Rhinelander High School boys’ or girls’ track teams.

Nearly winning both was a very nice side effect, however. 

The Hodags took the boys’ title and were runners-up in the girls’ division in an eight-team regional at Mike Webster Stadium. While a regional plaque at the end of the night was a nice memento, Tuesday’s primary objective was to advance as many entries as possible on to sectionals. The Hodag boys sent 12 to the next round of the WIAA playoffs and the Hodag girls advanced 13. 

“The boys winning it means that we got a lot of guys through to the sectional meet, which is exactly what we wanted to do,” Hodag boys’ track coach Aaron Kraemer said. “We had some good PRs tonight, some ones that are going to make some heads turn, I think.”

“We wanted to move certain things on, and I don’t think there was a disappointment amongst the group on the girls’ side,” RHS girls’ coach Andy Wyss added. “We got on the things we wanted to get on. We’re moving on a big group, lots of kids.”

The top four finishers in each event punched their ticket to sectionals, hosted this afternoon at Durand-Arkansas High School southwest of Eau Claire. The Hodags will be taking a full bus down there following a number of standout performances, personal bests and even a couple of school records. 

Junior Aila Bergman claimed one of those school marks, bettering her pervious record in the 300-meter hurdles by roughly a quarter second (46.02). She won that event and added a victory in the 100 hurdles (15.68), edging Hayward’s Brianna Hexum for the win in both races. 

“I think that’s going to give her some confidence because that’s going to be a good matchup, all the way going into sectionals,” Wyss said. “I expect a good head-to-head matchup on Friday as well between those two. I think that should give her some confidence going into that race, being that now we’ve had a head-to-head matchup and she came out on top. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully that gives her a little boost going into another race.”

The other school record to fall was a 1984 mark in the girls’ 4x100 relay. Shyanne Hueckstaedt, Violet Biolo, Ellie Cummings and Lexi Bishop won that event with a time of 50.75 seconds, beating the old record by 0.03 seconds. 

“That was a big one,” Wyss said. “That race’s only one lap, and they were they were pretty far ahead. So that gives me a lot of confidence going in that we can build on that and have a better time.”

Rhinelander nearly had a third school record on the night as the 4x400 squad of Bergman, Bishop, Lucy Eddy and Macy Meyers posted a time of 4:10.43 to win that event, roughly seven-tenths off the all-time mark set in 1994. 

“We’ve been kind of eyeing up that relay all season long, and that was the very first time that those four had run together,” Wyss said. “We’ve kind of tried various pieces. Those four ran real good times. We had two 1:01s and two 1:03s, and that added up to, pretty near, a school record. I’m really looking forward to running that group again on Friday, because I think we get sectionals under the lights, some competition, I’d like to see that thing fall on Friday.”

It was another big day for both squads in the throwing events. Junior Libbey Buchmann took the girls’ discus (117 feet, 9 inches) and added a runner-up showing in the shot put (36-8 1/2). Jalyn Zadnik (33-0 1/2) took third in the shot and also advanced.

On the boys’ side, seniors Logan Schwinger and Reid Schultz both eclipsed the 50-foot mark for the first time in competition, finishing 1-2 on the day. Schwinger went 50-1 to edge Schultz by an inch.

“For both of them, I know that that’s a weight off their shoulders because that’s what they wanted to do,” Kraemer said. “For Reid, that’s a gigantic PR. For Logan, that was the objective all season long was throwing 50. So I’m very proud of them. I hope they can replicate that.”

Fellow senior Bo Stott threw 44-4 on his final throw in the shot to nab the fourth and final qualifying spot. He also made it through in the discus (129-10), taking fourth there as well.

    Rhinelander’s Myles Eagleson competes in the triple jump during a WIAA Division 2 track and field regional at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, May 27. Eagleson won the event with a jump of 41 set, 6 3/4 inches. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Junior Myles Eagleson advanced in both horizontal jumping events. He claimed the triple jump (41-6 1/4) and took the last transfer spot in the long jump (19-6). 

“For Myles, he’s been battling an ankle all year long, and for him to come out and have a great triple jump day, but then to see him win it, that’s huge for him,” Kraemer said. “I know his objective at the beginning of the year was to get back to sectionals in the long jump, which he was able to accomplish, but to win the triple jump’s pretty special and to give yourself the opportunity to have a shot at state in both, that’s big for Myles.”

Senior Truman Lamers returned to sectionals for the first time since 2022, taking the high jump. He was the only athlete to clear 6 feet, and did it on his third and final jump.

On the distance side, the Hodag boys’ 4x800 team of Shawn Denis, Jackson Weinzatl, Greyson Gremban and Avrom Barr cruised to sectionals, claiming the runner-up spot with a time of 8:21.03. Gremban also secured a sectional spot in the 3,200 meters, taking second (10:03.48).

“All of the hard work from all of our coaches in the distance and the sprints has paid off,” Kraemer said. “We tapered at the right time for the distance runners. They ran a great race today and got through. Right now, looking at the sectional, they’re right around fifth place. So they’re going to be going to be pushing to get to state. And I know that means everything for those guys.”

The Hodag boys scored runner-up finishes in the 4x200 and 4x100. Junior Ben Olson was on both of those relays and also advanced with a third-place finish in the open 200 meters (23.68). Olson, freshman Matthew Haselton, junior Evan Shoeder and junior Sam Zwaard made up the quartet in the 4x200 (1:35.48). They lost the race to the tape by 0.08 seconds after a pair of slow exchanges. Olson, Zwaard, junior Cyrus Leisure and sophomore Landon Catlin came home second in the 4x100 (45.17).

“Our sprint relays, man, we got some really fast kids,” Kraemer said. “Again, they’re peaking at the right time. You saw Ben in the 200 today, making it through. They’re peaking at the right time and they’re running their best races late in the year.”

Biolo was the runner-up in the girls’ 100 meters (13.11) and was part of a runner-up finish in the 4x200 with Bishop, Eddy and Myers (1:47.29). Myers and Emeline Hintz both cleared 10 feet in the pole vault, taking second and third, respectively, to advance. Averie West added a third-place showing in the 100 hurdles (16.72) and Callie Hoerchler matched a personal best in the high jump, clearing 4-8 to take third and move on to sectionals.

    Rhinelander’s Callie Hoerchler reacts after clearing 4-8 in the high jump during a WIAA Division 2 track and field regional at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, May 27. Hoerchler advanced to sectionals in the event with a third-place finish. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

“Callie she of had that knee injury crop back up, and we thought, well, maybe that’s kind of the end of the high jump career. And basically, ever since that moment, she’s been a rock star,” Wyss noted. “She’s been top three, scoring points, left and right. Now she gets another chance to jump. I don’t want to say surprising, but, definitely coming through in the clutch for us.”

There were several near misses on both sides. Catlin took fifth in the triple jump, falling 1 1/2 inches short of moving on. Leisure was fifth in the 400, Ryley Hull was fifth in the 300 hurdles while Schwinger and David Houg finished fifth and sixth in the discus. 

The Hodags were fifth in the girls’ 4x800 with the team of Brynn Teter, Kara Monk, Gretchen Fiebke and Luna Grage. Teter finished fifth in the 800 and Monk was sixth in the 1600. Mady Treder came home fifth in the triple jump. 

Rhinelander beat Hayward by 11 points for the boys’ team title while the Hurricanes edged the Hodags by eight points on the girls’ side. 

Sectionals ahead 

Rhinelander’s regional qualifiers will join those from three other regionals this afternoon in Durand for a WIAA Division 2 sectional. 

The stakes are raised today. The top four finishers in each event automatically advance to the state meet in La Crosse, along with any individuals not already in the field who rank among the top 10 sectional performances statewide in Division 2. 

On the girls’ side, the Hodags are provisionally in contention to contend for state in a number of events. Bergman has the second-fastest time in the sectional in the 100 hurdles, behind only reigning D2 state champion and record holder Elletta Uddin of Osceola. Bergman’s regional time ranked fourth in the sectional. 

    Rhinelander’s Emeline Hintz makes her approach in the pole vault while teammate Macy Myers looks on during a WIAA Division 2 track and field regional at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, May 27. Both Hintz and Myers cleared 10 feet in the event, qualifying for sectionals. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

In pole vault, Myers and Hintz are tied for third in the sectional with their 10-foot vaults from regionals. Buchmann’s shot put is seeded third, though she’s ranked sixth in the discus — an event she’s placed on the podium at state each of the last two years. The Hodag girls also find themselves in the running in all three relays that advanced — seeded third in the sectional in the 4x200 and 4x400, and fourth in the 4x100.

“I feel good about it. You know, when you come into a regional and you’re talking eight teams and then you get into a sectional where you’re talking four times that amount, you really got to come out of these events at regionals on top. You know, you got to be showing up in the first-place, second-place column if you think you want a shot at moving on to state,” Wyss said. “I think we did a lot of that in the events that we kind of have high hopes for. We kind of finished where we need to finish. We got times that we need to get. So moving on to sectionals, I kind of feel good about where we’re at. We should be in some good heats. So we’ll just see what we can do on Friday.”

The path is a little harder on the boys’ side. Only two high jumpers in the sectional exceeded 6 feet on Tuesday, while Lamers is one of five tied at 6 feet. Gremban is seeded fourth in the 3,200, but by only 0.02 seconds after edging Rice Lake’s Carter Kucko in a photo finish on Tuesday. The Hodag boys’ 4x800 is seeded fifth while Schwinger and Schultz are two of six throwers in the sectional who eclipsed 50 feet on Tuesday. 

“I think the tough thing is, just like a football game, handling the trip,” Kraemer said. “That’s a long trip. Our team’s got to get up, we got to get going early, we got to stop for a little while, get out, stretch the legs. And then when we get to Durand, we got to get ourselves in the right mental mindset. And if we can do that, I think we’ll have some state qualifiers.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].