Barr, Myers named fastest Hodag harriers

Two of the three runners who headlined for the Rhinelander High School cross country team at the WIAA state meet received the squad’s top honors on Sunday. 

Juniors Avrom Barr and Macy Myers were presented with the team’s fastest harrier awards during a banquet in the RHS commons. They were two of seven award winners for the team this year.

Myers doubled up on awards, earning the long hauler award on the girls’ side, while the boys’ recipient was Rhinelander’s other state qualifier, junior Jackson Weinzatl. Two more juniors, Kara Monk and Jonathan Campbell, earned the most improved award. Sophomore Michael Brunette and freshman Noelle Mayo were presented with the team’s dedication awards. 

    Rhinelander High School cross country team award winners pose for a photograph following the team’s banquet in the RHS commons Sunday, Nov. 2. Pictured, from left to right, are Kara Monk, Noelle Mayo, Macy Myers, Avrom Barr, Jackson Weinzatl, Michael Brunette and Jonathan Campbell. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Fastest harrier is more or less a de facto MVP award, presented to the runners who led the way for the team this year. Barr and Myers did that in all 11 events this year as their seasons ended Nov. 1 at the WIAA state meet in Wisconsin Rapids.

Barr became Rhinelander’s first male individual conference champion in cross country since Brendan O’Brien in the early 1990s when he took the GNC meet at Northwood Golf Club in Rhinelander Oct. 18. He followed that up six days later by winning the WIAA D2 sectional race in Merrill and then ran to a 41st-place finish at the state meet. His time of 17 minutes, 0.6 seconds was the fastest that any Hodag has run at state during coach M.J. Laggis’s tenure with the program. 

“He always wants to get better and improve. He has complete humility,” Laggis said during his remarks Sunday. “He works as hard as you could possibly work. … And so he really is our postage stamp for the program. He’s a huge part of it. And I think you’re going to see him work as hard, or harder, this summer, and I think you’re going to see a boys team really ignited next year. He’s truly leader.”

Myers twice broke the girls’ school record for 5 kilometers this season — the last time came at sectionals when she crossed the line fourth with a time of 19:29.98 to punch her first ticket to state. The previous record was held by Alayna Franson who, prior to this year, was Rhinelander’s last girls’ state qualifier back in 2017. Myers, who also finished fourth at the GNC meet, scored a 32nd-place finish Nov. 1 in her state meet debut, finishing at 19:59.1.

“She was hands down our fastest,” Laggis said. “I didn’t think Alayna’s record would get broke for a long time. I really didn’t, because Alayna was a fantastic runner. It really ignited in my brain again how strong this girl is — how strong she looks on hills, how strong she looks later in the race when some people start to crumble or fall apart. She just doesn’t have that in her and just total backbone in a total runner.”

Laggis added that Myers’ work ethic helped her achieve her accomplishments, which was partly why the coaches presented her with the long hauler award. 

“She is a person that knows how to put in big miles, she knows how to train, and she’s been so dedicated to it,” he said. “She’s the pillar of our program, and she has really been a young lady that I credit with turning around where we were at last year. We have a couple of real pivotal older girls on this team that changed the complexity of what we were, and how we treated each other, and I give her a ton of credit for that.”

Weinzatl made it back to state this year after turning in a seventh-place run at sectionals. He also made the all-conference first team for the first time with a fifth-place finish at the GNC meet. Weinzatl improved roughly 30 places and 30 seconds from his state meet performance in 2024, taking 83rd Nov. 1 with a time of 17:48.1.

“I can’t reiterate enough, just the leadership quality, and the kind of kid that he’s been to our program,” Laggis said. “If you have a guy like Jackson, who is an athlete and (has) a leadership-type role on the team, and he’s got a very good attitude at practice time, then the vibe goes that way, the flow goes that way. He just been outstanding to our program, and this is the big bonus is that we get to have this leadership again next year.”

Most improved honors went to a pair of  juniors who had breakthrough seasons and earned all-conference honors.

Monk was a first-team all-conference recipient this year, placing sixth this year after failing to finish inside the top 21 last season. She also ran to a 12th-place finish at sectionals with a time 20:23.6 that the coaches stated ranks fourth-fastest in school history for a 5K. After an injury-plagued sophomore campaign, Laggis credited Monk for her perseverance in a breakthrough junior season.

“Thinking about last year, (Monk having) an iron deficiency, a really difficult year with being injured and trying to fight through, and when you watched her run this year, she looked completely different,” he said. “She looked so much stronger, so much more confident, the way she carried herself on the course. And she really did all of us proud and made us feel great when she achieved that. It’s a testament when things don’t go quite right one year and you roar back the next year to make it happen.”

While Monk had been in the varsity mix her first two seasons, Campbell’s rise this year was meteoric. He was not a part of the varsity squad that made it to state in 2024. He established himself as a varsity contributor right away this season and earned second-team all-conference honors with an 11th place finish at last month’s GNC meet. He followed that up with a 21st-place finish at sectionals.

“You can’t believe the change in this guy over the last couple of years,” Laggis said. “Just to see the way that he runs — and, more importantly, the way that his teammates react to him — and he really is  one of the lifebloods the group. Everyone loves being around him, and he is a guy that just went from not being a runner to being really one of our backbone-type kids.”

Brunette, a sophomore, earned all-conference honors for a second straight season, taking 12th this year after a 15th-place run in 2024. He was the Hodags’ No. 3 runner at sectionals, taking 16th. Laggis credited Brunette for being a student of the sport, on and off the course.

“He is so dedicated to running … the miscellaneous stats that he knows, what he’s striving for, the times that he wants,” Laggis said. “Running is his life, and it’s just so awesome to have a kid like that in the program. Most dedicated, again, that could go to really a number of these guys, but here’s a guy that truly deserves it.”

Mayo was Rhinelander’s No. 3 runner much of the year, despite missing a handful of races due to injury and illness. She placed 47th at sectionals with a time of 22:39.48, which the coaching staff noted ranks among the top 10 all-time for Hodag freshman girls since 5-kilometer races became the norm in 2014.

“This young lady really, truly is a runner, and she is going to show up at everything and really wants to get better,” Laggis said. “And I’m super, super excited to see what she does the next couple of years, so well deserved.”

In addition to the awards, the Hodags handed out varsity letters to Barr, Weinzatl, Campbell, Brunette, Ayden Myers, Wyatt Crowell, Grant Gremban and Matthew Wood on the boys’ side. Girls’ letter winners included Macy Myers, Monk, Mayo, Gabby Wanta, Morgan Cahee, Emily Schiek and Grace Cornelius.

The team also recognized its captains for the season — Barr, Weinzatl, Gremban, Macy Myers, Monk and Cornelius. Laggis credited the group for creating a tight-knit atmosphere for the team this season.

The Hodag girls were third in the GNC this year and finished eighth at sectionals. Though thin on depth, Laggis said the squad has a group in place that could be more of a factor in the team standings next year. 

“We have a nucleus for next year. We have a band of young ladies up we can put out there and really compete,” he said.

The Hodag boys were GNC runners-up for the second year in a row and finished third at sectionals, missing out on a trip to state as a team by seven points. With six of this year’s seven starters returning, Laggis said the goal is to get the team back to Rapids next season.

“The end of the year didn’t go quite the way we wanted it for the boys’ team. We were so close in conference and so close and sectionals, so much to build on, right? But it’s great to have young talent in the program that can propel us for in the next couple of years,” he said.

In the interest of full disclosure, the River News notes that the author of this story has a family member who is an athlete on the RHS cross country team.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].