Track: Buchmann breaks discus record again as Hodag girls take 2nd in Wausau

WAUSAU — Senior Libbey Buchmann is continuing to show the form that has made her a two-time podium finisher in the discus at the WIAA state meet.

Five days after breaking her own school record in the event, she went and broke it again on Tuesday. It was one of six individual victories for the Rhinelander High School girls’ track team in a runner-up finish at the Wausau West Outdoor Opener invite. 

Buchmann’s last throw in the event went 136 feet, 9 inches — besting the mark of 135-1 she had set just five days prior at Marathon. Buchmann also had a 134-foot throw in the event as she continues her comeback, just 7 1/2 months removed from ACL surgery.

“I think having a break and then being able to work everything (with) footwork was really big help,” Buchmann said. “Keeping that toe up is the main thing to do, but it really helped. It’s the main thing to push for.”

“I’m feeling probably 90 plus (percent) in the disc,” she added. “I’m still a little iffy on shot. Some days are worse than others.”

Even so, shot put went fairly well for Buchmann, who nearly matched her personal best with a third-place throw of 36-1 3/4.

“She’s got to be just flying high after the kind of the comeback story she’s had,” Hodag girls’ track coach Andy Wyss said. “I’m just really happy for her, really proud of her. Being that it’s still early in the outdoor season. I don’t think she’s done yet.”

Neither team went in with a full lineup, but still fared well. The Hodag girls managed 15 top-five finishes and ended the night 37 1/2 points behind fist-place Wausau West. Though the Hodag boys finished fourth, they scored four wins, also had 15 top fives and finished just more than 25 points behind first-place Marathon.

“A good meet. We were blessed with another warm day to do well,” Hodag boys’ coach Rod Olson said. “A lot of positives to take away even with kind of a banged up crew, you know, in some empty spots.”

    Rhinelander’s Aila Bergman competes in the triple jump during the Wausau West Outdoor Opener track meet in Wausau Tuesday, April 21. Bergman won that event, and the long jump, as the Hodag girls finished second in the eight-team meet. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Senior Aila Bergman nearly won three events for Rhinelander — edged in a photo finish by Wausau West’s Gracyn Schoepke in the 100 hurdles (16.23 seconds). Bergman focused on the field events Tuesday, taking the triple jump with a leap 33-9 3/4 and the long jump with a leap of 15-5 1/4.

“She has long jumped and triple jumped in the past. I just kind of wanted to get her going on that just to have another option when we get into conference and maybe even regionals,” Wyss said. “If she’s feeling good and this is something we can kind of move on long term, that’d be great. She showed again, with very little practice, she has the athleticism to pull it off.”

Lucy Eddy claimed the win in the 400-meter dash, setting a new personal-best time of 1:01.73 in the process. It was one of two top-five finishes for the junior and member of last year’s state-qualifying 4x400 relay. She also came home fifth in the 100 (13.69).

“She has really competitive speed, high-placing speed and everything that we’ve tested her in so far from the 100 up to the 800,” Wyss said. “Seeing that quick turnover in 100 and then having a little more recovery coming into that 400 … coming in fairly fresh, going 1:01. She’s got pretty good goals of going under a minute. So I can’t wait til that happens.”

Macy Myers claimed the 800 meters (2:32.22) and added a runner-up finish in the pole vault (10-6). Freshman Marsadies Williams won the 300 hurdles (50.35) and was fifth in the 100 hurdles (19.17).

    Rhinelander’s Jackson Weinzatl competes in the 3,200-meter run during the Wausau West Outdoor Opener track meet in Wausau Tuesday, April 21. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Jackson Weinzatl was a two-event winner for the Hodag boys. He held off Marathon’s Joshua Baeseman by 0.68 seconds in the 3,200 (11:20.09) and was part of the winning 4x800 squad with Dean Gillingham, Jonathan Campbell and Avrom Barr. Running the anchor leg, Barr passed Wausau East’s Ezra Besteman in the final 100 meters as the Hodags posted a winning time of 8:41.53.

“The 4x8 was a little scary, but yeah, Avrom really just kicked it in,” Olson said. “And they’re still experimenting. What do I run the first lap? What do I run the second? I think the mile and two-mile are easier to pace because you want to try and hit a mark every 200 or every 400. But that 800 is kind of like, ‘Do I go out hard? Do I go out soft and then finish hard? What do I do?’ So I think a lot of them are still experimenting with what works best for them too.”

    Rhinelander’s Sam Zwaard, left, prepares to hand the baton to teammate Evan Shoeder in the 4x100-meter relay during the Wausau West Outdoor Opener track meet in Wausau Tuesday, April 21. The Hodag boys won the race, one of four event victories in a fourth-place overall finish for the team. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Rhinelander also claimed the 4x100 with a squad that included seniors Ben Olson, Sam Zwaard and Evan Shoeder, and junior Landon Catlin. The quartet led wire-to-wire with a winning time of 45.00. 

“We had great handoffs in the 4x100. Ben and Sam have been handing off together since junior high and I don’t even see the baton anymore. It’s just kind of like, Ben has it, then Sam has it. That one and two combo there in the 4x100 is really, really sweet, so we’ll hopefully start blending the Nos. 3 and 4 runners in to go and get them smooth too … We had to put Evan in there for Cyrus (Leisure) and he did a great job and that turned out good. Landon Catlin’s getting a little bit stronger. He’s kind of been nursing some back stuff too.”

Ayden Myers led a strong night for the Hodag pole vaulters, winning the event with a vault of 13 feet. Sophomore Paul Denis had a personal-best showing of 11-6 to finish third and Charlie Antonuk took fourth, clearing 11 feet. 

“Ayden jumped 13 feet and won. Paul, he jumped (up) another foot, two height, so that was awesome as well,” coach Olson said.

Amos Bergman was the runner-up in the 110 hurdles, took third in the 300 hurdles, and was fifth in the triple jump. Ryley Hull was third in the 110 hurdles, Zwaard added a fourth-place performance in the long jump. Wyatt Crowell was fifth in the 800 and Ben Olson was fifth in the 200. 

Rhinelander added a third-place showing in the 4x200 (Knox Fleming, Devon Feck, Renin Craig, Austin Sparling) and was fifth in the 4x400 (Crowell, Shoeder, Hull, Konner Bex).

On the girls’ side, Emily Schiek came home third in the 3,200, Jalyn Zadnik was fourth in the shot put, Noelle Mayo finished fifth in the 800 and Rhinelander was fifth in the 4x800 with Millie Gruett, Gretchen Fiebke, Addie Olson and Maddie Collins. 

“We kind of entered a little conservative tonight. We didn’t have anybody in four events. We were letting some girls try some different things,” Wyss noted. “I even said on the bus ride, ‘I don’t expect the scores to look very good at the end of the night.’ But our girls continue to surprise us, and we looked good at the end of the night.”

The Hodags are back in action today in the Eagle Relays at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River. As the name suggests, most of the running events will be contested as relays. In the hurdles and field events, athletes will compete individually, but the top three entries per team will be combined to determine team placing.

“That’s become more of a fun meet for us,” Wyss said. “With this team and with this depth, it’s a lot more fun when you can showcase that. I think we’re gonna have some fun.”

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

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].