Up and down weekend for Hodag Alpine at state

In racing, there’s an adage that says, “in order to finish first, you must first finish.” That’s a lesson the Rhinelander/Northland Pines Alpine ski and snowboard team experienced firsthand Feb. 14-16 at the WIARA state championships in La Crosse.

A couple of slip-ups cost both the Hodag boys’ snowboard and ski teams better finishes — both individually and in the team standings. The boys’ snowboarders wound up state runners-up on Saturday while the Hodags boys skiers slipped to 13th overall, and outside the top two in Division 2, following a mistake-filled Monday at Mt. La Crosse. 

There were some bright spots on the weekend. The Hodags claimed three of the top eight spots in the combined boys’ snowboard standings, had a fifth-place finish from senior Sydney Sarkauskas on the girls’ snowboard side, and had top-25 finishes from Eli Repenshek and Jessica Linn on the ski side, but overall, there was a feeling of what might have been for the squad.

“With the sport, you don’t always get to show how fast you are because you gotta finish and not have a ski fly off,” coach Rod Olson said. “Equipment’s a part of the sport. There’s that attrition to this sport, which is always hard to take, when you know you have the ability.”

Boys’ snowboarding

Rhinelander found itself leading the team standings after Saturday’s opening event, boardercross, after scoring top-10 finishes with all four of its available athletes — led by an event win from senior Soren Dumar. 

In high school ski racing, a team’s top four scores factor into the team points. With Nathan Olds out due to illness and Owen Sarkauskas ineligible to compete, the Hodags had no safety net if one of its top four boarders had a mishap. 

That happened to Dumar in boarder giant slalom as a slip scrubbed speed and knocked him down to 22nd in the running order — and the team into second in the standings, 13 points behind Slinger. 

Senior Ayden Myers then fell off the pace in boarder slalom and the Hodags’ fate was sealed. Rhinelander finished 52 points behind Slinger for the state championship and held off Hartford by six points for the runner-up spot. 

“We lost Soren in the giant slalom, which hurt our team points. That basically kind of took us out of first,” coach Olson said. “We needed that extra (insurance). We basically suffered a triple-point penalty, without having a 5 or 6 so that took us out of first. But, you know, we know we have such a great talented team. It’s awesome.”

Junior Marshal Durkee finished fourth overall in the combined standings. He was fourth in the boardercross and second in GS during the one-day snowboarding competition. Dumar recovered from his giant slalom mishap to take second in slalom and finish seventh overall. 

Sophomore Kamden Kostrova, competing after a broken boot and an injury scare the weekend prior in the Northern Conference finale at Ski Brule, came home third in giant slalom, seventh in boardercross and eighth overall. Myers wound up 20th in the overall standings, led by a ninth-place run in boardercross.

Boys’ skiing

    Rhinelander’s Ben Olson skis during the giant slalom competition of the WIARA state meet in La Crosse Monday, Feb. 16. (Contributed photograph)
  

The Hodags were in position for a possible runner-up finish in Division 2, and a top-10 finish overall, in boys’ skiing until disaster unfolded in the final few seeds of Super G. 

Rhinelander got top-15 runs out of Ben Olson and Eli Repenshek, but third seed Holden Schmitz experienced an equipment failure that led to a crash, thinning the Hodags’ margin for error.

“Holden was skiing exceptionally and he lost his left ski. He didn’t fall until after he lost a ski, but he lost it. It’s a speed event. You can’t continue on one ski,” coach Olson said.

After Wyler Koput put down a top-40 run, the Hodags needed one finish out of its final two skiers to solidify a good team score. Neither junior Ryley Hull nor sophomore Henry Schmitz were able to finish, however, and the Hodags had to take a 200-point penalty for its fourth score. 

“It was a tough one to take. You’d hope that if you were in second and something happened, then you’d go third but just the points don’t work that way. There’s a steep penalty,” coach Olson said.

That was the second unfortunate event that happened to the Hodags during Monday’s races. Ben Olson was in line for a top-10 finish in giant slalom earlier in the day, but missed the final gate and was disqualified. That dropped him from a potential top-seven finish in the state overall, to 65th in the final standings. 

“We did protest that dye from the women’s GS was still left on the men’s course. That dye went on the outside of the gate and he went that way. But either way, you got to go through the gates. So that was tough,” coach Olson explained of the blue paint used to mark the course. “I think he was 15th or 16th in slalom (on Sunday). And we were hoping for a top five in GS. Rules are the rules and, that’s what happened there. But to come back with eighth (in Super G), he was already named alternate for the (Wisconsin Eastern) nationals team, but it’s pretty good chance he’ll make that.”

Repenshek finished 12th in the combined standings, led by a 14th-place run in Super G and a 15th in GS. Koput placed 34th, followed by Ben Olson in 65th, Holden Schmitz in 93rd, Henry Schmitz in 109th and Hull in 124th.

Girls’ skiing

One of the brightest spots of the weekend for the Hodags was Northland Pines sophomore Jessica Linn who, just more than a week from being cleared from what was first feared to be a season-ending knee injury, not only skied at state, but came home 22nd overall. 

Linn got faster throughout the weekend, taking 39th in Sunday morning’s slalom competition, followed by a 33rd-place finish Sunday afternoon in giant slalom. She finished her meet Monday with an eighth-place finish in Super G. 

“Jessica did ski, although she was definitely holding back. I discussed it with her. She’s track athlete too, and we’ve got two more years with her,” coach Olson said. “She kind of floated through the courses, still placed decently. She just had this real mellow, flowy run … She got a little bit more confidence (Sunday) during slalom and giant slalom. I said, you know, ‘I don’t want you doing anything but going out and skiing some hills and getting some more confidence, go get more time on that leg. And let’s see what we can do tomorrow with a little bit more confidence and feeling like you can trust it.’ Each race, she got stronger, from the slalom to the giant slalom to the Super G.”

As a team, the Hodags finished 14th overall in the standings. Aila Bergman was 52nd overall, Lucy Eddy finished 63rd, Karlie Yunkers was 70th and Claire Yunkers — the senior who joined the team late when it needed a fourth skier after the injuries to Linn and Lindsey Hoerchler — was 114th.

“I think they have a good feeling. It was a good team here at the end to bond together, and I think we really rallied around that,” coach Olson said. “I think the first few meets of the year where we were without Jessica and Lindsey, that (Claire) coming in and taking this chance kind of sparked us.”

Girls’ snowboarding

Sydney Sarkauskas, who coach Olson said was cleared to compete on the eve of the state meet after missing the final two races of the Northern Conference season due to ineligibility, had a solid weekend. The Northland Pines senior took sixth in boardercross, seventh in giant slalom and ninth in slalom to finish fifth in the overall standings. 

“The ups and downs of that were difficult, and I think she lost a little bit of an edge not being able to compete for 2-3 weeks. Then she couldn’t train because she was busy working on homework. I do think she could have performed better. But it was just the situation that she had put herself in,” coach Olson said. “I think, regardless of this little bump in the road, that was a learning experience, hopefully for her, I think she’s going to be an Alpine athlete forever.”  

Wrap-up

The Hodags will bid farewell to a good chunk of the squad that competed in La Crosse this past weekend — including Ben Olson and Holden Schmitz on the boys’ ski side; Bergman and the Yunkers twins in girls’ skiing; Dumar and Myers in boys’ snowboarding and Sarkauskas in girls’ snowboarding. 

“We’re leaving a tremendous amount of seniors to graduation, but overall, the whole team … it’s the finest group of humans and teammates that I’ve ever seen,” coach Olson said. “I mean, our support and our camaraderie and our pushing the next kid to do even better — regardless if they’re teammates and racing against each other or not — is just more than I ever could have wished for in a program. 

“The overall feeling on our team as we’re a team. There were tears today. There were tears on Saturday, but they all held each other together. I didn’t have to be the first one there for the embrace. The teammates did it. Ultimately, that’s what sport’s all about.”