Track squads third in Kaukauna Invite

The Rhinelander High School track team tested itself Friday in cool conditions in a championship-style meet against a number of Division 1 and 2 programs.

Both the Hodag boys and girls fared well, nabbing third place in their respective divisions at the Kaukauna Invite. Wins were hard to come by — the team had only three combined on the night — but there were a host of top-five finishes in the squad’s first significant dress rehearsal for the end of the season.

“We’re happy with the two thirds. I don’t know that we even kind of expected that, but I’m real pleased with the results,” Hodag boys’ track coach Rod Olson said. “We learned a lot tonight about our team, and we’ll carry that forward in the next few weeks.”

The highlight of the night once again was senior thrower Libbey Buchmann, who broke her own school record in the discus for the third time in the last five meets. This time, her throw of record went 137 feet, 4 inches. That beat her previous school mark of 136-9 set April 21 in Wausau and was good enough to edge New London’s Ayden Smith by 10 inches for the win on Friday. Hodag girls’ coach Andy Wyss said Buchmann had an even bigger throw Friday that barely did not count.

“She fouled her last throw. She stayed in the in the ring, but the disk just curved out of the sector and that almost hit the 150 number out there,” he said. “She’s real optimistic for next time even too, that she’s got that in her. It’s super exciting. Seems like every other meet now it’s happened.”

    Rhinelander’s Dean Gillingham leaves the starting line of the 4x800 relay during the Kaukauna Invite track meet in Kaukauna Friday, May 1. Gillingham was on the winning team with Jonathan Campbell, Jackson Weinzatl and Avrom Barr — one of two first-place finishes for the Hodags who placed third in the boys’ division. (Contributed photograph)
  

On the boys’ side, junior Avrom Barr had a hand in both of Rhinelander’s victories on the night. He ran the anchor leg of the 4x800-meter relay as the Hodags fended off the Mukwonago quartet by 0.71 seconds to make winners out of a squad that also included Dean Gillingham, Jonathan Campbell and Jackson Weinzatl (8 minutes, 35.12 seconds). Barr came back with a convincing victory later in the night in the open 800, posting a time of 2:04.73 to win by nearly three seconds.

“Avrom had a good night. He did super good. I think all of the units did well. Distance, you know, to start out in the 4x8, we did real well there,” coach Olson said. “It took some competitiveness to secure the places in those races, so that was great to see. It was a good test of mental fortitude going up against some bigger schools, ones that we don’t see. Then, you know, dealing with the weather and constantly warming up, trying to get warm.”

Cold was certainly a factor on Friday, with the thermometer struggling to reach 45 degrees in the Fox Cities region. Wyss said the Hodags considered withdrawing from the meet, due to the cold and the travel, but said the benefits of going  ultimately outweighed the detriments. 

“We decided to go down, and it was definitely worth the trip. They performed fantastic. Really good competition. I think they were just ready for that kind of next level,” he said. “It was just great to see them respond that way, knowing that they could have shut down with the (mentality that) it’s too cold out. It’s hard to get going. They could have shut down, but it was just the opposite. They really picked it up. I’m real proud of them.”

The Hodag girls picked up a slew of second- and third-place finishes. Aila Bergman was the runner-up in both the 100 hurdles (15.86) and the 300 hurdles (47.52). Lucy Eddy was second in the 400 (1:02.00), Emeline Hintz was second in the pole vault (10-6), and the Hodags were the runners up in the 4x800 with Kara Monk, Millie Gruett, Eddy and Macy Myers (10:38.89).

Buchmann added a third-place throw in the shot put (36-3 3/4), and Macy Myers took third in the pole vault (10-0). Rhinelander was also third with its three sprint relays. Olivia Ruetz, Alexis Smith, Hintz and Mady Treder ran the 4x200 (1:55.10); Treder, Hintz, Ruetz and Violet Biolo competed in the 4x100 (53.12) and Bergman, Myers, Shyanne Hueckstaedt and Ruetz made up the quartet in the 4x400 (4:22.82).

“We got a good look at some different pieces tonight, kind of playing around some things,” Wyss said. “One of the things tonight was if we fill those top open spots, do we have the girls to go in and still run good relays? And sure enough, we do. We had great girls filling in on those relays.”

Landon Catlin (39-5) and freshman Cade Goffe (38-7 1/2) finished 2-3 in the boys’ triple jump and the Hodags claimed three of the top five in the pole vault with Ayden Myers second (13-0), Paul Denis fourth (11-0) and Charlie Antonuk fifth (10-6). Rhinelander added a third-place run in the 4x200 with Ben Olson, Matthew Haselton, Sam Zwaard and Evan Shoeder (1:35.66).

“The jumps performances surprised me. You know, we had a lot of placements in those, so that was cool. And then of course pole vault and relays did OK,” coach Olson said. “We had a couple of mashed-up handoffs and jumping some starts a little bit and just a little different orientation on the track. But, still went well. Our boys were competitive in that.”

Rhinelander got all of its entries through to the finals in the girls’ 100 and 100 hurdles. Biolo, Hueckstaedt and Marsadies Williams finished 5-6-7 in the 100 while Hintz joined Aila Bergman in the 100 hurdle finals, placing sixth. 

Williams added a fourth-place showing in the long jump and was fifth in the 300 hurdles. Fellow freshman Noelle Mayo took fourth in the 3,200.

The Hodag boys had a number of fifth-place finishes, including Gillingham in the 1,600, Cyrus Leisure in the 400, Shoeder in the high jump, Weinzatl the 3,200 and the 4x100 squad of Ben Olson, Zwaard, Leisure and Haselton. 

Amos Bergman and Ryley Hull both made the finals in the 110 hurdles, placing seventh and eighth. 

Scores were tight on the boys’ side. Kaukauna won with 108 points while Rhinelander scored 91. The Hodags were within three points of runner-up Port Washington and fewer than 14 points separated second through sixth in the standings. 

Mukwonago edged Kaukauna 145-143.5 for the girls’ title. The Hodags were third with 118 points. 

Rhinelander is back in action today in the Lakeland Invite in Minocqua and will gear up for another dress rehearsal meet this coming Friday in the Otto Bacher Invitational in Merrill.

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].