Alayna Franson 7th

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander High School cross country teams were in action Saturday at the Tribute Golf Course in Wausau for the Smiley Invitational, where both the Hodag girls and boys varsity teams placed 10^th when listed among the “Division 1 small” schools.

“Smiley had a great field of teams competing as always,” said RHS head coach M.J. Laggis. “On the girls side, Alayna Franson had a really good race. She (finished in 20 minutes, 12.92 seconds) and dropped time from her last race at Smiley.”

Franson’s time was seventh-fastest in the grouping of 13 teams designated as “Division 1 small.” Pulaski’s Annika Linzmeier placed first in 19:04.03.

The Hodags’ four other girls whose finishes counted toward the team score included Anna Sturzl (45^th in 22:22.12), Gracie Quinn (62nd in 23:24.97), Payton Hartman (72^nd in 24:15.2) and Abby Krueger (78^th in 25:10.26).

“The gap from our top girl to our fifth girl is still too much to score effectively as a team,” Laggis said. “We have a 4:58 gap between them and we have to continue to try and shrink that. Having said that, we are happy with the time that many of our girls continue to drop. We have to continue that thread.”

Waunakee had the top team score of 83, followed by La Crosse Central (90), Pulaski (94), River Falls (97), and Lakeland (116) rounding out the top five. RHS’s score was 258 for 10^th out of the 12 teams with at least five finishers to score in the standings.

BRIDGER FLORY 26^TH

Lakeland topped the “Division 1 small” boys standings at 64, followed by La Crosse Central (96), River Falls (109), DeForest (116) and Oregon (139) in the top five. RHS’s score was 232 for 10^th in the 14-team field.

La Crosse Central’s Sam Pinkowski had the top individual finish of 16:13.79.

The Hodag boys didn’t have anyone finish in the top 25. The team’s best finish came from sophomore Bridger Flory, who ended up 26^th in 18:06.91.The other four RHS boys whose finishes counted toward the team score included Robert Ritchie (45^th in 19:04.41), Markus Johnson (48^th in 19:10.19), Daniel Ritchie (53^rd in 19:14.5) and Tyler Kolasa (60^th in 19:21.47).

“Our boys from the second spot through fifth are all within 17 seconds of each other,” Laggis said. “It’s a great cluster finish helping us score, but we need to get that group to collectively continue to drop time and peak at the end (of the season).

“Earlier in the season, our second through fifth runners were finishing in the 21:00’s. Now we are in the 19:00’s, so the numbers don’t lie, we continue to improve. But we need to drop these times lower yet by mid October.”

RHS’s next meet is Thursday at Sugar Camp Elementary School.

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