Hodag girls 4th, boys 9th

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

For the fourth time this season, Rhinelander High School senior girls cross country runner Alayna Franson has finished a race runner-up.

Franson’s time of 20 minutes, 8.6 seconds, at Thursday’s Waupaca Invitational was second to only Marinette sophomore Katelyn Kitzinger, who won the 5,000-meter race in 19:44.11. Iola-Scandinavia senior Ericka Kisting was third in 20:25.11.

The Hodag girls, who placed fourth out of the 10 teams with at least five finishers, had another runner in the top 10 with senior Anna Sturzl 10^th in 21:29.47. RHS’s three other girls whose finishes counted toward the team score included: freshman Abigale Henrichs, 27^th in 23:13.45; sophomore Valerie Dalka, 37^th in 23:49.42; and sophomore Allie Fugle, 50^th in 24:53.16.

Fox Valley Lutheran had the top girls score of 58, followed by Winneconne (85) Tomahawk (108), Rhinelander (118) and Peshtigo (138) rounding out the top five.

WINNECONNE TOPS BOYS TEAMS

In the boys competition, the Hodags ended up ninth out of 12 teams with 239 points. Winneconne had the top score of 71, followed by Peshtigo (95), Fox Valley Lutheran (98), Amherst (109) and Tomahawk (112) in the top five.

Marinette senior Carson Polomis won the boys race in 17:06.67. Iola-Scandinavia senior Joe Makovec came in runner-up in 17:34.84 with Amherst junior Adam Wise placing third in 17:39.33.

The best finish for RHS’s boys came from senior Markus Johnson, who placed 31^st in 19:10.02. The other four Hodag boys whose finishes counted toward the team score included: freshman JC Adams, 38^th in 19:32.19; freshman Jacob Weddle, 47^th in 19:49.86; sophomore Konnor Kennedy, 60^th in 21:27.38; and senior Matt Herman, 63^rd in 21:36.45.

Up next for RHS’s cross country teams is Tuesday’s invitational hosted by Northland Pines.