Kelly O’Day
Sports Editor’
The Hatchet boys rebounded from a rough Smiley Invite outing with a strong runner-up performance in Thursday’s Three Lakes Invite at Sugar Camp. Pines undercut them 40-44, while the girls were ranked third in the 11-team event.
“Our boys were anxious to run against Northland Pines again and it showed as we were much more in the thick of things,” THS coach John Zuelsdorf said. “It was nice to see that ‘competitive spirit’ again from our young men.”
The Hatchet boys packed up 5th-8th with Troy VanStrydonk (17:54), Alex Johnson (17:56), Mason Webster (18:01) and Cayton Scholz (18:04) to nearly offset the 1-3-9 finish combination of Pines. Other top finishers for the Hatchets were: Lucas Tjugum (18th, 19:06), Kyle Klopatek (20th, 19:20), Evan Ploeckelman (21st, 19:25), Justin Jarvensivu (24th, 19:34).
“Troy is still not at 100% with his recent cold, but nearly accomplished his individual goal during the race,” Zuelsdorf said. “Alex, Mason, and Cayton ran strong and worked their magic on the Pines #3 runner at the finish. Our key to our boys’ success will be getting our 5-9 runners to close the gap so we have an even more effective scoring pack with displacing capabilities as well.
“This week the girls are feeling the effects of the same respiratory illnesses that were wide spread last week with the boys. However, it was nice for them that this event was only a 4K. It was less stressful and gave each of them a chance to work on their speed, more so than their normal 5K-pacing. Dani handled the pre-race plan we laid out for her perfectly and looked good throughout her race. The rest of our girls were not as aggressive in establishing their position as we would like them to be in the first 400 meters. This is something that we can work on still.”
The THS girls tallied 70 points to trail Peshtigo (29) and Rhinelander team (51). Dani Whiting paced them with a 4th-place 16:31 over the 4000 meter distance.
She was backed by Lizebeth Edwardsen (12th, 18:19), Maggee Renn (15th, 18:37), Kate Krueger (19th, 18:44), Rylie Swan (20th, 18:46), Lauren Bauman (22nd, 18:52), and Susan Waye (24th, 19:02).
Team standings- Boys- N. Pines 40, Tomahawk 44, Peshtigo 78, Rhinelander 108, Crandon 119, Lakeland 172, Laona/Wab 175, Goodman/Pembine 207, Florence 241, Phelps inc., Three Lakes inc…….Girls – Peshtigo 29, Rhinelander 51, Tomahawk 70, N. Pines 74, Crandon 120, Three Lakes 172, Good./Pem. inc., Lakeland inc., Laona/Wab inc., Robinson inc.