Athlete of the Week 2013

Week #8: Great Northern Conference Meet (October 19, 2013)

Alex Bellile, sophomore

Alex Bellile-“…Alex ran confident in her race, taking the lead on the 2nd loop and never looking back as she cruised to victory in a personal best time for her. She is really coming into her own as a runner this season and impacting our squad in a positive way.”

Justin Jarvensivu, freshman

Justin Jarvensivu-“…to see Justin out-kick that Rhinelander athlete to preserve our perfect score to end the day at the GNC was an exciting end to a super meet for our Hatchets. He PR’d in the process at 19:23! Justin is one of our leaders of our freshmen boy’s squad of which I’ve been so proud of that group all year.”

Week #7: Hatchet Invitational (October 12, 2013)

Kate Krueger, freshman

Kate Krueger-“…Kate is gaining confidence as a runner each race and it’s really starting to show. She P.R.’d by  over a minute cracking the 19-minute barrier. Additionally, she ran a very competitive race from start to finish.”

Jacob McGuire, junior

Jacob McGuire-“…Jacob has been setting the tempo at recent races for our scoring pack and took them through the mile and two mile at our invite very close to our pre-race plan. It helped him achieve a P.R. in the process. His leadership skills, especially during competition have been invaluable for our underclassmen to key off of.”

Week #6: Flambeau Invitational (October 1, 2013)

Alex Zedler, junior & Emmy Larson, junior

Alex  Zedler/Emmy Larson (Co-Female Athletes)-“…Alex and Emmy had outstanding individual performances at Flambeau. Alex with her early race move and Emmy with her late race strategy and strong finish were both incredible efforts. As a coaching staff we couldn’t find a determining factor to nominate one over the other for AOW honors.”

Alex Johnson, freshmen

Alex Johnson-“…Alex has had two super performances in back-to-back weeks. Last week he broke into our top 7 at Three Lakes and this week he ran another big P.R. by nearly a minute cracking into the varsity scoring pack. He is running ‘smart’ races with a lot of confidence right now and along with Kyle is pushing our veteran runners.”

Week #5: Three Lakes Invitational (September 26, 2013)

Talyn Jones, junior

Talyn Jones-“…Talyn has put in a lot of work since last season and it is really paying off. She is stronger and running with a lot of confidence and heart. To see her fully spent as she crossed the line and to earn a medal for her efforts was gratifying. She’s been an excellent role model for our younger athletes.”

Troy VanStrydonk, sophomore

Troy VanStrydonk- “…Troy went out aggressively and went anaerobic early in the race. He handled it well and worked with Austin and Jake through the mid sections of the course, finishing with a head of steam and improving his position at the end. What’s really impressive is that Troy has been dealing with sickness and some running related injury issues within the last two weeks that even side-lined him from Fall Creek less than two weeks ago.”

Week #4: Smiley Invitational (September 21, 2013)

Maggee Renn, freshman

Maggee Renn-“…Maggee went out aggressively in the JV girls race, charging to near the front in the first 400 meters. She ran relaxed, smooth, and with a lot of confidence in a field of nearly 500 runners and it carried her to a two minute P.R. and a D2/D3 individual championship. She will give us even more depth on the varsity level and fit right in with our scoring pack.”

Lucas Tjugum, freshman

 Lucas Tjugum-“…Lucas continues to improve and for the second straight week posted a result that is in the mix for a varsity spot. He loves to compete and runs with a lot of racing savvy for a freshman. What’s really exciting is that we have four other freshmen that ‘key’ off of him and are improving as they all work together during the race. This makes us a deeper and better overall team.”

Week #3: Fall Creek Invitational (September 14, 2013)

Rylie Swan, freshman

Rylie Swan-“… continues to improve each and every meet. She hasn’t yet figured out how good she is. As a freshman with how she continues to challenge herself, she’s making a strong bid for a varsity position. To P.R. at Fall Creek is literally unheard of, but Rylie proved the course wrong and ran her best time to date.”

Austin Kaiser, junior

Austin Kaiser-“…he’s been a model of consistency for us this year, not only at meets with his steady performances, but in practice. The boys team was hit hard this past week with some sicknesses. Austin was not left out of the mix. However, he worked through it and still competed very respectably. He was one of our leaders in our “pack strategy” early in the race.”

Week #2: Marathon Invitational (September 5, 2013)

Claire Kuehn, junior

“…Claire had another super race, getting out with the top 1/3 of the race and working her way into the top 15, just out of medalist contention. She P.R.’d by over a minute from last year’s best time. What was really amazing, and an attribute to how hard she’s been working, is that she improved over 4 minutes from her time on the same course a year ago.”

Kyle Klopatek, freshman

“…there haven’t been too many times in the past 25 years where a freshman makes a bid for a varsity position on our boys team.

Kyle is competing like a veteran and making his presence known in this program. He has a lot of racing savvy for his age and is using that to his advantage.

Each week he has been putting himself in a better early race position and finding out that he can handle it. We’re not quite sure at this point what his limits are. It wouldn’t surprise me if he becomes a consistent scorer for us throughout the season.”

Week #1: Ashland Invitational (August 29, 2013)

Dani Whiting, sophomore

 “…she knocked nearly a minute off of her performance from a year ago and improved her finish significantly. She is running with a lot of tenacity and confidence.”

Bryan Tomek, senior

“…his confidence in his racing abilities really showed as the raced progressed. He was able to surge at will from the Superior boy at

key places in the race to pull away for a comfortable win. The course was about 100 meters long and with the challenging conditions times were definitely

affected. This is really his year to shine.”