August 4, 2017 at 4:55 p.m.
Rhinelander's Winnicki medals at Indigenous Games
Rhinelander's Winnicki medals at Indigenous Games
Last month, the 14-year-old traveled to Toronto to compete in the 2017 North American Indigenous Games where she medaled in five events, and competed in nine events overall, for Team Wisconsin.
"It was really fun," Winnicki told the River News in a sit-down interview. "It was exciting meeting new people, touring Toronto. It was exciting."
The Indigenous Games were first held in 1990 as an Olympic-style competition for Native Americans or those of Native American descent. Currently the games offer competition in 14 sports for young athletes from the United States and Canada in the 14U, 16U and 19U age brackets.
Winnicki, eligible as a tribal descendant of the Forest County Potawatomi, said she was urged by her grandmother to try out for the games.
"My grandma heard about it at work and she's like, 'Oh, Makenna, you should submit times.' Then, after like a year, I made the team," she said.
Winnicki was one of 10 swimmers to represent Team Wisconsin and fared well. She took home silver in two events, bronze in three others and twice finished just off the podium.
The highlights in the pool for Winnicki included a runner-up finish in the 14U division of the 800-meter freestyle (9 minutes, 58.81 seconds) and a fourth-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:10.31). Both times were fast enough to qualify her to compete in the events at the Wisconsin 13 and Over LCM State Championship which runs this Thursday through Sunday in Brown Deer. Winnicki's silver in the 800 was the first medal earned by Team Wisconsin at the games.
Additionally, Winnicki took silver with a personal-best split as part of Wisconsin's 400 freestyle relay team. Winnicki took bronze in the 200 butterfly (2:41.98) and as a member of Team Wisconsin's 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
"Some of my swims were good, some of them not so hot, but still it was exciting that I got to go up on the podium with other people," she said.
Winnicki nearly medaled in a sixth event - the 200 individual medley - and said she was actually called to the podium to receive a bronze medal before being disqualified for what the referees deemed was an illegal turn between the backstroke and breaststroke legs of the event.
"It was a tough learning experience," said Makenna's mother, Marna, who coaches the James Williams Middle School girls' swim team. "She's never DQ'ed in that event before. She swims it all the time and has never been DQ'd for that before. That was heartbreaking, but she came back and swam really well."
Winnicki also finished fourth in the 200 backstroke (2:37.99) and seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:17.32) at the games.
But Winnicki said the games were about much more than the competition. The family drove from Rhinelander to Toronto - a 12 1/2-hour trek one-way - and made it in time for the opening ceremony. Winnicki spent a week with her team in Toronto before returning home.
"Just going to restaurants with the team and practices and all the fun stuff we did," she said, adding it was an honor to represent the Forest County Potawatomi at the games. "It was really fun, memory making, lots of pictures. It was really cool."
Added Marna Winnicki: "She really didn't know anybody going into it - one girl she swims against from Black River Falls - but, other than that, she didn't know anybody. She made friends."
Makenna Winnicki said she didn't specifically taper her training in preparation for the Indigenous Games, especially with a six-event program on her docket at state this weekend. She'll get a little rest Monday before hopping right back in the pool for Tuesday's opening practice for the RHS girls' swim team.
The Hodags will have a new look this year without two-time state champ Kiah Francis in the fold. Winnicki might not necessarily fill that gigantic void created by the senior's graduation, but she hopes to fit in and contribute to the team right away.
"The meets will be fun, hanging with the girls and doing all the fun stuff," she said. "That will be exciting. It will be fun swimming with all the girls. They've been swimming in club and stuff. The middle school years we had with them. It will be exciting."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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