August 14, 2017 at 1:38 p.m.
Team preview: RHS girls' swimming
High goals remain for Hodag swimmers despite graduating state champ Francis
Team preview: RHS girls' swimming
"These other girls are going to step up and I still think it's possible to get some relays down to state. I think it's possible to get some individuals down to state," Byrka said following practice last Thursday at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Of course, the Hodags will have to do it without Kiah Francis, who put an exclamation point on her stellar high school career with a double state-championship performance in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke last November in Madison. She also helped guide the Hodags to state in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. Those are some massive shoes for the returning swimmers and incoming freshmen to fill.
"Rhinelander hasn't seen anyone like her ever in the history of the school and the sport," Byrka said of Francis' lasting legacy. "She's going to change a program and I think she changed it for the better. What Kiah brought to this team was showing them that it is possible to grow up in a small town and to do some of these things. It doesn't take a super-human action, it's just what's possible for anybody."
Senior Taylor Macak, juniors Grace Heck and Maddie Quinn and sophomore Marisa McGuire lead the list of retuning swimmers for the Hodags, following their trips to Madison last year. Quinn, Heck and McGuire paired with Francis to finish 14th in the 200 medley relay at state. McGuire, Heck, Francis and Macak tied for ninth in the 200 freestyle relay.
Byrka said those girls all have their sights set on a return trip to state.
"All of those girls came back and they've all got the same goals," she said. "They all want to make it to state. I've already crunched the numbers. We started talking about that today and even though we did lose that one key leg.
"A lot of these girls have had experience at the state level, at the conference level and they're going to know how to produce. Although we lost two seniors, we're gaining four freshmen, and all of those freshmen are going to be contributing."
Those four freshmen may be key to Rhinelander's success this season. All four come in with previous swim club experience. The two most-decorated of the bunch are Makenna Winnicki and Lisa Kennedy. Winnicki, in particular, is coming off a big summer in which she competed both in the youth state swim meet and represented Team Wisconsin at the Indigenous Games in Toronto.
"Makenna's got the most experience of any of the freshman and she comes in with times that would already qualify her for the state meet, if everything stays the same from last year," Byrka said. "She's got a distance background. She can kind of do anything, with the exception of breaststroke."
Breaststroke may be Rhinelander's weakness this year. That stroke was Francis' specialty. Ditto Shelby Kuehn, the other senior to graduate from last year's squad. On the flipside, Byrka said she expects Kennedy to bolster what she calls "one of the best backstroke teams out here" that includes Heck and Quinn. Jaida Salaam and Ella Schiek round out the group of incoming swimmers.
Other notable returning swimmers for Rhinelander include seniors Carly Seidl and Jenna Hawley, both of whom received honorable mention in the Great Northern Conference as part of the team's third-place finish in the 200 medley relay at last year's conference meet. Seidl also finished third at conference as part of the Hodags' 200 freestyle relay team and was the team's state alternate on the relays.
After finishing seventh in the GNC back in 2014, the Hodags have made a steady progression up the leaderboard in Byrka's first two seasons at the helm, taking fourth in the conference in 2015 and third last year. Byrka said the team could easily finish one spot higher in the standings this year.
"I really think that second place is ours," she said, noting that perennial conference contender Ladysmith/Bruce/Flambeau was hit particularly hard by graduation. "We'd have to give it up. Some team would have to go through us to get to second place because of the amount of depth that we have."
Byrka added three-time defending conference champion Tomahawk will again be the team to beat after graduating only one swimmer who competed at sectionals last year. But she expects Rhinelander to be well and truly in the mix, both in the conference and at sectionals, if the team is willing to buckle down over the next 12 weeks.
"I've got the season plan in place," she said. "If they're going to give me what they can, I know we'll be there ... It's very, very doable. I think they're motivated and if we can maintain that path, we're going back to Madison."
The season begins with a pentathlon meet Wednesday at Colby/Abbotsford. Rhinelander opens GNC play against Lakeland Aug. 31 at the Heck Pool.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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