December 1, 2017 at 1:18 p.m.
Hodag swimmers sweep all 11 events, beat Medford
Hodag swimmers sweep all 11 events, beat Medford
The Hodags did just that Thursday, winning all 11 events and defeating Medford 96-72 in a Great Northern Conference dual at Raider Pool in Medford.
Rhinelander (1-1 Great Northern) had only eight swimmers on deck Thursday night and all eight had a hand in winning at least one event. Cousins Joseph and Thaddeus Heck each won two individual races. Russell Benoy, Martin Hoger, David King and Devon Gaber each won once and first-year swimmers Mathew Herman and Hugh Wiese were on winning relays.
"I think they had fun tonight. They had fun but they swam well, I thought," Hodag co-coach Marna Winnicki said. "I think they were kind of happy to swim something they don't normally swim."
The Hodags celebrated their victories with some bling, passing around a necklace - similar to the University of Miami football team's turnover chain - each time someone new won a race.
"It was this gaudy looking gold thing with something hanging on it," Winnicki explained. "It was fun to see they did something like that and everybody got a chance to wear it. That was nice."
The Hodags' closest races of the night were with themselves. Benoy edged King by 0.40 seconds to win the 200-yard individual medley (2:21.90), but King returned the favor in the 500 (5:47.97), beating Benoy in a 1-2 finish in that event.
"I wouldn't say we have a true distance swimmer, so it was nice to try a couple different guys in that position," Winnicki noted.
Rhinelander also claimed the top two spots in the 100 butterfly with Thaddeus Heck (1:08.49) taking the win by 3.44 seconds over Gaber. Heck also won the 50 freestyle (26.53).
Joseph Heck claimed wins in the 200 freestyle (2:11.99) and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.77), Gaber won the 100 backstroke (1:12.84) and Hoger took the 100 freestyle (57.57).
All eight Rhinelander swimmers had a hand in at least one of the relay victories. Benoy, Thaddeus Heck, King and Herman won the 200 medley relay (2:05.17); Herman, Hoger, Heck and Heck won the 200 freestyle relay (1:53.39) and King, Wiese, Gaber and Benoy claimed the 400 freestyle relay (4:31.80).
"It was nice to mix up the relays a little bit, let Mathew and Hugh get on some teams (that took first)," Winnicki said.
An early season meet against last season's last-place finisher in the Great Northern Conference gave Rhinelander an opportunity to play around with its lineup, putting swimmers in events they would not usually swim.
"We saw where we want to use people a little bit better in this meet. It gives us an idea of what we can do," Winnicki said.
Rhinelander returns to action this coming Thursday when it hosts Antigo at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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