December 8, 2017 at 2:13 p.m.
Almost against Antigo
Hodag swimmers edged in final event, fall to Robins 83-78
Almost against Antigo
With the dual meet on the line, the Red Robins won the 400-yard freestyle relay and edged the Hodags 83-78 at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Despite leaving some points in the pool at a couple of key junctures during the meet, the Hodags closed to within one, 75-74, after cousins Thaddeus and Joseph Heck went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke to set up a winner-take-all final race.
Antigo, with four of its top freestylers - Austin Arlen, Zach Reineke, Holden Meidl and Brett Farmer - beat out the Hodag quartet of Devon Gaber, David King, Martin Hoger and Russell Benoy by 5.6 seconds. Only Benoy bettered his Antigo counterpart during the race, swimming a 52.46 final 100 compared to Farmer's 53.32.
"We wish it would have came out differently but, on the same hand, we had great swims, best times," Rhinelander co-coach Jenny Heck said. "The kids really surpassed what we thought in some areas. I guess you need to look at the good, although we wish is was a win."
In a meet that was decided by five points, the Hodags could look back at a couple of instances where 10 points swung Antigo's way.
In a closely contested 200 individual medley, Farmer and King were virtually dead even for the lead after 150 yards, but Farmer pulled away down the stretch and beat King by 0.56 seconds for the win with a time of 2 minutes, 16.95 seconds. Meanwhile, Joseph Heck led Reineke for third in the event, but was four second slower over the final leg and had to settle for fourth. The two close finishes swung six points in Antigo's direction.
"The IM, once again David and Joseph swam best times. David crushed his time and really did well. Joseph also crushed his time, but we really could have used those points in the IM," Jenny Heck said.
Another four-point swing occurred when Thaddeus Heck was disqualified from what would have been a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly for what the referees deemed to be an illegal kick.
"He has a problem extending his muscles in his Achilles," Jenny Heck said, explaining what have might led to the infraction. "I didn't see it, personally, but the officials did see it and called the DQ."
Russell Benoy scored two individual wins for Rhinelander on the night, sweeping the sprint freestyle events. He took the 50 freestyle (23.63) by nearly two seconds as Gaber barely beat Arlen by 0.01 second to secure a 1-2 finish for Rhinelander. Benoy added a win in the 100 freestyle (53.93).
"I think Russell had a great meet," coach Heck noted. "He swam solid in all of his events. His times were really good. His splits were good. I was happy to see that."
King broke a minute as he took the 100 butterfly (59.44) and Hoger added a win for Rhinelander in the 100 backstroke (1:08.71).
The Hodags opened with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:51.80) as Joseph Heck, Thaddeus Heck, King and Benoy beat their Antigo counterparts by nearly 10 seconds. Gaber, Thaddeus Heck, Hoger and Joseph Heck made up the winning foursome in the 200 freestyle relay.
Hoger added a runner-up finish for Rhinelander in the 200 freestyle while first-year swimmers Jack Kovac and Mathew Herman filled a hole in the Hodags' lineup, taking third and fourth in the 500 freestyle.
"It was great to see those new swimmers in the 500 contribute points," Jenny Heck said. "That's a lot for them to take on a 500. They did it and did it well."
The loss drops Rhinelander to 1-2 in the GNC. The teams will meet again Jan. 11 in Antigo.
The Hodags are back in the pool Saturday to host the annual Hodag Relays at the Heck Pool.
"We're looking forward to swim some different events, have some fun with it and see them in some events they don't always swim," Jenny Heck said.
Conference foes Lakeland, Shawano and Tomahawk are all scheduled to take part in the eight-team meet which consists of all relay races. The meet begins at 11 a.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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