February 15, 2017 at 1:26 p.m.
RHS swimmers overcome bizarre season to return to Madison
RHS swimmers overcome bizarre season to return to Madison
The Hodags will participate in four events this time around. Sophomore Nolan Francis qualified individually as the sectional champ in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly. He will also be on both of Rhinelander's relay teams. David King, Thaddeus Heck and Russell Benoy will join him on the 200 medley relay while Francis, Martin Hoger, Devon Gaber and Benoy barely snuck into the field as the final qualifier in the 200 freestyle relay.
It wasn't easy for the Hodags, who were forced to essentially hit the reset button on their season Jan. 2 when they returned to practice following a 2 1/2-week layoff due to a pertussis outbreak. Coach Lindsay Byrka said it was basically an experiment to prepare the team for the postseason in six weeks as opposed to the traditional 12 - an experiment she said "could have gone really south really fast" at sectionals. But, somehow, the Hodags managed to pull off their best times of the season last Saturday in Stevens Point.
"Luckily, I worked with them in (Rhinelander Swim) Club and I've seen how other teams have reacted to a full taper or a half taper," she said. "I just go off my experience and my experience with the kids."
Some of the athletes did what they could to train on their own during the layoff, which occurred over the Christmas break when the team typically goes through its most intense training of the season.
"Christmas break was basically a commitment test for our entire team seeing who's actually going to go in the water and keep doing these tough practices," Hoger said. "Those are supposed to be our hardest of the year. Then who's going to sit on the couch and let themselves go into a false taper for when break's over."
Even then, the Hodags left Stevens Point last Saturday wondering if they had done enough. Francis knew he was assured a qualifying berth with his two sectional wins. The rest of the team had to wait and see if their times in the medley and freestyle relays were fast enough to make the cut.
The medley got in comfortably - their mark of 1:45.28 was 12th-fastest in the state. The 200 freestyle relay, on the other hand, qualified by only 0.09 seconds after placing fifth at sectionals with a time of 1:35.01.
"I really didn't think we had even a prayer at all," said Hoger, who had his swim cap fall off during the second leg of the relay. "Just finding out that we made it was really awesome because I didn't think we were going to. That surprise element was quite a treat."
"It was really just a roller coaster," added Benoy, who swam the opening leg. "but it was a pretty amazing feeling."
Practice this week has been pretty light with the team in full-blown taper mode in preparation for Friday's meet.
"There's not a whole lot we can do," Bykra said. "Fortunately, it's the two 200 relays, so everyone swims a 50. You don't have to work endurance, you just have to work that reaction time, relay exchanges and just trying to channel a little better breakout, a little better finish. It's just fine-tuning those little things. I think this week is going to be really fun in practice and, again, just trying to motivate them."
The expectations going into the state meet are different in the individual events as opposed to the relays. Individually, a podium finish within the top six is well within Francis' grasp. He comes in the fourth seed in the IM after a school-record setting time of 1:59.89 last Saturday at sectionals, smashing a 21-year old mark set by James Galles (2:03.75). He's seeded sixth in the 100 fly despite swimming what he called a "sloppy" race in that event last Saturday.
"My main goal is going to be to make top six," he said. "I think going in with a 1:59 (in the IM), I will be seeded pretty well. I'm just definitely going to make top six. That's the goal, podium and see what everything's going to be like after that in the fly."
Added Byrka: "We beat him up over the year hoping he would swim fast and we talked about it after the race was over, there were a couple of things that we could change and there's a lot of room of improvement going into (state). He's not fully rested so that last 50, which is where I think he looked tired, that's going to be there. I'm excited to see what else he can do."
For the relays, it's going to be about improving on where the Hodags are seeded, both in terms of time and placement. The 200 free relay will be particularly intriguing as the top five teams from the Stevens Point sectional were the last five teams in the field in that event. They will all be swimming against each other in the first heat of that event Friday.
"I'm just ready to beat some of those teams," Benoy said. "To have the chance to beat all those guys, it's going to be fun."
Heck said the team is shooting for the stars in the medley relay, hoping to get on the podium. Though they are seeded 12th, they are only about 2.3 seconds behind sixth-seeded DeForest, so perhaps that goal isn't as crazy as it sounds.
"We just need to each cut off a little bit of time, each one of us improve a little bit on our personal best and we can get there," Heck said.
"We like our opportunities in both of the relays," Byrka said. "As the 16th seed in the 200 free relay, we can't move down in the rankings, we can only get faster. With a couple of guys swimming not quite at their best, we've got a lot of room to drop. In the medley, we're right there in the middle of the pack. It's nice to have one of those center lanes and, at state, you never know which teams are going to stack a little bit more on one relay and let another one go. We don't have that opportunity, so we're going all-in on both relays and, hopefully, we can move up even more."
Friday's meet will get underway at 6:30 p.m. at the UW-Madison Natatorium.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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