November 6, 2017 at 1:05 p.m.
Hodags will swim on
RHS qualifies for state with 200 medley relay, Winnicki in 500
Hodags will swim on
The Hodags qualified for the Division 2 state meet in two events Saturday and placed fifth overall in a 15-team field in a sectional meet at UW-Stevens Point.
Rhinelander will send its 200-yard medley relay to state for the third year in a row, following a third-place finish in the event in the Stevens Point sectional. A lifetime best for Makenna Winnicki in the 500 freestyle will also send her to the UW-Madison Natatorium this Friday.
"That's what they've been working for," RHS interim co-coach Marna Winnicki said. "That's what we expected. I think, overall, they did a good job."
Junior Grace Heck made it to state for the third straight year as part of the medley relay, this time with the help of a trio of freshmen. Lisa Kennedy, Marissa Martin and Winnicki handled the specialty stroke legs before turning it over to Heck for the final 50-yard freestyle leg as the quartet matched where they were seeded in the event with a time of 1 minute, 55.08 seconds. That was good enough to be the 12th-fastest time statewide, 1.02 seconds below the state meet cutline. Saturday's four Division 2 sectional champions plus the next 12 fastest times in each event qualified for state.
"They looked really good in that medley relay," co-coach Jenny Heck said. "They had really good splits, kept their place. Marissa dropped time got down to a 31 in that (breaststroke leg). She had a great meet, continues to drop time as a freshman."
Winnicki dropped 10 seconds from her time just eight days earlier in the 500 in the Great Northern Conference meet at UWSP, and beat her lifetime best by roughly five seconds. She couldn't catch Tomahawk's Kylee Theiler, but a runner-up finish in the event (5:22.27) was the 10th-best performance in the state, and roughly 12 seconds better than the state cut.
"She was disappointed with last week, but she knew that she worked hard this week and that's what she needed," Marna Winnicki said. "She's strong and she just needs to go out there and push herself. That's what she did."
The Hodags entered the day in contention to qualify for state in up to seven or eight events and while virtually every Hodag entry dropped time, other teams posted bigger time drops and kept Rhinelander from sending more swimmers to Madison.
Winnicki, for example, posted a time of 2:01.49 in the 200 freestyle. That was faster than last year's state cut and the projected 16th seed entering Saturday's sectionals. But her runner-up finish wasn't enough as the final cutline plummeted to 2:00.11.
Despite shaving 6.5 seconds off their time in the 400 freestyle relay, the Hodags finished fourth in the event, one spot lower than where they were seeded. The quartet of Marisa McGuire, Heck, Winnicki and Taylor Macak posted a time of 3:51.77, which was about four seconds too slow. Medford, which finished second in the event and dropped a whopping 15.4 seconds, was the last team to qualify for the state meet.
"We thought we were going to drop time, but didn't think we'd drop that much time," Jenny Heck said. "Those girls really came through. Taylor Macak hasn't come close to that time this year. She dropped a lot of time. Makenna did great. All the kids, Grace and Marisa (McGuire), came through and pulled it together for the final race."
Rhinelander entered the day right on the cutline in the two sprint events, but was unable to get through. Heck, who entered the day seeded 17th in the state in the 50 freestyle, wasn't able to match her seed time, finishing 11th in the sectional (26.40). Senior Jenna Hawley (26.31) posted Rhinelander's best time in the event, but was 0.68 seconds above the cutline.
The Hodags came in just inside the cutline in the 200 freestyle relay, but only bettered their seed time by 0.73 seconds as they plummeted to sixth in the sectional (1:45.19) and missed qualifying by 1.75 seconds.
"They dropped time. Some teams dropped more time, and that was the difference in some relays sneaking in over us," Jenny Heck said.
Martin was fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.91), and finished 1.64 seconds above the cutline. Kennedy was 2.24 seconds off the mark in the 100 backstroke (1:03.39) following a sixth-place finish. McGuire missed by 2.36 seconds in the 100 freestyle, taking seventh in the sectional (57.44).
While they could potentially go to Madison as alternates in the medley relay, Saturday likely marked the last high school race for seniors Hawley, Macak and Carly Seidl.
"Each and everyone of them has been (a pleasure to coach)," Heck said. "They're great kids in so many ways. A lot of changes this year and they rolled with the changes, didn't skip a beat and we're proud of them."
The Division 2 state meet begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Madison.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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