September 22, 2017 at 3:04 p.m.
Just keep swimming
Rhinelander defeats Antigo 124-46 day after coach's resignation
Just keep swimming
The Great Northern Conference schedule, however, afforded the Hodags little time to wallow in sorrow.
Rhinelander was right back in the pool Thursday, a day after Byrka's resignation, and cruised to a 124-46 victory over Antigo at the McKenna Aquatic Center.
James Williams Middle School swim coach Marna Winnicki, RHS assistant coach Brent Olson and activities director Brian Paulson made up the Hodags' makeshift coaching staff Thursday. Winnicki said the Hodags were, understandably, not at 100 percent given the developments of the previous 24 hours and it showed in the pool, despite the lopsided outcome.
"It was very hard yesterday, Winnicki said. "We made it through the first practice. (There was) a lot of crying, but we've just tried to tell them that they need to just keep working. They have the talent and we don't want to lose that momentum at this point. We want to keep going into these bigger meets."
It was all Hodags from the start Thursday, as they finished first and second in both the 200-meter medley relay and the 200 freestyle. Rhinelander went on to win 10 of the 11 events. Ten different Hodags had a hand in at least one victory on the night.
"The girls were really trying to focus on staying positive and getting through tonight and looking forward to our races to come in the future," said co-team captain Carly Seidl. "Tonight, we were really focused on keeping everyone hopeful and encouraging everyone to continue to leave everything in the pool and still show what we could do."
Added fellow captain Grace Heck: "Obviously, (Byrka's resignation) changes some things in our season, how practices run and things like that, but we know that we can put in the work and we know we have a talented team. So, we're going to take that momentum that we had earlier this season moving forward to accomplish our goals."
Marisa McGuire led a 1-2-3 finish with teammates Lisa Kennedy and Taylor Macak in the 50 freestyle. Makenna Winnicki won both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke.
Jenna Hawley edged teammate Marissa Martin for the win by 0.7 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Martin returned the favor in the 100 breaststroke, beating Hawley to the wall by 1.34 seconds in a 1-2 finish.
Maddie Quinn won the third-closest race of the night, fending off a late charge by Antigo's Evelyn Olson to win the 400-meter freestyle by 0.41 seconds. Kennedy edged Macak for the win in the 200 freestyle by 0.59 seconds.
The Hodags went 1-2 in all three relays. The team of Quinn, Hawley, Heck and Rachel Uhlarik defeated the team of Emily McFarland, Martin, McGuire and Ella Schiek by 2.14 seconds to take the 200 medley relay.
Martin, Kennedy, McGuire and Quinn beat Makenna Winnicki, Macak, Uhlarik and Seidl by 0.04 seconds in the 200 freestyle relay. Winnicki, Jaylen Janssen, Kennedy and Schiek won the 400 freestyle relay ahead of Heck, Seidl, Macak and Hawley.
"We had some rough swims. We had some good swims," Olson said. "We have to look at the numbers and convert them before we can really tell what actually happened, but the girls looked tired."
Antigo is the only venue in the GNC that uses a 25-meter pool. That means every event, accept the 400 freestyle, is longer than typical meets staged in a 25-yard pool. Coaches use formulas to get a rough estimation of what times would equate to in a short-course yard pool.
Paulson said Olson, Marna Winnicki and volunteer assistant Jenny Heck will be on deck Saturday as the Hodags compete in an invitational at Eau Claire North High School. After that, Rhinelander's next competition will not be until Oct. 5 when it hosts fellow GNC unbeaten Tomahawk at the Heck Family Community Pool.
"We're just going to do the best we can," Marna Winnicki said, referring to what the piecemeal coaching staff, consisting of herself, Olson, Ingrid Bodensteiner and others, will do for the remainder of the season. "That's all we can do. We don't want to let the girls down so we're all going to work together and somebody will be here and we're just going to continue to push the kids - just like Lindsay would have wanted, like she would have done."
"We are working to do our best," added Grace Heck. "We have a lot of good girls on this team. As for Carly and I being captains, we're trying to keep everyone positive and just show people that we can still do this. The girls have put in the work and everyone, as a team, can still do what we wanted this season."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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