February 14, 2018 at 1:55 p.m.
Hard work sends Hodag swimmers to Madison
Hard work sends Hodag swimmers to Madison
What the Hodags did know is that, ultimately, they had the power to control the outcome of the season.
Three long, hard months of training and preparation paid off last weekend as the Hodags qualified for tomorrow night's WIAA Division 2 state swim meet in six different events. With six swimmers, and a alternate, heading to the UW-Madison Natatorium, the Hodags are sending their largest contingent to state in more than a decade.
"We have a great, hard-working group of core guys," said sophomore Thaddeus Heck, who qualified in both the 100-yard breaststroke and as part of the Hodags' 200 medley relay. "I really couldn't ask for a better team myself. We just put in work and we knew that was what it was going to boil down to, who worked the hardest. That really got us to state."
With first-year co-coaches Jenny Heck and Marna Winnicki leading the way - with help from assistant Brent Olson and former RHS head coaches Dan Jesse and Jon Koch - the Hodags figured out a way to get progressively better as the season went on, despite a small roster. Rhinelander had the fifth-best record in the Great Northern Conference duals, finished fourth at the GNC championship meet and moved up to third last Saturday at sectionals with what Jenny Heck described as the "swims of their life."
Some of the state qualifiers admitted they weren't sure how the coaching arrangement was going to work out at the start of those season,
"But a week or two in we started to get it and it started to be fun," said David King, who qualified in the 100 butterfly and the 200 medley relay.
"We have a really supportive swimming community in Rhinelander, with a lot of history, especially for boys' swimming," added junior captain Russell Benoy, who will be swimming a four-event program at state. "With our coaching staff the way it is, we might have had some changes, but we still have a lot of experience with the coaching staff bringing in some people who really know what they're doing."
While Rhinelander's sectional success was a great story, Jenny Heck said it will lose some of its luster if the team cannot back it up with strong swims on Friday night.
"Now it's time to set new goals. I think all of these guys can swim faster than they did last week. They've just got to believe they can and go after it," she said.
They're going to have to go fast just to maintain their seed positions. The good news, according to Jenny Heck, is no swimmer is swimming more than 100 yards and they should be able to continue tapering their training and still swim fast on Friday.
If they do that, it could lead to potentially at least one podium finish for the team. It would be the ultimate tribute to the hard work the team has put in this season.
"I think that's why it was such a special year," Jenny Heck said. "All of the guys on the team have been great to work with. They always give it their all. It's been fun, it's been hard and I don't think anyone has worked as hard as they have."
Here's a look the events Rhinelander will swim down in Madison:
Fourth in the free
The Hodags' best shot to place in the top six and reach the podium will come in the 200 freestyle relay where the squad of Hoger, Devon Gaber, Joseph Heck and Benoy is seeded fourth in the state following a runner-up finish to Lakeland in last Saturday's Hudson sectional.
"It's cool to think of how we could actually podium at state considering last year we were seeded 16th. This year, we're up to fourth. It's a really good feeling," said Gaber, who along with Benoy and Hoger were on last year's 200 freestyle relay team that was disqualified at state.
The Hodags' seed time of 1:31.62 is good, but they might need to pick it up to get on the podium. Whitefish Bay, the seventh-seeded team, is only 0.60 seconds slower than the Hodags and 1:30.80 was the sixth-place time at last year's D2 state meet.
"I think it's really exciting that we're fourth, but we've still got to drop more time, because other teams are going to drop time as well," Hoger said. "Going into the meet, we're going to have to look to drop more time - down to 1:30 or maybe faster."
Hustle like Russell
Benoy also has a conceivable shot at the podium in the 50 freestyle. He comes in seeded eighth in the race (22.41 seconds), but is less than three-tenths of a second behind the second-fastest qualifying time set by Monona Grove's Shane Sackett.
Benoy is also seeded 12th in the 100 freestyle and is part of the Hodags' 200 medley relay.
"I'm just going to try to put every ounce of energy I have into every single race, starting with the medley and ending with the 200 free relay," said Benoy, who is the only Hodag swimming a full complement of four races Friday night. "I don't think it's going to be that different. It's all pretty short, sprint stuff. I think I'll have enough energy to finish it and I'm excited for the opportunity."
Cousin vs. cousin
Perhaps the most intriguing race of the night for Rhinelander will take place in the 100 breaststroke where cousins Thaddeus and Joseph Heck will battle each other, as they have all season.
Thaddeus had the upper hand on Joseph most of the season, but Joseph edged Thaddeus for the runner-up spot at the GNC championship and again for the sectional championship.
"That's what's great about the two," Winnicki said. "They both want to win individually, but they'll be happy for the other and they've just been pushing each other all season. It's been fun to watch those two."
Lo and behold, the Hecks are paired right together again and will be racing each other in the same heat race. Though Joseph is in Lane 6 for the race and Thaddeus in Lane 2, they are grouped right together with the 12th and 13th fastest times in the state.
"I like the rivalry, we always do it and now that I came up in the breaststroke it's a fun race and I'm excited," Joseph Heck said.
Thaddeus, who playfully said he thought he would get the better of his younger cousin on Friday.
Jospeh Heck added, "It's definitely a fun rivalry we had going on. It's fun to race each other."
Mastering the medley
Though Rhinelander was a sectional champion in the medley relay, the team's time of 1:44.62 was only the 12th fastest in the state, putting the Hodags in the slower of two heats for Friday night's finals.
There were some fast splits in that race. Hoger, who handles the backstroke leg, pointed to Benoy's 21.8-second split in the freestyle leg, but all four legs are going to have to pick it up on Friday.
"I think they can all go faster in that medley relay," Jenny Heck said. "Looking at the splits, I know that they swam fast, but they can go another second faster than they did."
Thaddeus Heck handles the breaststroke leg in that relay while David King handles the butterfly.
King's time to fly
Speaking of King, he qualified in the 100 butterfly thanks to a time drop over more than 2.3 seconds at sectionals. He comes into Friday's race with the 12th-best seed time of 55.64 seconds.
Jenny Heck said the key for King on Friday will be the same as it was at sectionals, a fast opening 50 yards.
"David's in a good position. I think he finally realized he could swim that 100 fly by taking it out fast and being competitive with those other fast guys," she said.
King added the experience of competing at state last year in the medley relay will help him as he prepares to return to Madison.
"I'm going to be a lot more focused on the race rather than what's going on around but I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful to drop some time," he said.
The Division 2 meet is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the UW-Madison Natatorium.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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