November 20, 2018 at 1:09 p.m.
Team preview: RHS boys' swimming
Team preview: RHS boys' swimming
A small but stacked lineup featuring seven former state qualifiers has the Hodags setting their sights on a conference title and beyond.
"We have goals of conference but I think, really, our goals are beyond conference," coach Jenny Heck said last week. "These guys want to be at state and they know you have to qualify to get there. If you don't do well at sectionals, you don't make it to state. It's that fine line of swimming well at sectionals but, hopefully, swimming your fastest at state."
The Hodags did that last year, winning sectional titles in two events, placing third overall at sectionals and 15th at the WIAA state meet. The good news for Rhinelander is all of the state participants from last year's team are back, and then some.
The cherry on the sundae is the return of senior Nolan Francis, who opted to swim the club circuit last year. As a sophomore in 2017 Francis finished sixth at state in two events, setting a school record in the 200-yard individual medley in the process.
"It's great to have Nolan back," Heck said. "He's a great kid and he'll make our team better - not just because he's a fast swimmer. He'll push the other swimmers to train, get better and get faster too. All around, it's a great situation."
Francis joins an already star-studded lineup. Cousins Joseph and Thaddeus Heck are back after finishing 1-2 at sectionals in the 100 breaststroke a season ago. Also returning is junior David King, the sectional runner-up in the 100 butterfly, senior Russell Benoy, who placed third in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, along with senior Martin Hoger and junior Devon Gaber. Hoger was on the team's sectional-champion 200 medley relay team with Thaddeus Heck, King and Benoy. Hoger and Gaber were also sectional runners-up in the 200 freestyle relay with Benoy and Joseph Heck.
"The have both a lot of energy and a lot of potential," Jenny Heck said. "That's really fun to come into a season and have the guys so excited. They want to do more. They want to be challenged. They want to do better. It's not a job of convincing anyone. They know they want to do it and they have to work hard."
They are also a versatile group of swimmers, meaning the coaching staff will have the luxury to move individuals around in the lineup throughout the season to create the best possible matchups.
"That's going to be great that we are able to put swimmers in lots of different events and still do well," coach Heck said. "I think we can really excel in every event this year. There's not really a weak event that we will have. We'll see what we'll do for the 500, but a lot of the guys can step it up and do it better than they did last year."
Despite the talent, a lack of depth held the team back last year. Swimming sometimes with as few as nine or 10 swimmers, the Hodags were forced to sacrifice points because they did not have a full lineup.
Rhinelander has enough athletes to fill out the lineup this year, but barely, with exactly 12 swimmers on the roster. That means the Hodags can't afford to have any injuries, illnesses or other circumstances that would prevent swimmers from participating. The team will also need all 12 members to contribute.
"We want to do great and in order to do great we need to have some depth," Heck said. "I think it's great to have the new guys in here. I can tell right away they're going to be great additions. We can have B relays, which is a lot of points. The more swimmers we have, they're going to provide points, because it's a small team."
The Hodags believe they have the firepower to win the conference title but a familiar foe, Lakeland, stands in the team's way. Though the T-Birds graduated sectional champions Jack Garcia and Grant Gibson, Heck believes they will still have plenty of strong swimmers.
"I'm sure they're going to have some great talent coming up," she said. "They have a super feeder program and good coaches. I think they'll continue to be really fast. Then there's Tomahawk and Antigo. There's fast guys on every team. We can't take any meet lightly."
The Hodags open the season with a home dual meet against Tomahawk next Tuesday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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