November 30, 2018 at 2:11 p.m.
RHS swimmers cruise past Medford 112-52
RHS swimmers cruise past Medford 112-52
For the second time in three nights, the Hodags claimed all 11 events and cruised to victory in a GNC dual, this time defeating Medford 112-52 Thursday at the Heck Family Community Pool.
The Hodags swept the top two spots in seven events as they mixed the lineup around from their season-opening victory over Tomahawk.
"It was good to see what they could swim and what their times were," coach Jenny Heck said. "They look like they are doing really well compared to last year."
Nolan Francis took down yet another record for the Hodags Thursday night, establishing a new Heck Pool mark in the 200-yard individual medley. The senior's time of 2 minutes, 3.20 seconds eclipsed the record of 2:03.63 set by Wausau East's Alex Hallam back in 2007. Francis already holds the school record in the event of 1:59.08, which he set at the 2017 WIAA Division 2 state meet in Madison.
"When Nolan gets in the water, it's fun to watch him swim and see what time he was going to go. It was a great swim by Nolan," Heck said.
The best race of the night came in the opener as the Hodag split their seven returning state qualifiers into two separate medley relay entries. The squad of Martin Hoger, Thaddeus Heck, David King and Devon Gaber (1:48.08) edged the quartet of Russell Benoy, Joseph Heck, Jacob Schoppe and Francis by 1.43 seconds.
"That was some great competition and we had some really good splits in there," coach Heck noted. "Devon Gaber went his first 22.9 in the anchor leg. I think he was afraid Nolan was going to catch him like a shark."
Francis added a win for Rhinelander in the 100 butterfly (54.51), Joseph Heck was an individual winner in the 50 freestyle (24.10) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.95). Schoppe won the 200 freestyle (2:18.65), Benoy took the 100 freestyle (52.19), Thaddeus Heck won the 500 freestyle (5:51.24) and King won the 100 backstroke (1:01.68).
Benoy, Joseph Heck, Gaber and Francis won the 200 freestyle relay (1:33.76). Hoger, King, Schoppe and Thaddeus Heck made up the winning foursome in the 400 freestyle relay (3:52.90).
"David King had a good meet with some good times," Jenny Heck said. "I think everybody really did well and I was pleased to see the 200 free relay, their time came together pretty well - all 22s or 23s. That was pretty impressive for this time of year."
The Hodags went 1-2 in six individual events and a relay against the Raiders and swept the top three spots in the 50 freestyle with Joseph Heck, Hoger and Thaddeus Heck. Jenny Heck said her team is already shown improvements from last year - a scary notion for the Hodags' competition.
"They guys have grown. They've gotten stronger. They've gotten faster," she said. "Some events they may have swim last year they might swim again or they might be in another event. We're testing the waters and hopefully we can put together a great lineup by the end of the season and conference time."
The Hodags (2-0 Great Northern) travel to Antigo next Thursday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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