October 17, 2018 at 12:25 p.m.
Hodag swimmers rout Colby/Abby, finish 6-1 in conference duals
Hodag swimmers rout Colby/Abby, finish 6-1 in conference duals
The Hodags swept the top two spots in six events, and won 10 events overall, as they defeated Colby/Abbotsford 115-55 Monday at the Heck Family Community Pool.
The win moved Rhinelander to 6-1 in the GNC and gave the Hodags sole possession of second place in the conference standings ahead of next Friday's conference meet at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.
"We had a good night at the pool," Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. "It was a fun last home meet. The kids were able to swim a variety of different events and do well in a lot of them. It was a good meet to finish up on."
With the Hodags heavily favored over Colby/Abby (2-5 GNC) in several events, the team used the meet as an opportunity to play with its lineup and create some intrasquad competition. An example came in the 200-yard freestyle relay where Rhinelander's A squad of Maria Heck, Allie Fugle, Makenna Winnicki and Marisa McGuire (2 minutes, 7.36 seconds) edged out the B squad of Maddie Quinn, Noelle St. Pierre, Grace Heck and Riley Miller by 0.28 seconds for the victory.
"Our (medley) relay was kind of fun and we couldn't have paired it any better," coach Heck said. "They both ended up with 2:07s. It was a good race until the end."
That was one of six top-two sweeps for the Hodags on the night. Grace Heck (1:08.66), Quinn and Maria Heck took the top three spots in the 100 backstroke and the Hodags went 1-2 in four other individual events. Winnicki beat St. Pierre for the top spot in both the 100 freestyle (57.19) and the 200 freestyle (2:04.55); Grace Heck (2:32.96) and Quinn went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley; Kennedy (1:08.39) and McGuire went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly.
"It was fun to be able to put some relays together against each other and have some of the kids swim some events they haven't swam in a while," coach Heck said. "It also gave us an opportunity to see what they could swim and some of their times so we can have better placement at conference.
"It was good to get Makenna in the 200 free and she had a good time to post in that (event). It was good to see Grace and Maddie and Maria finish 1-2-3 in the 100 back."
Maria Heck (5:57.46) took the 500 freestyle for Rhinelander, while Fugle won the 100 breaststroke (1:22.06). The team of McGuire, Kennedy, Sierra Woodford and Winnicki won the 200 freestyle relay (1:49.68). Kennedy, Maria Heck, Grace Heck and St. Pierre won the 400 freestyle relay (4:07.41).
The only event Rhinelander did not win was the 50 freestyle as Colby/Abby's Izzy Stange (27.19) edged Kennedy to the wall by 0.05 seconds.
The Hodags placed three swimmers in the top five in six of the eight individual events.
"I think every swimmer had an opportunity to score at the varsity level. That was really fun," Jenny Heck noted. "It was great to see Alexis Denny point for us in the 100 breaststroke. She's a senior that has been along the whole time and it was great that she was able to contribute points tonight because she's done a great job for us."
Heck said the team's attention will now turn to next Friday's conference meet. She admitted conference-leading Tomahawk may be difficult to catch, but knows other teams will be gunning to knock Rhinelander out of the runner-up spot.
"We're already working on our lineup for conference and trying to see where everyone can do the best," she said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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