September 5, 2018 at 2:29 p.m.
Hodag swimmers use close finishes to nip Lakeland 91-78
Hodag swimmers use close finishes to nip Lakeland 91-78
The Hodags have been without their pool since last Wednesday, due to a pump malfunction, but that didn't seem to slow the team down much on Tuesday as it won seven events and took a dual meet over Lakeland 91-78 at Lakeland Union High School.
Rhinelander coach Jenny Heck said the last week has been a challenge as the team has had to piecemeal a practice plan between open water swimming, swimming at the YMCA of the Northwoods and doing out-of-water training.
"We appreciate all those opportunities, but it really threw our consistency of training," she said. "I think the kids did well, considering what we were working with the past week here. You could definitely see some of the training was missing in some of their events, some of their endurance wasn't where it should be without the yardage that we normally get."
Rhinelander led by as many as 19 points before Lakeland trimmed the gap, winning four of the final six events. A trio of close victories early in the program helped the Hodags establish the advantage.
It started in the 200-yard freestyle were Hodag freshman Maria Heck (2:14.73) turned it on down the stretch to beat Lakeland junior Amanda Kosmen. Heck's final 50-yard split of 32.42 seconds was 0.91 seconds faster than Kosmen's as she rallied from behind to beat Kosmen to the wall by 0.11 seconds.
Moments later Grace Heck, Maria's cousin, held off Lakeland freshman Naomi Hamerla for the win in the 200 individual medley (2:34.67). Heck took the lead with 47.77-second split in the breaststroke leg of the race and then held on during the freestyle leg for a 0.22-second win.
Makenna Winnicki (26.10) beat Lakeland's Rylee Ahlborn by 0.32 seconds for the win in the 50 freestyle as the Hodags built a 37-25 lead at intermission.
"I thought it was great to see Maria have super finish for the win," Jenny Heck said. "That was just awesome. Grace, also, just hung on for the win. Those really helped get the team going."
Winnicki led the way for Rhinelander with a hand in three wins on the night. In addition to her win in the 50, she took the 100 butterfly (1:05.82) and was part of the winning 200 medley relay with Lisa Kennedy, Noelle St. Pierre and Grace Heck (2:02.05). Kennedy added a win for the Hodags in the 100 backstroke (1:05.51) and St. Pierre won the 100 breaststroke (1:16.81).
St. Pierre added a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle, Maria Heck was second in the 500 and the Hodags placed second in both freestyle relays. Sierra Woodford, Maria Heck, Ella Schiek and Marisa McGuire swam to a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay, while Kennedy, Grace Heck, St. Pierre and Winnicki took second in the 400 free relay.
"We had some last-minute changes with our lineup and the swimmers we thought were going to be there weren't able to do that," Jenny Heck noted. "Everyone stepped up to the challenge and swam where we needed them to swim."
The win moved Rhinelander to 1-0 in the Great Northern Conference in what was supposed to be the team's second conference dual of the season. Last Thursday's scheduled conference opener against Colby/Abbotsford, postponed due to the problems at the Heck Family Community Pool, has been rescheduled for Monday, Oct. 15.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Rhinelander High School activities director Brian Paulson said the pool was yet not back in service, but progress had been made to remedy the situation. The team is scheduled to host the Hodag Relays on Saturday, provided the Heck Pool is operational.
"We just hope we're in the pool and everything's working," Jenny Heck said. "It's a fun meet. The kids enjoy it, we enjoy it and usually it's some fun competition."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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