September 10, 2018 at 1:27 p.m.
Relay masters: Hodag swimmers dominate home relay meet
Relay masters: Hodag swimmers dominate home relay meet
The Hodags won eight events, finished second in the other two and dominated on their way to winning the Hodag Relays at the Heck Family Community Pool.
"That was a lot of fun. The girls did great. You could tell they were having fun and (produced) lots of wins," Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. "When it's your pool and your environment, it's even more fun. We had a lot of fans here. We had a lot of good support and I think they really enjoyed that."
Rhinelander's depth was the star of the show on Saturday as 13 different swimmers played a role in at least one relay win. The Hodags won the first seven events, setting two new meet records in the process, and never looked back.
"That was fantastic to see the depth we have," Heck said. "I think the girls are finally realizing how they're all important to our team and how they're all contributing. We had all of our swimmers here today. Even the ones who have been injured contributed what they could. It was great to have a full squad."
Twelve different Hodags gave Rhinelander victories in the first three races of the day alone. The quartet of Miranda Erdmann, Allie Fugle, Riley Miller and Marisa McGuire won the 200-yard medley relay (2 minutes, 9.85 seconds); Maria Heck, Ella Schiek, Maddie Quinn and Sierra Woodford took the 800 freestyle relay (9:43.46) and Lisa Kennedy, Grace Heck, Noelle St. Pierre and Makenna Winnicki set a new meet record of 4:31.74 in the 400 individual medley relay.
"I thought it was fun to start out the meet with a win in the medley relay with some difference swimmers," Jenny Heck said. "Miranda, Allie, Riley and Marisa did a great job. That's kind of how it was throughout the meet. Some kids got to swim events they're not always in and they really did well."
Rhinelander also took down the meet record in the 500 decrescendo freestyle relay, which had progressive shorter legs of 200, 150, 100 and 50 yards. Winnicki, Maria Heck, McGuire and Ella Schiek won that event in 5:15.87, beating the old record by 5.26 seconds.
Four swimmers - Winnicki, McGuire, St.Pierre and Fugle - played a role in three relay wins on the afternoon. Erdmann, Miller, Maria Heck, Schiek, Quinn, Woodford, Kennedy, Grace Heck and St. Pierre each scored two wins.
Rhinelander was nearly a perfect 9 for 9 heading into the last meet of the day, losing a close race in the 150 mixer medley relay. Grace Heck made up a half second on Lakeland's Naomi Hamerla in the final 50 yards, but lost the race to the wall by 0.08 seconds.
The Hodags placed second in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay.
Rhinelander's other winning relays were:
• Fugle, Jaylen Janssen, Erdmann and McGuire in the 200 freestyle relay (1:54.17);
• Grace Heck, St. Pierre and Miller in the 300 butterfly relay (3:46.80);
• Winnicki, Quinn and Kennedy in the 300 backstroke relay (3:19.57) and
• St. Pierre, Fugle and Woodford in the 300 breaststroke relay (4:02.99).
Though the invite was relatively low-key, Jenny Heck said the event will serve a purpose later on in the season for her team.
"We have a lot of options with swimmers and that's why we put swimmers in different events, to see where they can contribute when we get into the dual meets," she said.
The Hodags will return to action Thursday when they host Medford in a Great Northern Conference dual at the Heck Pool.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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