December 20, 2019 at 1:19 p.m.
Depth carries Rhinelander swimmers to 103-67 win at Lakeland
Depth carries Rhinelander swimmers to 103-67 win at Lakeland
Lakeland took six of the 11 races thanks to its core of four standout swimmers, but Rhinelander's depth reigned supreme in a 103-67 victory over the Thunderbirds in a Great Northern Conference dual at the LUHS pool.
That depth was the key to Rhinelander's victory. The Hodags actually gained points following three of Lakeland's wins by finishing second, third and fourth. Lakeland's top four swimmers - Liam Hogan, Brandon Boh, Tyler Teichmiller and Avery Tucker - have the skills to compete with Rhinelander's best. More often than not Thursday night, Lakeland came out on top in the head-to-head matchups.
"We're happy with the overall win, but not happy with some of those close races," Rhinelander coach Jenny Heck said. "That's where you've got to be the first one to the wall. More than one time we were not. These guys got to learn what's going to make them get to the wall first. We have some work to do."
Ahead 33-29 entering the intermission following the 50-yard freestyle, the Hodags pulled away in the second half of the meet, keyed by a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 freestyle and a 1-2 finish in the 100 breaststroke.
The breaststroke was the most anticipated race of the night as it pitted Teichmiller against Rhinelander's Thaddeus Heck and Jack Antonuk - the swimmers with the three fastest times in the event so far in GNC competition.
The race did not disappoint, with the three staying within a stroke of each other practically the entire distance. Heck made a push over the final 25 yards to edge Antonuk to the wall by 0.08 seconds for a winning time of 1:05.14. Teichmiller was third, 0.56 seconds behind.
"I was really happy with the second half of the meet, the way the breaststrokers went after that race," Jenny Heck said. "After getting touched out and getting beat, to go 1-2 in that I think was really a testament to their hard work and their good attitude to go out there and do that well.
"Tyler's always going to give the guys a good race. We're never quite sure who's going to end up on top. We were fortunate it was us tonight. He's great competition and that just makes us better."
Hogan proved to be the thorn in Rhinelander's side much of the night. The junior, and Division 2 state runner-up in the 50 freestyle, had a hand in four of Lakeland's six victories. He rallied Lakeland from behind in the anchor leg of both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays with split times that were faster than his runner-up performance at last year's state meet (21.95). He went 21.48 over the final 50 yards in the 200 medley to beat Rhinelander's Devon Gaber to the wall by 0.02 seconds. It was a similar outcome in the 200 freestyle as Hogan swam by Gaber in the final leg thanks to a 21.79-second split.
Hogan also outdueled Gaber to win the 50 (22.31) and 100 freestyle (50.13).
"Liam's fast. We knew that and we had to get out faster," coach Heck said. "We needed to be ahead at the 150 mark by more than we were. I think we just know where we have to improve, use this as a learning experience and, hopefully, motivation to work harder."
Rhinelander began to pull away beginning with the fifth race, the 100 butterfly, which David King (58.40) won by more than four seconds over Boh. The Hodags then capitalized on one of the two races that didn't feature at least one of Lakeland's fast four. Freshman Eli Lundt (6:23.53) led a 1-2-3 finish for the Hodags in the 500 with fellow freshman Marcus O'Malley and sophomore Ashton Cole. The sweep gave Rhinelander a 66-44 lead with four events remaining.
"I was happy with our 500 guys. To come in there and do 1-2-3, that's pretty fun for those guys. I was pleased with their times," coach Heck said.
Rhinelander's 1-2 finish in the 100 breaststroke clinched the dual, giving the Hodags a 91-65 lead heading to the final race. Rhinelander put an exclamation point on the night by going 1-2 in the 400 freestyle relay as the team of Daniel Gillingham, David King, Charlie Heck and Jack Antonuk (3:45.43) beat the quartet of Gavin Ostermann, Jacob Schoppe, O'Malley and Carter Gaber by roughly 21 seconds.
Antonuk, a freshman, added a win for the Hodags in the 200 individual medley (2:11.37).
Teichmiller won the 200 freestyle (1:59.93) for Lakeland and Tucker (1:01.40) beat Rhinelander's Joseph Heck by 0.86 seconds for the win in the 100 backstroke.
Coach Heck said the Lakeland meet, and its results, could not come at a better time for the Hodags, who will use the outcome as motivation entering the holiday period that coincides with the team's hardest training of the season.
"I know it motivates myself and I surely hope it motivates all these guys to let them know they cannot let down," she said. "We're the team, people want to beat us. We want to beat them. It's going to come down to who's going to be willing to put in the time to grind every day. You can't work a day here or there. You've got to work every day and we've got a lot of work to do over break.
"That's our time to hit it hard and just be able to concentrate on swimming, get extra rest, take naps, so they can just really focus on training without some of the distractions of life. Hopefully they can have a nice Christmas and then we can hit it hard."
Rhinelander begins the second half of the conference dual season Jan. 2 at home against Tomahawk. The Hodags beat the Hatchets 105-65 in the season opener Dec. 3.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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