January 4, 2019 at 1:26 p.m.
Hodag swimmers beat Medford, improve to 7-0 in GNC
Hodag swimmers beat Medford, improve to 7-0 in GNC
The Hodags won 10 of 11 events and cruised to a 99-67 win over the Medford Raiders at Raider Pool.
"The guys swam well. They've been tired and I wasn't really sure how things would transpire," coach Jenny Heck said. "We were able to put some of the guys in events they haven't swam since the beginning of the season and see how they were improving, and I was happy to see time drops."
The Hodags were less than 100 percent Thursday. Jacob Schoppe (shoulder) missed the meet, relegating the Hodags to only nine swimmers. That played into Rhinelander's strategy of stacking the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay races. The move seemed to work as Rhinelander swept the top two spots in each of those races.
The team of Russell Benoy, Thaddeus Heck, David King and Cooper Kovac posted a time of 1 minute, 56.19 seconds in the medley, beating teammates Martin Hoger, Joseph Heck, Devon Gaber and Ashton Cole by 4.22 seconds. Kovac, Hoger, Gaber and Benoy (1:44.45) edged Cole, Joseph Heck, King and Nolan Francis for the win in the 200 freestyle relay by 0.87 seconds.
"We changed things up a little bit, put a couple of the guys on three relays instead, which took away from some of our individual (events), but allowed us to have A and B relays for two of the relays, which was some good racing opportunities," coach Heck said.
Benoy was Rhinelander's only four-event winner on the night. In addition to the relay wins, he took the 200 individual medley (2:21.28) and the 100 backstroke (1:03.87). Francis scored individual wins in the 100 butterfly (55.03) and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.22). Hoger won the 200 freestyle (2:05.38), King took the 50 freestyle (26.07) and Thaddeus Heck won the 100 freestyle (55.74).
Rhinelander added a win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:47.05) with the team of King, Thaddeus Heck, Joseph Heck and Francis. The Hodags swept the top two spots in six events, capped off by a 1-2-3 sweep of the breaststroke with Francis, Thaddeus Heck and Joseph Heck.
Rhinelander returns to the pool today to compete in the Ashwaubenon Jaguar Invite.
"We always enjoy this invite because we have a lot of different teams from the southern part of the state or the central part of the state," coach Heck said. "It's different competition, competition we haven't seen all season. It gives us a great opportunity to swim against a lot of fast swimmers and see how we measure up."
Hodags No. 4 in WISCA D2 Rankings
The fast times the RHS boys' swim team has posted early in the season are being noticed state-wide.
The Hodags checked in at No. 4 in Division 2 in the latest Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association rankings, released Sunday.
"It's great to be in the rankings, but you try not to get too excited about things because we have a lot of swimming to go and all the important races to come," coach Heck said.
The computer-based rankings calculate the best times in each event statewide entered into the WISCA database, awarding points to the 30 best times in each event.
Francis currently has the top time in Division 2 in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.17). He's also second in the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke; fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 200 individual medley.
Benoy has the fourth-fastest time in D2 in the 50 freestyle. The Hodags have the second best time in the 200 freestyle relay and the fifth best time in the 200 medley relay.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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