November 18, 2019 at 1:21 p.m.
Winnicki, medley relay reach podium as Hodags place 5th at state meet
Winnicki, medley relay reach podium as Hodags place 5th at state meet
Rhinelander had two other podium finishes to go along with Francis' state titles in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke as the Hodags placed fifth overall in the 38-team Division 2 state field at the UW-Natatorium.
Makenna Winnicki placed fourth in the 500 freestyle and was a member of the 200 medley relay team with Francis, Lisa Kennedy and Noelle St. Pierre that finished fifth overall and set a new school record.
It was Rhinelander's best finish as a team at state since posting a trio of runner-up finishes in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
"I'm so relieved, I'm so proud of them," coach Jenny Heck said afterward. "Fifth place is better than we'd thought we were even projected to do, although I knew we had the potential there. Overall, just really pleased with all the girls. They were ready. They were set to go. At this meet, with the noise and the adrenaline going, that's what you need to do. Like we said, we needed to drop just to maintain where we were at."
Rhinelander had seven entries at the state meet, four of which made the podium. All but one of Rhinelander's entries finished in the top nine in their respective races.
The night started with a strong showing in the medley relay. The quartet dropped 0.57 seconds from their time at sectionals to defend the No. 5 seed in the event with a new school-record time of 1 minute, 49.08 seconds. Madison Edgewood set a D2 state record in the event (1:44.51) as it took the win. The Hodags were less than two seconds behind runner-up McFarland (1:47.20).
"I was really happy with it, time drops all around from everybody," Kennedy said of the opening swim. "Going up there, I feel like we all just kind of zoned out and we were ready for it."
Added Heck, "Those girls have really worked hard this year. They've trained hard. I think with Malia on the team, they've pushed themselves harder than they thought that they could. I think Malia elevates them, makes them realize that they are faster than they even realize that can be. That training and encouragement helped them realize that they have a lot of potential. That was a great way to start."
Winnicki made Rhinelander's other trip to the podium with a lifetime-best swim in the 500. She finished with a time of 5:15.55 to finish in fourth - dropping 3.29 seconds from her previous best set in a seventh-place finish at state last year.
Despite coming in as the No. 8 seed and swimming in the far outside lane in the final heat, Winnicki established herself in fourth position early on and held the spot for the duration of the race. The junior attempted to reel in third-place Morgan Erstad of Monroe/New Glarus down the stretch, but ended up missing the bronze medal by just more than a second.
"I was really happy with how I performed, especially that I was coming from an outside lane. I didn't see a lot of the girls on the other side of the pool," Winnicki said, noting that the lack of visibility hurt her efforts to catch Erstad, who was swimming in Lane 3. "I know that my coaches were there on the side because I was closest to them. I could see them cheering me on the whole time. I was really happy with that."
Winnicki also dropped time in her other individual race - the 200 individual medley. She came in seeded fifth in the state. Though she dropped 0.18 seconds (2:13.42) from her sectional-winning time the previous Saturday, she slipped to ninth in the final rankings.
"I was really nervous for that race," Winnicki said. "I know I was going in seeded fifth, but lots of the girls who were seeded behind me had potential to drop a lot more time than I did, given that I came in off a four-second drop (at) sectionals. I was still happy with how I performed given that I had dropped so much time the week before."
Rhinelander finished right where it was seeded - eighth overall - in the 200 freestyle relay as the quartet of Winnicki, Francis, Kennedy and St. Pierre finished 0.78 seconds off the school record with a time of 1:40.92.
St. Pierre, a sophomore, said she was happy with her performance in her first state meet. She swam the anchor leg of both the medley and freestyle relays and broke 25 seconds each time - finishing in 24.95 in the medley and 24.91 in the freestyle.
"That was my goal. I was happy I got under (25 seconds). For my first time swimming at this meet, I was really happy to be on the podium for my first race," she said.
"Noelle, being her first year swimming at the state meet, to come out under that kind of pressure, to be going last on a relay with the crowd and the noise and the hype, I was really impressed with composure and her readiness to attack," Heck said.
Kennedy was the only Rhinelander swimmer to add time in an event as she placed 13th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.02. Kennedy had goal of going under a minute in the event, but said she was hindered, in part, by the short turnaround she had from swimming in the final heat of the 200 freestyle relay to swimming the first heat of the backstroke only a couple of minutes later.
"I think I did OK with kind of the situation I was in," she said. "Obviously I wanted to go under a minute, but I think that I had a pretty good time drop this year already. I'll just go on to working on it in the club season."
Added Heck, "Lisa wanted to go a little bit faster. I know she was a little bit disappointed in what she did but I think she'll get her goals of getting under a minute. She'll get that this winter (swimming at the club level). She just didn't quite take it out fast enough, but she did what she needed to do on the relays. I'm super proud of her. Those were critical spots in the relays."
Rhinelander was ranked as high as second in the team standings with two events remaining, but had no entries in the 100 breaststroke or 400 freestyle relay.
Madison Edgewood dominated the night, taking the D2 crown with 290 points. McFarland was the runner up (163.5). Ashwaubenon (141.5), Shorewood (125) and Rhinelander (118) rounded out the top five.
Looking ahead
All four state qualifiers are slated to return for Rhinelander and the team is already thinking about 2020.
"I think there's a lot of potential," Winnicki said. "We have a chance to potentially get third in our relays next year. With the eighth graders coming up, I think it's a lot of depth it will give us for the overall season. I think we can even place higher next year, overall, at this meet."
Heck said it's a great time to be part of the Rhinelander swim program.
The boys' team won two state titles and finished third in the final standings this past February at the WIAA state meet.
"I think the excitement about swimming in Rhinelander is huge right now," she said. "We've have a great club program. The feeder program helps tremendously and I think they're just swimming fast at such young ages and moving up. I think everybody's excited to be a part of the team."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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