December 9, 2020 at 1:13 p.m.
Team review: RHS girls' swimming
Team review: RHS girls' swimming
With arguably its most talented roster, the Hodags were nearly perfect in Great Northern Conference competition, won the sectional championship for the second straight year and capped everything off with the school's first WIAA team state championship in swimming.
Along the way the Hodags broke records by the boatload. There is no other way to categorize the 2020 season other than historic.
"This was years and years of hard work for these girls," coach Jenny Heck said after the Hodags captured the state crown Nov. 13 in Waukesha. "This did not happen overnight and it did not happen without a lot of people - their parents, coaches - along the way at all different levels, the community supporting them, rooting for them and making this happen."
The stars aligned perfectly for the Hodags' in their state championship quest. An already talented team that finished fifth at state last year added a pair of fast freshmen to the fold. Meanwhile, the top three teams from last year's WIAA state tournament, all out of the Madison area, opted out of the traditional fall sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still the Hodags had to lay it all on the line on state championship day, rallying down the stretch to beat Shorewood by 27 points for the overall state title, capping it off with a championship swim in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
It was the first state championship for the Rhinelander girls' program, which posted three straight runner-up finishes in the early 1990s. The team won four events at the state meet, one more than the three the team won back in 1993. Junior Malia Francis had a hand in all four victories and joined John Thuerer as Rhinelander's all-time winningest state champion with six individual victories.
The signs of domination were there from the start. The Hodags went 7-0 in GNC duals, winning all seven by at least 60 points. Along the way, Rhinelander won every single individual event in dual meet racing, becoming the first and only GNC school to ever accomplish the feat.
Here are five other storylines from the season.
Sister Acts
Two established RHS stars had two younger sisters join the program as freshmen and make an immediate impact.
Malia Francis' younger sister, Karis, came aboard this year and developed into a major contributor by season's end. She was on the team's state-championship winning 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay that finished third at state. Individually, Francis qualified for state in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.
Makenna Winnicki's younger sister, Abi, gave the Hodags an elite-level freestyler as she broke school records in both the 100 and 200 freestyle, placing in the top three in each event at state. She was also on Rhinelander's state championship 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.
The older siblings did well for themselves, too. Malia Francis' state championship times in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke ranked in the top five all time in WIAA D2 state history. Makenna Winnicki helped flip the script for Rhinelander during the state meet, moving up from ninth qualifying position to fourth overall in the 500 freestyle, sparking the Hodags' second-half comeback.
"If I had to choose an event that was the turning point, I would say it was that," Heck said afterward. "I think Makenna knew it was important for her to do that. I think she wanted to do that for the team as well."
Milestone minute
Senior Lisa Kennedy's contributions to this year's team cannot be overlooked. As a backstroke specialist, she was on the Hodags' third-place 200 medley relay team, placed fourth individually in the 100 backstroke and qualified for state in the 200 individual medley.
Throughout her career, Kennedy had chased a sub 1-minute time in the 100 backstroke, with her fastest time being a 1:00.18 set at sectionals last year. Finally, at the GNC virtual meet Oct. 22, Kennedy went 59.24 and backed it up with two more sub 60-seconds swims in the event at sectionals and state. Her time of 58.15 at state leaves her as the second fastest in school history in the event, behind only Malia Francis.
"I've been training real hard all throughout high school and to see that finally pay off at the end of year," Kennedy said afterward. "This year I dropped two seconds (in the backstroke) I haven't been able to do that in my life. To go a 58.1 was kind of unbelievable. I'm so excited."
Magnificent seven
In addition to those five, junior Noelle St. Pierre and sophomore Genna Fugle rounded out the list of state qualifiers for the Hodags, and both played a significant role in the team's state title.
St. Pierre was part of the 200 medley and freestyle relays and placed in the top nine individually in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke. Fugle came on strong toward the end of the season, was part of conference-record swims in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and swam lead off for the Hodags at state in the 400 freestyle relay.
For the record
The Hodags re-wrote the record board inside the Heck Pool once again this season. In total, Rhinelander set six conference, six pool and five school records during the 2020 season. Here's a quick rundown:
Conference records - 200 medley relay (Kennedy, Noelle St. Pierre, Makenna Winnicki, Karis Francis), 1:52.49; 200 freestyle (Malia Francis), 1:56.31; 100 butterfly (Malia Francis), 58.01; 100 freestyle (Abi Winnicki), 53.58; 200 freestyle relay (Genna Fugle, Abi Winnicki, St. Pierre, Malia Francis), 1:40.33; 400 freestyle relay (Fugle, Makenna Winnicki, Abi Winnicki, Malia Francis), 3:43.13.
Pool records - 200 medley relay (Kennedy, St. Pierre, Makenna Winnicki, Karis Francis), 1:50.30; 200 freestyle (Abi Winnicki), 1:55.38; 100 butterfly (Malia Francis), 56.58; 200 freestyle relay (Abi Winnicki, Karis Francis, St. Pierre, Malia Francis), 1:40.33; 100 backstroke (Malia Francis) 55.87; 400 freestyle relay (Fugle, Abi Winnicki, Makenna Winnicki, Malia Francis), 3:43.13.
School records - 200 freestyle (Abi Winnicki) 1:54.99; 100 butterfly (Malia Francis), 55.96; 100 freestyle (Abi Winnicki) 53.28; 200 freestyle relay (Abi Winnicki, Karis Francis, St. Pierre, Malia Francis), 1:38.03; 400 freestyle relay (Fugle, Abi Winnicki, Makenna Winnicki, Malia Francis), 3:35.80.
What's next
While repeating the accomplishments of the 2020 season will be a very difficult task for the Hodags, especially if the schools that opted out of the traditional fall sports season due to COVID are back for 2021. Still, the Hodags should be extremely competitive next year. The graduation of Makenna Winnicki and Kennedy will hinder the team's depth somewhat, but the Hodags will still have five state champions returning in the Francis sisters, Abi Winnicki, St. Pierre and Fugle.
In addition to that group, the Hodags have two other swimmers who earned all-conference honors - Sierra Woodford and Maria Heck - returning.
Despite the middle school and club programs being limited this year due to COVID, Makenna Winnicki said people shouldn't be surprised if the Hodags' state title has positive ripples on the Rhinelander swim program for years to come.
"This year has really just changed us completely," she said. "I think the whole mindset for the whole swim program and the amount of attention it's going to bring to the swim program is going to be phenomenal. Kids are going to be excited to join swimming seeing how successful we have been and how successful they can be."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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