November 4, 2020 at 10:14 a.m.
Hodag swimmers set up for strong swims at sectionals
Hodag swimmers set up for strong swims at sectionals
The entries are in and the Hodags are not only in position to match last year's sectional performance but blow it completely out of the water.
The Hodags will host half of the D2 sectional Saturday at the Heck Family Community Pool.
"When did we ever imagine that we'd be hosting a sectional meet? That's really a gift in itself," coach Jenny Heck said. "I think it's great and the kids should be really excited for that. They know the pool. They're used to the pool. They swim fast in our pool. That's all going to be an advantage. We don't have to drive anywhere."
Seven of the 13 teams in the northernmost of the sectionals will head to Rhinelander while the other six will head to Medford in a meet that will run simultaneous to Rhinelander's subsectional. The results from the two subsectionals will be combined to determine the individual and team sectional champions.
Based on sectional psych sheets released by the WIAA Tuesday afternoon, the Hodags are in position for a monster meet tomorrow - projected to win eight individual races and win the sectional title in a landslide.
Though 2020 is different in how many teams are at each venue, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualification for the WIAA state meet remains the same. The champion in each event from each of the four D2 sectionals being conducted Saturday will earn an automatic berth into next Friday's D2 state meet in Waukesha. From there, 12 at-large bids are at stake for the 12 fastest performers who did not win sectional titles.
Coach Heck knows she has a dominant team after it crushed the competition during Great Northern Conference play this season. Yet she said she was a little unsure of how to play her lineup because of the fewer number of meets that have been held this season.
"The times aren't out there. We aren't really seeing what the kids in the other part of the state are doing," she said. "It's been a little more (challenging) trying to figure out what can make it to state and what times we'll need and what our best opportunities are. We're doing a little more thinking about where the kids will swim best."
The sectional psych sheets, released only after all teams entered their sectional lineups, provide a glimpse into what's out there. Based on the psych sheets, the Hodags are in for a big day.
Extrapolating the data from the Rhinelander and Medford subsectionals, the Hodags are favored to win all three relays as well as five individual races. Malia Francis, looking to defend her D2 state crowns in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke, is the top seed in both of those events. Freshman Abi Winnicki is the top seed in both the 100 and 200 freestyle races and senior Makenna Winnicki is the top seed in the 200 individual medley, where she won a sectional title a year ago.
Overall, 16 of the Hodags' maximum allotment of 21 entries for Saturday are currently projected to qualify for the state meet. In the three events Rhinelander is not projected a sectional win - the 50 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke - their top swimmer is still well within the top 16 overall.
Junior Noelle St. Pierre is seeded second in the 50 free and third in the 100 breaststroke in the sectional, but with times in the top eight overall in each event. Makenna Winnicki is seeded second behind Ladysmith's Madeline Bunton in the 500 freestyle, but has the fifth-fasted time statewide.
Senior Lisa Kennedy, who broke the one-minute mark in the 100 backstroke for the first time Oct. 22 during the virtual GNC meet, is seeded second in that event behind Malia Francis, with a time that's third-fastest overall in the state.
Rhinelander has a few other entries closer to the state bubble. Freshman Karis Francis is currently 12th overall with her seed time in the 100 butterfly and 13th in the 200 individual medley, Kennedy is seeded 15th in the IM and sophomore Genna Fugle has the 15th fastest-time in the 100 freestyle, though that put her squarely on the cutline as a projected sectional champion has a time slower than hers.
The number of teams in this year's D2 field is down from 54 teams to 41, due to schools opting out because of the pandemic. With five of last year's top 10 teams at the D2 state meet not participating this fall, Rhinelander's odds for additional state entries increases.
"That's definitely an advantage for some of our swimmers," Heck said. "We're hoping that we can get a couple extra people that maybe would have been right on the verge, get them in there to qualify individually. That'd be our goal. That would be really great for us, really great opportunity for some of these kids who might not have been able to sneak in there. Hopefully they can."
Junior Maria Heck sits just outside the cutline in both the 500 freestyle (18th) and the 200 freestyle (22nd), Fugle is seeded 26th statewide in the 50 freestyle, freshman Sam Sundby is 27th overall in the 100 breaststroke and junior Sierra Woodford is seeded 32nd in the 500 freestyle.
While Heck said the team has goals of winning the team' sectional title and qualifying as many entries for state as possible, none of that will be possible, if the Hodags don't perform well on Saturday.
"Ultimately, the goals are once again to go after season-best times," she said. "The kids, we have some swimmers who are going to be fully rested and some who are not but, regardless, season best is the goal and to advance as many swimmers on to the state meet would be another goal, and to win a sectional title would be yet another goal."
The trade-off for being at home will be some additional uncertainty. For swimmers, there will not be the instant gratification of knowing they have won a race and are guaranteed a spot at the state meet. Now, swimmers in Rhinelander will have to wait for results from Medford to find out if they have an automatic berth, and vice versa.
Saturday's meet will be the largest Rhinelander has hosted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and things will look a little different during the competition.
Swimmers won't be on deck cheering their teammates. Rather, they will be staged in the adjacent Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium, where they can watch the action unfold on a big screen monitor when not actively swimming. There will be no spectators, either. Only coaches, competitors, officials, meet personnel, and select members of the media will be in the pool area during competition.
RHSâactivities director Brian Paulson said there are other logistics to consider in Rhinelander's five-lane pool, such as the amount of time teams will be given prior to the meet for warmups and how many swimmers can be in the pool at one time.
"We're going to stage everyone in the gymnasium and we're going to live stream it and we'll have it being played in the gymnasium," he said.
For fans, the live stream will be available on the School District of Rhinelander's website at: https://www.rhinelander.k12.wi.us/schools/rhs/activities/live-streamed-hodag-games.cfm.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.