November 13, 2020 at 11:05 p.m.
STATE CHAMPIONS!
Rhinelander girls' swim team claims WIAA D2 state championship
STATE CHAMPIONS!
Malia Francis won two individual events, the Hodags won four events overall and Rhinelander claimed the WIAA Division 2 state championship at Waukesha South High School.
The Hodags came into the final race, the 400-yard freestyle relay, needing to finish eighth or better to clinch the state championship. Rhinelander did much better than that as the team of Genna Fugle, Abi Winnicki, Makenna Winnicki and Malia Francis won it in a time of 3 minutes, 35.80 seconds as they defeated Shorewood by 27 points.
The win is the first WIAA team state championship in a girls' sport in Rhinelander High School history, as well as the first WIAA team state title - boys' or girls' - in the long, storied history of the Rhinelander swim program. It's Rhinelander's first WIAA team state championship of any sort since the 1987 boys' cross country team.
Malia Francis did not break any state records on Friday night, but she was a four-event state champion. She repeated her state titles in the 100 butterfly (55.96) and the 100 backstroke (55.13) and had big splits for the Hodags in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. She was joined by her younger sister, Karis, Abi Winnicki and Noelle St. Pierre in the 200 freestyle relay (1:38.03).
Abi Winnicki set a pair of school records in podium finishes for the Hodags, taking second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle. Makenna Winnicki took fourth in the 500 freestyle, Lisa Kennedy took fourth in the 100 backstroke and the Hodags finished third in the 200 medley relay with Kennedy, St. Pierre, Makenna Winnicki and Karis Francis.
More will be published in Tuesday's edition of the Northwoods River News.
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