October 12, 2020 at 7:57 a.m.
Hodag swimmers win again, set another pool record against Antigo
Hodag swimmers win again, set another pool record against Antigo
The quartet of Noelle St. Pierre, Makenna Winnicki, Abi Winnicki and Malia Francis - fresh off of a Heck Family Community Pool record in the 200-yard freestyle relay in their last home meet - took down a long-standing pool record in the 400 freestyle relay to cap off a 132-34 victory over the Antigo Red Robins in Great Northern Conference competition.
The Hodags are 6-0 in the GNC, and won all 11 events for the sixth straight time. They did all of that despite coming off the most arduous practice of the season on Wednesday.
"These girls really had to dig deep," coach Jenny Heck said. "We had our 10,000-yard workout yesterday. They're all very sore. They're all really tired. It's peak week of practice, but they were still able to do it and I'm really proud of them. That was not easy. It took full effort."
That was especially true for the Hodags in the final event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay. St. Pierre and Makenna Winnicki kept Rhinelander within shouting distance of the pool record with 58-seconds splits in the first two legs of the race. Abi Winnicki went 55.40 in the third leg and Francis closed it out with a blistering 54.31-second split in the final leg to set the mark at 3:46.58, 0.21 seconds than the previous pool mark set back in 1994.
"She had a great race, great time for Malia - fastest of the season for her by far - but all four of those girls really did their part," coach Heck said. "We're finally happy to get a decent 400 free time. It's good to get those names up on the board."
There ended up being no serious challenges to Rhinelander perfect streak in GNC races. The closest Antigo came in any event was the 100 butterfly that pitted Abi Winnicki against Heather Arlen of the Robins, who had the fourth fastest time in the conference in the butterfly entering the night.
Abi Winnicki, making her first start of the season in the butterfly, was unfazed. She took a nearly 1.6-second lead over the opening 50 yards and cruised in for the win at 1:02.84, 2.59 seconds ahead of Arlen.
"Abi didn't know what she could do in that. It's been so long since she swam it," coach Heck said. "We just told her to go out (fast) and that's what she did. We knew she could hang on because she's a tough, strong swimmer."
Sisters Malia and Karis Francis each was four-win nights for the Hodags, while sisters Makenna and Abi Winnicki each chipped in three wins. The two pairs of siblings teamed up to win the 200 medley relay (1:57.90) at the start of the evening.
Overall, eight different swimmers had a hand in at least one win one the evening for Rhinelander.
Malia Francis took the 100 backstroke in a time of 58.50 seconds, which improved on her conference-leading time of 58.97, but was a second and a half off her Heck Pool record in the event. Coach Heck said that's OK, considering where Francis and the team are currently at in their training schedule.
"She's right where she should be and she's working really hard," she said. "To come up with that time right now, at this time of the year, she's going to be just fine. When it's time to rest, that time will definitely come down."
Malia Francis also won the 200 individual medley (2:13.91) ahead of Abi Winnicki and St. Pierre, leading one of three Hodag 1-2-3 finishes on the night. Karis Francis (2:12.93), Genna Fugle and Abigale Johnson went 1-2-3 in the 200 freestyle while Makenna Winnicki (26.86), Maria Heck and Lisa Kennedy swept the top three spots in the 50 freestyle.
Karis Francis added a win in the 500 freestyle (5:45.52) ahead of teammate Sierra Woodford. St. Pierre (57.52) edged Makenna Winnicki to win the 100 freestyle and Kennedy (1:17.83) beat teammate Sam Sundby to the wall by 0.56 seconds to take the 100 breaststroke.
Fugle, Maria Heck, Kennedy and Karis Francis gave Rhinelander the win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:50.03).
"Our sprinters did fairly well for training so hard. Lisa Kennedy's breaststroke was great," coach Heck noted. "Sam had another great job. I was really pleased with those breaststroke times ... I thought our 500 girls did a nice job. We've been able to play around with a lot of people in the 500. Almost all the kids have been able to try it out.
"For as hard as we've been training, they were good times. We have work to do, but the season's coming to an end."
The Hodags will look to close out conference dual meet play undefeated when they host Mosinee (1-5) this coming Thursday. Additionally, coach Heck said that the Hodags have added a non-conference dual against Black River Falls that will take place Tuesday, Oct. 20 at the Heck Pool.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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