October 26, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
Hodags win nine events, shatter six records in virtual GNC swim meet
Hodags win nine events, shatter six records in virtual GNC swim meet
The Hodags won nine individual conference championships Thursday evening, placed second in the two other events and shattered records by the truckload in their part of the GNC virtual meet at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Rhinelander, the GNC champion by virtue of its 7-0 record in dual meet competition, swam against second-place Lakeland (6-1) on Thursday night in one of four duals that comprised the virtual conference meet. Though there was officially no team aspect to Thursday night's meet, Rhinelander would have defeated Lakeland 108-57 in dual meet scoring. Had the GNC championship meet scoring format been applied, Rhinelander would have accumulated a whopping 435 points, smashing the previous high score of 347.5 set by Tomahawk in 2017.
Along the way, Rhinelander set six new GNC records, four Heck Pool records and took down the school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay that dated back to 1994.
By any measure, it was an epic night for the Hodags in their own pool.
"I just know what all these girls did tonight was amazing," coach Jenny Heck said. "It was a great night. The girls even swam faster than I anticipated. They were fired up. They were ready to go and, overall, it was just a fun, fun meet."
The Hodags saved their best for last Friday night, as the team of Genna Fugle, Makenna Winnicki, Abi Winnicki and Malia Francis jumped in for the 400 freestyle relay. The squad lopped off a whopping 3.45 seconds from the pool record Rhinelander had set just two weeks earlier and posted a time of 3:43.13 - which beat Ladysmith's 2015 conference record of 3:44.23 and eclipsed the previous school mark of 3:43.69.
That was the capper to a record-breaking night for the Hodags, who set pool and conference records in all three relays. Lisa Kennedy, Noelle St. Pierre, Makenna Winnicki and Karis Francis opened the night with a time of 1:52.49 in the 200 medley relay, taking eight tenths of a second off their own pool record, and .88 seconds of the conference record the Hodags set a year ago.
Swimming against the defending conference champs, and GNC record holders, in the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Fugle, Abi Winnicki, St. Pierre and Malia Francis went 1:40.33 to win the event by 1.06 seconds over the Lakeland team of Brie Wescott, Naomi Hamerla, Mariah Angove and Rylee Ahlborn.
Malia Francis broke the pool and conference records in the 200 freestyle (1:56.46), set a short course yards conference record in the 100 butterfly (58.01) and Abi Winnicki, a freshman, took down the conference record in the 100 freestyle (53.58).
"That surpassed what our goals even were," coach Heck said. "We've still been working hard. We had a meet on Tuesday (against Black River Falls). We came in Wednesday, talked about how we were going to attack tonight and these girls were so excited."
On a night of excellent swims, a handful stood out, including Kennedy's win in the 100 backstroke. She became only the third person in school history - joining Malia and Kiah Francis - to eclipse the 1-minute mark in the event, posting a time of 59.24 seconds.
"That brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy," Heck said. "We came into the season and Lisa said the one goal she had - she posted it up on that board - is to go under a minute in the back. That was her goal the last two years. It's always been a goal. For it to happen in our home pool, with her parents being able to see her, and her teammates cheering her on, that couldn't have been better."
Abi Winnicki added a win for Rhinelander in the 50 freestyle (25.06) while Makenna Winnicki won the 200 individual medley (2:17.97).
It was a big night for Fugle, a sophomore. She worked her way on to the record-setting 200 and 400 freestyle relays and also had a good showing in the individual events, placing fourth overall in the conference in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 50 freestyle.
"Genna's really worked hard this year," coach Heck said. "She's stepped it up in training with some of the top swimmers. She worked her way to those positions. She worked hard every day in practice. I'm proud of her. She had a great meet and she was part of some awesome relays."
The top three finishers in each event, once the results from all four virtual GNC duals were combined, received all-conference honors. The Hodags swept the all-conference spots in the 200 IM with Makenna Winnicki, Karis Francis and Kennedy. St. Pierre was the runner up in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, Makenna Winnicki was second in the 500 freestyle and Rhinelander's second entry in the 400 freestyle relay - consisting of Sierra Woodford, Maria Heck, Karis Francis and Kennedy - finished second overall behind their record-setting teammates. Heck added a third-place finish for Rhinelander in the 500 freestyle as the Hodags finished with 16 spots on the all-conference team.
Heck also finished fourth overall in the 200 freestyle while Karis Francis was fourth in the 100 butterfly. Rhinelander scored fifth-place finishes with its B teams in the 200 medley (Margaret Lambert, Sam Sundby, Claire Caselton, Woodford) and 200 freestyle (Caselton, Abigale Johnson, Lambert, Heck) relays. Johnson, Woodford and Sundby added sixth-place finishes in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, respectively.
"We have so many girls that are working so hard. It was great for them all to be a part of it," coach Heck noted. "Even if they weren't a part of those top relays, I really saw good things happen with all the girls. The B relays, the C relays, the D relays, I saw best times ... You don't get that very often. That was just really fun."
The Hodags will not swim again until WIAA Division 2 sectionals Saturday, Nov. 7. The location for the event has yet to be announced by the WIAA.
"Like we've been doing all year, we're just taking one meet at a time," coach Heck said. "We want to be able to keep going with COVID, swim our sectionals, get to state and have all those things happen. That's what we're really focusing on, just keep swimming."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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