September 14, 2020 at 8:08 a.m.
Pool record in medley relay falls as Hodags rout Colby/Abby
Pool record in medley relay falls as Hodags rout Colby/Abby
The Hodags were dominant again on Thursday night, winning all 11 events and scoring 135 points for the second dual meet in a row in a 135-35 victory over Colby/Abbotsford at the Heck Family Community Pool.
The first record of the season fell on Thursday, as the Hodags knocked off the Heck Pool mark in the 200-yard medley relay set just last season. Malia Francis had a four-win night for Rhinelander and 11 different swimmers contributed to at least one victory.
"We had a lot of good things happen tonight," coach Jenny Heck said. "I think what was more important was our great week of training that we had. That's what we were looking at. We had a hard week. We finally came together as a team this week in the pool and in our workouts. They worked really hard. Those results, we'll see those in the near future."
The Hodags came out firing in the opening event as the quartet of Lisa Kennedy, Malia Francis, Makenna Winnicki and Abi Winnicki set a new pool record in the medley relay, posting a time of 1 minute, 53.61 seconds in the event, bettering the mark of 1:54.08 set by Kennedy, Francis, Makenna Winnicki and Noelle St. Pierre last September.
The key in that race was the performance in the anchor leg by freshman Abi Winnicki, who went 24.71 over the final 50 yards which, had it been swam in the open 50 freestyle, would have been fast enough for the pool record in that event.
"That was a goal of ours this evening," Heck said. "Our splits were OK and for us to have OK splits and break a pool record I thought was really good. I think we have a lot of potential for that relay to get even faster. We're playing around with who's on it, who's swimming what and it's great that we have different opportunities to mix it up and see how we can make it the fastest."
Abi Winnicki added a win in the 200 freestyle (2:00.21), but was nipped in an effort to get three wins in the first four races by St. Pierre - who beat Winnicki to the wall by 0.06 seconds in the 50 freestyle in the closest finish of the evening (25.92).
"I thought Noelle had a great race and I think that's the fastest she's swam during season yet," Heck said. "I was really pleased with her time. I think Abi and Noelle and a bunch of those other girls are pushing each other every day in practice and in the meets, and it's only going to make them better."
Malia Francis, the Winnickis and St. Pierre added a win in the 200 freestyle relay, finishing roughly a second off the pool record with a 1:43.68.
The Hodags swept the top three spots in six of the eight individual races and, if not for a disqualification in the 400 freestyle relay, would have finished 1-2 in all 11 races for the second meet in a row. Malia Francis added wins for Rhinelander in the 200 IM (2:13.90) and the 100 breaststroke (1:12.74), Makenna Winnicki won the 100 butterfly (1:04.49), Genna Fugle won the 50 freestyle (59.86), Maria Heck claimed the 500 freestyle (5:50.21) and Kennedy too the 100 backstroke (1:03.00).
Claire Caselton, Abigale Johnson, Margaret Lambert and Abigale Ames were the benefactors when Rhinelander's A relay in the 400 freestyle was disqualified for a stroke violation and took the event (4:23.16).
"It's been neat to see some of those returning swimmers, like the sophomores kind of stepped up a little bit and were able to swim some events and take some time off from last year's best times," coach Heck noted. "A lot of those kids I thought had some good swims tonight."
Rhinelander got 1-2-3 finishes out of Abi Winnicki, Karis Francis and Sierra Woodford in the 200 freestyle; Malia Francis, Kennedy and Gussie Gruett in the 200 IM; St. Pierre, Abi Winnicki and Maria Heck in the 50 freestyle; Makenna Winnicki, St. Pierre and Caselton in the 100 butterfly; Kennedy, Woodford and Lambert in the 100 backstroke and Malia Francis, Makenna Winnicki and Sam Sundby in the 100 breaststroke.
Fugle and Abigale Johnson went 1-2 for the Hodags in the 100 freestyle while Maria Heck and Karis Francis took the top two spots in the 500 freestyle. The Hodags also had runner-up finishes in the 200 medley relay with Woodford, Sundby, Caselton and Heck, and in the 200 freestyle relay with Woodford, Fugle, Karis Francis and Heck.
There was a spattering of spectators on hand for Thursday's meet. Rhinelander High School protocols allow for one person per swimmer to be in the pool for the meet, either as a meet volunteer or a spectator. Coach Heck said even a handful of people cheering added to the energy in the pool - something she said was sorely lacking in the opener at Tomahawk which was closed to spectators.
"The energy was a lot more fun, not just being a home meet, but having some of our parents here - either working or able to cheer," she said. "The music and the energy, I just thought, overall, it was a little more fun to be here tonight."
Rhinelander will travel to Lakeland this coming Thursday for a battle of teams at 2-0 in the GNC. Lakeland got to 2-0 with a 106-55 win at Antigo last Thursday.
"Lakeland has some fast girls and they can put together some really fast relays as well," coach Heck said. "We know they're going to give us some really good competition next week, which I know the girls are looking forward to."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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