January 4, 2021 at 8:39 a.m.
Hodag swimmers double up Ashwaubenon, Lakeland
Hodag swimmers double up Ashwaubenon, Lakeland
The Hodags won seven of 11 events, and added 10 more top-three finishes, as they swept a double dual from Ashwaubenon and Lakeland at the Heck Family Community Pool.
Rhinelander downed Ashwaubenon 107-62 in its dual and took care of a short-handed Lakeland squad, 120-38. Ashwaubenon defeated Lakeland 102-38 as the duals were scored simultaneously while the three teams swam against each other.
Ashwaubenon will likely be Rhinelander's last non-conference opponent before the WIAA postseason begins at the end of the month. Coach Jenny Heck said she relished the opportunity to compete against some of the Jaguars' top swimmers as well as a few swimmers from Lakeland, who joined the meet as a late addition.
"We were really thankful for the opportunity to swim against these fast teams and these fast guys," she said. "We haven't had the competition without the invitationals that we'd normally have and the guys need to learn how to handle pressure, how to swim against some fast people, how to swim against the waves. I think they did that."
Sophomore Daniel Gillingham scored wins in all four of his races, one of seven Hodags to contribute to race victories. Gillingham won both the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 13.63 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (59.73), to go along with wins in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Joseph Heck took the 50 freestyle (22.99) for Rhinelander and Jack Antonuk won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.63).
Rhinelander also claimed victory in all three relay races. Carter Gaber, Antonuk, Gavin Ostermann and Marcus O'Malley opened with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:49.46); Gillingham, Antonuk, Joseph Heck and Charlie Heck made up the winning quartet in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.99) and it was O'Malley, Gillingham and the Heck brothers for the Hodags in the 400 freestyle relay (3:32.22).
"I think our relays are getting good splits," coach Heck said. "We're figuring out who works where. This time of year we're just trying to figure out our relays and what works best."
The Heck brothers fared well in a competitive sprint freestyle field. Joseph Heck added a runner-up finish to Lakeland's Liam Hogan in the 100 freestyle (51.33) to his win in the 50, while Carlie Heck took third in the 50 (23.54) and fourth in the 100 (53.08).
"The sprint freestyles were really good," coach Heck said. "When you have all those guys that are so close to you and are going after you, you've got to get everything right on the 50 and 100. Joseph had a good meet, finally saw some drops, which he was waiting for. That was good."
Ostermann made it a 1-2 finish with Gillingham for the Hodags in the 100 butterfly (1:01.41), while Zacha King led a Hodag trio in second, third and fourth in the 500 freestyle with Ashton Cole and Eli Lundt. Jacob Schoppe was third for the Hodags in both the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, Antonuk took third in the 200 freestyle, Gaber was third in the 100 backstroke and Rhinelander's second entry of Gaber, Daniel King, Zacha King and Cole finished third in the 400 freestyle relay.
"The 500 guys all dropped significantly and did really well. That was a good race. The backstroke, I think Carter is getting faster and improving each meet," coach Heck said. "We didn't let up on our training. We worked really hard. For them to swim right at best times or best times was really valuable at this time of year, plus it's a lot of fun for the guys. It really breaks up the monotony of the hard training over Christmas break."
Rhinelander (5-0 Great Northern) has only three meets remaining ahead of the GNC meet Jan. 22 in Shawano. Two of those meets occur this week as the Hodags travel to Tomahawk tonight and head to Medford on Thursday.
"It just all goes by so fast after Christmas break," coach Heck said. "This could be our last meet in our pool if we don't end up hosting sectionals, which we're not sure of yet. It comes to an end really quickly, but we can't let up. We have to keep going each week and each day."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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