January 25, 2021 at 8:31 a.m.
Hodag swimmers cap off another GNC title
Hodags take five events, win conference meet by 185 points
Hodag swimmers cap off another GNC title
The Hodags capped off their third consecutive perfect conference season in dominating fashion, winning the GNC meet at Shawano High School. The Hodags defeated Lakeland by 185 points for the title in Friday night's meet, breaking the conference record for largest margin of victory. Rhinelander had set the mark last year when they defeated Tomahawk by 132 points.
The Hodags won five events Friday night, had 12 other top three-finishes, and had at least one entry earn all-conference honors in all 11 events.
"It was really a lot of fun. Our kids just really swam well," coach Jenny Heck said. "There were so many personal best times and guys who did some things they didn't even know they could do. It was really fun to see some of these guys swim so fast."
Sophomore Daniel Gillingham had a hand in three of Rhinelander's five victories on the evening. He won the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 52.31 seconds), the 100 butterfly (56.55) and was part of Rhinelander's winning 200 freestyle relay team with Jack Antonuk, Charlie Heck and Joseph Heck (1:32.26).
"Daniel had a really great meet," coach Heck said. "He went out racing and he was really strong and was able to get the wins in both those events with best times. He had a great meet."
Antonuk added a conference title in the 200 individual medley (2:08.52) and Rhinelander won the 200 medley relay with the team of Carter Gaber, Charlie Heck, Gavin Ostermann and Marcus O'Malley.
The Hodags nearly won all three relays in the meet, but were edged for the win in the 400 freestyle relay by Lakeland. Joseph Heck turned in a 49.68-second final split for Rhinelander but Lakeland's Liam Hogan finished with a 46.52 to edge Heck to the wall by 0.24 seconds.
"We didn't know how Lakeland would play out their relays, so we went after it so we'd have a chance to win all three if we could," coach Heck said. "We were only able to get those two. We were only able to get those two, but I'm so proud of those guys (in the 400 free relay). We have not had a solid, really fast 400 free in a while. It was great to get down on our time. I think our best time before this was a 3:33. We're finally taking some time off and these guys are really showing what they're made of."
Joseph Heck also finished second to Hogan in both the 50 and 100 freestyle with times of 23.14 and 50.56 respectively. Zacha King was second in the 500 freestyle (5:37.82). Carter Gaber broke the one-minute mark for the first time in the 100 backstroke in a runner-up finish (58.01) and Antonuk finished second in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.84), falling by 0.51 seconds to a conference-record effort by Tomahawk's Zach Hanse.
"Carter Gaber also had some really great times in both his backstroke and freestyle," coach Heck said. "That stood out. For a kid who didn't even know if he wanted to swim his freshman year, he's really come a long way.
"Jack had a good meet. He got touched out in the breaststroke there, but he's still working really hard. I know he was disappointed in not getting that win, but he's training the right way and I think his time will come."
Ostermann, O'Malley, Gaber and Jacob Schoppe finished third as Rhinelander's second entry in the 400 freestyle relay. Ostermann added a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:01.14), O'Malley was third in the 200 freestyle (2:05.14), Schoppe took third in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.26) and Charlie Heck was third in the 50 freestyle (23.62). All earned all-conference recognition, which went to the top three finishers in each event.
Rhinelander scored fourth-place finishes with their B relays in the 200 medley (Eli Lundt, Schoppe, Zacha King, Daniel King) and the 200 freestyle (Billy Berwig, Cole, Daniel King, Zacha King). Schoppe finished fourth in the 100 butterfly, Gaber was fourth in the 100 freestyle, Lundt finished fourth in both the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. O'Malley took fifth in the 100 freestyle.
The Hodags celebrated with the conference championship trophy after the meet and returned to Rhinelander with a police escort where they met their parents and fans, who were unable to attend the meet due to COVID restrictions put in place by Shawano.
"There was lots of celebrating and we had a great escort on the way in to town," coach Heck said. "The parents met us with sparklers and directed us in. It's kind of what it's all about. It's been kind of tough with not a lot of celebration the last year. Things like this really make it worth while."
Rhinelander will host a WIAA Division 2 sectional this coming Saturday at the Heck Family Community Pool, looking to build off the momentum of Friday's conference title.
"The first meet of the championship season was tonight and if we can just continue on this path, we'll have great things next Saturday and hopefully continue on with more success for state," coach Heck said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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