September 20, 2021 at 8:38 a.m.
Hodag swimmers sink Lakeland, move to 3-0
RHS then takes 8th in Waukesha Invite
Hodag swimmers sink Lakeland, move to 3-0
Ellyse Younker, Noelle St. Pierre and Maria Heck won the 100-yard butterfly, the 100 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, despite trailing at the halfway point of their respective races. Coach Jenny Heck said her team's ability to close out races is an encouraging sign.
"If we can see that this time of year, that we're able to finish, that doesn't happen every year," she said. "A lot of years we've had a problem finishing and these girls were really coming on strong and they were winning at the end, instead of getting touched out. I was very pleased with the effort. Even down to the 400 free relay, we often have a hard time in that 400 free relay getting those times because the kids are so exhausted, but I feel that they are getting better conditioned. Their training has been excellent. I think they are tired, but I really love how they give full effort from start to finish."
Abi Winnicki won four races for a Hodag team that was down top swimmer Malia Francis due to a college visit. St. Pierre recorded three wins and, in all, Rhinelander had seven different swimmers who were part of at least one race victory.
The three swims in the middle of the meet stood out most.
Younker, a freshman, trailed Naomi Hamerla by 0.66 seconds at the halfway point of the 100 butterfly, and was still slightly behind as they turned off the far wall for the final 25 yards. But Younker caught and passed the Lakeland senior down the stretch, beating Hamerla by just more than a second over the final 50, to win the race with a 1:03.34.
The 100 freestyle featured a similar story as Rylee Ahlborn had St. Pierre by 0.21 seconds after the opening 50, but St. Pierre came back with a 29.32 over the final 50 to be Ahlborn by 0.29 seconds.
"You've just got to put your head down and get to the wall, and that's what those girls did," coach Heck said. "They saw the girls (they were racing) and it was a lot of mental toughness to fight to the finish there. I was very proud of them."
Maria Heck trailed Josie Wentland by fractions of a second as the two matched pace over the first 300 yards of the 500, but Heck began to inch away over the final 200 yards, hit the wall at 5:50.24 and beat Wentland by 3.65 seconds.
"I was glad to see Maria get that 500 time down," coach Heck said. "She came on strong too. At the end she got stronger and faster. I was really pleased with that. Her 50 free was a lifetime best too (26.82). Overall, she had a great meet."
Winnicki won a close race of her own, pulling away from Ahlborn over the final 25 yards of the 50 freestyle to hit the wall at 25.33 and win by 0.56 seconds. Later, Winnicki narrowly missed becoming only the fourth swimmer in program history to crack the 1-minute mark in the 100 backstroke, winning the event with a 1:00.28.
"Abi's 100 backstroke was fantastic. That was her best time ever," coach Heck said.
Younker led a 1-2-3 finish for the Hodags in the 200 freestyle (2:09.63) with Sam Sundby and Margaret Lambert. St. Pierre (2:24.11) and Genna Fugle went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley. Sundby (1:17.53) and Lily Thorsen went 1-2 in the breaststroke.
The Hodags opened the night with a win in the 200 medley relay with the team of Winnicki, Sundby, Karis Francis and Maria Heck (1:57.66). Rhinelander went 1-2 in the 400 freestyle relay with the team of Francis, Fugle, St. Pierre and Winnicki first (3:45.68), beating Younker, Maria Heck, Augusta Gruett and Sierra Woodford (4:11.45).
The Hodags took second in the 200 freestyle relay with St. Pierre, Younker, Fugle and Francis losing out to Lakeland's four fastest swimmers - Brie Wescott, Hamerla, Wentland and Ahlborn - by 0.45 seconds.
Though Lakeland had only seven swimmers available for Thursday's meet, Heck said it was an opportunity to get pushed by some fast swimmers.
"We always love to swim against Lakeland," she said. "They love to race us and we love to race them because we know we're going to put together some good races. No matter if they have a small squad, we knew we'd have a good opportunity, which makes us both better."
Waukesha South Invite
Rhinelander's 16-meet winning streak came to an end Saturday as the team tested itself against a number of strong Division 1 programs in the Blackshirt Invite at Waukesha South High School - the home of this year's WIAA state meet.
The Hodags were still without Malia Francis but recorded five top-10 finishes on the day.
"It was really what we expected it to be," coach Heck said. "We knew what we were getting ourselves into, looking at times two years ago at this meet. It just, overall was a great experience. I think our times were fairly about what we've been doing. We had a few that had some really good times."
Winnicki had the strongest day, leading Rhinelander to top 10 finishes in each of her four events. She was third individually in the 100 freestyle (54.67) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:57.91). Winnicki, Fugle, St. Pierre and Karis Francis placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:42.10) and ninth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:45.40).
St. Pierre added a seventh-place finish or Rhinelander in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.60) and was 12th in the 50 freestyle. Karis Francis was 11th in the breaststroke and 18th in the 100 butterfly.
"Our relays were competitive," coach Heck said. "Individually, I thought we did really well. Abi had a really good meet and swam fast. Noelle had some great times and splits as well. Overall, we were really pleased we went and able to go to an invitational with sure fast swimmers. I think it just makes us better in the long run."
Rhinelander returns to action Thursday in Medford in a battle of the GNC's lone two remaining unbeaten teams.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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