August 22, 2022 at 2:42 p.m.
Hodag swimmers strong in season-opening relay meets
Hodag swimmers strong in season-opening relay meets
Rhinelander finished second Thursday in the season opening Fun in the Sun Relays in Merrill and then backed that up by winning the Menomonie Relays on Saturday.
The Hodags tallied nine event wins between the two meets and showcased plenty of depth as they begin their quest to win both the Great Northern Conference title and the WIAA sectional championship for the fourth year in a row.
"I think we're even more optimistic than we were on Thursday with just how well these kids are stepping up," coach Jenny Heck said following Saturday's meet.
While both events mimicked a standard meet in a number of ways, both were done in a strictly relay format. That provided the coaching staff a chance to get times on a number of different swimmers in a number of different strokes, all in a competitive setting.
"It's great for us. You get to see where kids are, where you have potential in relays," coach Heck said. "Sometimes kids improve on different strokes than you anticipate. It gives you options for looking long-term."
Merrill Relays
The Hodags scored three first-place and three runner-up finishes Thursday as they finished second to defending Wisconsin Valley Conference-champion Stevens Point in the Merrill Fun in the Sun Relays held at the outdoor Bierman Aquatic Center.
The Hodags were the highest placing of the six Division 2 programs in the field, beating fifth-place Merrill by 88 points.
"It's always good to have this first meet under your belt because you feel good about what you have looking forward," coach Heck said. "(Assistant coach) Marna (Winnicki) and I were just really thrilled with how the girls swam. Their splits are where they were at the end of last year for most of the girls. We were really optimistic about where we're at."
Two of Rhinelander's three returning state qualifiers - junior Abi Winnicki and sophomore Ellyse Younker - were involved in each of Rhinelander's three event wins. The two teamed with sophomore Lily Thorsen and freshman Emma Houg to take the 500-yard crescendo freestyle relay (4 minutes, 57.14 seconds). They swam with freshman Camilla Gruett and Thorsen to win the 200 butterfly relay (1:50.4) and with Houg and the team's third returning state qualifier - senior Genna Fugle - to take the 400 freestyle relay (3:49.18).
"Our freestyle looked pretty strong," coach Heck noted. "That's always fun because you can have all the different lengths of the freestyle put together. It's fun seeing what they can do. The fliers looked great. That's not always easy to come by, to get four fast fliers all together."
Thorsen had a strong meet overall. In addition to wins in the 500 crescendo and 200 butterfly relays, she was on runner-up squads in the 200 medley relay and the 200 breaststroke relay. She swam with Houg, junior Sam Sundby and Younker in the medley; and with Fugle, Sundby and Camilla Gruett in the breaststroke relay.
"She really has trained hard all year and, like many of these girls," Heck noted. "They didn't stop since last season and it showed tonight. That makes our job a lot easier when these kids are coming out faster than the did last year."
Houg was part of a runner-up showing in the 200 backstroke relay as well with Winnicki, senior Gussie Gruett and junior Margaret Lambert. Coach Heck said both she and Camilla Gruett acquitted themselves well in their first high school meet.
"They came in like they've been here for a year or so. They didn't seem new at all to me," she said. "They seemed like they were confident and are providing a lot of points already."
Rhinelander added a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay, which had to have a member of each class on the team. That squad consisted of sophomore Alicia Lentine, junior Abigail Ames, Camilla Gruett and Fugle.
Stevens Point finished first or second in all nine events to beat Rhinelander by 24 points for the overall title. D.C. Everest was third with 179 points. The Ladysmith co-op (sixth, 92 points) and Tomahawk (10th, 40) were the only other GNC schools in the field.
Menomonie Relays
Rhinelander had six wins on Saturday and four other top-three finishes as they cruised to the victory in the eight-team Menomonie Relays. Rhinelander finished 92 points ahead of runner-up La Crosse Central/Logan.
Saturday's meet was scored differently than Thursday's, allowing two entries per team to score points instead of one. Rhinelander used that to its full advantage. All seven B relays the Hodags entered placed in the top seven, including in the top five.
"Our B relays is really one of the reasons we won this meet," coach Heck said. "We just dominated on the B relays. Every place we either won or got to top eight. That was super neat to see."
Fugle and Winnicki had strong days, scoring wins in all four events they entered and the Hodags swept all five freestyle races in the program.
Winnicki and Fugle swam together to record wins in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays. They swam with Camilla Gruett and Younker in the 200 free relay (1:43.27); with Thorsen and Younker in the 400 free relay (3:46.15) and with Houg and Thorsen in the 800 free relay (8:27.06).
Winnicki was also on the winning 200 backstroke relay with Houg, Thorsen and Younker (1:57.81) while Fugle swam to the win in the 500 crescendo freestyle relay with Gussie Gruett, Houg and Camilla Gruett (5:19.65).
The Hodags added one more victory in the 100 freestyle relay (57.60) with Ames, Abigale Johnson, freshman Eva Heck and Lambert.
"The A relay times were really good," coach Heck said. "Their splits were really fast. We think we're in really solid position going forward.
"We are swimming really fast. I complimented the kids on how technically good they are looking. They've really worked hard over the last year just improving all the details and really swimming smart."
The Gruett sisters, Sundby and Younker opened the day with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay. Houg, Lentine, Claire Caselton and Thorsen finished second in the 200 butterfly relay. Sundby, Phoebe Moran, Millie Gruett and Eva Heck were third in the 200 breaststroke relay and Rhinelander's B entry in the 200 backstroke relay took third with Lambert, Eva Heck, Lentine and Gussie Gruett.
The Hodags will be in Colby Wednesday to take part in the Colby/Abbotsford Pentathlon.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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