February 7, 2022 at 12:56 p.m.
Conference perfection
Hodag swimmers claim 4th straight GNC title in historic fashion
Conference perfection
Rhinelander had a historic night in Tomahawk, scoring a meet record 497 points and earning all-conference recognition with a whopping 28 of their 32 entries as it put an exclamation point on its fourth consecutive conference championship.
The Hodags won all 11 events, and also placed second in 10 of them. The team had eight individual conference champions and every swimmer on the team's roster of 14 scored at least one two-top finish.
Jack Antonuk was part of two conference records and claimed conference swimmer of the year honors.
Rhinelander could have scored a maximum of 501 points with its lineup on Friday. It finished four point shy of that. By any measure, the Hodags efforts against the rest of the GNC were nothing short of perfection.
"It really can't get much better than that," Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. "The boys exceeded my expectations as far as how they would swim."
The Hodags set the tone early, sweeping the top three spots in the first two events and the momentum never stopped.
Antonuk, Charlie Heck and Samson Shinners were all four-event winners for Rhinelander. Both were on two winning relays.
Antonuk got the nod from the rest of the GNC coaches for swimmer of the year. He was part of a meet record in the 200-yard medley relay with Carter Gaber, Daniel Gillingham and Charlie Heck (1 minutes, 40.20 second) and then broke the conference record in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.82) by outdueling the previous record holder, Zach Hanse of Tomahawk. Antonuk also added wins in the 200 individual medley (2:04.67) and the 200 freestyle relay.
"Jack had a great meet with that conference record he got in the breaststroke, and his IM was fantastic," coach Heck said. "With a conference record and great swims overall, I think he was well-deserving of that honor. We had a lot of kids who were really deserving of that. With so many wins, how do you judge?"
Charlie Heck, a junior, swept the sprint freestyle events, taking the 50 (22.62) and the 100 (50.50). Shinners, a freshman, claimed the distance freestyle events, winning the 200 (1:51.14) and the 500 (5:03.63).
Brock Arrowood won the 100 butterfly (54.56) and Carter Gaber took the 100 backstroke (55.81).
It all started with the relays for Rhinelander. The Hodags swept the top three spots in the 200 medley, the top two in the 200 freestyle and the top three in the 400 freestyle.
Conference meet stipulations allow a team to have only two relays that count toward its team score, so Rhinelander's C entries in both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle swam exhibition. Despite being unable to score, coach Heck said both C relays were honored by the coaches with honorable mention all-conference certificates for having the third-best times in both events.
"It started out with that medley relay. Their goal was to go 1-2-3 and that's what we did with amazing splits. In all the relays were 1-2 or 1-2-3. I'm really proud of the depth," she said. "They just really went after it."
Shawn Denis and Mathias Fugle added their names to the list of Rhinelander conference champions on the night as parts of winning relays. Denis and Fugle were on the winning 200 freestyle relay with Antonuk and Shinners (1:33.82). Fugle was part of the 400 freestyle relay with Gillingham, Shinners and Charlie Heck (3:22.60).
The Hodags swept the top four spots in the butterfly with Arrowood, Gillingham, Marcus O'Malley and Jacob Schoppe. Gillingham was also the runner-up in the IM. Sophomore Zacha King was a runner-up in all four of his events on Friday, including second-place swims in the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Arrowood took second in the 200, Gaber was second in the 50 and Fugle was second in the 100.
Fugle (200 freestyle), Ashton Cole (100 freestyle), Dolan O'Malley (500 freestyle) and Denis (breaststroke) added individual third-place finishes for Rhinelander.
Dolan O'Malley, Denis, Arrowood and King were the runner-up team for Rhinelander in the 200 medley relay; Marcus O'Malley, Cole, Eli Lundt and Schoppe took second in the 200 freestyle relay and Dolan O'Malley, Arrowood, King and Gaber made up the runner-up quartet in the 400 freestyle.
"Each one of these guys really had something great happen," coach Heck said. "Ashton got his lettering time by 0.03 of a second and was third in the 100 freestyle. It was a really cool thing for our seniors. Jacob Schoppe got under the minute in the fly for the first time. He's been waiting for that moment. We're really happy for the seniors that they went out with a bang."
The Hodags waltzed through the GNC this year. With most teams struggling for numbers, Rhinelander went 8-0 with a full lineup, scoring more than 130 out of a possible 140 points in seven of the eight duals. That dominance carried over to Friday night as the Hodags became the first GNC team, boys or girls, to win all 11 events at the conference championships.
It all sets Rhinelander up well for a crack at a fourth straight WIAA Division 2 sectional title this Saturday in Menomonie as the Hodags try to advance as many entries as possible to state. Jenny Heck said the difficult part will be deciding upon the team's 18 individual entries and three relays for the meet.
"The coaches have some decisions to make as far as entry, since we're limited on those for sectionals, as far as who's going to get an event because our depth is so great. It's a good problem to have," she said. "All the guys are in good position, but they're going to have to get a little bit faster for next week."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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