November 2, 2022 at 1:49 p.m.
Hodag swimmers primed for another big sectional Saturday
Hodag swimmers primed for another big sectional Saturday
The Hodags enter Saturday's sectional in Merrill as 113-point favorites to win the title and are projected to advance 10 entries on to the WIAA D2 state meet next Friday in Waukesha. Those projections are based on psych sheets released by the WIAA on Tuesday, which list all the entries for the four D2 sectionals statewide and their best times of the season.
"You see where you're at, see where you have to be and everyone has a chance. There's a great chance to move up, but everyone's feeling the same way," Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. "It's just go time for everybody. Everyone in the state has the same idea in mind. It comes down every little detail on Saturday."
Rhinelander enters as the sectional favorite in five events on Saturday, which is one of two ways to make it to Waukesha. The four sectional champions in each event earn automatic berths to the state meet. From there, the next 12 fastest times round out each event's field of 16.
Junior Abi Winnicki is in great position, seeded first in the sectional and third overall in the state in both the 200-yard freestyle (1 minute, 53.98 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (52.71). Winnicki is also slated to swim on a pair of top-seeded relays.
"She's in great position to do really well," Heck said. "This weekend, she had a goal to just get there, get the job done and see where she can end up for the best possible place at state. She's training really well. She's looking strong, looking good. I'm optimistic that she's going to continue to do great things."
There may also be some extra motivation for Winnicki, as it was revealed late last week that she was not voted the Great Northern Conference's swimmer of the year by the league's coaches. That was despite being a four-event winner at the GNCs, which included a conference record in the 500 freestyle.
The coaches voted for Lakeland's Olivia Mickle instead. The freshman won conference championships in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Winnicki had the fastest overall time of the conference season in all eight individual events. That includes the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, where Winnicki posted times that were seconds faster than Mickle's winning times at the conference meet.
Heck declined to address the specifics of the vote, but said it would certainly add fuel to Winnicki's fire on Saturday.
"I guess, sometimes, those things you just have to use them as motivation to do better," she said. "It gives you a little more fire inside. I think that's what she's doing. She knows she's cut out for great thing and nothing's going to slow her down."
Rhinelander is favored to win all three relays on Saturday. The Hodags are seeded second overall in the state in the 200 freestyle relay (1:48.47) and fourth overall in the 400 freestyle relay (3:42.02). The closest battle appears to be in the 200 medley relay, where Rhinelander (1:57.02) is favored by only 0.29 seconds over second-seeded Merrill. The Hodags are seeded 10th overall in the state in that event, but with a time that's 2.43 seconds slower than last year's state cutline.
"We want to qualify those relays," Heck said. "Those relays are really important, so those girls have to swim smart, get the job done and see how far they can go -qualify top 16 and try to move up as high as they can at state."
Senior Genna Fugle and sophomores Ellyse Younker and Lily Thorsen hold the other five entries in which Rhinelander is projected to qualify. Fugle is seeded second behind Winnicki in the sectional in the 100 freestyle (56.41) and 11th overall. Younker (1:01.24) and Thorsen (1:02.03) are seeded second and third in the 100 butterfly with times that are seventh- and 10th-best statewide. Thorsen is seeded third in the sectional and eighth in the state in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.08) and Younker sits right on the projected state cutline in the 200 freestyle. She's third in the sectional and 16th overall at 2:04.11.
"Those are the girls that we thought that we going to be right on the edge," Heck said. "It's not a given that they'll be there. They're going to have to swim their best to make it and to get as high of a place as they can. If they can do that in all of their individual events, that could be awesome."
Rhinelander could be within shouting distance of qualifying in a few other events, if things fall correctly. Junior Sam Sundby is seeded 19th overall in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.57), 1.01 seconds outside the top 16. Freshman Emma Houg is seeded 22nd in both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, freshman Camilla Gruett is seeded 22nd in the 100 butterfly and junior Margaret Lambert is seeded 24th in the 100 backstroke.
"Those other girls that are right on the edge, if they can get a good drop, this might be their year to do it," Heck said.
Rhinelander is projected to score 356 points with its 21 entries - 18 individual entries and three relays - on Saturday. Wausau East is projected second at 243 points. Rice Lake (221), Merrill (220) and Medford (189) round out the projected top five.
Saturday's meet gets underway at 1 p.m. at Prairie River Middle School in Merrill.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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