September 12, 2022 at 8:01 a.m.
RHS swimmers down Medford, win Hodag Relays
RHS swimmers down Medford, win Hodag Relays
The Hodags moved to 2-0 in the Great Northern Conference on Thursday night, knocking off Medford 110-60 and then followed that by retaining the title in Saturday's Hodag Relays at the Heck Family Community Pool.
"The girls swam fast. I think, sometimes, just being happy is when you perform the best and I think that's what happened today," coach Jenny Heck said following Saturday's Hodag Relays.
Rhinelander 110, Medford 60
The Hodags cruised to another conference win Thursday night, taking 10 of 11 events in a 110-60 victory over the Raiders, last year's GNC runners-up.
"I saw a lot of good things by every swimmer and it was just a good meet, I would say," coach Heck said.
Abi Winnicki and Ellyse Younker once again had four-win nights for the Hodags. Winnicki broke the minute-mark for the first time in the 100-yard butterfly, taking that race in a time of 59.61 seconds. She also took the 200 individual medley (2:12.15) and was on the team's winning 200 and 400 freestyle relay squads.
"Abi had a really nice meet, some really nice times. That was good to see," coach Heck said. "That was her goal (to go under 1 minute in the butterfly), she really wanted to do that and I think it was just a relief to have it done. She's happy, but I think she knows she can go faster now."
Younker keyed 1-2 finishes for the Hodags in the 50 freestyle (26.28) and the 100 backstroke (1:06.91). She finished ahead of teammate Lily Thorsen in the 50 and ahead of freshman Emma Houg in the backstroke. Younker was also on the team's winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
"Ellyse did well, putting her in some different events," coach Heck said. "All the kids had some different events. The backstroke was an exciting race. We had Ellyse win but Emma came from behind in the last 25 to get second and that was great."
Thorsen picked up the win for Rhinelander in the 100 freestyle (1:00.13). She held off Medford's Sydney Sperl by 0.39 seconds in the closest finish of the night. Genna Fugle won the 200 freestyle (2:06.93) and Sam Sundby scored the win in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.85).
"Sam, in the breaststroke, was four seconds faster than she was last week," Heck noted. "It really looked promising. I was happy to see Sam get there and take the win on that one."
Houg added a runner-up finish behind Winnicki in the 100 butterfly and was also on the winning 200 medley relay with Thorsen, Camilla Gruett and Younker (1:58.01). Younker, Sundby, Gussie Gruett and Winnicki made up the winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:47.04). Winnicki, Camilla Gruett, Thorsen and Fugle took the 400 freestyle relay (3:49.82).
Camilla Gruett added runner-up finishes for the Hodags in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Claire Caselton completed the sweep in the 200, finishing thing and was also third in the 100 freestyle.
"She has shown considerable improvements and working hard to make technical corrections," coach Heck noted.
Hodag Relays
Rhinelander set three meet records and won six of 10 events Saturday as it cruised to a 28-point victory over Marshfield in the Hodag Relays.
The Hodags have won their home meet on five straight occasions. The streak began back in 2017. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"That was a fun meet. Nothing's better than Hodag Relays and all the fun we do, the cheering and the different teams. Everyone's such good sports and it's such a great environment," Heck said.
The Hodags had 10 different swimmers who had a hand in at least one victory and had five swimmers who won all three of their events.
Winnicki and Younker were together for three record-setting events. The two paired with Thorsen to smash the record in the 150-yard mixer medley relay. They finishing in 1:22.65, breaking the record by 4.31 seconds.
"That was faster than even we thought they would go," coach Heck said. "I think they were really excited. That's such a fun race and they get to do a flip turn on the freestyle and just get to sprint. How often do you get to swim a 25 of a stroke and a 25 of free? That's just really a fun one they look forward to."
The two were also part of records in the 600 freestyle relay (6:00.79) and the 300 butterfly relay (3:10.10). After breaking the 1-minute mark in the butterfly for the first time on Thursday, Winnicki followed with a 59.05-second split to anchor the butterfly relay as she, Younker and Camilla Gruett broke the previous record by 0.43 seconds.
Winnicki started the 600 freestyle relay with a 200-yard split of 1:55.85, which was a half second off the pool record. Younker, Fugle and Houg closed out the win in that event.
Camilla Gruett, Margaret Lambert, Alicia Lentine and Thorsen took the win in the 400 individual medley relay (4:44.41); Fugle, Houg, Camilla Gruett and Gussie Gruett won the 500 decrescendo freestyle relay (5:09.53); Sundby, Houg and Thorsen won the 300 breaststroke relay (3:46.62).
Rhinelander added runner-up finishes in the 200 medley relay (Gussie Gruett, Sundby, Caselton, Abigale Johnson); the 200 freestyle relay (Gussie Gruett, Johnson, Phoebe Moran, Fugle) and the 300 backstroke relay (Lambert, Caselton, Eva Heck).
Though each team had only one relay that counted toward the team score, the Hodags had a number of exhibition entries that fared well. Rhinelander's B entries finished third in both the 300 backstroke and 300 breaststroke relays, and took fourth in the 200 medley relay.
"Even our B relays were really strong. Overall, depth-wise, it was really awesome," coach Heck said. "All around we had some really good swims and swam some different events. That was fun, but we also were able to get some times on some kids that haven't swam (certain) events as well. I'm alway pleased when kids are swimming things they're not used to swimming and step in and do really well."
Up next
The Hodags (2-0 GNC) will swim against a short-staffed Lakeland squad Thursday in Minocqua. With only three swimmers on the roster, Lakeland withdrew from Saturday's Hodag Relays. After that, the Hodags head down to Waukesha South Saturday for an Invite.
"Things will get a little more intense as we go but, as I said at the beginning of the season, our goal's to keep the season fun and we're going to find time for more fun as we go," coach Heck noted.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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