Practice notebook: Hodag swimmers look strong early

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team has won the Great Northern Conference and a WIAA Division 2 sectional title each of the last four years, while placing in the top five of the WIAA state meet in all of those years. 

That should make what coach Jenny Heck said during Tuesday’s opening practice for the 2023 season an extremely ominous sign for those looking to keep up with the Hodags.

“To look this great Day 1 is just a lot of fun,” she said.

By all indications, the Hodags will once again have a squad that will be making plenty of noise come championship season in late October and early November. In addition to a number of returning state qualifiers from couple of years, the team welcomes in a strong, accomplished class from the middle school and club level. 

“There’s so much energy leading up to this because I think the girls have been talking for the last few weeks about their excitement for the season and getting ready and getting their suits,” Heck said. “Just to get everyone here and finally moving forward is almost a relief. We’re ready to go. They’ve been preparing for this first day for a long time, really since last season.” 

To that end, many members of the team enter the season in good form after swimming during the summer months. That meant the team was more than ready to hit the water swimming, so to speak, on Tuesday. 

“It’s invaluable to come in and be in the kind of shape they are — technically and just in good shape as far as in the water and in the weight room. It’s amazing,” Heck said. “We don’t have to wait around working on those things that take too much time. They’re ready to go from Day 1. This puts us in an awesome position.”

Of all the fall sports, other than football, girls’ swimming is the longest season. There are exactly three months and three days from the first practice until the WIAA state meet Nov. 10 in Waukesha, and everything over the next 90-plus days will be building toward the end of the season. 

That’s why, despite the Hodags having their first meet six days from now in Merrill, coach Heck said she’s more concerned about taking things one practice and one meet at a time — especially during the early portion of the season. 

“I just want to be technically sound. I don’t want to kill them (with yardage),” she said. “It’s not let’s see how much we can do in one week. That’s not how I roll. I think the best thing is to get everyone comfortable with one another, meeting each other. This is their team now and they’re going to spend the next four months with these girls and they’re going to need to have each other’s backs. 

“We’re getting to know each other more and getting to formulate this team, work on our technical skills, get introduced to the weight room again, get all on the same page and then we’ll be ready to move forward next week and be ready to roll.” 

    Rhinelander High School girls’ tennis coach Matt Nichols and manager Nick Lesch, right, watch practice at the RHS tennis courts Tuesday, Aug. 8. Nichols, who is recovering from recent knee surgery, said he’s had to adjust his coaching style as he’s unable to demonstrate as much as normal while he recovers. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Nichols on the mend as tennis practice starts

Tuesday’s first day of practice was like nothing that RHS girls’ tennis coach Matt Nichols has experienced in his four seasons at the helm. 

Nichols coached while on crutches, recovering from recent knee surgery. One who normally likes to demonstrate, Nichols said he had to adjust on the fly due to his temporarily-limited mobility. 

“It’s going to force me to grow as a coach because I’m going to have to explain things instead of just show them so they get both pieces there,” Nichols said after Tuesday morning’s opening 2 1/2-hour practice. “It’s obviously different and I didn’t know what to expect. I was crutching around a little more than I thought, but I thought it went really well.”

Luckily for Nichols, he has an experienced varsity group retuning and could lean on assistant coach Wil Losch and manager Nick Lesch to help run the show. 

“I really leaned in Wil and Nick and the seniors and juniors,” he said. “They know a lot of the drills. That’s super helpful (saying) ‘Hey, we’re going to do the six-cone drill, can you demonstrate this or can you show us how to volley.’ I’m leaning on them a lot to do some of the demos, show that.”

Injury or not, the girls’ tennis season waits for nobody. The team is scheduled to scrimmage D.C. Everest this morning and will then head to Bay Port this coming Monday and Tuesday for a two-day invite. The team was slated to do a team-bonding event at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom on Thursday — meaning it will have only three on-court practices prior to its first match.

“It’s kind of crazy. We went through a lot of the fundamentals and it’s like, ‘Wow, we’ve got to get to gameplay because it’s right there,’” Nichols said, noting that a number of the girls took part in tennis lessons over the summer. “I think that’s where summer hitting is just going to be huge. The season is front-loaded with tourneys and we’re going to have to hit the ground running.”

Even the Hodags’ scrimmage is somewhat up in the air with what, as of press time, is a rainy forecast for today. Nichols said he’s hopeful Mother Nature cooperates and affords the team a dress rehearsal prior to Monday’s opener.

“I think it’s going to be a big piece in figuring out the lineup and where people are sitting,” he said. “Just watching gameplay is huge, and then just getting that experience. We want to get some gameplay against someone else, get into that routine of, ‘hey, we’re coaching between sets, you’re working on this.’ You’re pushed a little more mentally than in a practice and that’s going to be huge moving into real matches.”  

While football, girls’ swimming and girls’ tennis are underway, the remaining three RHS fall sports — cross country, volleyball and boys’ soccer will begin practice this coming Monday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].