February 23, 2023 at 7:45 a.m.
Champions celebrated
Hodag swimmers honored with pep rally, proclamation
Champions celebrated
The team was paraded through downtown when it returned home Saturday afternoon. The School District of Rhinelander Board of Education offered its formal congratulations on Monday night's school board meeting and, on Tuesday, the entire RHS student body was able to bask in the team's achievements.
A pep assembly was held in the team's honor Tuesday afternoon at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. Several coaches and team members spoke during the roughly 30-minute assembly, which ended with city administrator Patrick Reagan speaking on behalf of mayor Kris Hanus. He proclaimed Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 as Rhinelander High School Boys' Swim Team Day in Rhinelander and presented the team with symbolic keys to the city.
"What you accomplished will ring out through history," Reagan said in his remarks. "Nobody can ever take away the fact that your champions. That is something that doesn't happen all the time. Congratulations. Very proud of you. Not only will it ring out through Rhinelander history, but the history of the state of Wisconsin."
The Hodags, who entered last Friday's state meet as 2 1/2-point underdogs against southern powerhouse Shorewood, fared better than their projections and rallied from down 45 points with four events remaining to win the state title by 5 1/2 points over McFarland and seven points over third-place Shorewood.
Senior captain Charlie Heck told the student body that the championship was the result of hard work and sacrifice.
"Every day at practice, these guys worked harder that I ever thought they could," he said. "Every time they thought they gave 100%, every time we were in the middle of the set that was at the hardest, we challenged each other to work harder, to give more, to do better. These boys did it every day at practice and that is what put us over the top. That is what gave us the edge at state. Because when we were tired in our event, when we felt we were slowing down, we had that experience of working harder. We had the mentality to not give up and push each person to give more than they thought they could. That is what won us the meet, and that what makes us state champions."
Those comments were echoed by fellow captain, senior Marcus O'Malley, who said the team's goal of winning this year's state title was crystalized last year following a third-place finish at the state meet.
"For me, and I think most of my teammates would agree, that's when the goal for this year came that we wanted to be the ones on top. We wanted to be the ones jumping in the pool," he said. "We were very unified. Everything we were doing was for our one common goal of being on top and being the best in the state."
Coach Jenny Heck addressed the crowd, encouraging everyone to take a page from what the swim team accomplished this year.
"These guys have a great moment in time and all of you can have that great moment in time as well," she said. "I hope these guys are here to encourage us to be better than we think we can be, push ourselves more than we think we can be pushed and do better than we want to be and keep putting Hodags on the map."
The team also took an opportunity to thank those who helped make Rhinelander's state title - the first in boys' swimming for any program in the northern third of the state - possible.
"On behalf of a fairly-stable parent group, we'd like to thank the administration for the great facilities we have," said volunteer assistant coach Brian Gaber, father of senior Carter Gaber. "There are schools that love to come to meets here. We'd like to thank our teachers for giving the flexibility and keeping academics at the forefront as they pursue these things. We'd like to thank the students for your time when you come out in the hall to cheer people on when they go to state. That's really appreciated by the kids and the parents. Those things really make a difference."
Added coach Heck. "We're so thankful for the support from all of you in the community, the YMCA, the club teams, to each and every one of you that's given so much time and energy. We are forever grateful."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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