May 10, 2023 at 2:21 p.m.
Heck named WISCA coach of the year
Heck named WISCA coach of the year
Head coach Jenny Heck was named Division 2 boys' swim coach of the year by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association. The honor was bestowed during WISCA's yearly awards banquet held in Hartford.
Additionally, 12 Hodag swimmers - seven boys and five girls - earned WISCA all-state honors based on their performances at the WIAA state meet. Eight swimmers - six boys and two girls - received all-academic honors from the organization.
Jenny Heck led the Hodag boys to their first ever WIAA state title back in February. It's the second time she's earned WISCA coach of the year honors. She was named the girls' D2 coach of the year in 2021 after guiding the Hodag girls to the 2020 D2 state title.
"That was really a nice honor. It's a lot of work by a lot of people," Heck told the River News on Monday. "It was a special thing to be recognized, but it's a lot of people who help get these kids and these swimmers to this level. I'm only one piece of the puzzle and a lot of people I'm very appreciative of - other coaches, the parents, the school. Everyone's been so supportive. It takes a lot of people and a lot of groups to come together and work together and be supportive of each other. I think that's what was special about this group."
Individual all-state honors were earned based on performance - either through placing in the top three at the WIAA state meet or by beating a pre-determined time standard at some point during the season. All-state honorable mention was earned by placing in the top six at state, or by beating a time standard.
Seven different swimmers earned all-state in at least one event. Six of those seven, and five others, received all-state honorable mention in at least one event.
The Hodags' state champion boys' 200-yard freestyle relay team of Carter Gaber, Daniel Gillingham, Charlie Heck and Mathias Fugle earned all-state honors, as did the runner-up boys' 200 medley relay team of Gaber, Jack Antonuk, Gillingham and Charlie Heck. Zacha King earned all-state honors based his runner-up finish in the boys' 100 backstroke at state.
Abi Winnicki was fourth at state in both the girls' 200 and 100 freestyle, but earned all-state honors in both events with times faster than the all-state standard. She went 1 minutes, 51.14 seconds in the 200 freestyle at state, beating the mark by 0.76 seconds. Her time at state in the 100 freestyle (51.20) was 0.21 seconds faster than the standard.
Gillingham (200 individual medley, 100 butterfly), King (200 IM, 400 freestyle relay), Antonuk (100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay), Mathias Fugle (400 freestyle relay) and Marcus O'Malley (400 freestyle relay) received honorable mention by virtue of top-six finishes in the boys' state meet.
The Hodag girls received honorable mention thanks to fourth-place finishes in a pair of relays at state. Winnicki, Ellyse Younker and Genna Fugle received honorable mention in both the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. Lily Thorsen was honorable mention in the 200 freestyle relay and Millie Gruett was honorable mention in the 400 freestyle relay.
"To be top six D2 in the state is a really great accomplishment," coach Heck said. "There have been years where we haven't had any kids qualify for state. Then there have been years where we've qualified but don't place on the podium. So this is really special to have 11 kids recognized.
"We had so much success, even those kids who weren't recognized were so important to the team and overall success. I think it was just one piece of the puzzle for all the success. We needed to have those top finishes, but also as well those swimmers who weren't in the top six were important to our overall success."
Additionally, the Hodags took home a number of academic all-state awards. All six seniors on the RHS boys' team - Antonuk, Gaber, Gillingham, Heck, Eli Lundt and O'Malley - received the honor, as did Genna Fugle and Gussie Gruett on the girls' side. To be eligible for academic all-state, swimmers must be seniors who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, have been part of the a high school swim team for at least two years and have earned at least one varsity letter.
"These kids are not only great athletes but really standouts academically," coach Heck said. "I think we have a lot of great kids who really work hard, not just in the pool but out of the pool, and I think are going to do some fantastic things in life."
Coach Heck had the opportunity to speak when Rhinelander was called to the state to receive its all-state awards and said it was an opportunity to shine the spotlight on the Northwoods, which is often overlooked on the state landscape when it comes to swimming.
"People really don't think of Rhinelander when they think about swimming," she said. "It's nice to know we can do great things. We don't have all the access to big pools and coaches and all of that the southern schools have, but we've got hard-working kids, great parents and people who work hard. Sometimes, that's just what it takes."
The team will have another opportunity to celebrate its success this coming Monday in a ceremony at the Heck Family Community Pool. The team plans to update its record board and hang its 2022-23 boys' state championship banner.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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