Planning for greatness

Ask anyone who’s been part of the Hodag swim program over the last few seasons how many times they’ve heard the words “stick to the plan,” and you’ll probably be met with a chuckle and a slight eye roll.

That saying served as coach Jenny Heck’s mantra last February during the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team’s run to the WIAA Division 2 state championship. That was her mindset as well in 2020 when the Hodag girls navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and captured the state crown. 

Now, with the Hodag girls primed to go after their second state title in four years, Heck’s refrain remains the same.

“The plan is to stick with the plan,” she said at practice on Monday. 

With a meet-high 19 entries, the Hodags enter tonight’s D2 state meet at the Waukesha South Natatorium as 87 1/2-point favorites to win the state title. Eight-time state champion Edgewood won’t give up its crown easily, however, and last year’s state runner-up, Whitefish Bay, sits only a half point behind Edgewood in the projections. 

Rhinelander’s spot among the top Division 2 programs in the state should not be up for debate. The Hodag girls have finished in the top five at state each of the last four years, adding a runner-up finish to Edgewood in 2021 to their gold trophy in 2020. The Hodag boys shocked the southern schools earlier this year to become the first squad from the northern half of the state to win a team championship. Yet, coach Heck admitted the Hodags always have a bit of a underdog mentality when compared to some of the heavyweights in the swimming-rich southern half of the state. 

“For us, people seem to think we’re still a fluke,” she said. “I feel like we’re constantly having to prove ourselves, that we’re meant to be there and we’re supposed to be there. I think we’ll just continue to keep going at it like we always have been, because it works for us.”

The numbers say the Hodags are no fluke. Rhinelander enters tonight as the top seed in four events — including all three relays. What’s more, the Hodags are seeded in the top six in every swimming event except for the 500 freestyle. Racking up those podium finishes and high points will be key if the Hodags want to lift the gold trophy by night’s end. 

“Every swim on our team matters,” senior Karis Francis said. “Every single swim makes a difference and everybody’s going to have to give it their all, but you have to stay positive during the meet and take it event by event and just be supportive of each other.”

    In this Nov. 13, 2020 file photo, the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team poses with the WIAA state championship trophy after winning the Division 2 state meet in Waukesha. The Hodags are seeking their second state title in four years tonight in Waukesha, entering the meet at 87 1/2-point favorites over Madison Edgewood. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Karis Francis and Abi Winnicki are the lone remaining links from the 2020 state title squad who will swim for the Hodags tonight. They said resiliency will be key in the team’s effort. Winnicki recalled how the Hodags, 24 1/2-point favorites to win back in 2020, started that meet slowly but rallied back in the final five races to secure the title.

“Even if one event doesn’t go exactly how it’s planned doesn’t totally outweigh the outcome of the meet,” she said. “Things didn’t go as they were expected to our freshman year and it still worked out in the end. It’s just keeping our cool throughout whatever happens and hoping it works out.” 

A state title would be icing on the cake of what has been one of the most successful seasons in team history. The Hodags rolled to an undefeated season in Great Northern Conference play and won all 11 swimming events at last week’s D2 sectional.

Rhinelander has won all but one meet this year. That was a third-place finish, ironically at tonight’s venue, when it finished behind a couple of Division 1 programs in the Waukesha South Invite back in September. The Hodags finished ahead of Edgewood (10th) in that meet.

“This team is really great. Their attitude and their drive and their dedication is unmatched,” coach Heck said. “To have a group like this, I know won’t come again. You don’t get this very often and to have this kind of group that’s just willing to give their heart and soul every time they jump in the water, every weight room practice, I know is not common. I’m enjoying it all. I’m going to celebrate the success, celebrate these girls and appreciate these girls.”

For a full breakdown of tonight’s events, where the Hodags are seeded and how they stack up against the competition, see the sidebar on page 10. Below are five key storylines entering tonight’s meet. 

Relay sweep?

Should they sweep all three relay races, the Hodags could add as many as 120 points to their total tonight. Rhinelander enters as the top seed in all three —3.07 seconds ahead of Whitefish Bay in the 200 medley relay, 0.76 seconds ahead of Ashwaubenon in the 200 freestyle relay and 4.13 seconds up on Ashwaubenon in the 400 freestyle relay. 

While those buffers seem manageable — especially in the medley and the 400 — a tweak of the lineup or a few tenths dropped here or there could spell the difference between gold and silver. 

“They are in great positions and I think they will do well,” coach Heck said. “We’re just going to work on the specifics and those little things that can help them achieve their goals.”

Familiar foes

Winnicki enters tonight swimming a very familiar program after winning the sectional championship in both the 100 and 200 freestyle for a fourth straight year. Winnicki’s best finishes at state in the event came in 2020, when the field was smaller due to the COVID pandemic. She was the runner-up in the 200 and took third in the 100. 

She took one for the team in 2021, swimming the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay, which led to very short rest and a ninth-place finish in the 200. She bounced back with a sixth-place swim in the 100 and followed that up with fourth-place swims in both events last year. 

This year, she enters as the top overall seed in the 100 and second in the 200, fractions behind Whitefish Bay’s Anne Dickinson. Winnicki will also be locked against Ashwaubenon’s Sienna Nitke again this year. Nitke is seeded third in the 200, second in the 100 and edged Winnicki in both races last year.

“Being the senior season for both Sienna and I, that makes it exciting, and then having Anne in the mix in the 200, obviously is awesome,” Winnicki said. “She’s way faster than what she is on the heat sheet. Honestly, I’m just racing Sienna at this point and racing my personal goals. I know whatever happens is what’s supposed to happen.”

All in the family

The Francis sisters, Karis and Celia, enter tonight in the unique position of attempting to win individual state championships in events that have been claimed in the past by their older siblings. 

Karis Francis enters as the second seed in the 100 butterfly — an event older sister Malia Francis won in 2019 and 2020. She’s also the second seed in the 100 breaststroke, which another older sister, Kiah Francis, won back in 2015.

Meanwhile, Celia Francis enters as the No. 2 seed in the backstroke, another discipline the family has dominated.

Malia Francis owns the D2 state record in backstroke and won three straight titles from 2019-21. 

Older brother, Nolan, also won on the boys’ side in 2019. Celia Francis also comes in as the third seed in the 200 individual medley, which Kiah Francis won back in 2015 and Malia Francis won in 2021. 

Both Francises said their older siblings have offered advance and inspiration as they look to put the surname in the WIAA record books yet again. 

“Nolan gives me a lot of good advice on all of this,” Karis Francis said. “He kind of makes me feel happy with where I am. He makes me accept where I am and know that I am strong. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes it does but, whatever it is, it was exactly what was supposed to happen. That always helps me a lot.”

Added Celia Francis, “I get a lot of good advice from Malia. I’d like to follow in her footsteps. She just motivates me and tells me I’m in a good spot where I am. She encourages me a lot.”

Moving on up

While 11 of Rhinelander 19 entries are seeded inside the top six, the Hodags will also be looking to pick up points from those entries coming out of the first heat tonight. That includes junior Lily Thorsen, who comes in with the ninth-fastest time in the 200 individual medley and the 14th seed in the 100 breaststroke, an event she placed eighth in at state a year ago after winning the opening heat.

“I’m glad to be seeded in that first heat,” Thorsen said. “I was in that same position in both of my events last year and it worked out great for me. It’s nice to know that I’m going to have open water and I’ve raced the 100 breast at state and I know what it feels like.” 

The Hodag double

Should Rhinelander win the state championship tonight, it would accomplish something only four other schools have ever done — win the gold trophies in both boys’ and girls’ swimming in the same calendar year. 

Madison West did it six times between 1977-1991, when swimming still had only one division. Madison Memorial swept the D1 titles in 1994. Arrowhead swept the D1 titles four times between 2002 and 2008. Madison Edgewood is the only D2 program to hold both trophies in the same year — doing so in 2019 and 2022.

Winnicki said watching the Hodag boys lift the gold trophy back in February has served as motivation for the Hodag girls to try to do the same tonight. 

“In my mind, it’s the only way the night’s going to end,” she said. “It’s the only option at this point. Being there, watching them get to do it, obviously I’ve done it years prior, but since it was this year and looking forward to this season, just made it more exciting.”

Jenny Heck would become just the third coach in state history to guide boys’ and girls’ teams from the same school to the state title in the same year — joining Madison West’s Tom Hargraves and Arrowhead’s Bob Jenkyns. But, as has been her mindset the whole time, she said she does not want to think that far ahead. 

“Why don’t you just ask me that if we get there,” she said. “We’re in good position, but I’m always just a little cautious and I just want to keep going and one day at time.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].