Team preview: RHS boys’ swimming

After winning the WIAA Division 2 state title last season, and watching their female counterparts do the same earlier this month, the natural question to ask is what exactly will the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team do for an encore.

The answer remains to be seen. Repeating as state champions will be a tough task after graduating 60% of the team that won it all last February, but the Hodags return four key swimmers from that squad, have a couple of other juniors back in the mix and bring in a few freshman who, based on numbers alone, will be asked to contribute right away. 

“There are lots of possibilities that can happen,” coach Jenny Heck said. “But, regardless, every season is a new season and you don’t base your success from last year. You base it on what you have this year and the talent that you have and the group you have, and you set new goals.”

The Hodags definitely have some big shoes to fill. They graduated their all-senior 200-yard medley relay that finished as state runners-up with Carter Gaber, Jack Antonuk, Daniel Gillingham and Charlie Heck. Gillingham, Gaber and Heck were also on the winning 200 freestyle relay, Gillingham and Antonuk scored podium finishes in their individual events and Marcus O’Malley was part of the championship-clinching fourth-place finishing in the 400 freestyle relay, along with Heck. 

“We lost a lot of guys that were really key players,” coach Heck said. “It’s a very different season. They were all swimming for years. It’s definitely a huge change. But I think they set the tone and they showed these guys these are the expectations. They set a great role as leaders last year and I think these guys are going to follow.”

    In this Feb. 17, 2023 file photo, Rhinelander’s Zacha King heads to the final wall in the 100-yard backstroke during the WIAA Division 2 state championship meet in Waukesha. King, the lone senior on this year’s team, finished second in backstroke and was fifth in the 200 individual medley at state last year. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Rhinelander has plenty of returning talent, led by its lone senior Zacha King, who had breakout swims in last year’s postseason. He’s the reigning state runner-up in the 100 backstroke and took fifth at state last year in the 200 individual medley. 

Behind him are a trio of returning juniors — Matthias Fugle, Dolan O’Malley and Shawn Denis. Fugle was a sectional champion in the 100 freestyle last year, placed 11th in both the 100 and the 200 freestyle at state last year and was on both freestyle relays. Denis was ninth in the breaststroke and 14th in the 200 IM last year at sate while O’Malley was 13th in the backstroke and 15th in the IM. 

“They know what it was like,” coach Heck said. “They had that state success and they’re hungry for more. They know they want to strive for greatness again. They’ve been hungry since the day after the state meet. They’ve been talking about swimming, talking about what they want to do this year, their goals already. I have no question they are ready.”

They’ll be bolstered by the return of a couple of juniors, Brock Arrowood and Samson Shinners, both of whom swam with the team as freshmen but pursued different opportunities last year. Shinners was a sectional champion in the 200 freestyle and runner-up in the 500 freestyle back in 2022, placing in the top 10 at state in both events. Arrowood finished seventh at state in the 100 butterfly as a freshman. Both were on the Hodags’ 400 freestyle relay two years ago.

“They had been swimming also and I think they’re excited,” coach Heck noted. “I think they see what fun it can be and have the success. They want that success too, and it’s sure nice to swim in your home pool and train with your friends from school and people in your hometown. They seem really excited about it too.”

Three freshmen round out this year’s squad and two of them come in with some championship lineage. Charlie Antonuk is Jack Antonuk’s younger brother while Judson O’Malley is the younger brother of both Dolan and Marcus O’Malley. Chris Larson rounds out the group of incoming freshmen.

“The incoming freshmen, they’re just excited,” coach Heck said. “They have no pressure on them. They’ve been watching these guys swim fast and do cool things. I think they’re just excited to be apart of it.”

While nine swimmers will leave the Hodags a couple of bodies short of filling out a complete dual meet lineup, it’s enough to be able to field the maximum number of entries for sectionals.

What the team lacks in numerical depth it makes up for in versatility — demonstrated with three returning state qualifiers in the individual medley. 

“A lot of these guys can swim multiple events,” coach Heck said. “It’s not like they’re just backstrokers or butterfliers or whatever. They can swim lots of things. We’ll have to see where they’re going to swim best.”

Even with a couple of holes for dual meets, the Hodags figure to have more than enough top-end speed to be the odds on favorites to take a sixth straight Great Northern Conference crown. 

“We’ve had a lot of success in the conference and at sectionals. I think that will continue. I don’t think anything’s going to change. We’re still strong, a different kind of strong, but we’re still strong,” coach Heck said.

Antigo and Shawano figure to be two teams that could emerge as the Hodags’ closest rivals in the GNC. The Red Robins return a number of underclassmen from last year while Shawano has co-oped with Seymour this season, bumping up to Division 1 as a result. Rhinelander is scheduled to get a look at both of those squads tonight when it travels down to D.C. Everest for a season-opening pentathlon meet.

“We know, right away, we’re going to be looking for times at the pentathlon,” coach Heck said, noting that everyone will get a chance to swim a 50-yard race in each stroke as well as a 100-yard individual medley. “It gives us just a basis. It doesn’t mean that’s how you’re going to end up or that’s what you’re going to be swimming all year. It just means that maybe this is a good starting point, and it’s a fun way to get everybody swimming all of the events without being too stressful of a meet.”

The Hodags have done same late re-arranging of their schedule and will now open conference competition with a quadrangular meet at Medford Nov. 30. Lakeland and Tomahawk will also be in attendance. The move was made to give the Hodags the flexibility to add a couple more non-conference meets while not going over the maximum number of meets allowed by the WIAA. The Hodags already filled one of those holes with an invite at Wisconsin Rapids Dec. 2. 

The Hodags’ first home meet will be the annual Hodag Relays Dec. 9. It’s currently one of only three scheduled home meets for Rhinelander this season — joining an conference dual meet against Antigo Dec. 14 and a triangular against Medford and Shawano Jan. 4. 

The conference meet is slated for Feb. 2, sectionals will take place Feb. 10 at Ashwaubenon and state is set for Feb. 16 in Waukesha. 

McFarland, which finished second to Rhinelander at state last year and brings in a talented freshman class, figures to be the preseason favorite to win it all in 2024. Coach Heck said she hopes, much like last year, her team and sneak under the radar most of the year before making waves in Waukesha.

“Look at last year, we won one event at state and we won the whole meet,” she said. “There are options. Just because we might not have a superstar that’s winning everything, I think if we stick together and be a great team, there’s a lot of potential.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent/Event    Time

11/21    D.C. Everest Pentathlon    5:30 p.m.

11/30    at Medford Triangular*    5:30 p.m.

12/2    Wisconsin Rapids Invite     10:30 a.m.

12/9    HODAG RELAYS    11 a.m.

12/12    at Shawano*    5:30 p.m.

12/14    ANTIGO*    5:30 p.m.

1/4    MEDFORD/SHAWANO*    5:30 p.m.

1/6    Ashwaubenon Invite    5:30 p.m.

1/11    at Antigo*    5:30 p.m.

1/12    Appleton North Invite    5:30 p.m.

1/18    at Tomahawk*    5:30 p.m.

1/27    Shorewood Invite     8 a.m.

2/2    GNC Meet at TBD*    5 p.m.

2/10    WIAA Sectionals at Ashwaubenon    5 p.m.

2/16    WIAA State at Waukesha    5:30 p.m.

* Conference meets | HOME MEETS IN CAPS