RHS swimmers dominate Medford, home relays

There is not much that is slowing the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team down at this point of the season. 

The Hodags’ tour de force continued Thursday and Saturday with a pair of clean sweeps. Rhinelander finished 1-2 in all 11 events Thursday as it knocked off Medford 134-36 in a Great Northern Conference dual. The Hodags then came home for the first time in competition on Saturday and won all 10 events, setting four meet records in the process, as they waltzed to victory in the Hodag Relays at the Heck Family Community Pool.

“We have such a strong team and we knew we had a great chance at some of these records,” Hodag coach Jenny Heck said after Saturday’s event. “That’s always a fun goal when you have a strong team like that. Some years you have it, some years you don’t. We were fortunate to go after some of those.” 

    Rhinelander’s Abi Winnicki competes in the 300-yard breaststroke relay during the Hodag Relays Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Heck Family Community Pool. Winnicki, Karis Francis and Celia Francis set a meet record in the event with a time of 3 minutes, 24.29 seconds. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Hodag Relays

The Hodags spread the wealth around in what turned out to be a lower-key event. Marshfield’s late scratch left only four teams in the field for the Relays. That fact would have hardly altered the results, considering the way the Hodags swam. 

All 16 members of the team contributed to at least one victory in the relay-only format — and that feat had been accomplished by the fourth race of the meet. Swimmers were allowed to swim in only three events, down from the four in a standard dual meet, and seven Hodags finished the day with three wins. 

That included the powerhouse trio of seniors Abi Winnicki and Karis Francis, and freshman Celia Francis. The three teamed with freshman Vivian Lamers to take down the meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Their time of 1 minutes, 38.48 seconds was only 0.05 seconds off the pool record in the event. 

“That 200 free was really a fast relay,” coach Heck said. “All those girls were just really speedy and looked amazing. If you’re going that fast right now, it’s just exciting for what they can do in the future.”

    Rhinelander’s Karis Francis makes a turn in the 300-yard backstroke relay during the Hodag Relays Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Heck Family Community Pool. Karis Francis, Abi Winnicki and Celia Francis set a meet record in the event with a time of 2 minutes, 54.19 seconds. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Winnicki and the Francis sisters later smashed the meet records in the 300 backstroke and 300 breaststroke relays. All three swimmers swam sub-59-second spits in the backstroke as the finished in 2:54.19, beating the old record by 5.80 seconds.

“That’s going to be a very tough one to touch,” coach Heck said. “We have some really fast individual swimmers and when you can put them together like that, those records might stick around for a while.”

The Hodags flexed their depth in the 300 breaststroke relay. Not only did Winnicki, Francis and Francis smash the meet record by more than 20 seconds (3:24.39), the Hodags’ second entry in the event of Lily Thorsen, Ella Heck and Sam Sundby finished in 3:44.57, beating the old meet record by 0.20 seconds.

“To have six swimmers who are that fast is just really telling. I know we haven’t had that before. They should all be really proud of themselves,” coach Heck said.

Rhinelander also set a meet record in the 300 butterfly relay with the team of Ellyse Younker, Millie Gruett and Thorsen (3:06.63). 

Lamers, Gruett, Younker and June Chiamulera joined Winnicki and the Francises as three-event winners on the day. Margaret Lambert, Thorsen, Sundby, Emma Houg, Kiley Pooch and Ella Heck were each part of two event victories.

Rhinelander 134, Medford 36

The Hodags second conference dual meet of the season was eerily similar to the first. Rhinelander swept all 11 events, again, and swam to a 134-36 win on the road Thursday night at Medford. 

That’s the same score the Hodags beat Ladysmith by to open conference competition a week prior and, in another parallel, both meets moved quickly — finishing in exactly 1 hour, 4 minutes. 

“It was really a fast meet again,” coach Heck said. “By the time the girls got to that 400 free relay, they were pretty exhausted. I was really pleased with how they were attacking their events. There were some really solid times too.”

The Hodags once again mixed the lineup with solid results, sweeping the top two spots in every event. Winnicki, Karis Francis and Celia Francis each had four-win nights for the Hodags and Rhinelander had eight swimmers contribute to at least one victory.

Winnicki broke a minute in both of her individual wins, taking the 100-yard butterfly (59.70 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (58.80). Karis Francis took the shortest and longest races of the night, swimming to victory in the 50 freestyle (25.33) and the 500 freestyle (5:19.11). 

“Karis had a really nice 500 free time. I think that was her personal best. Abi had a really good, solid meet and her times were fast,” coach Heck noted.

Celia Francis won the 100 freestyle (55.8) and the 100 breaststroke (1:10.79). Houg added a win in the 200 freestyle (2:10.66) and Thorsen was victorious in the 200 individual medley (2:21.47).

The Francis sisters, Younker and Winnicki captured the 200 medley relay (1:51.27); Gruett, Houg, Pooch and Celia Francis won the 200 freestyle relay (1:47.07); Karis Francis, Younker, Thorsen and Winnicki swam to the win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:45.12).

Younker finished second to Karis Francis in both the 50 and 500 freestyle. The Hodags also got runner-up swims from Pooch in the 200 freestyle, Gruett in the 200 IM, Ella Heck in the 100 freestyle, Thorsen in the 100 backstroke and Lamers in the 100 breaststroke.

“Our 200 medley relay time was pretty good for this time of year. I think we’re pretty close to our pool record. It was fun putting some different combinations of relays together,” coach Heck said. “I was looking at a lot of the technical things the girls were doing — what they were improving and what they need to work on. That was kind of my focus over their times. Overall, we have a great group freshman that are still not confident in the dual meet (format) how that works. I think they’re getting more comfortable with that now and understanding how fast the meet goes and how you have to swim four events in a short amount of time. They’re getting used to that, which is half the battle.”

Lamers, Thorsen, Gruett and Chiamulera finished second in the 200 medley relay; Chiamulera, Houg, Pooch and Lamers were second in the 400 freestyle relay and the Hodag B entry of Sundby, Abbie Ames, Lambert and Ella Heck tied for second in the 200 freestyle relay with Medford’s A entry.

Tough stretch ahead

Last week kicked off a grueling eight-meet stretch in the month of September. In addition to swimming conference duals each Thursday, the team has invites on four consecutive Saturdays. 

This week the Hodags host Lakeland in GNC action at the Heck Pool on Thursday before traveling to the Waukesha South Invite on Saturday. 

“We can’t let up in our training even though we have the Saturday meets,” coach Heck said. “They’re going to be tired. We have mornings, afternoons, there’s a lot in there. You’ve got to get some schoolwork done in there, too. These girls are going to be busy but we’ve got to keep everyone healthy and training hard. Before we know it, conference will be here.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].