Fall Practice Notebook

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team has been in this position before, entering a season as defending WIAA state champions.

In 2021, the Hodags backed up their 2020 state title with a runner-up finish at state. How the Hodags fare after winning the 2023 D2 state crown remains to be seen but one thing was certain Tuesday as the team took to the water for the first time this fall — they’re eager to prove last year’s success was not a flash in the pan. 

“Everyone’s excited with last year’s success and all the fun. They know that this year’s going to be a lot hard, bigger challenges, but there’s something exciting about that as well,” coach Jenny Heck said. “I think everyone’s looking at it not as a problem, but something that’s going to be exciting and fun and challenging.” 

Numbers are slightly down for the team this year after graduating six seniors off of last year’s state title squad. The Hodags have added a pair of freshmen as well as a sophomore who transferred into the district. Still, Rhinelander returns eight swimmers who competed in at least one event at last year’s state meet. Heck said that momentum could be felt during the club season and in summer training.

“In some ways I feel like we never left,” she said.  “It was a continuation of last year and I think it was fantastic, actually. Every single one of these girls has been swimming offseason. It was really seamless to get into the first day. Even with the new swimmers, I think they were swimming this summer and, except for one, had met each other before. 

“It doesn’t look like a typical day one. I came in here thinking, ‘Wow, these girls not only are excited but they are, technically, really solid.’ We start out slow with a lot of technique, because that’s the basis of everything, but these girls have been working a long time on their improvement since last year. That was really fun to watch.”

While this year’s WIAA state meet is more than 90 days away, the team doesn’t have a ton of time to get ready for competition. The Hodags will open the year with the annual Colby/Abbotsford Pentathlon this coming Wednesday and then head to Menomonie for a non-conference invite next Saturday. The Hodags have also added a non-conference dual meet to their schedule Aug. 28 against defending Wisconsin Valley Conference champion Stevens Point. 

While Heck said it’s too early to make predictions on how things will turn out come November, she said just because the Hodags are down a few swimmers, they shouldn’t be discounted come tournament time. 

“Last year we had such great success, but we also had a lot of kids that never really got their opportunity to shine — some of the younger swimmers and some of the seniors even — because we had such a big, strong team and so much depth,” she said. “This year, with a smaller squad, they know that each one of them is going to be depended on for the team to have success — whether it’s a relay or an individual (event) at conference, sectionals or state. I think that’s exciting, because they know they are really needed and valued. We can’t just have a small team of a few. We need to have our depth to shine, like our boys did the year they won state.”

RHS girls tennis ‘hungry’ to get back to top of GNC

    Members of the RHS girls’ tennis team, led from left to right by Maria Heck, Kelsey Winter and Teagan Turcotte, perform a footwork drill during practice at the RHS tennis courts Tuesday, Aug. 13. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

As Tuesday’s first practice wrapped up for the Hodag girls’ tennis team, the words “hunger” and “hungry” were said a number of times. 

Undoubtedly, as the clock ticked past 11 a.m. following a three-hour practice session, a number of the team members were inevitably ready for lunch. But, in this case, the hunger described was one to make the team better every day coming off the heels of their worst finish in the Great Northern Conference (third) since joining the league in 2011.

“Hunger is something they heard today, they’re going to hear a lot tomorrow and a lot throughout the rest of the season,” coach Matt Nichols explained. “We kind of boiled down what we’re looking for as players based on a book that (assistant) coach (Wil Losch) and I read. We have a leadership team and we’ve been really diving into the three (tenets). Hunger is one of them. The others are humble and smart. We’re looking for those three things in every single player. The goal is if they can do that, we’re going to build a championship team from here on out.”

That hunger was seen in the offseason as a number of returning players devoted scores of hours in the summer to work on their games. That came in handy as the team of roughly 25 strong got to work on Tuesday. As is always the case with the girls’ tennis season, there is hardly any preseason run-up before competition begins. The Hodags will wrap up this week with a scrimmage Saturday against Wausau West and then travel to Bay Port Monday and Tuesday for a two-day invite. 

“Which is where that offseason came in clutch with these top players. They’ve been hitting all summer. They jumped in. They’re ready to go. We’re going to hit the scrimmage and then the first tourney Monday, Tuesday and we’re going to hit it hard,” Nichols said. “A lot of girls put in a lot of time during the offseason, especially at the top end. They brought it today. We did some drills today that we did last year and they looked a little hesitant and not sure (then). (Now) they jumped in with very minimal guidance and they’re crushing balls. They know where to position. They know where to hit to shots. Now it’s just getting the reps in and making sure we can do that.”

While there has been time this week to work on fundamentals, conditioning and challenge matches to set the varsity lineup, the team also took time Wednesday to hold a team-building event at the Cedric A.Vig Outdoor Classroom. The team went on the ropes course, did some other team activities and shared lunch during the practice. 

“Starting last year, we really starting prioritizing building the team, more cohesion,” Nichols explained. “Not that there was a huge issue but if we can bring the team together, we’re going to succeed together.”

Tuesday marked the first day of practice for a second wave of WIAA-sanctioned fall sports. The final wave will take place this coming Monday. In Rhinelander, that will mark the beginning of the Hodag cross country, volleyball and boys’ soccer seasons.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].