Rhinelander swimmers strong in opening meets

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team started its WIAA Division 2 state title defense in strong fashion last week, dominating a pair of meets. 

Rhinelander captured the lion’s share of the top 10 spots Wednesday in the Colby/Abbotsford Pentathlon and then won eight of nine events to take first place Saturday in the Menomonie Relays.

Coach Jenny Heck said it was a strong start to the season, despite the team feeling some of the effects of early-season training.

“To have these times with the training that we’ve been putting in was really good,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of teams are working as hard as we are right now. They might not be feeling the fatigue. I think we were and still swam fast.” 

Colby/Abby Pentathlon

Any questions about what sort of depth and talent the Hodags still possess were quickly answered in Wednesday’s opener. Rhinelander had five of the top six finishers, and nine of the top 12 overall, in the six-team Colby/Abby Pentathlon.

“We should be really feeling good about ourselves with the depth, where we’re at and the overall look of them. They looked strong. It was just really fun to watch,” coach Heck said. “I think we’ve been hitting training harder, especially in the weight room, than we have in the past this early. I think there were a little bit of fatigue going on with some of the girls, but I was really pleased.”

Celia Francis was not just the fastest sophomore, she was the only swimmer in the field to crack 3 minutes overall for her cumulative time in the five-event meet that included 50-yard races in each of the four core strokes plus a 100-yard individual medley. 

The reigning state champ in the 200 IM and the state runner-up in the 100 backstroke excelled in both disciplines on Wednesday. She won the 50 backstroke by more than 2.8 seconds as she clocked in with a time of 27.46 seconds. That broke a sophomore class record in the event of 27.53 set by her older sister, Malia, in 2019. Francis rolled to a nearly 3 1/2-second win in the IM, was the runner-up in the breaststroke and fourth overall in the butterfly and freestyle as she finished with a cumulative time of 2:56.78.

“There was no one close to her in her backstroke,” coach Heck said. “She’s just so powerful and it’s her best stroke. I think she was really happy to get the record for the sophomore 50 backstroke that was Malia’s record. She was pretty pleased with that.”

Senior Lily Thorsen edged out teammate Ellyse Younker as the fastest 12th-grader in the meet. Thorsen was the overall runner-up in the IM, was tied for third in the backstroke and took fourth in the breaststroke as she posted the third-fastest overall cumulative time of 3:04.79. Younker was tops in the butterfly (27.76), fourth in the IM and fifth in the breaststroke as she took fourth overall with a 3:05.48.

Rhinelander had four of the top five sophomores in the field, all of whom placed in the top nine overall. Behind Francis, Ella Heck had a strong season debut. She finished third overall in both the breaststroke and freestyle as she took fifth overall (3:05.67). 

“She should really be proud of herself,” coach Heck noted of her daughter’s performance. “She had a great meet and swam with a lot more confidence. She’s hopefully pleased with that. We are too.

Vivian Lamers scored top-five finishes in the backstroke, butterfly and freestyle and she finished sixth overall (3:06.08). June Chiamulera finished ninth overall (3:09.83).

Rhinelander had the third- and fourth-fastest juniors in the field. Millie Gruett scored a runner-up finish in the freestyle (26.44) and placed 10th overall (3:10.01). Emma Houg was 11th overall (3:19.07) and had a fifth-place showing in the backstroke. 

Sophomore Kiley Pooch was 12th-fastest overall (3:12.48). She scored a sixth-place finish in the backstroke and also recored top 10s in the butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle. Sophomore Rylee Mickevicius cracked the top 10 in the backstroke, taking ninth. 

Coach Heck said Wednesday’s meet was useful to get baseline times for her swimmers in every stroke and will serve as a starting point as the team begins to consider relay combinations for later in the season. 

Menomonie Relays

Despite winning all but one race, the Hodags had to come from behind Saturday to edge Medford for the win in a format that favored depth over raw speed. 

Trailing by 34 points with two events remaining, the Hodags took fourth in the 100-yard freestyle relay and then won the 8x50 freestyle relay to edge Medford by two points for the overall title. The Raiders — with 18 swimmers — were able to field B relays in more events than Rhinelander, allowing them to be in the hunt for the win.

“We’re a fast team and we were winning by a lot of time, but a win’s a win and places place,” coach Heck said. “You have to make sure you’re getting those places in the Bs. Some of those newer swimmers don’t realize their importance or their value, but I think they do after today. This was really just a team event.”

Rhinelander had eight different swimmers score wins in all four of their races and had 10 swimmers play a role in at least one race victory.

Trailing by 12 points going into the final race, the octet of Younker, Gruett, Pooch, Chiamulera, Thorsen, Ella Heck, Francis and Lamers swam to a whopping 22.1-second win in the 8x50 (3:26.74) over runner-up La Crosse Logan, and got some help as Medford finished eighth in the event. 

All eight of Rhinelander’s wins were by five seconds or more. Pooch, Heck, Younker and Gruett took the 200 medley relay; Francis, Thorsen, Houg and Younker claimed the 400 individual medley relay; Chiamulera, Pooch, Lamers and Houg won the 200 freestyle relay; Gruett, Thorsen, Mickevicius and Younker took the 200 butterfly relay; Heck, Lamers, Chiamulera and Houg won the 850 freestyle crescendo relay; Pooch, Chiamulera, Houg and Francis won the 200 backstroke relay and Heck, Thorsen, Lamers and Francis took the 200 breaststroke relay.

“They were speedy and strong and, technically, really sound. I was really pleasantly surprised with how sharp they looked today,” coach Heck said.

Mickevicius, Maria Craig, Kyree McMahon and Kyleigh Kennedy took fourth in the 100 freestyle relay and picked up points on Medford which placed 13th with its only entry in the penultimate event.

While Medford’s A relays did not beat Rhinelander head-to-head in any event, coach Heck said the Raiders depth will be enough to keep the Hodags honest in their quest for a sixth straight Great Northern Conference title later this season.

“It makes us better, makes them better, makes the GNC better and makes it all the more fun,” she said. “We’ll have to be strategic and think about how to place ourselves. It makes it fun.”

The Hodags return to action Wednesday as they travel south to face defending Wisconsin Valley Conference champion Stevens Point in a dual meet.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].