Hodag swimmers pick up wins over Ashwaubenon, Tomahawk, Medford

The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team had plenty of success Thursday and Friday as it nears the end of the dual meet schedule for the season. 

The Hodags defeated Tomahawk 112-30 and Medford 111-41 in a Great Northern Conference double dual at Tomahawk on Thursday and returned home Friday to defeat Ashwaubenon 99-70 in non-conference competition at the Heck Family Community Pool.

“After two nights of racing there was a lot of fatigue, but I was happy with their results,” Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. “When these guys are swimming best times at this time of year, it’s really promising. Usually they’re so tired and they’re fatigued so to get those kinds of times was really great.”

Rhinelander added the dual against Ashwaubenon last week after the teams did not get a chance to swim against each other in the snowed out Appleton North Invite Jan. 12. Heck called it a great way to prepare for the WIAA postseason, especially considering that the Hodags and Jaguars will compete in the same Division 2 sectional in roughly three weeks time.

“We’re really thankful that they came here to swim the meet,” she said. “That’s what it’s all about is having good competition. It makes everyone better. We’re glad that, last minute, Ashwaubenon appreciates that as well and wanted to come here and make themselves better, make us better.”

The Hodags won 10 of the 11 events on Friday night to overcome the depth of a larger Ashwaubenon squad. In particular, Rhinelander flexed its muscle in the 200-yard freestyle relay, earning a 1-2 sweep in that event. Brock Arrowood, Dolan O’Malley, Judson O’Malley and Mathias Fugle took that event with a time of 1 minute, 33.55 seconds, edging the squad of Shawn Denis, Zacha King, Charlie Antonuk and Samson Shinners by 0.79 seconds. Ashwaubenon’s top entry was third, only 2.23 seconds back.

“I was really happy about our 200 free relay,” coach Heck said. “We had eight of our guys go 1-2. When you have a 1:33 and a 1:34, that was pretty fast. We have a team of nine guys and eight of them were swimming that really. That was really fun.”

    Rhinelander’s Zacha King competes in the 200-yard freestyle during a GNC double dual against Medford and Tomahawk in Tomahawk Thursday, Jan. 18. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

King, a senior, won a pair of close races on Friday night. He went 2:06.59 in the 200 individual medley to edge Ashwaubenon’s Alexander Smits to the wall by 0.30 seconds. Denis was third, only 0.44 seconds off the back. King added a win in the 100 backstroke (57.90), beating teammate Dolan O’Malley to the wall by 0.04 seconds.

Fugle (49.68) and Shinners (49.95) broke both the 50-second mark in a 1-2 finish in the 100 freestyle. Fugle also claimed the 50 freestyle (22.80) while Shinners won the 200 freestyle (1:50.14). Arrowood (56.58) beat Dolan O’Malley in a 1-2 finish in the 100 butterfly, and Denis claimed the 100 breaststroke (1:03.43).

King, Denis, Arrowood and Dolan O’Malley took the 200 medley relay (1:42.88) while Antonuk, Judson O’Malley, Shinners and Fugle made up the winning quartet in the 400 freestyle relay (3:29.78).

“I was really happy for Zacha. He had a nice 200 IM and a good race. I thought Bubba’s really been swimming fast in his sprints. He keeps getting a little bit faster,” Heck said. “We had really good races. I think some of our three, four guys really pushed and we swam some events we haven’t swam in a while.”

The Hodags came in to the meet having won all 11 events the night before in a GNC double dual sweep at Tomahawk.

King (1:53.24) led a 1-2-3 sweep for the Hodags in the 100 freestyle with Denis and Dolan O’Malley. Fugle (22.81) edged Shinners for the win in the 50 freestyle and also took the 100 breaststroke (1:05.82) over Dolan O’Malley. 

Denis (57.87) and Judson O’Malley went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly; Arrowood (50.41) and King were first and second in the 100 freestyle; Judson O’Malley (59.06) beat Arrowood for the win in the 100 backstroke. Antonuk added wins for Rhinelander in the 200 individual medley (2:17.31) and the 500 freestyle (5:33.71). 

The team of Denis, Antonuk, Judson O’Malley and Arrowood (3:36.96) beat Chris Larson, King, Fugle and Shinners by 1.32 seconds in a 1-2 finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Judson O’Malley, Fugle, Arrowood and Shinners (1:46.09) claimed the 200 medley relay, while Dolan O’Malley, Antonuk, King and Denis were winners in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.05).

“It’s the last time some of these guys are going to swim some of these events and, some of them, the first time, they’ve swam these events all season,” Heck said. “With both ends, I was really pleased. We’re trying to figure out where everyone’s going to be the most successful and putting different combinations together. There’s a lot to prove, so we’re watching everything from relay splits to individual times.”

Rhinelander is scheduled to swim at home tonight in what now appears to be a non-conference dual against Tomahawk. D.C. Everest was also supposed to attend but withdrew from the meet late last week.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].