Hodag swimmers sweep Tomahawk

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team put on another dominant display Thursday night. The Hodags won all 11 events, sweeping the top two spots in 10 of them, as they rolled to a 135-31 victory over the Tomahawk Hatchets in Tomahawk.

The win, coupled with Colby/Abbotsford’s 109-59 loss to Medford, moved Rhinelander into sole possession of first place in the GNC (5-0), one dual up on both Medford and Colby/Abby (4-1). 

After some sluggish swims in a 119-50 victory the previous week over Lakeland, coach Jenny Heck said her team bounced back Thursday night on a night when the team’s toughest competition was itself. Four of the events were decided between Hodag teammates by a margin of 0.37 seconds or less. 

“I thought a lot of the girls were just mentally tough. Even though they were cold and really tight, it was hard to stay loose (because of the temperature of Tomahawk’s pool), I thought they performed really well,” coach Heck said. “We had quite a few girls that had a big second half of the meet. When they can finish that fourth event, that’s going to lead to good things at the end of season when you think you don’t have more in the tank, you realize that you do.”

Seven different Hodags won multiple events on Thursday, led by sophomores Vivian Lamers and June Chiamulera, who each went 4 for 4 on the night. 

Lamers led top three sweeps in both of her individual events. She won the 500-yard freestyle (5 minutes, 57.07 seconds) ahead of teammates Kiley Pooch and Kyree McMahon. She also won the 100 breaststroke (1:14.07) by 1.17 seconds over teammate Ellyse Younker, with Emma Houg taking third. 

“I was really pleased with our breaststrokers — Ellyse, Emma and Vivian. We’re working on the breaststroke,” coach Heck noted. “Even though Ellyse and Emma  don’t swim it a lot individually, it’s important in their IM. They’re working on a lot of changes they can make. That was really great to see. A lot of the things we’re working on at practice really showed through tonight.”

Chiamulera won the closest three-way race of the night, taking the 50 freestyle (26.54). Millie Gruett was second there and Pooch completed the sweep in third with the Hodag trio separated by just 0.25 seconds. Chiamulera also lead a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 backstroke (1:08.27) ahead of Ella Heck and Kyleigh Kennedy. 

Both Lamers and Chiamulera were on Rhinelander’s winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Emma Houg and Celia Francis joined the two on the 200 medley (1:59.45). Gruett and Ella Heck were part of the 400 freestyle relay (3:53.29) as Lamers held on to win a race to the wall by 0.26 seconds ahead of a hard-charging Francis. Rylee Mickevicius, Pooch and Lily Thorsen were also on the runner-up squad. 

Houg won the closest race of the night, as she edged Ella Heck by a mere 0.08 seconds in the 200 freestyle (2:09.91). Francis scored the win in the 200 individual medley (2:14.69) and the 100 butterfly (1:02.81). Younker edged Thorsen in the 100 freestyle (57.42) by 0.37 seconds. Younker, Houg, Gruett and Ella Heck made up the winning quartet in the 200 freestyle relay (1:46.84).

“Celia had a pretty solid meet,” coach Heck noted. “I was pleased with how she looked technically. It’s kind of coming together for her. That was good. At this point of the year, we’re just looking more on how they look in the water, how’s their technique and what are the things we can work on more than their times. That’s our big focus. They can get frustrated this time of year because the fatigue is starting to set in and we have to grind it out for a couple more weeks here.”

Thorsen added a runner-up win in the 200 IM while Mickevicius was second in the 100 butterfly and third in the IM. Thorsen, Younker, Pooch and Mickevicius made up the runner-up squad in the 200 medley relay and Gruett was third in the 100 freestyle. 

In JV action, McMahon took the 50 freestyle and Jordyn Kecker won the 200 freestyle. Kecker shaved more than 20 seconds off her personal best time in that event. 

The Hodags will have back-to-back home meets to round out the GNC dual meet season. Rhinelander hosts Mosinee this coming Thursday at the Heck Family Community Pool and will face Colby/Abbotsford at home Oct. 17. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].