Hodag swimmers rout Medford, take 7th in Waukesha

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team left no doubt Thursday it is once again the team to beat the Great Northern Conference. Two days later, the Hodags showed that they will likely still be very competitive on the state stage as they look to defend their WIAA Division 2 state championship.

The Hodags won all 11 events Thursday as they downed last year’s GNC runner-up Medford 125-45 in a conference dual meet at the Heck Family Community Pool. Rhinelander followed that up by coming home as the high-placing Division 2 program Saturday as it finished seventh overall in the Blackshirt Invite at Waukesha South High School.

“I think our goals were accomplished and, if not, we know what we need to do better for next time,” Hodag coach Jenny Heck said Saturday after wrapping up a long weekend of travel and racing. 

Using exceptional depth, Medford nearly upset the Hodags during the early-season Menomonie Relays. The Raiders, aided by multiple scoring B-relays and a Rhinelander disqualification, finished runner-up only two points behind the Hodags. 

In a standard dual format that put greater emphasis on raw speed as opposed to roster size, the Hodags excelled. 

Rhinelander quickly quashed any Medford inklings of an upset by sweeping the top two spots in the opening 200-yard medley relay. That was followed by top three sweeps in the next three events — the 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle — as Rhinelander built a whopping 51-11 lead at the break. 

The Hodags finished the night going 1-2 in nine of the 11 events and sweeping the top three spots in five of the eight individual races. 

“I wasn’t looking at the points,” coach Heck said. “At this point, I’m focused on technique, focused on times and focused on what our end goal is. Our end goal, we have a long way to go, but we’re chipping away at it. 

“We didn’t know how tonight would pan out. We were really tired and working hard in the pool and the weight room. We put together a lineup that was a little bit interesting. We wanted to get the kids in some events they haven’t had a chance to swim yet and I think we saw a lot of success all around. I’m really happy about some wins in some close races, kids really racing. It was fun.”

Rhinelander had nine different swimmers reach the winner’s circle on Thursday, led by senior Ellyse Younker who was a winner in all four of her events. She took the 200 freestyle (2 minutes, 4.13 seconds), the 100 freestyle (55.51) and was on the Hodags’ winning 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams. 

“Ellyse had kind of a breakthrough meet with her freestyle today,” coach Heck noted. “That was fun to watch. We were looking for that. That was really good.” 

Senior Lily Thorsen and sophomore Rylee Mickevicius each won two individual events. Thorsen edged teammate Celia Francis to the wall by 0.01 seconds to win the 50 freestyle (26.05) and added a win in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.15). She was also on the winning 200 medley relay team. Mickevicius took the win in both the 100 butterfly (1:02.51) and the 100 backstroke (1:05.10).

“I’m really happy with Rylee. She’s working hard and having a really good season, just dropping (time),” coach Heck noted. “This is what we need. We need a lot of kids to step up now. We miss a lot from last year, our graduated seniors. We don’t have that one superstar to replace. We’re just going to have to form a group of swimmers that can build a lot of points. That’s the goal.”

June Chiamulera added a win in the 200 individual medley (2:24.09), edging teammate Ella Heck by 0.35 seconds in that event. Francis claimed the 500 freestyle (5:57.43). 

Emma Houg, Vivian Lamers, Thorsen and Ella Heck made up the winning quartet in the 200 medley relay (1:55.25); Heck, Younker, Chiamulera and Millie Gruett won the 200 freestyle relay (1:44.17); Lamers, Younker, Francis and Gruett won the 400 freestyle relay (3:48.53).

“We’re looking at getting faster and faster each time we swim a certain event,” coach Heck noted. “We’re keeping track of personal-best times, season-best times, splits … We had 33 season-best times. We’re going the right direction. We’re trying to get faster and faster and work on some specifics.”

The win moved Rhinelander to 3-0 in GNC duals, tied with Colby/Abbotsford for the conference lead. 

Blackshirt Invite

    Rhinelander’s Ella Heck swims the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard individual medley during a GNC girls’ swimming dual meet against Medford at the Heck Family Community Pool Thursday, Sept. 19. Heck finished ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Blackshirt Invite in Waukesha on Saturday as the Hodags took seventh in a 18-team meet that included six of last year’s top eight teams in Division 1. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags were tested Saturday in a field with a number of strong Division 1 programs from the southern half of the state in Waukesha — where the team will return in less than two months’ time to defend its D2 crown. 

Though the Hodags finished seventh this year, compared to third in this event a year ago, coach Heck said she was pleased by the results. 

“Last year we were third but we, with Abi (Winnicki) and Karis (Francis), had some more points with some of those top finishes,” she said. “Without them, I thought in my head, let’s go for a top 10. We got seventh. I was really pleased. Our relays did really well.”

Rhinelander got on the podium three times with top-eight finishes during the meet. The Hodags scored with five additional entries as points were paid out to the top 16 finishers in each event. 

In particular, the Hodags did well with their relays, taking seventh in both the 200 medley and 400 freestyle. Francis, Ella Heck, Younker and Thorsen made up the quartet in the 200 medley relay (1:51.78) while Younker, Chiamulera, Francis and Lamers swam the 400 freestyle relay (3:45.46). 

The Hodags added a 10th-place swim in the 200 freestyle relay with Thorsen, Chiamulera, Ella Heck and Lamers (1:42.78).

Francis scored the top individual finish, coming home eighth in the 100 backstroke (58.84). She added an 11th-place swim in the 200 IM (2:14.68). 

Younker took ninth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.76), Ella Heck was ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.60) and Lamers took 12th in the 50 freestyle (25.44). 

“Our relays were all top 10 and we had some top 16s,” coach Heck said. “We had some of those points in there. Then we had a handful of girls in that 19th, 20th, 21st (range), which is still really good and will serve us well at the end of the season. They had some good drops and great racing.”

Middleton and Verona — the top two teams in last year’s D1 state meet — finished 1-2 on Saturday. The field included six of last year’s top eight teams in D1.

Rhinelander was the top D2 team ahead of Madison Edgewood, which was third at state last year and 12th on Saturday. 

“We come down here in the hopes of swimming our hardest, but it’s all in prep for the state meet Nov. 15. I think that was our biggest focus, just mentally and get ourselves ready,” coach Heck said. “I thought it was a really successful weekend. 

The Hodags are back in action this Thursday as they travel to Minocqua to face Lakeland in GNC action.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].