Team preview: RHS girls’ swimming

To be sure, there are some heavy hitters gone from last year’s squad for the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team. But, with seven returning state qualifiers and a roster full of experience, there is plenty of opportunity for the Hodags to maintain their status as one of the top Division 2 programs in the state.

It are those opportunities that the Hodags are relishing as they begin their march toward Waukesha at the state meet in the middle of November. The trek begins Thursday with the season-opening Merrill Relays. 

“It’s an opportunity for many of these kids (to say), ‘Hey, now I might get an event sectionals. I might get a relay spot,’” coach Jenny Heck said. “But it’s going to be a fight because there’s a lot of fast girls on this team who want a spot and who really haven’t been given the opportunity to be on relays or maybe have four events at state that really could. I think they’re ready to push each other and see how far they can go.”

Rhinelander has some big shoes to fill after losing three qualifiers from a squad that placed third at state a year ago. 

A couple of those losses were expected as seniors and team captains Lily Thorsen and Ellyse Younker graduated. One was not expected as Celia Francis, the two-time defending state champ in the 200-yard individual medley, transferred out of the state. 

All three were versatile swimmers for the Hodags and swam four-event programs at state. They made up three-fourths of Rhinelander’s state runner-up 200 medley relay squad. Francis added a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke, Younker was fourth at state in the 100 butterfly, Thorsen took seventh in the 100 breaststroke and all three made it to state in the 200 IM.

“It’s going to be a huge change, and, sometimes you look at what’s going to happen. Are the seniors and people you lose, is your program over or does that motivate you to do better? I think that’s what’s going to happen,” coach Heck said.

The cupboard is far from bare for the Hodags. Five of the seven returning state qualifiers stood on the podium in Waukesha in at least one event and all seven have plenty of talent. 

That group includes the two seniors on the squad — Millie Gruett and Emma Houg. Gruett was part of a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay at state last year and also qualified in the 100 butterfly, placing 13th. Houg qualified for state last year in the 200 IM, taking 14th. She previously qualified for state in the 500 freestyle, having won sectionals in that event in 2023.

    In this Nov. 9, 2024 file photos Rhinelander’s Vivian Lamers looks toward the scoreboard after edging Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Reese Dickman to the wall for the win in the 200-yard freestyle relay during a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Menomonie. Lamers, who scored four podium finishes last year at the WIAA D2 state meet, is one of seven returning swimmers who qualified for state for the Hodags last season. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Behind them are a quintet of juniors who swam in Waukesha last year. Vivian Lamers finished on the podium in all four of her events. She was fourth, individually, in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 50 freestyle. She was also part of the team’s runner-up finish in the 400 freestyle relay and third-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay.

Ella Heck made the podium individually in the 100 breaststroke, taking fifth. She added a 10th-place swim in the 50 freestyle and was on the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. 

Rylee Mickevicius returns after a breakout sophomore campaign that saw her take fifth in the 100 butterfly in her state meet debut. She also added a 12th-place finish in the 200 freestyle. Kiley Pooch returns after taking 14th in the 100 backstroke and June Chiamulera returns after swimming in the 400 freestyle relay.

“We have a huge junior class. Half our team are juniors. We’re going to have those girls with their experience fill in,” Heck noted. “Seniors, we got great leadership with Millie and Emma — not only leadership qualities, they’ve been at state for all their three years. So they’re going to be ready for to know what to do.

“I think they have so much state experience and club experience and swimming experience in their life. And I think that they’re really motivated.

Junior Kyree McMahon returns after scoring sixth in the 200 IM at conference last year. Sophomores Maria Craig and Kyleigh Kennedy round out the list of returning swimmers. 

The Hodags welcome three freshmen into the fold with Lola Beach, Aubree Edwardson and Hailey Novak. All three come into the program with previous experience with the Rhinelander Swim Club and the James Williams Middle School girls’ swim team. 

“They have that middle school experience was just really great. (Coaches) Brent (Olson) and Heather Beach have done a tremendous job with them. They’ve had Megan (Cihla), who has done a great job at the club level. They all have experience coming in,” coach Heck said. 

The Hodags enter this season seeking their seventh straight GNC girls’ swim title as well as a seventh consecutive D2 sectional title. The field for sectionals remains virtually unchanged from last year but the GNC has a ninth member this season as Merrill comes in from the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Bluejays figure to add depth to the conference after finishing in the top six at sectionals each of the last three years. 

“We know some of their swimmers, but, I think it’s good for the conference. I think it keeps Northern Wisconsin swimming, good, competitive, fast,” coach Heck said. “I love the competition. I never shy away from it. Of course, I always want to win conference and keep that going as long as possible, but you can’t ever shy away competition in competition.”

Rhinelander should get an early gauge on the rest of the GNC in Thursday’s opener in Merrill — with eight of the nine conference schools scheduled to appear in the relay-only meet. Medford is the lone exception and the Hodags are scheduled to see the conference runner-up Raiders at a meet in Menomonie on Saturday. 

The Hodags will then welcome in 10 teams for a revamped Hodag Relays on a new date, Wednesday, Aug. 27, before entering the heart of the GNC schedule. 

Rhinelander will have non-conference invites sprinkled in throughout September. The Hodags moved the day of their invite so they could head to Brookfield East Sept. 13. Rhinelander will go toe the Waukesha South Invite Sept. 20 and the Fond du Lac Invite Oct. 4.

“We’re going down Brookfield, where (Madison) Edgewood and us are the only D2 teams,” coach Heck said. “We’re going to get probably beat by a lot. But you know what? It’s a little taste of humble pie. It’s good to see that there’s fast kids out there, but also that we can compete, that we’re out there, we belong out there.”

Madison Edgewood edged Rhinelander for the runner-up spot at state last year, but Heck said pretty much everyone will likely be chasing Whitefish Bay again. The Blue Dukes won seven events last year to win the D2 state crown and are slated to return most of that squad.

“I think Whitefish Bay is going to be — if they have everyone returning and I think they are — they’re going to be untouchable,” coach Heck said. “Matter of fact, they could be like right up there with the fastest D1 teams this year. They’re just that fast. They’re just an incredible squad. I think they’re going to be in the league of their own. Then after that, it’s going to be a race for second, third, fourth, fifth. So we’ll see what happens.”

Regardless of how the Hodags fare in the postseason, coach Heck said the goal will be have the team swimming reaching its full potential by season’s end.

“Sometimes that might mean you might get 10th at state, it might means you win state, but if you can make the most out of that group and they know it, we know it, and there’s nothing better than seeing kids reach their full potential,” she said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected]. 

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent/Event    Time

8/21    Merrill Invite    5 p.m.

8/23    Menomonie Invite    10 a.m.

8/27    HODAG INVITE    11 a.m.

9/4    ANTIGO*, MEDFORD*(double dual)    5:30 p.m.

9/9    MOSINEE, SPASH (double dual)    5:30 p.m.

9/11    Colby/Abbotsford* at Tomahawk* (double dual)    5:30 p.m.

9/13    Brookfield East Invite    9 a.m.

9/18    LAKELAND*    5:30 p.m.

9/20    Waukesha South Invite    11:45 a.m.

10/2    at Ladysmith*    5:30 p.m.

10/4    Fond du Lac Invite    10 a.m.

10/9    at Mosinee*    5:30 p.m.

10/16    MERRILL*    5:30 p.m.

10/24    GNC Meet at Rice Lake (hosted by Ladysmith)*    5 p.m.

11/8    Sectionals at Rice Lake    10 a.m.

* Conference meets | HOME MEETS IN CAPS