Hodag swimmers post solid times in Everest pentathlon

The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team got its first taste of competition for the season Nov. 25 as it took part in the D.C. Everest Pentathlon.

There was no team score kept in the six-team meet. Individuals raced each other, and the clock, in a 50-yard race in each of the four core strokes plus a 100-yard individual medley to determine their overall times. 

The Hodags placed three swimmers in the top seven overall and had the top swimmer in the freshman, sophomore and junior classes. Rhinelander does not have a senior on the roster this season. 

“We just weren’t sure really what to expect. We’ve only had six days of practice and we’re just getting to know a lot of the newer swimmers, how they swim and how they perform,” coach Jenny Heck said. “We were, really, pleasantly surprised. We had some ideas, but I think they really came out strong and were ready to race, and swam really well against the competition — all the way from the freshman, sophomores and juniors.”

There weren’t many surprises at the top of the finishing order for the Hodags. The team’s three returning state qualifiers — sophomore Dean Gillingham, and juniors Judson O’Malley and Charlie Antonuk — were the three fastest overall for the team. 

Gillingham led the way. He was among the top three overall in three of the five events, and was the top sophomore in the field. His five-event cumulative time of 2 minutes, 45.17 seconds was second-fastest overall, behind only D.C. Everest senior Will Van Erman (2:32.96). 

O’Malley placed in the top six overall in all five events and was the top junior on the evening. His cumulative time of 2:47.99 was third-fastest overall. Antonuk was second among juniors, and seventh overall at 2:51.99.

“Those guys, they’re always racing each other and trying to beat each other, and having fun with it,” Heck said. “I knew they were gonna be pushing each other and that’s a little bit what I expected from them. It was just fun to see them coming back even stronger and faster.”

Kellen O’Malley, Judson’s younger brother, was the fastest freshman on the night. He finished 14th overall at 3:08.27. Fellow freshman Elias Simonsen was second in class and 19th overall (3:12.74) and Kaleb Lehmann was the fastest freshman in the breaststroke as the finished 29th overall (3:22.55). 

Especially for the underclassmen, Heck said last Tuesday’s race was a valuable data point as she evaluates the newer swimmers on the squad.

“Sometimes in practice you can see how they are in a stroke or two or but when you put them all together, it was really fun to see how well they were overall as swimmers, and that’s what’s fun about a pentathlon,” she said. “I knew by the 100 IM, the fifth event, we didn’t have the training behind us that we need to have but that will come and I think we saw all the things that we’re looking for though tonight.”

In individual events, Gillingham was the team’s top performer in the 50 breaststroke (2nd, 29.47), 100 IM (2nd, 58.13) and the 50 freestyle (5th, 23.88). He was also third overall in the 50 butterfly (25.76). Antonuk, who qualified for the state meet in the 100 butterfly last February, was second overall in that stroke on the night (25.62) and was also the team’s top finisher in the 50 backstroke (3rd, 27.06). 

Judson O’Malley tied for third in the 50 breaststroke (30.54), was fourth in the 50 backstroke (27.14) and fifth in both the 50 butterfly (25.87) and the 100 IM (1:00.10).

Chris Larson was 13th among juniors and 35th overall on the night (3:28.68). Daniel Meier (3:19.91), Matthew Wood (3:22.65), Broden Wagner (3:27.53) and Paul Denis (3:35.37), were sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth among sophomores. Meier took 25th overall, Wood was 30th, Wagner finished 33rd and Denis with 39th. 

All the sophomores and juniors who competed for Rhinelander improved on their cumulative time in the pentathlon compared to a season ago. Wood dropped the most, knocking more than 32 seconds off his time from 2024. Gillingham was seven seconds faster than last year, Judson O’Malley dropped just over eight seconds and Antonuk improved by a little more than five seconds. 

“We know they’ve been training really well and the boys, it’s fun to see them because they get bigger and stronger over a course of a year and we could really see that,” Heck said. “A lot of them have really grew or got stronger. They were in the weight room more and really came out strong.” 

Lehmann was the fifth-fastest freshman in 29th overall (3:22.55). Finn Thorsen was seventh among freshman and 37th overall (3:32.51). 

Twelve of Rhinelander’s 14 swimmers successfully completed all four strokes and the IM to get an overall pentathlon time. Freshman Espen McMahon competed in three events, with a best finish of 30th in the butterfly. Sophomore Konnor Bex, a first-year swimmer, competed in two events with a best finish of 86th in the backstroke. 

Rhinelander was one of two Great Northern Conference schools in the field. Shawano/Seymour had six swimmers complete all five events, led by sophomore Jonah Kuba in 17th (3:09.35). The Hodags open GNC dual meet play tonight at Shawano.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].