Glory’s last shot

Regardless of how things shake out tonight at the WIAA Division 2 state meet, the seniors on this year’s Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team will leave as some of the most decorated swimmers in Hodag history.

While Mathias Fugle is the only one of the quartet to have stood on the top step of the podium in an individual event — as part of the championship-winning 200-yard freestyle relay back in 2023 — the success this group has had, collectively, hasn’t been rivaled since the 1960s. 

After placing third in the team standings as freshmen in 2022, most were part of the Hodags’ lone state title in 2023 and all were on deck last year when the Hodags came home second. 

Rhinelander figures to be in contention once again this year, projected only 25 points behind defending champ McFarland going into tonight’s meet (see sidebar). Another trophy — either gold or silver — would be Rhinelander’s longest string of success since the late 1960s, when the Hodags had a string of four straight runner-up finishes from 1965-1968. 

Just don’t ask Fugle, Shawn Denis, Dolan O’Malley and Samson Shinners to reflect on their Hodag legacies just yet. There’s still one final chapter to be written. 

“I haven’t really thought about it at all,” Fugle said. “It’s not something that concerns me going into a meet. It’s all about the team and doing my best for them.”

The seniors’ swan song sets the stage tonight as the state’s best Division 2 swimmers descend on the Waukesha South Natatorium to settle the state title. Hodag head coach Jenny Heck, who has watched this group from some of its first laps in the water with the Rhinelander Swim Club to now, knows just how special this group has been. 

“It’s kind of weird to think that this will be their last meet,” she said. “Actually, I haven’t thought about it much. There’s been so much focus on each day, keeping everyone going and doing the right things at the right time.

“I really count on their leadership and their experience to help the younger guys get through this because it’s newer venue for them. They haven’t had that much experience and they do really rely on that experience from the others,” Heck added.

The seniors make up four of the seven Hodags who will be in the water tonight. They’re joined by sophomores Judson O’Malley and Charlie Antonuk, and freshman Dean Gillingham. Together, the seven will make up 15 entries as Rhinelander tries to track down McFarland for the state title. 

The Spartans won seven events last year en route to a landslide victory. This year figures to be much closer, but Heck said she doesn’t want her team counting points tonight. The key will be to swim fast and let the points take care of themselves.

“I told those guys, don’t think about McFarland. They’re going to do what they’re going to do. Just try to maintain your spot or move up,” she said. “That’s what we need to focus on, not what other people are going to do. We can’t control how fast some guys are going to go. Some guys didn’t swim that fast at sectionals and are going to drop a lot to their best times. We’re aware of that. We should just do our own thing, and that’s try to beat someone, or maintain our place — and that’s going to be a challenge in itself.”

Here are five key storylines going into the meet.

Feeling better?

Rhinelander was still able to qualify almost every entry it expected to make it to state last week at sectionals despite not being fully rested and, in some cases, not at 100% from a health standpoint. 

“I was sick at sectional, so I’m hoping to, go move up a lot, take top six, definitely in both of those events and seed a little better similar to what I was going into sectionals,” said Shinners, who swims individually in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

That showed as a few entries added time compared to their seeds going into sectionals. Heck said she’s optimistic that the bug that has gone through some team members will have run its course by tonight. That, plus an end-of-season taper, could yield some big time drops. 

“Maybe it does make you feel a little bit better knowing we have room to improve, and that definitely does,” she said. “There’s been many years where we’ve been fully tapered at sectionals and, you know, probably it was going to be difficult to maintain that. This year, we’re really in a good position where they should be all able to drop some more time. That’s a great position to be in, and that’s what every coach’s goal is at some point is to get that where you’re not struggling just to maintain that taper for another week.”

Relay important

Because relays count for double points, how Rhinelander fares in those three events may go a long way in determining who walks away with the gold trophy. 

McFarland is currently the top seed in all three relays and holds a projected 120-96 edge over Rhinelander in those three events. Rhinelander is seeded second in both the 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle relays, and fifth in the 400 freestyle relay. The closest battle between the two is in the 200 free relay, where McFarland’s qualifying time was only 0.13 seconds faster than Rhinelander’s. Flipping the result there, maintaining in the medley and picking up spots in the 400 free relay could be significant in the Hodags’ path to pick up 25 points. 

Heck cautioned that the relays can be a wild card, because teams have some flexibility in who swims those events and in which order, and the final call might not be made until a few minutes before the event. 

“You don’t know how people are going to move their relays around. We’ve done it, other teams do it, you can move them around last-minute, so I said to the guys, don’t freak out if all of a sudden, you look behind the blocks and someone else is behind there that you’re not anticipating because you never know,” she said. “McFarland’s really solid in their relays, but they’re going to have a hard time putting together three really fast relays. So we’re going to try to do our best and see where that shakes out. We’ve had good success in the past with our relays, but it’s going to be tough. There are a lot of really close seeds, and it could be a first, you could be a third in just a matter of a fingertip.”

Podium hunters

    Rhinelander’s Shawn Denis competes in the 100-yard breaststroke during a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Ashwaubenon Saturday, Feb. 15. Denis, who qualified seventh for the state meet in the event is looking for another podium finish after placing fifth at state last year. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Depth is Rhinelander’s ally tonight. All 15 of Rhinelander’s entries are seeded ninth or better in their events. Thirteen of those 15 will be swimming from the final heat, which is reserved for the top eight qualifiers. 

The top six finishers in each event make the podium. In addition to the three relays, the Hodags are seeded in a podium spot with Gillingham, (sixth 200 IM, sixth 100 breaststroke), Denis (third 50 freestyle), Fugle (fourth 100 freestyle), Shinners (sixth 100 freestyle) and Judson O’Malley (sixth 100 backstroke). 

Additionally Shinners is seeded eighth in the 200 freestyle, Dolan O’Malley is eighth in the 200 IM, Fugle is eighth in the 50 freestyle and Denis is seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Every place those entries can gain is another point in the Hodags’ coffer. 

“The goal is for these guys to get as many podium finishes as we can for those seniors, and then the other guys to get as many top eight or as close to it at whatever point they can sneak out with that would be great,” Heck said. “I mean, every little point is going to matter.”

Brotherly battle

Brothers Judson and Dolan O’Malley will both be vying for the podium in the 100 backstroke though — unlike sectionals when they finished 1-2 — they will not be competing in the same heat. Judson’s No. 6 qualifying time put him in the final heat while Dolan’s ninth qualifying time has him as the fastest swimmer in the opening heat.

“Being sixth is pretty great, you know, fastest heat, right next to the fastest guys in the state,” Judson O’Malley said. “You know, my plan is just to, you know, get podium top six, move up if I can. I know that the guys are going be hard to catch, but, you know, just find a guy in front of you and try to beat him.”

Dolan O’Malley hopes the second heat will also have to contend with whatever time he puts down in the opening heat. 

“It’d be nice to swim next to Judson, but you know, I didn’t perform well at sectionals, so, I mean, it is what it is,” Dolan O’Malley said. “I’m looking to drop a good time and hopefully get on that podium. Hopefully we can podium, me and Judson together, even though we can’t swim next to each other.” 

Cementing the legacy

Though the seniors did not yet want to think about the end of their high school careers, Dolan O’Malley said one more trophy to display in the RHS trophy case would be a sweet way to end his time as a Hodag. 

“That’d mean a lot. This senior group has been the strongest class that Rhinelander’s ever had. I mean, we got third, our freshman year, that was our worst place, so to leave this program with most of us bringing home three state trophies, that’d be just amazing,” he said. “This team is one of the fastest I’ve ever been a part of. The only one that comes close is my sophomore year when we won. We have more guys than I’ve ever had on a swim team, and all of these guys are great guys. They push each other to swim faster and work for the team. It’s really cool because we have some really fast guys this year and yet, at the same time, we got some good depth and a bright future for the Rhinelander swim team.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].