Hodag swimmers seek another sectional title, several state entries

Sectional Saturday is upon the Rhinelander High School girls’ swim team and, as its been the last several years, the goals for the start of the WIAA postseason are the same.

The Hodags are looking to lift their seventh straight sectional championship plaque and are trying to send as many entries as possible to next Friday’s WIAA Division 2 state meet in Waukesha. 

Rhinelander’s prospects are looking good in both regards as they get set for Saturday’s sectional meet in Rice Lake. The Hodags enter the day as whopping 126-point favorites over Rice Lake and, of Rhinelander’s 21 sectional entries, 16 are projected to move on to state. 

That information is based off of sectional psych sheets released by the WIAA Tuesday afternoon. The sheets provide the entry lists for every event in all four of Saturday’s D2 sectionals and their seed times in the events.

“It’s kind of what we anticipated, and now they just have to do the work, not worry about their seed, because it doesn’t matter,” Hodag coach Jenny Heck said Tuesday at practice after the psych sheets were released. “They just have to do it and they’ve all worked their tails off all season. Every single one of them have put in the work and the time. The hard work is really over. Now it’s just getting mentally prepared and ready to do what they’re meant to do.”

The 14 teams in the sectional field include all nine Great Northern Conference programs along with Black River Falls, Menomonie, Rice Lake, Wausau East and Wittenberg-Birnamwood. There will be multiple agendas in place for the Hodags, varying from entry to entry, during Saturday’s meet. For Rhinelander’s relays — and a number of its returning state qualifiers — the objective for Saturday will be to swim smart races and not do anything to jeopardize likely state bids. A handful of entries come in on or near the state bubble and will need to race hard to secure a spot, and there are a couple of underdogs who will be looking to race their way into the final 16 in each event with strong sectional performances. 

“That’s what’s tricky as far as just preparing them, both mentally and physically, getting them to swimming their best at the right time,” coach Heck said. “I spent a lot of time thinking about how to prepare each one of them to swim their the best, but I think they’re all looking fantastic. They’re we have to just keep everyone healthy and safe and on track. I think it’ll all just fall into place.” 

Here are five storylines going into Saturday’s meet, which will get underway at 1 p.m. at Rice Lake High School.

Looking good

    Rhinelander’s Ella Heck swims the breaststroke during the Great Northern Conference meet in Rice Lake Friday, Oct. 24. Heck enters as the top seed Saturday’s WIAA D2 sectional in the event and has the second-fastest time, statewide at 1:07.00. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

There are two ways swimmers can qualify for the state meet — either by winning an event at sectionals or by earning an at-large spot by posting one of the 12 fastest times statewide in event among those who didn’t win at sectionals.

The majority of Rhinelander’s entries have at least one of those criteria covered. Rhinelander is the top seed in the sectional in seven events going into tomorrow’s meet. That includes all three relays, which are all heavy favorites. The Hodags have the second-fastest time statewide in the 200-yard medley relay (1 minute, 51.23 seconds), are fourth fastest in the 200 freestyle relay (1:42.50) and third fastest in the 400 freestyle relay (3:45.99). The 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays appear to be near locks to win tomorrow, with gaps of 4.35 and 7.77 seconds, respectively to the second seeds in the sectional. Rhinelander enters as a 1.99-second favorite over Wittenberg-Birnamwood in the 200 freestyle relay, though the Chargers nearly upset the Hodags in that event last year, with the Rhinelander holding on for a 0.11-second victory.

“We had a lot of possibilities for our relays,” coach Heck said. “We played around with it a little bit, and I think that it’s a good lineup that we have for Saturday. It’s optimistic to see how we’re looking in the state, but everyone’s going to be swimming faster. Everyone drops time. We can’t be content because everyone here looks to swim their fastest of the season and we just have to swim a little bit faster to keep in our position.”

Individually, Vivian Lamers and Ella Heck are favored to win the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, respectively, and both have the second-fastest seed time statewide in their events. Lamers comes in at 54.20 in the 100 freestyle while Heck’s time is 1:07.00 in the breaststroke. Rylee Mickevicius is a nearly four-second favorite to win the sectional in the 200 freestyle (2:03.19) with a time that’s ninth-best in the state. 

There are several others who are not the top seed in the sectional, but have a seed times that are not only well inside the top 16 in the state, but faster than last year’s state qualifying time in their events. They include GNC swimmer of the year Emma Houg in the 200 individual medley (2nd in sectional/9th in state, 2:17.50), Lamers in the 50 freestyle (2nd/4th, 24.68), Millie Gruett (2nd/4th, 1:00.56) and Mickevicius (4th/10th, 1:01.94) in the 100 butterfly and Ella Heck in the 100 freestyle (3rd/9th, 55.66).

On the bubble

Rhinelander’s one projected sectional winner who may have to sweat it out a bit is freshman Lola Beach. With a seed time of 5:46.39, she enters as nearly a four-second favorite in the sectional over Rice Lake’s Delaina Bowen. However, a sectional title might be Beach’s only path to state in that event, as her time is 21st fastest in the state, 7.77 seconds behind 16th.

Others who currently hold a state qualifying spot, but have a seed time slower than last year’s state cut, include Houg (2nd/7th, 1:01.39) and Kiley Pooch (3rd/10th, 1:01.61) in the 100 backstroke and June Chiamulera (5th/12th, 56.65) in the 100 freestyle.

It could be a battle between Hodag teammates on the cutline in the 50 freestyle. Pooch currently holds the 16th and final qualifying spot in that event (25.98), with Gruett right behind her in 17th (26.07). Chiamulera is also right on the bubble in the 200 freestyle, seeded 17th statewide at 2:07.03, less than a second behind 16th.

“I want to see these girls who really are right on the verge getting in. It’s hard to be in that right on the edge position,” coach Heck said. “So if we can get those girls in, that would be awesome, get all the girls who are projected in, in. Then if we can have a few surprises, like I said, always makes for a fantastic sectionals.” 

First-time chances

    Rhinelander’s Ella Heck swims the breaststroke during the Great Northern Conference meet in Rice Lake Friday, Oct. 24. Heck enters as the top seed Saturday’s WIAA D2 sectional in the event and has the second-fastest time, statewide at 1:07.00. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The majority of Rhinelander’s sectional team already has multiple trips to state under its belt but, should the cards fall right, the Hodags could have one or two first-time qualifiers. Beach is looking to go as a freshman, though the 500 freestyle may be her best shot. She’s seeded well outside the cutline in the 200 freestyle.

Junior Kyree McMahon also has an outside chance of qualifying in both of her events. She’s currently seeded 20th in the state in the 200 individual medley (2:26.16) and 25th in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.60), but is less than two seconds out of 16th in both events. Beach is making her sectional debut, while McMahon is making her first appearance as a Hodag. She swam two events for Wisconsin Rapids as a freshman in 2023.

“That’s what’s been really great. The kids see these opportunities. They see that we have a place and they’ve been going for it,” coach Heck said. “They’ve been really working hard for a long time. When you have a change and you lose swimmers, that’s hard, but it gives other kids an opportunity that they might not have gotten. That’s fun and exciting and it brings a team together.” 

Been there, seen that

Saturday will mark Rhinelander’s second time in Rice Lake’s brand new natatorium. The first came back on Oct. 24 when it served as the venue for the Great Northern Conference championships that were hosted by Ladysmith. Though that meant an extra 50 minutes of driving, coach Heck said that the she didn’t mind the extra travel, and that conference was a valuable trip in preparation for sectionals.

“They were all really happy that they could picture it,” she said. “They tried to visualize their races, you know, the night before, before they go to bed, and it’s nice to be able to picture the place where they’re going to be swimming, the blocks, how the pool looks. So it was great. We really enjoyed the pool. It was a fast pool and I anticipate they’re just going to be ready and so even faster.” 

Early state projections

Assuming things go to plan on Saturday, the Hodags will be in position to keep alive their streak of five consecutive top-five finishes at the WIAA state meet and, perhaps, be in the hunt for their fourth trophy in Waukesha over the last six years. 

Based on the psych sheets, Rhinelander would be projected to finish fourth at the WIAA state meet, but could be locked in a tight three-way battle for the runner-up spot. Madison Edgewood, which edged the Hodags for the silver trophy last year, is currently projected second at 246 points, followed closely by Shorewood at 226 and Rhinelander at 220. There’s a big gap between the Hodags and fifth-place Kohler (118).

Whitefish Bay, which dominated last year’s state meet, is projected to do so again. The Blue Dukes currently hold the state’s best mark in nine of the 12 events and are currently 148-point favorites over Edgewood to win the state title.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].