Still undisputed: Hodag swimmers sweep Lakeland in battle of GNC unbeatens

There is no doubt who the Great Northern Conference girls’ swimming favorite is following Thursday night. It is, as it has been since 2019, the Rhinelander Hodags.

Rhinelander put on a tour de force Thursday, winning all 11 events to knock off Lakeland 121-49 in a battle of the two remaining undefeated teams in conference play.

The win gave Rhinelander (5-0) the inside track on the conference title. Barring any unlikely slip-ups from here on out — Rhinelander has already defeated its four nearest pursuers in the conference standings — the Hodags will be firmly in control of their quest of a seventh straight GNC title by the time the conference meet rolls around in late October. 

“We just continued to have the show the depth tonight,” Hodag coach Jenny Heck said. “Our relays, A and B, (were strong). I was really impressed with our B and C relays — some great time drops, some real good races with Lakeland teams. We were glad to get to the wall first on some of those close races.”

Individually, the Hodags flexed their muscle with some big performances against Lakeland’s top swimmer, Olivia Mickle — who has been twice voted the conference’s swimmer of the year. 

Junior Rylee Mickevicius pulled away from Mickle over the final 200 yards to defeat the defending conference champ in the 500-yard freestyle soundly. Mickevicius got to the wall at 5 minutes, 40.88 seconds to win that event by more than 15 seconds. That was part of a four-win night for Mickevicius, who was on two winning relays and also claimed the 100 backstroke (1:07.09).

“Rylee had a fantastic meet today,” coach Heck said. “It was a personal best, all-time best in the 500, then coming right out and having a great 100 backstroke time and then to be on the 400 free relay. That’s not an easy second half of the meet. I was really happy to see that from her.”

    Rhinelander’s Vivian Lamers competes in the 100-yard breaststroke during a GNC girls’ swim dual meet against Lakeland at the Heck Family Community Pool Thursday, Sept. 18. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Vivian Lamers took the 100 breaststroke (1:10.87). Not only did she beat Mickle in the event, senior Emma Houg did too, edging Mickle to the wall by 0.01 seconds for the runner-up spot. 

“Those were big results,” coach Heck noted. “Olivia’s a fast swimmer. These girls have been training hard and they knew they’re up against the fast girls like Olivia, and they took on the challenge and did well. And there’s something about that want to fight for the win. And I think that’s what we have a lot of.”

Lamers was also a four-event winner for the Hodags on the night. She added the 200 individual medley to her win total (2:20.32) and was on the team’s winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. 

The Hodags flexed their muscle early in the meet, building a 47-15 lead by intermission thanks to a pair of 1-2-3 sweeps in the first four events. Houg (2:08.38), Millie Gruett and Aubree Edwardson claimed the top spots for the Hodags in the 200 freestyle while Lamers, Ella Heck and Kiley Pooch swept the top three in the IM. 

“When you can get 1-2-3s like that, that’s pretty solid swimming,” coach Heck said.

June Chiamulera added a win for the Hodags in the 50 freestyle (26.26) in what was the closest finish of the night. She beat Lakeland’s Haidyn Pfannerstill by 0.31 seconds for the victory. Ella Heck (1:05.04) edged Pooch by 0.59 seconds for the win in the 100 butterfly. Gruett (58.92) swam to a 0.80-second win over Pfannerstill in the 100 freestyle. 

The team of Pooch, Ella Heck, Mickevicius and Lamers opened the might with the win in the 200 medley relay (1:54.48) while Lamers, Pooch, Gruett and Heck took the 200 freestyle relay (1:45.54). Rhinelander claimed the top two spots in the 400 freestyle relay with the team of Chiamulera, Gruett, Mickevicius and Houg (4:00.23) getting the win over Lola Beach, Edwardson, Kyree McMahon and Maria Craig. 

Beach added a runner-up swim for the Hodags in the backstroke, Kyleigh Kennedy was third in the 50 freestyle, McMahon took third in the 100 butterfly and Chiamulera was third in the 500 freestyle.

“Overall, I’m just looking for drops, both in relays and individually. That’s about this lot of the second time we’ve been swimming in some of the events, so it’s good to see some growth and see that the work that we’re doing, the times are reflecting it,” coach Heck said. “Aubree Edwardson had a fantastic 10-second drop in the 200 free, Kiley Pooch had a strong performance with best times in both of her events and Lola Bach swam a quick 100 backstroke.”

Rhinelander traveled to Waukesha for an invite Saturday. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a recap of the meet and read a full report in the Friday, Sept. 26 edition of the River News.

The Hodags have the bye in GNC play this week and will not return to action until Oct. 2 when it travels to Ladysmith.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].