Experience, improvement objectives for Hodag swimmers at tonight’s state meet

It’s the same objective this year for the Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team as it prepares for the WIAA Division 2 state championships tonight in Waukesha, even if the ends to its means are a bit different.

The Hodags won’t be in contention for a team trophy at state, like it did when it won the state championship in 2023 or came home runners up each of the last two years. With nine entries competing in Waukesha, the Hodags are projected to finish ninth tonight in the team standings, based on qualifying times from last weekend’s sectionals. 

Coach Jenny Heck said the lack of pressure, however, may work to the Hodags’ advantage as they try to make their way onto the podium in a number of their events. 

“I think the guys, the three individual qualifiers, feel more relaxed this year than they have in the past,” she said. “They’re a year older, but also they don’t have that pressure that they have to do a certain time, to get a certain place for the overall team. That is a lot of pressure. Although it would be nice to be in that position, I think it’s kind of an easier preparation process, because you can just go out and attack.”

Those three individual qualifiers — juniors Judson O’Malley and Charlie Antonuk, and sophomore Dean Gillingham — all return with prior state meet experience. All three will be swimming four-event programs tonight. 

They’ll be joined by five first-timers — junior Chris Larson, sophomores Daniel Meier and Matthew Wood and freshmen Kellen O’Malley and Elias Simonsen — who earned a spot through Rhinelander’s three qualifying relay entries. 

Judson O’Malley said this year will definitely be different, but a valuable experience for a team that does not have a single senior on the roster. 

“Going back there with a much different group and a much younger group, it’ll be good experience for all of us and to just see what we can do as a team and how we can improve for next year,” he said.

Here are five storylines for the Hodags going into tonight’s meet.

Podium aspirations

    Rhinelander’s Dean Gillingham competes in the 100-yard breaststroke during a WIAA Division 2 boys’ swimming sectional meet in Rice Lake Saturday, Feb. 14. Gillingham enters tonight’s WIAA D2 state meet in Waukesha as the fourth-fastest qualifier in the breaststroke and is one of several Hodags vying for a podium finish at state. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

For Rhinelander’s individual qualifiers, the goal tonight will be to improve on their qualifying times, move up the running order and, perhaps, earn a top-six finish and a spot on the podium.

Gillingham enters the meet with the best chance to make the podium. He’s seeded fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke following his runner-up finish at sectionals in Rice Lake last Saturday with a time of 1 minute, 0.18 seconds. It will likely be a battle between he and Notre Dame/Southern Door’s Jack Monfils (59.30) for third. Stoughton’s Gavin Reiser enters as the favorite after posting a 56.25-second qualifying time at sectionals. Port Washington’s Charlie Prince is seeded second (57.96). 

In addition to trying to beat Monfils in a rematch of last weekend’s sectional race, Gillingham has a specific time in mind — 58.98. That’s the Rhinelander High School varsity record set by Shawn Denis at state two years ago. 

“I wasn’t tapered at sectionals that much,” Gillingham said. “And I think being tapered, one of my really big goals is to get the varsity record in the 100 breast, which is a 58.98. I would really like to get that, but even just a small time drop is great.”

Additionally, Gillingham will look to podium in the 200-yard individual medley. He’s seeded sixth in that event (2:01.28), with a roughly a second of a buffer both in front of him and behind him. Gillingham finished eighth in both the IM and the breaststroke last year as a freshman. 

Both Antonuk and Judson O’Malley will have to drop some time to get on the podium in their events. O’Malley is seeded ninth in both the IM and the 100 backstroke. That means he’ll be swimming in Lane 4 as the top seed in the first heat in both events.

“I definitely want to win both of my events and, just have the mindset that there’s still people in front of me,” he said. “Even if I’m in front, there’s still a second heat, so I can’t just settle for ninth. I have to keep pushing myself, no matter what.”

Antonuk is seeded eighth in the 100 butterfly and 10th in the backstroke. Parker Bohm of Ashwaubenon, who beat Antonuk for the sectional title in the butterfly last Saturday, currently sits on the podium bubble in that event, qualified in sixth.

“I’m excited to get back down there. It’s a bigger pool and a lot of competition, which really drives my motivation to do well,” Antonuk said. “I really want to get a faster time again, and I’ll be, fully tapered, so that’s good. I also want to beat the Ashwaubenon guy (Bohm) that was next to me and beat me at the sectional meet.”

Backstroke battle

    Rhinelander’s Charlie Antonuk, bottom, and Judson O’Malley, top, battle for the win in the 100-yard backstroke with Notre Dame’s Quinn Collison, center, during a WIAA Division 2 boys’ swimming sectional meet in Rice Lake Saturday, Feb. 14. O’Malley and Antonuk will start side-by-side in the first heat of the backstroke tonight in the WIAA D2 state meet in Waukesha. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Judson O’Malley and Antonuk will start side-by-side in the first heat of the backstroke and will look to set the pace in that event. Antonuk led most of the way at sectionals in the backstroke, only to be caught and passed by both O’Malley and Notre Dame’s Quinn Collison over the final 15 yards. 

While the two juniors admit to a bit of a friendly rivalry, both said they are eager to take what they learned from the sectional race and apply it to tonight’s race. 

“Knowing that (Charlie’s) gonna go fast in the first 50, I just have to understand that that’s gonna happen. I can’t freak out and just rely on my training for the back-half swim,” O’Malley said.

Countered Antonuk, “I’m gonna really focus on working on my back half and my underwater is on my last 25, just to really get my last little push to beat Judson.”

Relay hopes

The Hodags spread out their three returning state qualifiers among their three relays at sectionals in an effort to get all three into the field. That strategy worked as the Hodags come in seeded eighth in the 200 medley relay (1:43.62), 10th in the 200 freestyle really (1:33.54) and 13th in the 400 freestyle relay (3:28.71). 

With two alternates per relay, teams are not locked into the same lineups they used for sectionals when they race at state. Heck said she’s hoping to use that fact to her advantage tonight. 

“We’re gonna put those guys together for the fastest (combination and) try to get on the podium on those relays. If we can podium a couple relays, that would be amazing,” she said. “We have three guys with a lot of experience, and then we have to have a fourth on there with new experience. So that’s great for them. Then we’ll have another relay that’s just going for a great experience, and another chance to swim even faster than they did last weekend.”

The newbies

    Rhinelander’s Daniel Meier swims a leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay during a WIAA Division 2 boys’ swimming sectional meet in Rice Lake Saturday, Feb. 14. Meier, a sophomore, will be one of five Hodags competing at the WIAA D2 state meet for the first time tonight, when it takes place in Waukesha. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Rounding out the relay lineups will be a quintet of swimmers who will be competing at the Waukesha South Natatorium for the first time. 

That moment will be especially poignant for Larson, who is the eldest of the five first-timers. 

“I feel kind of energized. I wanted to go for the past two years, so now that I can finally go, it’s a crazy feeling. I’m very excited,” he said.

Larson admitted it’s a moment he couldn’t have pictured two years ago when he came in as an inexperienced freshman, who joined as way to get in better shape.

“Not to sound super self-deprecating, but … I was so slow, and I was really fat. So I didn’t think I’d ever make it, you know,” he said. “I’m just very happy, to say the least. I’m so happy.”

Wood said it’s a bit of a pinch me moment as he competes in the same pool as some of his Hodag idols. 

“Going to state was always my dream. Ever since last year, my freshman year, I remember seeing all the seniors swimming, and they all looked like super heroes, seriously. They were all so big and strong, and they just went so fast, and I can’t believe that I’m going there now,” he said. “And someday, I’m gonna have to take their role. I’m gonna be one of the big guys.”

Kellen O’Malley has watched three older siblings compete at the state meet, and will get his turn tonight in a pair of relays.

“I’m super excited. It’s a great opportunity, knowing that since we don’t have as many older people on the team, it’s a good opportunity for us. If we had a bunch of seniors, we probably wouldn’t get this opportunity. So I’m super excited,” he said. “I’m hoping to swim really fast and just enjoy the experience with my teammates, who it’s all our first time on that relay, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing that with my teammates.”

Eye toward the future

The Hodags enter tonight’s meet with an eye on experience, rather than a trophy. Whitefish Bay is poised to unseat two-time defending state champ McFarland, projected as 308-224 favorites over the Spartans going into tonight. The Blue Dukes are looking to hold both the boys’ and girls’ D2 state championships consecutively — a feat last accomplished by the Hodags when they won both titles in 2023. 

Rhinelander is in a pack of teams that includes The Prairie School, Shorewood and Chilton who will likely be jockeying for positions 7-10 in the final standings, based on the sectional results. Twenty-nine teams will have representation at tonight’s meet.

“You’d like to be in that running for a trophy at the state meet, but we’re not in that position this year, and we knew that was gonna be happening. Start of the year, I was hoping we could be in the top 10 and we knew it was going to be a rebuilding-type year,” Heck said. 

Instead, the Hodags hope to use tonight as a learning experience to come back stronger next season, when the core of the team is one year older. 

“This year is getting that experience, getting set up for continued great things,” Heck said. “You want great things to happen, it doesn’t happen overnight, as we all know. We’re setting ourselves up to do all those little things that we’re gonna set us up for greatness — maybe not all gonna happen on Friday night, but maybe in the next year or two.”

Tonight’s meet gets underway at 5:30 p.m. and can be streamed on the subscription-based WIAA.tv portal of the NFHS Network.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].