Hodag swimmers take eighth at state

The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team scored a pair of podium finishes and took eighth place overall out of 29 qualifying teams Friday at the WIAA Division 2 state meet in Waukesha.

The Hodags had nine entries at state, two of which reached the podium with top-six finishes in their events. Sophomore Dean Gillingham finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke and the Hodags scored a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

It was Rhinelander’s lowest finish at state since 2021, when it placed ninth. Still — considering this year’s squad didn’t have any seniors and featured five first-time state qualifiers — coach Jenny Heck said it was a successful night for the team. 

“Eighth was great,” she said. “There were years nobody qualified for state. The part I enjoyed most is watching the growth of each swimmer in and out of the pool. This unique group of swimmers brought an energy and joy which was challenging yet very rewarding. The coaches are very proud of what this group has learned and applied to make them not only better athletes but better people — the ultimate goal.” 

Gillingham, who missed two days of practice due to illness leading into the state meet, still turned in a pair of strong showings in his events. Though he missed the podium in the 200-yard individual medley, he broke the two-minute mark in a seventh-place finish (1:59.69). He came back with a third-place showing in the breaststroke. Though he fell just short of Shawn Denis’s school record of 58.98 seconds, his time of 59.46 made him just the third swimmer in school history to break the 1-minute mark in the event. 

“I think that the second half of his races weren’t quite what Dean style of fast. I think that did take a little bit out of them being ill this week, but to swim that fast still with going through what he did, I thought was just fantastic,” Heck said. “Another guy all with all his strokes under a minute is great to have and to get those big marks of under 2 minutes and under one minute in both of his events are huge markers and great things to be proud of. He swam great incredible splits as well.”

Gillingham also had the third-fastest split in the breaststroke portion of the 200 medley relay, helping the Hodags reach the podium in that event. He was joined by the Hodags’ two other returning state qualifiers, juniors Charlie Antonuk and Judson O’Malley, along with freshman Kellen O’Malley, as the quartet came home fourth (1:39.58). That matched the team’s finish in the event last season. 

“We were really thrilled about that. Fourth place is really awesome. That’s what we were last year with, with a group who were second place overall at state. So we were thrilled with that,” Heck said. 

Rhinelander loaded its 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays in an effort to move up in both events. The Hodags moved from seventh to fourth in the medley and from 10th to seventh in the freestyle. That squad, consisting of Judson O’Malley, Antonuk, Gillingham and freshman Elias Simonsen posted a time of 1:30.34, missing the podium by 0.47 seconds. 

“The 200 free really was also really good. We were hoping to be in the top six in that one too, but we moved up from, what were we 10th or something? That was a bump too,” Heck said.

Judson O’Malley finished eighth in both of his individual events, swimming well out of the first heat. He finished right behind Gillingham in the 200 IM (2:00.30) and went 54.14 in the backstroke only a few minutes after swimming the opening leg of the 200 freestyle relay. 

    Rhinelander junior Charlie Antonuk swims in the 100-yard butterfly during the WIAA Division 2 state boys swimming and diving championships at Waukesha South Friday, Feb. 20. Antonuk finished 10th in the event. (Dave Ratcliffe/Waukesha Freeman)
  

Antonuk came home 10th in the 100 butterfly 54.75 and 13th in the 100 backstroke 56.43.

“Judson had a fantastic meet as well. Just some great drops, swam really smart,” Heck said. “Charlie Antonuk did really for the first time having four events that stayed and then. He did really well on the relays and his times were right there. I was really happy with him.”

Rhinelander’s 400 freestyle relay, fully comprised of first-time state participants, came home 16th. The team of Kellen O’Malley, sophomore Daniel Meier, sophomore Matthew Wood and junior Christopher Larson finished with a time of 3:39.29. Though they were the last of the 16 qualifiers in that event, the two points they scored for the finish were enough to leapfrog The Prairie School — which did not qualify in the event — by a single point for eighth overall in the team standings.

“Guys had that chance to experience the state meet, that’s why they come down here,” Heck said. “We got those two points, and we would have been ninth otherwise, if we didn’t get those guys in there swimming. Those are points that put us over from ninth to eighth. So we’re really appreciative of their work. It’s a lot of great experience, and it prepares you for other things down the road.”

The Hodags had a young squad in 2021 as well and parlayed a ninth-place finish at state that year to a third the following year. That began a run of four straight top-three finishes at state which culminated in the D2 state title in 2023. 

Heck said she hopes Friday’s meet can serve as a similar springboard for this year’s squad heading into next season. 

“I think it gets people excited … It’s time to set new goals right away because consistency is what wins and developing new goals and right away and shooting for those,” she said. “It’s not a three-month sport. It starts soon again, probably another week or so after a short break. I think they all have high goals and more experience, and that’s all the reasons that we do the things we do.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].