MEDFORD GIRLS SWIM - Swimmers tie Hodags, win two events at Menomonie Relays
The Medford Raiders got their 2025 girls swimming season off to a good start Saturday, tying their Great Northern Conference rival Rhinelander for second place at the eight-team Menomonie Relays.
The race for the meet championship came down to those two teams and Rice Lake, with the Warriors hanging on for the eight-point margin of victory. Rice Lake scored 388 points in the meet’s nine events, while the Raiders and Hodags scored 380 each to separate themselves from Eau Claire North (348) and Menomonie (334).
Two Medford teams won races. The first of those was the 200-yard freestyle team of Ady Dittrich, Sophie Sperl, Tori Nicks and Kodi Rappe. They pulled away from Rhinelander’s top team, winning by 3.42 seconds in a time of 1:53.58 to earn 40 points. Aliyah Galan, Saige Fettes, Chloe Pipkorn teamed up to place sixth in 2:07.41 and put 30 more points on the board for the Raiders.
Dittrich, Olivia Emmerich, Layla Petersen and Rappe comfortably won the 100-yard freestyle relay in 53.67 seconds, 4.3 seconds ahead of Menomonie’s top team. The La Crosse Logan Co-op (58.67) and Rhinelander (58.98) also had times under one minute.
The Raiders had five third-place finishes that accumulated 36 points each.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Mylah Hamland, Sperl, Rappe and Jayda Fryklund got the first one. They finished in 2:03.25 to trail Rhinelander (1:54.44) and the Logan Co-op (2:01.5).
Petersen, Emmerich, Eva Strebig and Nicks swam the 400-yard medley relay in 4:54.25 with Rhinelander (4:20.06) and Rice Lake (4:36.3) having the only teams faster. Each swimmer did a 100-yard individual medley in that race. Petersen, Sperl, Hamland and Rappe combined for a time of 2:06.48 in the 200-yard butterfly relay. Rhinelander (1:58.11) and Rice Lake (2:04.45) again had the only teams that were faster.
Fryklund, Emily Leao, Emmerich and Hamland took third in the 200-yard backstroke relay at 2:11.44. Rhinelander won that race in 1:57.57, followed by the Logan Co-op in 2:11.01. Fryklund, Strebig, Petersen and Sperl were third in the 200yard breaststroke relay at 2:26.92. Rhinelander (2:15.57) and Rice Lake (2:19.87) had the top two teams.
Two Medford teams posted times in the 850-yard crescendo relay to add 56 points to the Raiders’ total. Nicks (50 yards), Fryklund (100 yards), Hamland (200 yards) and Dittrich (500 yards) placed fourth in a total time of 10:18.53. Mata Decker, Lizzy Bartnik, Graecyn Meseberg and Galan took 10th in 13:16.64. The Logan Co-op won in 9:17.48.
Medford’s last 34 points came with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle pineapple relay. Dittrich, Nicks, Autumn Venzke, Chloe Pipkorn, Leao, Fettes, Strebig and Emmerich each swam a 25-yard leg and combined for a time of 4:07.84. Rhinelander won in 3:31.03.
The Logan Co-op finished sixth in the team standings with 270 points, followed by River Falls (212) and Marshfield (198).
Medford had another relay meet at Rhinelander on Wednesday, after the deadline for this week’s issue of The Star News. The Raiders will return to Rhinelander on Thursday, Sept. 4 to start Great Northern Conference competition for 2025. The Raiders, Hodags and Antigo Red Robins will take part in a double-dual that starts at 5:30 p.m. With nine teams now in the GNC, each squad will take part in two double-duals to start the season to get all of their dual meets against each other completed.
