GNC SWIM DOUBLE-DUAL - Raiders, T-Birds go down to last race of double-dual

The Medford Raiders trailed early, rallied mid-meet and were tied with the Lakeland Thunderbirds going into the last race of Thursday’s Great Northern Conference double-dual, but Lakeland won the 400-yard freestyle relay and eked out an 86-84 team win in the key matchup of Medford’s 2025 girls swim home opener.

Having added some good young talent to go along with established senior Olivia Mickle, the Thunderbirds improved to 4-0 in GNC competition by sweeping Thursday’s double-dual. They also beat Merrill 103-64. Medford earned a split in the meet by also beating Merrill 94-73 and now sits at 2-2 in the GNC standings.

The loss to Lakeland, however, was Medford’s first in a GNC dual meet to a team other than Rhinelander since a 92-77 home loss to Lakeland on Oct. 15, 2020.

When matching up their times against Lakeland’s, the Raiders were outscored in four of the first five events and trailed 4533. But they made their move in the next three races.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Merrill’s Claire Jirovec was the overall winner in 58.94 seconds, but Kodi Rappe’s time of 1:00.85 gave her the first-place points against Lakeland. Sophie Sperl was next at 1:01.08 and Tori Nicks was fifth overall and fourth against Lakeland at 1:02.81. The 12-4 scoring edge pulled Medford within 49-45.

Medford’s strong 500-yard freestyle duo of freshman Mylah Hamland and senior Adalyn Dittrich got Medford even closer. Hamland was the overall winner for the second straight double-dual, this time finishing in 6:08.51 to beat Lakeland freshman Abby Mickle by 7.0 seconds. Dittrich was next at 6:18.66 and Aliyah Galan added a time of 7:27.21 for Medford, who outscored Lakeland 9-7 in the race.

Then, Medford’s team of Jayda Fryklund, Layla Petersen, Sperl and Nicks won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:52.8, the fastest time a Raider team has had so far this fall and 3.35 seconds ahead of Lakeland’s top team. Olivia Emmerich, Savannah Hebert, Eva Strebig and Dittrich added a third-place time of 2:03.58. The 10-4 scoring advantage gave Medford its only lead of the dual with Lakeland at 64-60.

Lakeland tied Medford 70-70 in the 100-yard backstroke. Olivia Mickle was the overall winner at 1:04.37 and Avalon Collins was third overall at 1:12.07. Medford’s Emmerich (1:15.42), Fryklund (1:15.65) and Emily Leao (1:17.82) were fourth through sixth overall and third through fifth when matched up with Lakeland.

The Raiders and T-Birds both scored eight points against each other in the 100yard breaststroke. Merrill’s Marissa Miles was the overall winner at 1:13.9, but Sperl got the first-place points in the Lakeland dual at 1:14.61, 1.19 seconds ahead of Lakeland’s Daryn Smolinski. Strebig was sixth overall and fourth against Lakeland at 1:23.19. Saige Fettes added a time of 1:37.72 for the Raiders.

Now tied at 78-78, the meet came down to the 400-yard freestyle, which Lakeland’s team of Collins, Olivia Mickle, Smolinski and Abby Mickle, won handily in 4:05.91. Merrill’s A team was second in 4:11.75 and Medford’s Fryklund, Hamland, Emmerich and Rappe took third at 4:15.02. Leao, Fettes, Hebert and Galan got the third-place points against Lakeland and took fifth overall at 4:54.54. Autumn Venzke, Elizabeth Bartnik, Graecyn Meseberg and Mata Decker were seventh overall for Medford at 5:45.56.

Medford outscored Lakeland 9-7 in the 50-yard freestyle. Nicks was third overall in 28.14 seconds, Petersen was fifth in 28.89 seconds and Emmerich was sixth in 28.91 seconds. Lakeland’s Haidyn Pfannerstill won in 27.28 seconds.

Hamland and Fryklund were credited with the top two places against Merrill in the 200-yard freestyle with their times of 2:17.2 and 2:21.91. Olivia Mickle was the overall winner for Lakeland in 2:15.02. Leao was eighth overall in 2:37.56.

Hamland, Sperl, Rappe and Nicks started the meet by taking third overall and second in each dual with its time of 2:02.12 in the 200-yard medley relay. That was the fastest a Medford team has been so far. Dittrich, Strebig, Petersen and Leao got the third-place points against both teams and was fourth overall in 2:12.35. Bartnik, Venzke, Meseberg and Galan finished in 2:55.96.

Rappe got credit for a win against Merrill in the 200-yard individual medley. Her time of 2:36.36 beat Jirovec by 0.08 seconds. Smolinski (2:28.58) and Jaime Jorgensen (2:33.64) got the top two spots for Lakeland. Dittrich was fifth overall at 2:50.46 and Hebert was seventh at 3:10.32. All three Raiders swam that event for the first time this season.

Petersen was second against Merrill, third against Lakeland and fourth overall in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:14.66, 1.71 seconds faster than she was a week earlier at Rhinelander. Strebig (1:23.26) and Fettes (1:27.14) were next with improved times as well.

Galan won the JV 50-yard freestyle in 34.04 seconds, Decker was second (37.45) and Bartnik was fourth (38.8). Venzke was second (1:14.67) and Bartnik was fifth (1:26.76) in the JV 100-yard freestyle. Hebert (1:33.31), Meseberg (1:51.44) and Decker (1:58.89) were the three entrants in the JV 100-yard backstroke.

It’s back to traditional dual meets for Medford the rest of the way in GNC competition until the final championship meet. Today, Thursday, Medford is at Mosinee. The Raiders are at Colby-Abbotsford on Sept. 25. In between, Medford hosts Black River Falls Tuesday in a non-conference meet at 5:30 p.m.