MEDFORD GIRLS SWIM - Solid relay meet for Medford; GNC swim duals start today

The Medford Raiders’ girls swim team got one last chance to experiment and have fun with some unique events on Aug. 27 while finishing fourth in the 10-team Rhinelander Hodag Relays.

In the team’s second relay meet to start the year, the Raiders placed as high as second in the 600-yard freestyle relay and placed in the top five in five more events to compile 81 points. Each school could score only once per event. The host Hodags won the meet 120-119 over Bay Port, while Wausau West was third with 94 points. Medford was three points ahead of fifthplace Neenah.

In the 600-yard freestyle, the first two swimmers went 200 yards each, while the second two went 100 yards each. Medford’s Adalyn Dittrich, Jayda Fryklund, Mylah Hamland and Kodi Rappe teamed up for a time of 6:41.7 that put them right between Bay Port’s firstand third-place teams. The Pirates’ winning time was 6:01.23. Their B team was 11.57 seconds behind the Raiders. Medford’s B team of Lizzy Bartnik, Chloe Pipkorn, Mata Decker and Savannah Hebert was 11th in 8:28.53.

In the 500-yard decrescendo freestyle relay, the legs went in descending order of 200, 150, 100 and 50 yards. Dittrich, Tori Nicks, Emily Leao and Saige Fettes placed fourth for Medford in 5:38.36, beating Merrill for that spot by 1.25 seconds. Bay Port won in a meet record 4:53.01, easily beating second-place Wausau West (5:29.07).

Medford finished the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Hamland, Sophie Sperl, Layla Petersen and Olivia Emmerich finished in 4:43.86. Bay Port won that race too in 4:09.94, 2.68 seconds ahead of Rhinelander.

The first of Medford’s three fifth-place finishes came in the 400-yard individual medley relay. With each swimmer doing a 100-yard medley leg, Sperl, Petersen, Eva Strebig and Rappe finished in 4:49.99, edging Wausau East by 1.96 seconds for that place. Rhinelander had an impressive time of 4:18.15 to beat Neenah by 22.33 seconds.

In the 300-yard breaststroke relay, Fryklund, Emmerich and Sperl completed the race in 4:01.14 to take fifth, 2.3 seconds ahead of Merrill. Bay Port’s 3:36.47 won the race, 12.13 seconds ahead of West. Fryklund, Emmerich and Dittrich grabbed fifth in the 300-yard backstroke relay with a time of 3:35.97, 3.49 seconds ahead of Wausau West. Rhinelander won in 3:08.67. Medford’s Aliyah Galan, Hebert and Autumn Venzke took ninth in 4:11.64.

Galan, Leao, Strebig and Pipkorn started the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. They were timed at 2:17.21 and hit the wall 3.41 seconds ahead of Neenah’s top team. Rhinelander set a meet record while winning in 1:51.65.

Petersen, Hamland and Rappe took sixth in the 300-yard butterfly relay in 3:41.87. Rhinelander won that race in 3:12.25. Strebig, Leao, Fettes and Nicks were sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with their time of 2:04.12, 0.79 seconds ahead of Wisconsin Rapids. Neenah won in 1:46.71, 0.65 seconds ahead of Bay Port. Bartnik, Decker, Graecyn Meseberg and Venzke were 13th at 2:29.29.

Galan, Pipkorn and Nicks were eighth in the 150-yard mixer relay, where each competitor swam freestyle for 25 yards and then did breaststroke, backstroke or butterfly for 25 more yards. Their time was 1:44.53. Fettes, Venzke andMeseberg took 14th in 1:56.31. Rhinelander set a meet record while winning in 1:21.62.

Merrill was sixth in the team standings with 64 points, followed by Wausau East (45), Wisconsin Rapids (19), Antigo (10) and Marinette (8).

Meets get back to normal for Medford starting today, Thursday, with the Great Northern Conference opener, which will also be in Rhinelander. The Hodags welcome the Raiders and Antigo to the Heck Community Pool for a double-dual that starts at 5:30 p.m.

Medford’s home opener is set for Sept. 11 when the Raiders host a GNC doubledual with Lakeland and Merrill, also at 5:30 p.m.