Raiders do what they can against dominant Rhinelander squad
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MEDFORD BOYS SWIMMING
The Medford Raiders took their turn going through the buzz saw that is the Rhinelander Hodags on Thursday, earning a third-place finish from Adam Swedlund in the 100-yard breaststroke during a 139-28 loss.
Down to seven swimmers as they were without senior freestyler Tahtankka Damm, the Raiders were able to improve on some times from their Dec. 1 season opener against Shawano during Thursday’s meet.
Swedlund and Jacob Mitchell weren’t as quick as they were two days earlier, but their third-place and fifth-place finishes made the breaststroke Medford’s highest-scoring event of the meet. Swedlund’s time was 1:26.04 and Mitchell’s was 1:27.24 in a race won by Hodag Jack Antonuk in 1:05.3.
Improvements were seen in the 100yard butterfly. Senior Abe Miller shaved 1.09 seconds while taking fourth in 1:13.71 and senior Ethan Kraemer took over six seconds off his opening time by taking fifth in 1:25.74. Gavin Ostermann won the race for Rhinelander in 1:03.6. Miller and Kraemer teamed up for Medford in the 100-yard backstroke as well. Miller took fourth in 1:23.26, which was 0.55 seconds faster than his Dec. 1 debut in the race. Kraemer posted a solid 4.43-second improvement at 1:23.83 as the Raiders placed fourth and fifth behind winner Carter Gaber (1:03.73).
Senior Nathan Sislo got faster in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles. In the 50, he took fourth in 28.31 seconds, 1.28 seconds faster than the first meet. He took fourth in the 100 at 1:07.92, dropping 2.9 seconds. Ostermann won the 50 in 25.28 seconds, while Charlie Heck won the 100 in 54.31 seconds.
Senior Isaac Dittrich had a better day in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing fourth in 7:03.77, a 16.11-second improvement. Dylan Kraemer got the fifth-place point in 7:57.41 in a race won by Daniel Gillingham in 5:44.35. Those two also took fourth and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle. Dittrich’s time was 2:35.72, while Kraemer shaved 0.15 seconds with his time of 2:53.99. Antonuk won in 2:01.86.
Swedlund was fourth in the 200-yard individual medley at 3:05.12. Gillingham won in 2:12.68.
Medford had to tweak its relay lineups and came away with a faster time in the 200-yard freestyle race. Mitchell, Sislo, Dylan Kraemer and Swedlund were third in 2:02.79 behind Rhinelander’s times of 1:36.66 and 1:51.65.
Swedlund took Damm’s freestyle spot in the 200-yard medley relay. Ethan Kraemer, Mitchell, Miller and Swedlund were third in 2:12.04 behind Rhinelander’s times of 1:47.1 and 1:59.62. Miller, Dittrich, Ethan Kraemer and Mitchell closed the meet with a third-place time of 5:05.37 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Rhinelander’s times were 3:50.34 and 4:10.47.
Medford is at Lakeland today, Thursday, for a 5:30 p.m. Great Northern Conference dual meet. The Raiders hope to host Tomahawk Dec. 17.