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Numbers game takes a toll this week on Medford swim team

Numbers game takes a toll this week on Medford swim team Numbers game takes a toll this week on Medford swim team

For the second time this season on Tuesday, the Medford Raiders had just five available swimmers for a meet against Tomahawk.

Unfortunately this time, the Hatchets had plenty more than that and coasted to a 95-39 win at Tomahawk High School.

There were a few notable time drops for the five Raider seniors in the loss, which dropped them to 1-6 in the Great Northern Conference and 1-7 overall.

Abe Miller posted his best time of the season in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:11.51, which was good for third place behind Tomahawk’s Caleb Kretzschmar (1:08.36) and Ethan Liebnitz (1:09.06). Miller also took second in his first 50-yard freestyle of the year (28.97), just ahead of teammate Nathan Sislo (29.04) and behind Liebnitz (24.56).

Sislo dropped almost six seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing second in 1:21.73 behind Hatchet Adam Hall (1:14.71).

Tahtankka Damm switched to some new events in this meet and did well. He finished second in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:16.5 and third in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:16.77. Teammate Isaac Dittrich was just behind Damm in the 200 freestyle at 2:24.72, while Ethan Kraemer was fourth in the backstroke at 1:20.42.

Kraemer had his best time of the year in the 100-yard freestyle, cutting almost three seconds while finishing third in 1:04.53. Dittrich was second in the 500yard freestyle at 6:37.87.

Damm, Kraemer, Dittrich and Miller teamed up to place second in the 200yard freestyle relay at 1:57.79. Tomahawk won in 1:45.44. Those four swimmers were third in the 400-yard freestyle relay at 4:33.2. Tomahawk’s top team won in 4:09.42.

Dittrich, Sislo, Miller and Kraemer swam the 200-yard medley relay as a non-scoring entry and finished in 2:13.23 ahead of Tomahawk’s team that was credited with the win in 2:21.65.

The Raiders, who beat Tomahawk 60-45 when both teams had five swimmers in a Dec. 17 meet in Medford, will close out the dual-meet portion of their schedule today, Thursday, by hosting Lakeland at 5:30 p.m. The GNC meet is scheduled to take place Friday, Jan. 22 and will be hosted by Shawano.

Hodags 135, Raiders 28

Two personal-best swims by both Damm and Adam Swedlund highlighted Thursday’s home meet with Rhinelander which, as expected, was not close with the deep and talented Hodags winning 135-28.

“We knew what it was going to be coming into it,” head coach Shari Bergman said. “They’re a powerhouse, hands down. They had 14 guys out there tonight so they can fill their spots and we’ve got one swimmer in certain events and no swimmers in events like the 200 IM. It’s hard in these kinds of meets, but there’s still a positive side.”

Damm’s first personal-best came in the 50-yard freestyle with his time of 26.08 seconds. That put him in second place, 0.7 seconds behind Carter Gaber. He took third in the 100-yard freestyle, breaking the one-minute barrier at 59.46 seconds. Sislo added a fifth-place point at 1:08.44.

“We welcomed Tank to the 59-second club in the 100 free and he also got a personal best in the 50 freestyle,” Bergman said. “He was disappointed in himself that it wasn’t 25-something because he wants to be in the 25-second club, but he’ll get there.”

Swedlund took second in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:16.44, lowering his personal- best time by 0.04 seconds. Hodag Charlie Heck won the race in 1:12.63.

Sislo scored a fifth-place point with a season- best time of 1:27.34. Swedlund was fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:39.03, while Dittrich was fourth in 2:24.66.

“Adam got two personal-best times tonight in his 200 free and then his 100 breaststroke, so that was really good,” Bergman said.

Dittrich added a fourth-place time of 6:27.14 in the 500-yard freestyle. Miller was fourth in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:15.16 and Kraemer was fifth at 1:20.28. Those two switched spots in the 100-yard backstroke with Kraemer taking fourth at 1:18.88 and Miller placing fifth in 1:23.9.

Kraemer, Swedlund, Miller and Damm took third in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:03.94 and Miller, Dittrich, Kraemer and Damm were third in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:28.18. Both times were less than two seconds off season bests.

“They’re tired, bottom line,” Bergman said. “I’ve been telling them this week they’re going to be tired. They’re back to school, the holidays are done, they’re putting in a lot of yards. So both physically and mentally they’re going to be tired.

“The big picture for the guys, and I’ve been telling them this, is that their times are going to drop,” she added. “Those that have been in it long enough know that their times will drop so it’s just a matter of getting through these couple of weeks.”


Medford’s Isaac Dittrich gets a breath of air while pushing toward a fourth-place time of 6:27.14 in the 500-yard freestyle during Thursday’s meet with Rhinelander.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
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