A 1st, several 2nds in Raiders’ GNC loss at Rhinelander

MEDFORD GIRLS SWIMMING

While the Rhinelander Hodags were too deep to beat, which was no surprise, the Medford Raiders came away with plenty of positives to build from in Thursday’s 11060 loss in Great Northern Conference competition.

Senior Aiden Denzer picked up a win in the 500-yard freestyle and was second in the 200-yard individual medley, Sydney Sperl was second in the 100-yard freestyle and Chelsea Gebauer was the 100-yard breaststroke runner-up, just to list a few of the highlights. Plus the Raiders earned the second-place points in all three relays, something that hasn’t been easy to do against the Hodags in recent seasons.

“We knew going in this would be a tough meet, but the girls stayed positive and we had some good performances,” Medford head coach Morgan Wilson said. “Sydney had a nice night taking second place in the 100 free in her first time swimming that this year. She also had a close race in the 100 back and ended up taking third. Aiden performed well, winning the 500 free and swam a season best time in the 200 IM. The breaststroke was our best collective race of the night and was a fun one to watch with the girls taking second, third and fourth.”

Denzer’s win in the 500-yard freestyle came with a time of 6:08.44 that gave her a comfortable 12-second margin over Rhinelander’s Camilla Gruett. Tana Rappe swam the event for the first time this fall and took third in 6:29.94 and Cadance Haenel also swam if for the first time this year and got the fifth-place point in 7:23.9.

Denzer’s time in the 200-yard individual medley was 2:32.08, while teammate Colby Bergman was third in 2:42.57. They trailed Hodag Abishea Winnicki (2:12.15). Raider freshman Layla Petersen was sixth in 2:55.11.

Sperl nearly broke the one-minute barrier with her 100-yard freestyle swim, hitting the wall at 1:00.52, just 0.39 seconds behind Rhinelander’s Lily Thorsen. Adalyn Dittrich lowered her time to 1:11.32 to grab the fifth-place point, while Kassidy Koncel was sixth at 1:11.47. Sperl added a third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:08.98. She was 1.2 seconds behind runner-up Emma Houg and 1.14 seconds ahead of fourth-place swimmer Genna Fugle. Breanna Kraemer was fifth for Medford at a season-best 1:11.9 and Dittrich was sixth in 1:22.65.

Gebauer led Medford’s charge in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:17.3, a time that put her 2.45 seconds behind winner Sam Sundby. Raider Jordyn Johnson was third in a season-best 1:23.42 and senior Kirsten Weix was fourth in a season-best 1:35.45, 0.43 seconds ahead of Hodag Margaret Lambert.

Gebauer tacked on a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at 27.73 seconds, while Jolie Steliga got the fifth-place point for Medford at her new best time of 30.42 seconds and Mackenzie Petersen was sixth in 31.41 seconds. Ellyse Younker won for Rhinelander in 26.28 seconds.

The Raiders scored six points in the 100-yard butterfly, led by Bergman’s third-place time of 1:16.72. Erica Brandner (1:17.7) and Kraemer (1:20.17) were right behind her with season-best times. Winnicki won by nearly 10 seconds in 59.61 seconds. Rappe took fourth in the 200-yard freestyle, lowering her time by 3.2 seconds to 2:23.46. She was followed by Weix (2:33.78) and Koncel (2:39.41).

Layla Petersen won the JV 50-yard freestyle in 30.72 seconds, while Paige Wilkins was third in 45.42 seconds. Wilkins was an extra entrant in the breaststroke and finished in 1:55.79, dropping nearly six seconds from her last breaststroke race.

Denzer, Gebauer, Sperl and Rappe swam the 200-yard medley relay in 2:04.39 to take second, 6.38 seconds behind the Hodags’ top team. Kraemer, Johnson, Brandner and Mackenzie Petersen were fourth in 2:17.53, while Dittrich, Layla Petersen, Haenel and Steliga were sixth in 2:27.89.

Bergman, Brandner, Johnson and Gebauer finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:56.1, 9.06 seconds off the pace set by Rhinelander’s top team. Koncel, Haenel, Weix and Mackenzie Petersen teamed up to take fourth in 2:09.74 and Wilkins, Layla Petersen, Steliga and Dittrich were fifth at 2:21.48.

Denzer, Rappe, Bergman and Sperl finished the meet with a second-place time of 4:17.59 in the 400-yard free- style relay. Brandner, Weix, Kraemer and Johnson were fourth at 4:33.89 and Haenel, Koncel, Steliga and Mackenzie Petersen were fifth at 4:55.78. Rhinelander’s winning time was 3:49.82.

“Overall, we saw some good things and improvements from each of the girls,” Wilson said. “We still have some things to work on, particularly our under waters and turns. I think this meet was a good learning experience for everyone. After each race, quite a few of the girls told us the things they are going to focus and work on. It’s great that they want to take initiative to improve different aspects of their races. We’re looking to continue improving week by week.”

Medford is at Tomahawk for a 5:30 p.m. meet with the rival Hatchets today, Thursday. The Raiders return to their home pool Sept. 22 to face Colby-Abbotsford, also at 5:30 p.m.