It’s been a busy few weeks in sports as the fall season winds down. Here is a look at some of the action. Photos by Bob Mainhardt.

SWIMMING

The last home swim meet of the season took place Oct. 4, with the Hodags hosting the Colby/Abbotsford co-op. The Hodags placed first in 10 of the 11 events and won 128-41.

Abi Winnicki made the highlight of the night as she broke a record that went back to 1979,  swimming the 500 yard freestyle in a time of 5 minutes 11.38 seconds, besting Karen Burton by 1.99 seconds.

Winnicki also won the 50 yard freestyle and was part of the winning 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays. 

Other individual winners for the Hodags were Sam Sundby in the 100 yard breaststroke, Ellyse Younker the 200 and 100 yard freestyle and Lily Thorsen the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.

The final conference meet takes place in Antigo Oct. 11. 

Sam Sundby won the 100 yard breaststroke.

Junior Abi Winnicki reacts after seeing the scoreboard and her winning time in the 500 yard freestyle. Winnicki broke the 43 year old record by 1.99 seconds held by Karen Burton.

Ellyse Younker swam and won the 100 yard freestyle.

The five senior swimmers were honored at the break. Seniors are Gussie Gruett, Ella Cordy, Jenna Fugle, Phoebe Moran and Abigale Johnson.

Lily Thorsen swims the butterfly leg of the 200 individual medley.

VOLLEYBALL

Rhinelander hosted the second round of the conference volleyball matches. The Hodags played Lakeland, Northland Pines and Mosinee. 

The girls were swept by both Lakeland and Mosinee but were able to win a set against Northland Pines for its first in conference in nearly three years. The Hodags were unable to win another set and remained winless in conference.

Rhinelander closes out the conference schedule on Tuesday at home against Antigo.

All photos by Bob Mainhardt.

FOOTBALL

Friday night the Hodags played Merrill and needed to win in order to have any chance to make the playoffs. It would be a tall order with a number of players out with injuries in key positions.

The Merrill Bluejays needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

The Bluejays held the ball on their first possession for over half of the first quarter and would score a touchdown and the 2-point conversion to hold an 8-0 lead. Merrill would score in each quarter to defeat the Hodags 32-8. Merrill’s

Nathan Brzoznowski rushed for 236 yards and two scores. The lone highlight for the Hodags was quarterback James Heck’s 82-yard run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

The Hodags last game will be Friday night at Lakeland for the battle of the Axe.

TENNIS

Rhinelander hosted the subsectional tennis meet on Tuesday with the No. 1 singles and doubles matches taking place in the Hodag Dome and the remaining flights using the high school courts.

The No. 1 singles and doubles players only needed to win one match to advance and both of Rhinelander’s entries advanced with Tori Riopel at No. 1 singles winning 6-0/6-1 and the doubles team of Taylor Riopel and Helena Wisner winning 6-2 and 6-0. Both flights played in Eau Claire at the sectional tournament; both flights, however, lost and the season ended for Hodag tennis.

The other flights had to win two matches to advance with only the #3 doubles pair of Brooke Sisel and Evelyn Sawyer winning their first match 6-2 and 7-6. The duo was then defeated in the second match 1-6 and 2-6 to be eliminated. All other flights for the Hodags were defeated in their first matches.

SOCCER

The Lakeland T-Birds played the Hodag soccer team Oct. 4 in a rematch from earlier in the season when Lakeland defeated the Hodags 0-2. The Hodags returned the favor as they scored two goals in the second half, first by Shane Petrick and then later in the half by Mason Shinners.

The win put the Hodags in second place in the conference with two games remaining. The Hodags will close out the home portion of the season next Thursday hosting Antigo.