Hodag Highlights: Swimmers dominate in final home meet of the season

The Rhinelander Hodag boys swim team made their final home appearance of the season count, dominating a double dual meet against Medford and the Shawano/Bonduel cooperative on Thursday, Jan. 29.
Swimming in front of their home crowd for the last time this season, the Hodags claimed victory over both opponents while winning nine of the eleven events on the evening. Dean Gillingham and Judson O’Malley led the charge for Rhinelander, each capturing two individual events while also contributing to the winning 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams.
Charlie Antonuk also had a standout performance with three victories on the night. In addition to swimming legs on both winning relay teams, Antonuk touched first in the 100-yard breaststroke.Other individual event winners for the Hodags included Kellen O’Malley, who won the 500-yard freestyle, and Elias Simonsen, who claimed first place in the 100-yard backstroke. Daniel Meier rounded out the scoring with his contribution to the winning 200-yard freestyle relay. The meet marked the final conference competition and home meet of the regular season for Rhinelander. The Hodags will next compete at the conference championship meet, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6, at the Lakeland High School pool in Minocqua.