Raiders celebrate return with 75-56 win
MEDFORD BOYS SWIMMING
A BOYS SWIM WIN
Low numbers short-circuited Medford’s 2021-22 boys swim season before it started. Ironically, it was the Raiders’ depth that gave them the victory Thursday in the program’s first home meet in nearly 23 months.
The Raiders’ 10 swimmers outscored Shawano 75-56 to go to 1-1 in the Great Northern Conference and earn the program’s first win since a 60-45 win over Tomahawk on Dec. 17, 2020.
Senior Dylan Kraemer, the only remaining member of the 2020-21 team, won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles, Mason Reimann earned his second 100-yard butterfly win of the young season and the Raiders picked up winning points in the 200-yard freestyle relay as they outscored Shawano’s small but solid group of just four swimmers.
“It’s really cool,” Kraemer said. “Last year we didn’t have a team, so this year it means a lot for us to have 10 people and, on top of that, to win something. In previous years, we’ve won maybe one, tied a couple. It’s really amazing to win one. If feels good.”
“It’s the first win for all of us,” head coach Terry Werner said. “I’m pretty excited. We were a little worried but in the end came out on top.”
Kraemer’s wins came against teammates in the distance freestyles. He won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:39.73, beating freshman Logan Rouiller (2:51.37). In the 500-yard freestyle, Kraemer finished in 7:13.98, beating senior teammate Ervin Ulrich, who came in at 7:30.97 in his first 500 for the Raiders.
“Ervin looked really good in the 500,” Werner said. “We’ll always have Dylan in the 500. That’s his event, but Ervin was right on his tail all the way in. I feel like we’ll see Ervin in the 500 more.”
Kraemer finished his sophomore season with a time of 6:57.12 in the 500, so he’s working his way toward getting there again. He cut 6.85 seconds from Medford’s meet two days earlier in Tomahawk.
“Last year, it actually seemed like the year went by a lot slower because I didn’t have something to hold me up through the winter,” Kraemer said. “I just felt like I was getting more lazy, was getting bigger. To have swimming this year really excites me. There’s a lot of potential for these boys.”
Reimann’s time as the lone competitor in the 100-yard butterfly was 1:18.4. Kraemer said Reimann is the swimmer probably most responsible for rounding up enough bodies to get the program back up and running this winter.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” Kraemer said. “I see a lot of potential, especially out of Mason. He’s pretty good at the fly.
Right now he’s the only one who can actually do the fly.”
The team of Hudson Briggs, Roger Mann, Silas Briggs and Hunter Briggs won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2:29.37. Medford’s other entry in the race disqualified due to an early start, but that was the Raiders’ only DQ of the meet.
“We’re getting better,” Werner said. “The relay turns were faster. That’s one thing we’re working on. It’s always hard because we don’t want to DQ. We don’t want to jump ahead, but we want to be right on the button too so we don’t lose any time.”
Jimmy Murillo Aguirre, McKay Gurney, Reimann and Kraemer gave Shawano a good run in the 200-yard medley relay but fell 4.8 seconds short with a second- place time of 2:19.46. Medford’s team of Ulrich, Hunter Briggs, Rouiller and Hudson Briggs was third in 2:42.13. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Kraemer, Murillo Aguirre, Ulrich and Gurney finished in 5:02.47, 28.1 seconds behind Shawano’s team. Hudson Briggs, Silas Briggs, Mann and Hunter Briggs took third in 5:48.28, a huge improvement over their Tomahawk time of 6:14.13.
Reimann was second in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:40.92, cutting about 4.2 seconds from the Tomahawk meet. Shawano’s Ben Langlois won in 2:31.35. Gurney was second in the 100yard breaststroke at 1:31, knocking off 2.49 seconds, while Hunter Briggs was third in 1:44.13. Langlois won in 1:13.9.
Murillo Aguirre cut 1.35 seconds while placing second in the 50-yard freestyle at 32.54 seconds, 5.51 seconds behind winner Braden Barkley. Hudson Briggs was third in 32.92 seconds and Silas Briggs was fifth in 36.82 seconds. Murillo Aguirre also took third in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:34.08, while Rouiller was fourth in 1:34.53. Barkley won in 1:12.37.
Mann was third for Medford in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:20.46, cutting 4.71 seconds off his Tomahawk time, while Silas Briggs was fourth in 1:29.88. Baelyan Putz won for Shawano in 1:10.17.
Medford is at 2-0 Antigo today, Thursday, for a 5:30 p.m. meet in the metered pool at the McKenna Aquatic Center, which will be a new test for Medford’s swimmers. On Tuesday, the Raiders host Lakeland, another team that had just four available swimmers in its opener against Antigo Thursday. Medford is at the conference’s top team, Rhinelander, on Dec. 15.
Dylan Kraemer splashes his way to a win in Thursday’s 200-yard freestyle race.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
