Raiders keep the momentum going heading into the October grind

MEDFORD GIRLS SWIMMING

Aiden Denzer won two individual events, three other Raiders took one and two relay teams added wins Thursday in Medford’s 108-60 swim victory at Tomahawk.

With the win and the Ladysmith Coop’s loss at Rhinelander, the Raiders took over sole possession of second place in the Great Northern Conference standings with a 4-1 dual-meet record. Medford has two dual meets left, tonight’s home finale with Colby-Abbotsford at 5:30 p.m. and a trip to Lakeland Oct. 14.

The Great Northern Conference championship meet follows on Oct. 22 and will be held in Rhinelander.

Medford head coach Betsy Meinel said Thursday’s win was a positive way for the team to flip the calendar to October, where the grind will set in for the girls as they prepare for the stretch run.

“We are going into October where the yards get faster and longer,” Meinel said. “It was nice to end the month on a high note. “We mixed up our lineup again. We were able to put a lot of swimmers in events they haven’t swam yet this year. Some of them worked out better than we expected. There were a few close races where the touch-out actually went in our favor this time.”

One of those was the 500-yard freestyle, which featured one of the most exciting finishes of the night. Raider senior Lacey Brandner got into a head-to-head battle with Tomahawk’s Joanna Phillips and won it by 0.15 seconds in a personalbest time of 6:06.1. Medford outscored Tomahawk 11-4 in the event, adding a third-place time of 6:28.26 from Tana Rappe in her first-ever varsity 500 and a fourth-place time of 7:36.28 from Shaniah Brandt.

“Lacey’s 500 event was close the entire 20 laps with each girl taking the lead on a different lap,” Meinel said.

Denzer’s first win of the meet came in the 100-yard freestyle, an event she swam for the first time this fall. Her time was 1:03.55, just ahead of teammate Jordyn Johnson (1:05.8), who also was entered in the event for the first time this season. Freshman Cadance Haenel came in fourth at 1:14.11.

Denzer later took the 100-yard backstroke in 1:10.88, while Rappe was second in a season-best 1:17 and Mackenzie Petersen was fifth in a season-best 1:24.88.

Medford swept the top three spots in the 200-yard individual medley. Freshman Sydney Sperl won it in her best time of 2:35.66, followed by Colby Bergman (2:44.49) and Jackie Williams (2:49.28).

“The 200 IM was a great event for us,” Meinel said. “Most of those girls are our usual IM swimmers so it was nice to see them step up in a hard event.”

Chelsea Gebauer easily won the 100yard breaststroke in 1:18.59, while teammate Kirsten Weix was 10.57 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor while taking second in 1:38.20. Madisyn Pilgrim got the fifth-place point for Medford in 1:50.96.

A new combination of Sperl, Breanna Kraemer, Erica Brandner and Johnson won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:56.71, 4.85 seconds ahead of Tomahawk. Lydia Pernsteiner, Weix, Maddie Williams and Bergman got the third-place points in 2:02.4 and Petersen, Kassidy Koncel, Haenel and Jackie Williams were fourth at 2:08.72.

Sperl, Gebauer, Denzer and Razink won the night’s other tight race, the 200yard medley relay, in 2:07.75, beating Tomahawk by 0.13 seconds. Sperl and Denzer flipped the backstroke and butterfl y roles in Thursday’s race.

“We started the meet with a close medley relay,” Meinel said. “We were able to mix it up this week hoping to find a faster combination. I think we will go back to the old way, but it was nice to test out a theory.”

Rappe, Jackie Williams, Erica Brandner and Lacey Brandner took third in that medley relay in 2:17.62, while Haenel, Pilgrim, Brandt and Johnson took fourth in 2:46.15.

There was another close finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, but the Hatchets got this one in 4:13.1 with Lacey Brandner, Maddie Williams, Bergman and Razink just 1:44 seconds behind. Pernsteiner, Johnson, Kraemer and Weix were third at 4:34.74 and Petersen, Brandt, Pil- grim and Koncel were fourth at 5:13.46.

Erica Brandner (1:16.44), Kraemer (1:20.36) and Maddie Williams (1:21.59) were second, third and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly behind Hatchet Paige Dekiep (1:02.65). Dekiep also won the 200yard freestyle in 2:07.37, while Pernsteiner was second in 2:27.23, Weix took third in 2:28.59 and Koncel was fifth in 2:39.2, all season-best times.

Lacey Brandner