“It was really, really exciting ….

“It was really, really exciting to have some good races and to have some really good competition,” Wilson said. “That’s one of the things we tell the girls. Don’t get sixth, be fifth. If you can’t get first, get second. If you can’t get second, get third. We’re making sure that they’re sticking with those girls at the front and having good finishes at the end.”

Medford’s team of Steliga, Layla Petersen, Gebauer and Sperl was second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:49.35, 0.45 seconds off the lead. Johnson, Williams, Mackenzie Petersen and Bergman were third in 2:01.53 and Haenel, Fryklund, Wilkins and Janda were fifth at 2:09.6. Kraemer, Gebauer, Sperl and Kodi Rappe finished the 200-yard medley relay in 2:03.25, 1.46 seconds off the lead. Dittrich, Williams, Layla Petersen and Steliga took the third-place points at 2:13.19 and Pipkorn, Wilkins, Janda and Haenel took fifth at 2:26.74.

Fryklund won the JV 50-yard freestyle in 31.74 seconds, followed by Pipkorn (34.12) and Wilkins (34.91).

Medford ends a busy five-meet stretch to start the season tonight, Thursday, with the Great Northern Conference opener at the metered pool in Antigo. As Wilson said, GNC power Rhinelander is at the MASH pool Sept. 7 for a 5:30 p.m. dual.

“We did have some really good times (Tuesday) for the start of the season, but we definitely have some things we need to work on,” Wilson said. “Our turns were really tripping us up today, which is something we can keep working on. This is our home pool, so that’s something we want to get really comfortable with and know that’s not going to be an issue moving forward.”

Raiders top Tigers

On Thursday, the Raiders won nine of 11 events while earning their first dualmeet win of 2023, a 111-59 victory over the host Black River Falls Co-op.

Medford won all three relays and Gebauer took two of the team’s six individual wins in what Wilson called an improved performance over what the Raiders accomplished two days earlier at the Marshfield sprint meet.

“We had some really nice individual performances with awesome times to start the dual season,” she said. “A lot of the girls look stronger in their strokes than at the beginning of last season.

Gebauer won the 100-yard freestyle in 1:00.58, Tana Rappe was second in 1:06.51 and Janda was fourth in 1:11.05 for a 12-point event for the Raiders. Gebauer finished her night with a winning time of 1:13.82 in the 100-yard breaststroke that beat Tiger Hannah Tubbs by 0.31 seconds. Williams was fourth in 1:29.25 and Wilkins was sixth in 1:37.6.

Sperl won her first 100-yard butterfly of the season, finishing in 1:08.1 which gave her a 7.82-second margin over runner-up Lyndsi Laufenberg of Black River Falls. Layla Petersen was fourth in 1:20.22 and Kodi Rappe got the fifth-place point in 1:25.29. Sperl also took second in the 50-yard freestyle at 27.12 seconds, 1.87 seconds behind Tubbs. Steliga (29.31) and Mackenzie Petersen (32.27) were third and fourth for Medford.

Bergman won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:08.95 with Dittrich next in 6:20.75. Haenel got fifth in 7:19.25.

“Sydney and Chelsea had very solid races as well as Colby, who, of course, says she can ‘always go a little faster’ in her 500, which we are looking forward to seeing soon,” Wilson said.

Tana Rappe won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:21.24, pulling ahead of Laufenberg by 3.84 seconds. Kraemer was third in 2:26.81 and Janda got fifth in 2:36.24. Kraemer won the 100-yard backstroke in a solid season-opening time of 1:10.32, 1.12 seconds ahead of Tiger Greta Bakken. Dittrich placed third in 1:13.53 and Bergman was fourth at 1:14.23.

Bakken won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:38.17, but three Raiders were right behind her. Layla Petersen grabbed second place with her time of 2:43.23, followed by Kodi Rappe (2:45.44) and Williams (2:47.35).

Fryklund was credited with JV wins in the 50- (31.16) and 100-yard (1:14.69) and Pipkorn got the JV win in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:29.02.

Medford closed out Thursday’s meet with a 12-2 scoring advantage in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kraemer, Dittrich, Tana Rappe and Bergman teamed up to win it in 4:27.94, while Mackenzie Petersen, Williams, Layla Petersen and Steliga were second in 4:32.35. Wilkins, Fryklund, Haenel and Janda were fourth in 5:10.3.

The 200-yard freestyle team of Steliga, Kodi Rappe, Gebauer and Sperl finished in 1:52.77 to beat the top Black River Falls team by 1.39 seconds. Mackenzie Petersen, Janda, Williams and Tana Rappe got the third-place points in 2:04.34, while Wilkins, Pipkorn, Fryklund and Haenel were fourth in 2:11.91.

The 200-yard medley relay team of Kraemer, Gebauer, Sperl and Bergman started the meet with a convincing win. They finished in 2:03.64, 5.45 seconds ahead of the Tigers’ top team. Dittrich, Layla Petersen, Kodi Rappe and Steliga took third in 2:12.5 and Pipkorn, Wilkins, Haenel and Mackenzie Petersen were fifth in 2:32.27.

“We were able to get a nice idea of certain spots we want different girls to try moving forward,” Wilson said. “The girls had a great positive mindset on Thursday and we want that to continue throughout the rest of the season.”