MEDFORD BOYS SWIMMING - Rouiller cuts time again in freestyles; Raiders now prepare for conference

MEDFORD BOYS SWIMMING

Logan Rouiller got faster in his freestyle races, two Raiders improved their backstroke times and there were a couple of relay improvements as well for Medford in its Thursday GNC double-dual at Tomahawk.

The Raiders dropped both ends of the meet, falling to the host Hatchets 69-54 and to the powerful Rhinelander squad 111-41. Rhinelander also dominated Tomahawk 112-30.

The Raiders’ results produced three wins in the dual meet with the Hatchets, two of which came from Mason Reimann. The junior placed second overall in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:31.23, finishing between Rhinelander’s Charles Antonuk (2:17.31) and Christopher Larson (2:44.3). Then, he was third overall in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:07.65, just 0.52 seconds off his best-ever time set two days earlier at Shawano. Rhinelander’s Shawn Denis (57.87) and Judson O’Malley (59.2) were the top two swimmers in that race, while Larson was fourth in 1:16.

Rouiller was credited with a win against the Hatchets in the 500-yard freestyle, where he cut another 3.13 seconds and finished in 5:52.46. That was a two-man race with Antonuk (5:33.71).

Rouiller, a sophomore, also placed fifth overall and second against Tomahawk in the 200-yard freestyle with a new best time of 2:14.19. Teammate Rhys Buskerud was sixth in 2:57.22. Rhinelander had the race’s top three finishers in Zacha King (1:53.24), Denis (1:58.25) and O’Malley (2:00.86). Tomahawk’s Sam Zastrow was fourth overall at 2:08.41.

Medford’s 100-yard backstroke entrants, Dawson Gasek and Brandon Curtis, may have placed sixth and seventh overall, but they continued to cut times by solid margins. Gasek came in at 1:27.4, knocking more than three seconds off his previous best time of the season. Curtis was timed at 1:35.38, shaving 1.42 seconds off his time from two nights earlier. O’Malley won in 59.06 seconds.

Reimann, Buskerud, Roger Mann and Reese Travis were third overall in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2:04.63, trailing Rhinelander (1:35.05) and Tomahawk (1:45.65), but they cut 4.02 seconds from their time in Shawano. To finish the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Curtis, Travis, Gasek and Rouiller finished in 5:13.21, more than seven seconds better than anything they’d done earlier in the season. Rhinelander had the two top teams with times of 3:36.96 and 3:38.28, while Tomahawk was third in 4:07.69.

Rouiller, Mann, Reimann and Buskerud were third in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:17.49. Rhinelander won in 1:46.09, while Tomahawk came in at 1:53.04.

Mann was fourth overall and second against Tomahawk in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:26.37. Rhinelander’s Mathias Fugle won in 1:05.82. Mann was fifth overall and third in each side of the doubledual in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:07.59, while Travis was next at 1:12.31. Travis led Medford in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing sixth overall, third against Rhinelander and fourth against Tomahawk in 31.58 seconds, followed by Gasek (34.06) and Curtis (36.49), who both set their best times of the season.

Medford is now in the midst of a twoweek break before ending the regular season Friday, Feb. 2 by hosting the Great Northern Conference’s championship meet. The meet will start at 5 p.m. Rhinelander should easily secure its sixth straight team championship while relay teams and individuals from Medford, Tomahawk, Shawano-Seymour and Antigo will battle for the All-GNC first-team, second- team and honorable mention awards in each race.