MEDFORD GIRLS SWIMMING - Win over T-Birds sends swimmers into conference with momentum

MEDFORD GIRLS SWIMMING

Chiara D’Arienzo impressively led Medford’s sweep of the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle, Adalyn Dittrich led a 100-yard backstroke sweep, Kodi Rappe won two events and the Raiders put together another round of strong efforts Thursday in a 106-58 Senior Night win over Lakeland.

With the victory, Medford finished 6-1 in Great Northern Conference dual meets and 9-1 overall in duals. The Raiders now look forward to the fall’s biggest meets, the GNC championships at Colby-Abbotsford, set for Friday at 5 p.m., and then they’ll have two weeks to finish tapering and fine-tuning for the WIAA Division 2 Menomonie sectional Nov. 9.

In Thursday’s win the Raiders continued to work through some aches and fatigue that go with the pre-taper yardage and some mixing and matching on the lineup sheet while taking care of the Thunderbirds, who finished 3-4 in GNC duals.

“We had a couple swimmers that were a little sick tonight,” Medford head coach Sam Klinner said after the meet. “We have a couple injuries that are surfacing that are haunting us a little. Overall it was a little bit of a tough night, but I think they pulled through and shined. Coming up with a lineup is harder and harder now.”

D’Arienzo’s first foray into the 500yard freestyle went incredibly well as the team’s junior exchange student won the race handily in 5:52.45, the best time a Raider has had in that event this fall. Senior Mackenzie Petersen was second in 6:18.16 and senior Tana Rappe was third in 6:33.03 giving Medford a 13-2 scoring advantage in the event.

The 100-yard backstroke was the other big event of the night. Dittrich won in 1:09.27, dropping more than four seconds from her previous best time of the fall. Layla Petersen also cut nearly four seconds from the one other time she swam the backstroke and took second in 1:11.86 and Jayda Fryklund took third in 1:14.83, 3.16 seconds ahead of Lakeland’s Callie Baker.

D’Arienzo added a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley at a season-best 2:28.14, while Chelsea Gebauer was third in 2:39.7 and Dittrich was fourth in 2:39.87 in her first medley of 2024.

“We had Chiara in the 500, which she’s never swam before and she did awesome,” Klinner said. “She had a truly amazing time, so we may have to use her at sectionals for that. Ady did the 100 backstroke and dropped significant time. She had a really, really good night.”

Kodi Rappe touched the wall just 0.03 seconds ahead of Lakeland’s Daryn Smolinski to win the 100-yard freestyle in 1:00.38, her best time of the fall, and she took the 50-yard freestyle in 27.07 seconds, 1.71 seconds ahead of Lakeland’s Avalon Collins. Medford scored 11 points in the 50 with Chelsea Gebauer taking third in 28.9 seconds and Cadance Haenel grabbing fourth in 30.22 seconds. The Raiders scored 10 points in the 100 as Sydney Sperl took third in 1:03.51 and Haenel was fifth in 1:05.51.

Just before the 100 freestyle, Sperl won the 100-yard butterfly in a season-best 1:08.52, while Layla Petersen wasn’t far behind at 1:09.37, comfortably ahead of Lakeland’s Kasey Wise.

The Raiders jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the meet’s first event, the 200-yard medley relay. D’Arienzo, Gebauer, Layla Petersen and Kodi Rappe won it in 2:00.44, while Dittrich, Sophie Sperl, Sydney Sperl and Haenel were second in 2:05.68, almost 13 seconds faster than Lakeland’s team.

Kodi Rappe, Gebauer, Sydney Sperl and D’Arienzo won the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:49.43, three seconds better than Lakeland’s team. Fryklund, Aliyah Galan, Tori Nicks and Mackenzie Petersen got the two third-place points at 2:01.09 and the team of Autumn Venzke, Elizabeth Bartnik, Mata Decker and Chloe Pipkorn was fourth at 2:22.51.

Lakeland won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:14.8. Medford’s team took the next three spots. Layla Petersen, Fryklund, Dittrich and Tana Rappe were second at 4:25.38, followed by Mackenzie Petersen, Galan, Haenel and Nicks in 4:38.56 and Venzke, Bartnik, Decker and Pipkorn in 5:31.37.

Sophie Sperl took second behind Lakeland’s top swimmer, Olivia Mickle (1:12.83), in the 100-yard breaststroke. Sperl’s time was 1:18.04. Tana Rappe was fourth in 1:33.11 and Galan was fifth in 1:59.53.

Mackenzie Petersen led Medford in the 200-yard freestyle with a third-place time of 2:15.24, while Nicks was fourth in 2:21.72.

Pipkorn was the JV winner in the 50yard freestyle at 31.59 seconds, followed by Decker (36.51) and Bartnik (39.62). Pipkorn won the JV 100-yard backstroke in 1:25.78, while Galan was second at 1:25.95. Decker won the JV 100-yard freestyle in 1:25.43, while Venzke was second at 1:35.9.

The Senior Night festivities featured Medford’s group of five upcoming graduates, Mackenzie Petersen, Tana Rappe, Haenel, Gebauer and Sydney Sperl.

“For the most part, they’ve been awesome girls,” Klinner said. “They’re all very, very great swimmers. They put a lot of heart into it as you see a lot of that heart and emotion tonight. There’s been times where they fool around a little too much and there’s been times where they talk a little too much, but they are quick to get back into practice and everything else.

“We used them a few times to put them into leadership roles and think that’s helped us,” he added. “We actually had the seniors design quite a few of the practices, which makes things easier because all of sudden, everyone is on board. If it’s a team effort, they seem to like that.”

While Rhinelander will certainly be the favorite to win the conference and sectional titles, the Raiders are anxious to put their best efforts out there and see where they end up in each meet.

“I think it’s going to go pretty well,” Klinner said. “I know we have to watch out for Rhinelander. I think the rest of it will go real smooth and I’m just hoping that these girls can pull through and feel the good end of the taper and have plenty of energy for it. Hopefully we time it out right.”