October 29, 2024 at 5:40 a.m.
Olivia Mickle delivers two conference championships
The Lakeland girls’ swim team brought home two conference championships, with a number of podium placements, at the Great Northern Conference Meet on Friday.
The Thunderbirds placed fourth out of eight teams with 151 points at the GNC Meet in Colby. Olivia Mickle won a conference championship in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.
“Overall I was pretty happy with how the girls did,” coach Tierney Edwards said. “We have a small and young team. We only had eight girls competing because of injuries and illness, and five of those eight are freshmen. For us to take fourth place was a great accomplishment. We ended up with seven top-six finishes.”

(Photo by Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
With Lakeland’s experience in a number of events, it gave Edwards flexibility to put her lineup together.
“It was hard trying to decide what events for girls to swim,” Edwards said. “I wanted them to be invested in their events, but I was also looking at what was going to potentially give us the most points. I’m thankful that a lot of the girls I have swimming can swim a variety of events, and I know they are going to do well in them.”
The 200 freestyle was the first individual event of the night. Mickle wasted no time getting Lakeland atop the podium with her first-place finish and time of 2:03.94.
Mickle beat Rhinelander’s Rylee Mickevicius by two-plus seconds to finish first team all-conference. Mickle had splits of 27.75, 31.01, 32.54 and 32.64. Mickle’s first three 50s were faster than Mickevicius’. Mickle had plenty left in the tank to fend off Mickevicius at the end.
Later, Mickle took first in the 500 freestyle. She touched the wall in 5:32.36, over 13 seconds faster than Rhinelander’s Emma Houg. Mickle had the fastest split in the event with an opening 29.39, the only split under 30 seconds.
“Olivia was ranked first in these two events in the GNC going into this meet,” Edwards said. “I was confident in her placement before the psych sheet came out. Olivia was able to get ahead quickly and keep her pace. She has such strong flip turns and underwaters. When she swims distance events she makes the most of the walls.”
Lakeland’s ‘A’ 400 freestyle relay team concluded the meet by finishing honorable mention all-conference, third place. Daryn Smolinski, Avalon Collins, Kasey Wise and Mickle finished with a time of 4:01.49. They beat out Medford’s ‘A’ team by less than a second (4:02.31) for third place.
“Colby/Abby’s blocks are small and don’t have wedges. So the relay exchanges was something we really had to practice the last week … it wasn’t something we are use to,” Edwards said. “But overall the girls did great. That relay is our strongest relay. The girls work well together and showed up to race.”
In the 100 freestyle, Collins found the podium. She finished sixth with a time of 1:01.45, beating her seed time by nearly two seconds. It was part of a busy day for her. The top six in each event made the podium.
“Avalon showed up to swim,” Edwards said. “She truly raced those next to her and had some personal-best times and was able to take sixth in the 100 free and be part of the 200 medley sixth-place finish and the 400 free relay third-place finish.”
Wise made the podium in the 100 backstroke with a sixth-place finish. She beat her seed time with a 1:08.97. She touched the wall just ahead of Medford’s Adalyn Dittrich by 0.01 seconds. Wise had a faster opening split at 33.07 compared to Dittrich’s 34.03. Dittrich closed the gap in the final 50 (34.95), but it wasn’t enough to catch Wise who had a final 50 of 35.90.
“Kasey is so smooth in the water. She is so graceful when she swims,” Edwards said. “I am often telling her to pick it up, and then she touches the wall, and it’s a personal best. She had a personal best and a sixth-place finish. I am proud of her conference finish.”
Smolinski took sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:21.76 for another podium finish for Lakeland.
“Daryn didn’t have a personal best but was still able to snag a sixth-place finish,” Edwards said. “We have to work on the timing of her stroke and quicken it up a little. But Daryn’s been working hard on practices, and I have a feeling she’s going to be swimming really well at sectionals.”
The Thunderbirds opened the meet with a podium finish. Lakeland’s 200 medley relay team of Smolinski, Mickle, Wise and Collins finished sixth with a time of 2:04.24.
Other noteworthy times included Collins in the 200 IM. She swam a 2:40.27, beating her seed time.
Wise beat her seed time in the 100 butterfly — 1:10.89.
In the 100 freestyle, Alicia Kroening topped her seed time with a swim of 1:08.76.
“There weren’t a lot of personal-best swims, but I didn’t see a lot of outstanding swims from any of the teams,” Edwards said. “It seemed to be a slower pool for many girls. That being said, our team did what they needed to do. Every girl on the team contributed to our overall points and had a hand in us taking fourth. I couldn’t have asked them to do more. I’m looking forward to the next two weeks before sectionals.”
Overall, Lakeland finished tied for fourth with Antigo with 16 points combining points accumulated during the dual meet season and the conference meet.
Up next, the Thunderbirds head to Menomonie for a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet on Saturday, Nov. 9 beginning at 1 p.m.
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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