Rhinelander to cut swimming?

Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf is one of the best sprinters in Division 2; as the top returning finisher from last year's state meet in both the 50 and 100 frees, the senior will certainly be one of the favorites in those races come February.

He may also be the last Rhinelander swimmer to compete for a state title. The Rhinelander school district, faced with a $2 million operating deficit after a failed referendum, has put both girls and boys swimming on the chopping block for next season in an attempt to close the deficit. The school distirct runs an indoor swimming pool, the practice and competition site for both teams. Details here:

http://www.hodagsports.com/stories.html?SKU=20081218132338

Lonsdorf, the team's captain who recently signed a letter-of-intent to swim at D1 Wyoming, lamented the possible loss of the swim program at Rhinelander: “This program, Rhinelander boys swimming as a whole, has been amazingly successful throughout the years. It’s kind of a shame (that it could go).”

It's hard to imagine a better representative for the program than Lonsdorf. He's qualified for the state meet each of his first three years in high school, and has three state runner-up finishes to his name. Last year, he entered the state D2 meet as the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees, and swam best times in each event, but was edged out in both races for first place.

Afterwards, he expressed disappointment in not winning, but didn't make any excuses, and instead dedicated himself to winning a state title this year. He even moved to Madison this past summer to train with the Badger Aquatic Club and top-notch swimmers such as Purdue signee Sam Niesen of Middleton and state champ Michael Drives of Madison Memorial.

“I guess that just means next year in practice, I’m just going to have to kick my butt even harder and really, really work hard to finally come out with some wins," he told HodagSports.com after last year's state meet. "I think it will happen. I really do.”

Here's hoping Lonsdorf isn't the last Rhinelander swimmer to get a chance at a state title.

News on the swimsuit front

FINA, swimming's international governing body, plans to address the controversy over high-tech swimsuits at a meeting in March. See this from USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-12-22-3811161370_x.htm

Any decision or recommendation made by FINA will likely have a big impact on the use of the high-tech suits at the high school level. USA Swimming will likely follow -- or come under intense international pressure to follow -- FINA's recommendations/decisions, and once USA Swimming rules on the issue, expect high school sports associations (under the auspices of the National Federation of State High School Association) to follow in line.

The suits continue to generate controversy, which peaked in Wisconsin during the conclusion of the girls swim season. Several coaches after the girls state high school swim meet noted the fast times swum by both D1 and D2 swimmers at the meet, many of them wearing a version of the high-tech suits. See:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html

Any action by FINA is unlikely to have much impact at this season's boys state swim meet. The USA Today article suggests the earliest that any changes regarding the use of such suits would occur would be at the 2009 world swim championships in Italy this summer.

New Berlin's time?

The New Berlin boys swim co-op, comprised of students from both West and Eisenhower high schools, has usually played second fiddle to Milwaukee-area swim powers like Hartland Arrowhead, Mequon Homestead, and Marquette. But maybe not this year. Coach Paul Lutzke has assembled a strong squad that could make some noise come state meet time.

The co-op is led by senior Byron Butler, the defending state champ in the butterfly. Butler is off to a very good start already this season, with a 52.14 100 fly already on the books and a 52.68 in the backstroke (more than a second faster than he swam at state last year, when he finished 7th). But New Berlin has shown some additional depth this year, with Alexander Rodenkirk posting some strong times in the freestyle sprints, and freshman Jasen Johnson adding depth in areas such as the breaststroke, where he's already posted a state-qualifying time based on last year's time standards.

The co-op showed off its depth of talent at the Woodland Conference Relays last weekend, where the team won the meet with 344 points over a solid D2 Shorewood squad. Impressively, the New Berlin swimmers won eight of the relay events at the meet, setting meet records in six of them -- pretty impressive, as the Woodland has a strong boys swimming tradition.

With some of the Milwaukee area's traditional D1 powers hit with graduation losses this year, New Berlin could emerge from the always tough Waukesha South sectional with a strong contingent of swimmers for the state meet.

Whitefish Bay moves up in the North Shore

The always competitive North Shore Conference has often been a battle among D1 powers Mequon Homestead and Glendale Nicolet, and D2 powers Whitefish Bay and Cedarburg. It looks like Whitefish Bay has moved to the head of the class.

The Blue Dukes won the North Shore Relays last week with 92 points, five more than Homestead and 10 more than third-place Nicolet. Cedarburg finished fourth with 68 points.

Of course, some may partly attribute Whitefish Bay's success to the heavy loss dealt via graduation to some of the conference rivals. Perhaps no league in the Milwaukee area lost as many top-flight swimmers as the North Shore, with the likes of Nicolet's Steve Cebertowicz, Homestad's Jonathan Whitcomb, and Cedarburg's Tommy Radtke and Mike Schalla having graduated.

Whitefish Bay lost some key seniors as well -- Peter Brengel chief among them -- but the Blue Dukes returned a slew of swimmers, many of them with state-meet experience, and are emerging early this season as one of D2's top teams. One of the key's to Whitefish Bay's success is their versatility; they have a bunch of swimmers who can swim several different events, and swim them well, which gives coach Jim Davis a lot of room to maneuver in setting up lineups. To wit, the Blue Dukes won both the 400 medley relay (four swimmers x 100 in each stroke) and the 400 IM relay (four swimmers x 100 IM) at the North Shore meet. They also won the breaststroke and backstroke relays at the meet, plus the closing 400 free relay. Leading the way for the team were juniors Jason Castillo, Chris Fink, and Chuck Prestigiacomo, and sophomore D.J. Freisch, all of who swam on three winning relays.

McFarland on a roll

The McFarland steamroller keeps moving along, as the Spartans romped to an easy win Saturday at the Blackhawk Invite hosted by Ft. Atkinson.

McFarland, the defending D2 state champs, won the meet with 490 points, topping a very good Verona squad that scored 437 points. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights finished third with 324 points. For a comparison, a very good McFarland squad last year scored 319 points against most of the same teams, so Saturday's meet represented a remarkable 171-point improvement.

The meet got off to a rousing start, with McFarland, Verona and Sauk battling it out in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Sauk emerged with the win (1:41.86) with a terrific come-from-behind anchor leg (21.53 split in the free) by Matt Friede. Verona (1:42.19) and McFarland (1:42.31) followed closely.

But losing the opening race was about the only thing that didn't go to form for the Spartans. As expected, the tandem of Brian Heiser and Graham Thoresen dominated the distance events, going 1-2 in each, with Heiser winning the 200 in a terrific early-season time of 1:47.42 and Thoresen setting a pool record in winning the 500 in 4:50.15 (he broke the pool record of former D2 500 free state champ Rion Epping of Delavan-Darien, who watched his record fall while at the meet coaching his alma mater). Freshman Ryan O'Donnell won the 100 back in 54.29, while his senior brother Brandon won the 100 fly (54.22) by more than a second, and finished 2nd in the 200 IM. In maybe the most impressive swim of the meet, the O'Donnells teamed with Heiser and Thoresen to win the 400 free relay in 3:17.15, a time that was faster than McFarland's winning time in the event last year at state.

(Mind-numbing stat of the week -- McFarland's splits on the 400 free relay. They were: Brandon O'Donnell -- 49.06; Heiser -- 49.18; Ryan O'Donnell -- 49.47; Thoresen -- 49.44. There are only a handful of D1 teams that can put together four sub-50 freestylers; the number of D2 teams capable of doing so, it's safe to say, is quite small.)

Also impressing for McFarland was its depth; the Spartans in the past few years have been a squad reliant on several top-flight swimmers. With the addition of several top-shelf freshmen, the team has depth that it has lacked in the past. That should serve the Spartans well down the road this season.

Early big dual meet goes to Whitefish Bay

Two of the state's top D2 teams squared off Tuesday night in a North Shore Conference dual meet, with Whitefish Bay just edging out Cedarburg 82-74. The two squads figure to contend at the D2 state meet, with Cedarburg the defending state runners-up, while WB aims to improve on last year's fourth-place finish.

WB got wins in all three relays and individual event wins from Chris Fink (200 free -- 1:56.42), Chucky Prestigiacomo (100 free -- 52.07), and DJ Freisch (100 breaststroke -- 1:05.93). Cedarburg's Carl Newenhouse was a double winner in the 200 IM (2:05.74) and 100 back (55.16).

Switching seasons

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on the possible switch of the boys and girls swim seasons, with mostly negative reactions from some of the Milwaukee area's high-profile boys programs such as Hartland Arrowhead.

See: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/35842309.html

It's worth noting, again, the rather imprecise language of WIAA officials when discussing this issue. Note the following from the article (re. the Michigan court case cited by WIAA officials for considering making the switch):

"The court ruling with the (MHSAA) led to not only Wisconsin, but it has required all state associations to look carefully at what's called 'preferred seasons' for seasonal placement," said Tom Shafranski, assistant director of the WIAA. "Courts determined that, for swimming and diving, the preferred girls season is the winter period."

Questions and observations:

-- Did the Michigan court case really "require" Wisconsin and other states to "look carefully" at the issue of preferred seasons? Courts in one state rarely require other states to do anything, as a legal matter. Or did WIAA officials simply infer from the Michigan decision that they might be pressed in a similar manner, via a lawsuit, to switch some seasons around, and thus decided to talk about the switch in order to fend off any potential lawsuits?

-- The Michigan court case said exactly the opposite of what the WIAA says in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article:

"The Court finds that the fall season for swimming has advantages that outweigh advantages to
swimming in winter." (See section III, part E, starting on page 46, here:

http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/sports/coemhsaa121401opn.pdf

The Michigan High School Athletic Association switched several seasons as a result of the litigation there, but not swimming. In Michigan (outside of the low-population Upper Peninsula) girls swimming is a fall sport, while boys swimming remains a winter sport. (Interestingly, MHSAA officials, in assembling which sports to switch seasons in response to the lawsuit, received the most vocal opposition from its member high schools to the idea of switching girls swimming to winter and boys swimming to fall.)

There are already rumblings among some boys swim coaches that they expect the switch to be made. But it's still unclear where the WIAA derives its (apparent) belief that girls and boys swim seasons in Wisconsin should be switched.

Little big man -- Wausau East's Josh Hall

Watch enough swim meets, and the ways in which swimmers attack a particular stroke all tend to blend together. There are variations on strokes, of course, but few swimmers stand out as doing something truly different.

Then along comes someone like Josh Hall of Wausau East to change your mind. Hall, a senior, is one of the state's best swimmers; he is easily the shortest, best swimmer in the state (he might stand 5'6"). Hall's speciality is the breaststroke, and to watch him swim it is a treat. Hall makes up for his diminutive stature by having what must be the most rapid turnover (swim term -- the time it takes to complete one full version of the stroke) of any breaststroker, male or female, in the state.

Last year, Hall entered the state D1 meet with the fastest seed time in the 100 breastroke, only to be edged by Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Neitzel in the finals, 58.19 to 58.61. Neitzel, a junior, towers over Hall -- they are truly the Mutt and Jeff of Wisconsin breaststroking -- and attacks the breaststroke with a huge reach and tremendous pull, befitting his long arms and lanky frame.

But Hall may have revenge on his mind. Just before the start of the boys swim season, Hall swam a 55.50 100 breaststroke at the regional Grand Prix meet held at the very fast University of Minnesota Natatorium. To give some perspective to that time, the state record for the 100 breaststroke is 55.87 (Madison Memorial's Chris Wood). It's the most venerable record in D1, as Wood set it in 1995, making it by two years the oldest D1 record on the books.

It should be fun to watch Hall pursue the record, and Neitzel, this year.

Verona a force in the Big Eight?

Longtime swim power Verona is now a member of the Big Eight, one of the most competitive swim conferences in the state. The Wildcats showed they will be a strong addition to the conference as they came close to edging Madison Memorial in a dual meet Friday night at Verona, losing by just six, 88-82. The Wildcats won seven of the 11 races at the meet, including the medley and 400 free relays, traditionally a strong suit of Memorial. Looking particularly strong for Verona was junior Derek Toomey, who captured both the 50 (25.13 -- meters) and 100 (55.88) frees. Sophomore Spencer Ritt won his speciality, the 100 fly (1:02.70), and swam on both the team's winning relays.

Verona graduated several seniors, including Ian Girdley, arguably the team's best swimmer. But they return a strong group of swimmers, including state qualifiers Ritt and Jeff Peterson (breaststroke). They also have several swimmers -- Toomey, Jacob Olandt, and Kevin Misener -- who have experience swimming at the state meet in relays and just missed out on qualifying individually for the state meet. Look for them to be a force in the Big Eight this year.

In other notable Big Eight results, Middleton topped Madison West 97-73 behind senior Sam Niesen, who had wins in the 200 IM (2:00.87) and the 100 free (48.53). Over on the other side of town, Madison East topped Janesville Parker 116-54 behind junior Robert Miner, who had wins in the 200 IM (2:10.45) and the 100 fly (54.09), his specialty. Watch out for Miner this year in the fly; he has already gone below 54 in the fly this season, and during the fall club season, handily beat several of the state's top flyers, including Greenfield/Greendale's Jack Lennertz and New Berlin West/Eisenhower's Byron Butler.

Memorial wins early test

Madison Memorial showed it will likely be a top contender come D1 state meet time after one of the first early tests of the swim season. The Spartans on Wednesday topped a quality field at the Brookfield Invitational, easily winning with 425 points to runner-up Middleton's 346.5. Marquette, third in last year's state meet, finished third at the Brookfield meet with 344.5 points, ahead of fourth-place Hartland Arrowhead (313), last year's defending D1 state champs.

The meet results should probably come with an asterisk, however, as neither of Arrowhead's two best swimmers -- sprinter Mitchell Friedemann and distance swimmer Ryan Hansen -- swam individual events at the meet. The Spartans were led by junior Michael Drives, who won the 200 IM (1:58.82) and the 500 free (4:46.08) with solid early-season times. Drives also swam the breaststroke leg on the winning medley relay (1:42.14), and diver Nate Broadbridge won a close match-up with Marquette's Mike Donofrio -- the two are among the top returning divers in the state this year.

The meet also marked the debut of two highly anticipated freshmen -- Lucas Kuriga for Marquette and Jake Prodoehl for HA. Both have been tearing through state age-group meets for the past two years. Prodoehl won the 100 free at the Brookfield meet (49.30) and finished third in the 50 free (22.77) -- both qualifying times for the D1 state meet last year. Kuriga finished third in the 100 fly (55.67) and swam on Marqeutte's winning 200 and 400 free relays.

Spartans show strength

How good is McFarland? Good enough to win seven of the 10 events at the Badger Conference Relays meet Tuesday night with one of their best swimmers -- distance swimmer Graham Thoresen -- sitting out. McFarland easily won the meet, 292-212 over runner-up Milton, with a demonstration of both strong swimming and very good depth.

The relay meet is a bit goofy -- it consists of 10 events which are rarely swum in other meets. Some have eight swimmers per relay, and others consist of events in which only one stroke is swum. Still, it's a good indicator of both a team's depth and versatility.

For McFarland, senior Brandon O'Donnell looked particularly sharp, leading his team to wins in the 4 x 100 IM relay, the 300 fly relay, and the 400 free relay. For instance, O'Donnell swam an opening leg of 48.30 in the 400 free relay, a time comparable to his anchor relay split of 47.65 at the D2 state meet last year when he brought McFarland from well behind in the 400 free relay to win. The Spartans also showed they could be a power for years to come, with strong performances from a number of freshmen, including Brandon's brother Ryan, along with Collin Morgan, Ryan Krattinger, and Max Schimanski.

As for other swimmers at the Badger Conference meet, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Tyler Lentz looked very strong, with a 53.83 split on his fly leg of the team's winning 400 medley relay, along with a 53.13 opening backstroke leg on the team's winning 3 X 100 backstroke relay.
Edgewood's Chase Stephens also had an eye-opening 48.30 anchor-leg free split for the Crusaders' 400 medley relay, which finished second to Sauk. That's more than two seconds faster than Stephens swam on a relay leg last year at the state D2 meet.

Swimmers of the year -- girls

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has named Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark as its swimmer of year. It's a big honor for the D2 swimmer, given the competition she faces from the wealth of D1 powers in the Milwaukee area. Hojan-Clark was the only Milwaukee-area swimmer to win two individual state titles this year, and came with about a half-second of setting two state records in the 200 and 500 frees.

See article here:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/35348844.html

This past weekend, the Wisconsin State Journal named Madison East's Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout as its co-swimmers of the year. It's the second year in a row the paper has honored Van Hout, a sophomore with seven state titles to her name already. Martin finished her career at East with eight state titles (four individual, four relays) and will be headed to the University of Wisconsin to continue her swimming career.

D1 boys preview

It would be hard to top the conclusion of last year's Division 1 boys swim season, when the outcome of the state meet came down to the last 15 yards of the last event of the meet, and involved four teams.

(To recap, Madison Memorial needed to win the 400 free relay, or finish two places ahead of Hartland Arrowhead, to win its fourth straight title. Memorial had the lead going into the last leg of the relay, only to see Badger-Big Foot's Wes Lagerhausen swim a mind-boggling 44.06 anchor leg to catch the Spartans. Still, it looked like Memorial had won the title with its second-place finish, as Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights edge Arrowhead for third place in the relay. But the Sauk swimmers were DQ'd for an early entry on a start, moving Arrowhead up to third place in the relay. The additional two points for HA gave them the state title over Memorial, 217-216.)

Can HA repeat? To do so, they'll have to ride the broad shoulders of sprinter Mitchell Friedemann and distance swimmer Ryan Hansen, two of the best swimmers in the state. Friedemann, a junior, will be looking for a third straight title in the 100 back, and with top sprinters Lagerhausen and Nicolet's Steve Cebertowicz graduated, improve on his 3rd-place finish in the 100 free. Hansen, meanwhile, came within two-tenths of a second (in the 200 free, where he finished second) of capturing both the 200 and 500 free races at the state meet, and enters this season as the top threat in each event. But HA will have to fill some spots to repeat; eight of the 12 slots on relays that placed at state last year were swum by now-departed seniors. Look for juniors Cody Roller (16th at state in the IM, 13th in fly) and Chris Jenkyns (7th 500 free, 17th back), along with sophomore Brent Schreibel (12th 500 free), to play bigger roles for HA this year.

As for Memorial, they'll look to junior Michael Drives, who along with Friedemann and Hansen is the top returning swimmer in the state. He's the defending champ in the 200 IM, and finished 3rd in the 500 free. The Spartans, however, were a senior-dominated team last year; look for seniors Jake Schneider and Shawn Marcott to step up this year for Memorial. The Spartans will also count on diver Nate Broadbridge, who finished 11th last year at state but could move up to the podium this year after the graduation of a number of the state's top divers.

It's been more than 30 years (1976 -- Beloit) since a team outside either the Milwaukee or Madison areas won the state D1 title. Is Wausau East the team to break the string this year? The Lumberjacks return some top-quality swimmers, led by seniors Lucas Koenig (2nd fly, 3rd 50 free) and Josh Hall (2nd breaststroke, 11th IM). Junior Danny Brebrick (12th 100 free, 13th 100 breast, anchor free leg on 1st-place medley relay) provided additional points for Wausau East at the state meet; the Lumberjacks will likely have to add some depth to contend for the title.

Marquette finished 3rd last year at state behind strong showings from all of its relays (4th place finishes by both the medley and 400 free, and a 3rd place in the 200 free). Seniors Wes Borden (12th 200 free, 10th 100 fly), Andrew Breger (8th 50 free), and Seph Scheid (13th 50 free, 14th fly), along with junior Joe Bastien, lead a strong contingent of returning swimmers. Junior Mike Donofrio finished 4th last year in the dive meet behind three departed seniors, and will look to contend for a state title this year.

Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, one of the smaller D1 programs in the state, showed it could swim with the big sharks last year with a 6th-place finish at state. The co-op returns a strong nucleus of swimmers, including Tyler Lentz (2nd IM, 5th breaststroke), Matt Friede (8th 200 free, 6th 100 free), and Tyler Evans (5th 50 free, 7th 100 fly) -- the trio made up three-fourths of the swimmers who won the 200 free relay last year and would've finished 3rd in the 400 free relay absent the DQ.

A darkhouse candidate to move up the standings could be Middleton, which finished 11th last year at state. The Cardinals are led by senior Sam Niesen (3rd 200 free, 2nd back), and return everyone who swam at state last year, including all members of its three relay teams. Middleton is also expected to add some high-quality freshmen to the fold, and will certainly contend with Memorial for top honors in the always competitive Big Eight Conference.

Other D1 swimmers to watch this season include: the Greendale/Greenfield co-op duo of Jack Lennertz (12th IM, 4th fly) and Mike Lucchesi (4th 200 free, 7th 100 free); Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Nietzel (1st place 100 breaststroke, 4th IM); New Berlin West/Eisenhower's Byron Butler (1st place butterfly, 7th backstroke), and Waukesha West/Mukwonago's Dillon Wiesner (3rd breaststroke, 10th IM).

D2 boys preview

The boys high school swim season is upon us, with a few teams already having swum a meet. The season begins in earnest this week, with a number of conference relays.

In Division 2, the big question entering the season is: Can anyone stop McFarland on its march to a third straight state title? The Spartans certainly are loaded; they return six of the seven swimmers who scored McFarland's 251 points at the state meet last year. The lone graduating senior -- Ian Bakk, who won both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke at state, plus swam a key leg on the winning 200 medley relay -- is a big loss for the team. But the Spartans return: Brandon O'Donnell, runner-up in both the IM and 100 fly, and the anchor of the winning 400 free relay; distance swimmers Graham Thoresen and Brian Heiser, 3rd and 4th, respectively, in both the 200 and 500 frees; sprinter Peter Grenzow; plus state relay swimmers Ben Psyk and Andrew Hovel. In addition, the Spartans are expected to add a talented group of freshmen, led by Ryan O'Donnell (brother of Brandon and current UW swimmer Derek), who has already swum state-qualifying times in a number of events for his Spartan Sharks club team. McFarland is a team that combines swimmers capable of placing in the top five at state in several events, plus three strong relays. It's a tough combination to beat at the D2 level.

Who might make McFarland sweat a bit this season?

-- Whitefish Bay, fourth last year at state, returns five swimmers who qualified for the state meet last year, led by Jason Castillo (4th in both the IM and breastroke). Three-fourths of the medley and 400 free relays return (both with top-eight finishes last year at the state meet), and the team may have enough depth to qualify all three relays for state. Whitefish Bay has a very strong junior class; they may be a year away from knocking off McFarland from its perch. They also have one of the top returning divers in Ian Gee.

-- Last year's runner-up, Cedarburg, has two big holes to fill with the graduation of distance swimmer Tommy Radtke and sprinter Mike Schalla, who between them scored 73 points in individual events last year at state. But four state qualifiers return, led by sophomore Carl Newenhouse (11th IM, 9th back) and distance swimmer Jim Akkala (14th 200 free, 8th 500 free). Cedarburg also returns all three of its divers that placed at state last year, including defending champ Will Mathee.

-- Shorewood qualifed all three of its relays on its way to a 7th-place finish at state, and nearly all of its top swimmers return. Shorewood is particularly strong in the distance events, with R.J. Hayes (9th in the 200 free, 6th in the 500 free) and Karl Weisling (10th in the 200 free, 7th in the 500 free). Stephen Meyer is the team's top returning swimmer, with top-five finishes last year at state in both the fly and back.

-- Delavan-Darien finished 6th last year at state, led by its terrific tandem of Alex Riegert (3rd in the 50 free, 2nd in the breaststroke) and Nathaniel Johnson (3rd in both the IM and breastroke).

-- Similar to Cedarburg, Ashwaubenon will be looking to fill holes left by graduation. Senior Chris Vandervest (6th in the 100 free, 5th in the breastroke) leads a contingent of five state qualifiers returning. Ashwaubenon finished 3rd last year at state on the strength of its relays, including the winning 200 free relay. Filling out those relays may be a key to the team's success this year.

-- Looking for a darkhorse? Try Madison Edgewood. The Crusaders brought in a strong freshman class last year, led by Drew teDuits (2nd in back, 5th in fly at state). Distance swimmer Chase Stephens (8th 200 free, 5th 500 free) also swims quality legs on relays, and the team's young swimmers may be poised to better last year's 11th place finish at state; every swimmer who scored points at the state meet returns.

As for individual swimmers to look out for this year, watch for strong seasons from: Milton's Jeff Maxwell, the defending champ in the 500 free and 2nd-place finisher in the 200 free; Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf, runner-up last year in both the 50 and 100 free sprints; Brookfield Academy's dynamic sophomore duo of Jonathan Marks (5th IM, 11th breastroke) and Jack Donovan (6th fly, 11th 200 free); River Falls senior Eric Emerson (3rd 100 free, 7th back); and Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's John Parent (5th 200 free, 7th 100 free). On a side note, if the WIAA is looking for reasons not to switch the boys swim season to the fall, they could do worse than consider the case of Parent, a second-team all-conference quarterback for his Sturgeon Bay football team.

New Olympic-sized pool near Kenosha

An Olympic-sized, 50-meter pool has been proposed in the village of Pleasant Prairie, near Kenosha. Details here:

http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPool.pdf

and here:

http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPoolPlans.pdf

A few thoughts:

-- This is certainly good news for swimming in general, as it provides only the second competitive indoor long-course pool in the state, along with the 30-year-old Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer. It also could provide a venue for major high school meets, including the southeastern D1 and/or D2 sectionals now held in Kenosha and Cudahay.

-- Is it a candidate to host the state high school meet? Probably not; the proposed pool's seating capacity is listed at 1,000, or 500 fewer than the UW Natatorium, viewed by many as undersized for hosting the state swim meets.

-- The center of competitive swimming, at least when it comes to high-quality pools, continues to shift toward southeastern Wisconsin. SE Wisconsin a year from now will have the state's two competition-based Olympic-sized pools, plus the Waukesha South HS pool, one of the best short-course pools in the state. Madison is left with just the short-course Natatorium. Add in the first-rate pool at Carthage College in Kenosha, and SE Wisconsin has an abundace of first-place facilities for meets. The UW pool does have its assets; it's still a very fast pool, and the atmosphere for the state meet -- where the 1,500 fans that can fit in the place are literally sitting on top of each other -- is top-notch. But it still an undersized pool for a top-tier NCAA swim program, and talk at the recently held girls state meets hinted the UW was probably five years away from building a natatorium that is on par with the likes of those at the University of Minnesota.

(Thanks for Jon and Becky Duffey for the tip on the new Pleasant Prairie pool.)

Girls season recap

Another girls high school season is in the books, with Hartland-Arrowhead (D1) and DeForest (D2) winning state titles. For HA, it was their sixth title in the past seven years; for the Norskies, it was their third title in a row.

Look for more of the same next year. If any two teams are poised to repeat their titles, it's HA and DeForest. HA returns nearly everyone who scored points at the state meet -- 139 points in individual races, all members of the team's three relays that scored 96 points, and two divers who contributed 14 points. HA is quite young -- two-time 100 fly state champ Emma Goral is only a sophomore, and HA got major contributions this season from freshmen Hailey Pietila, Kate Jones, and Stephanie Hein. That's an awfully strong foundation for at least two years to come.

Meanwhile, many of HA's chief rivals will be losing some significant swimmers. Madison East, state champs in 2007 and runner-up this year, returns most of its swimmers but graduates eight-time state champ Ruby Martin, who is headed to the University of Wisconsin. Madison Memorial returns two-time state champ Jackie Powell and a host of strong swimmers, but must replace veteran sprinters Kayla Smith and Mackenzie King, along with Kendra Loch and Kelsie Saxe. Waukesha South/Mukwonago, meanwhile, must replace sprinter Arriana Gorenc and several mainstays of its relays.

DeForest graduates state meet veterans Molly Anderson, Karmyn Vandewettering, and Lark Egen, but the team returns arguably its four best swimmers -- versatile junior Lindsey Verhulst, sophomore Casey Wolter (a top-five finisher at state in both the 200 and 500 frees) and freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz, both of whom swam exceedingly well down the stretch of the season. The Norskies return 98.5 points from this year's state meets, and have the depth to fill spots on their relays filled this year by seniors.

Several D2 teams as well will graduate longtime state-meet stalwarts -- Grafton's Brianna Dietz, Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz and Ashley Majewski, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, and Milton's Hailey Foss and Kaitlyn Kincaide. If any team can compete with DeForest next year, it might be Edgewood. The Crudaders graduate Beth Schramka, a four-time qualifier for the state meet, but return a strong corps of sprinters and a solid group of freshmen swimmers.

Look for two other topics to continue to percolate during the off-season -- the much-debated switch of the girls and boys swim seasons (see:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons.html and

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons-chap-2.html

and the controversy over the use of fast suits (see:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html

Anatomy of a start

The 50-yard freestyle is the rawest and most elemental of swimming events. It’s a quick race -- one trip up the lane, and another back – with a razor-thin margin of error. It’s maybe the most nerve-wracking of all events; some swimmers candidly admit in private to not liking it much. Success often hinges on executing three elements – the start, the turn, and the finish. A late start, a slip on the turn, a gliding finish – all can spell the difference between finishing first, or not.

In the recently concluded Division 2 state meet, Monona Grove’s Hayley Martin entered the final heat as the favorite in the 50 free. She’d been undefeated all season in the event, earned the top seed for the meet, and drew the coveted lane 4. Next to her in lane 5 was chief rival Maggie Smith of Whitefish Bay, who had finished second in the event last year. Martin ended up winning, with a time of 24.19, just ahead of Smith’s 24.35, and she essentially won the race with her start.

Here’s a look at the start of the 50 free final. Martin, in lane 4, is just about to enter the water. Smith, to her right in lane 5, also got off to a solid start, but was slightly behind Martin – a deficit she would never make up. To the left of Martin is Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol’s Taylor Trelka, who finished T-7th, in part because of what her coach described to the Door County Advocate newspaper as an indifferent start: “"She got too high on her start and fell about a half-body length behind the leaders," said Mike McHugh. "She made up some ground, but that's a lot to overcome in a short race like that."

(Thanks to Chuck Martin, Hayley's father, for use of the photo.)

D1 state meet recap

Hartland-Arrowhead apparently likes its hardware. After its run of five straight state titles was snapped last year, HA reclaimed the first-place state trophy at the UW Natotorium Saturday afternooon. It won with a score of 256-240 over defending champs Madison East.

HA's win was similar to DeForest's D2 win the night before. HA won only one event -- Emma Goral in the 100 fly -- but combined terrific depth and top-four showings from all three of its relays for the win. HA's two divers also contributed 14 points to the win. In truth, HA swam well but not great -- the team scored 22 fewer points than its seed times -- but the team had swimmers in the final heat of all but one event, and that usually ensures a fair amount of points.

East came up just short in its bid to repeat, but, golly, it was fun to watch them try. East won six of the 12 events at the meet, set two state records in doing so (200/400 free relays), came close to state records in a few others, and swam better than any other team at the meet. East improved its position by 68 points, more than any other team in either divison of the state meet, but simply didn't have enough swimmers to get past HA. Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout both won two individual events, with Van Hout setting a record in the 500 free (4:48.60) by more than five seconds. East's strong run was also fueled by Ivy Martin and Becca Soderholm, both of whom came from the second-to-last heat to garner top three finishes in individual events. East's medley relay also moved up eight places from its seeding.

In fact, the second-to-last heat of the opening swim event, the medley relay, showed what kind of night it would be for both East and Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. The two relays squared off in a great race, with Memorial winning the heat and improving its seed time by more than five seconds. It was the start of a terrific day of swimming by the Spartans as well, as they nearly equaled East's performance; Memorial improved 65 points over its seeding placement, and moved up from a 6th place based on seeding to finish 3rd overall. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who concluded an outstanding season with wins in the 200 free and 100 back. In the 200 free, she became just the fourth swimmer in state history to break the 1:50 barrier, winning with a time of 1:49.21.

A few other observations:

-- Do Big Eight coaches know something the rest of the state does not? The top four Big Eight teams -- East, Memorial, Middleton and West -- all dramatically improved their performances at the state meet. Middleton ended up in 7th place overall, improving on its seeding by 48 points, while West finished 9th with a 38-point improvement. Coming out of sectionals, the top three teams based on seed times were HA, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego, with East in 4th place and Wausau East in 5th. All but East dropped in points, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago having a particularly tough meet, dropping 69.5 points.

-- How fast were those East relays? For starters, their winning times broke records set by relays from probably the best team in state history, the 2005 Hartland Arrowhead squad (which won all but one swimming event that year, and set state records in all three relays). East also beat the HA records pretty handily -- by 1.53 seconds in the 200 free relay, and 1.14 seconds in the 400 free relay. In fact, East came within less than a second of the national record in the 200 free relay (1:33.63; 1:32.77 national record) and less than two seconds from the national record in the 400 free relay (3:24.80; 3:23.10 national).

-- One of the hardest doubles in swimming is the 500 free/200 free relay combination. One is a marathon, all about sustained pacing, and the other an all-out sprint with only a few breaths taken during the race. The two events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule, and because they are so dissimilar, only a handful of swimmers attempt it. Few do it well. That's what made Van Hout's times at the state meet all the more remarkable. After swimming the 500 free in a record time of 4:48.60, she quickly cooled down in the diving well of the Natatorium, lined up for the 200 free relay with her teammates, then anchored the winning East relay with a split of 22.62 -- the fastest split posted by any 200 free relay or medley anchor swimmer.

D2 state meet recap

In what will be remembered as the fastest D2 state meet in history, two-time defending champ DeForest -- as expected -- won its third straight title without the aid of a single win in any event.

DeForest's depth overwhelmed the competition, as the Norskies scored 236.5 points to easily outdistance Grafton (180). DeForest's win was both impressive and somewhat underwhelming; the team scored nearly 30 points fewer than their seed times predicted (going into the meet, DeForest was seeded to score 263 points). The Norskies, who qualified 15 individual entries for the meet as well as all three relays, display a depth of talent that no D2 team can match. Several DeForest swimmers did improve their seed times, but their time drops weren't nearly at the level displayed by other swimmers at what was a very fast meet.

In the end, DeForest essentially won the state meet the week before, when they overwhelmed a very good Baraboo sectional and qualified nearly every swimmer they entered. There is more than one path to a state championship -- DeForest two years ago came from behind to win by having nearly every swimmer peak at state -- and the Norskies proved that loading up and swimming well the week before state is one way of doing it. Congratulations to the Norskies -- they graduated a lot of top-flight talent last year, but rallied around a strong returning corps of swimmers.

As for the rest of the D2 state meet:

-- It was fast and got faster as the night went on. A pretty good indication came in the 200 freestyle, when Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark went 1:50.27 to win, just missing the all-time state D2 record by .33 seconds. She was followed closely by Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, who touched out in 1:50.87 -- both times were faster than any of the seed times for the D1 state meet in the 200 free.

-- Three all-time state records were broken: Monona Grove's 200 free relay (Kelsey Millin, Tess Becker, Elizabeth Emmerich, Hayley Martin, 1:38.95; 1:39.08 old record); Green Lake/Berlin's Siri Smits in the 100 backstroke (55.83; 56.48 old); and Plymouth freshman sensation Kate Criter in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.31; 1:05.54). The breaststroke was certainly the most impressive event of the night; Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan broke the old state record swimming out of lane 5 in the first heat. Three other swimmers besides Kriter then topped the old record in the final heat. How fast was it? Two-time defending state champ Jennah Haney of Milton dropped more than two seconds off her seed time, beat the old state record by 1.8 seconds, and still finished runner-up to Criter. In addition, Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain came within .06 seconds of the all-time state record in the 200 IM (she swam a 2:03.95, cutting nearly seven seconds off her seed time), and Hojan-Clark just missed the state record in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.18 (.24 seconds off the record).

-- The night's most poignant moment came during the 100 free, won by Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl. The 5th-seeded Diehl (who had an oustanding night) out-touched MG's Martin, who was coming off a win in the 50 free earlier in the meet and had dominated the 100 free all season long, by a mere four-hundreths of a second. Martin, initially disappointed in the loss, looked over to see who had beaten her, and then raced over to congratulate Diehl, like Martin a senior swimming in her last high school meet. The two have been competing against each other, at conference and sectional swim meets as well as state, for four years, and have developed a close friendship. After the race, as teams were gathering for the 200 free relay, Martin and Diehl sat off to the side, away from all of the other swimmers, chatting away. "She got a gold medal, and so do I," Martin said after the race. "I'm so proud of her." Both swimmers came away with a second gold medal, with Martin anchoring the winning MG 200 free relay, and Diehl splitting an anchor leg of 51.79 to lead her Sauk Prairie 400 free relay team to victory.

-- Why so fast? D2 swimming has gotten faster in the past several years, as qualifying times for state for the most part are lower than they were five years ago. It's pretty clear the benefits of year-round club swimming -- a staple of top D1 programs -- have filtered down to the D2 level, where most of the top swimmers come out of strong club programs. D2 has also benefitted from an influx of top-flight talent in the last two years; five of the eight individual events at the state meet this year were won by freshmen or sophomores. But it's also hard not to think the newly available fast suits don't have some role -- nearly all of the top finishers at the meet wore some version of the new suit technology, and the times posted (and the depth of fast times registered at the meet) leads one to conclude the suits do play a role in generating extra speed.

Fast suits

The Wisconsin State Journal has weighed in on the fast suit controversy; details here:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/314156

A few thoughts:

-- The WIAA has been very clear about this; the Oct. 24 WIAA Bulletin addressed the issue. See this under "High-tech suits:" http://www.wiaawi.org/rules/swimming/swimrulesqa.pdf

-- DeForest did create a buzz in the Baraboo sectional crowd when they came out for warm-ups in the blueseventy nero wetsuit. But most of the buzz wasn't about their legality; it was how much it cost to outfit an entire team in the suits, which run at least $350 a piece. But DeForest wasn't the only team sporting the suits; two of Milton's best swimmers (Jennah Haney and Hailey Foss) sported them, as well.

-- The cost issue is a bit of a red herring. Having spent time recently wandering around University Ridge golf course at the state golf tournament, there was a wide range of equipment used by tourney competitors. The issue is endemic whenever equipment (broadly defined) comes into play for a sport -- tennis (raquets), baseball (bats), basketball (shoes), hockey (sticks). Let's face it -- when parents (and/or booster clubs or even schools themselves) want their athletes to compete at the highest level of the sport, they are likely to seek (within legal means) any advantage they can, and that includes top-of-the-line equipment.

-- Do the suits make a difference? Probably -- the evidence is pretty clear that times this year at sectional meets in both divisions were faster than a year ago, before the new high-tech suits became widely available. Did it give DeForest (and others who wore them) an unfair advantage? Not likely. It's not as if DeForest came out of the blue with its performance; the team has won two state titles in a row -- and is favored for a third this week -- and the team is known for peaking (tapering, in swim lingo) at the very end of the season, when it matters most. The two Norskies who arguably swam the best at the Baraboo sectional -- freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz -- did have eye-popping performances, based on their season performances, but it's not all that unusual for freshman in swimming (especially girls swimming) to dramatically improve toward the end of their first season.

Previewing the state D2 meet

Can anyone stop DeForest from winning its third straight state D2 title? Maybe, but it's going to take a Herculean effort.

Here's how the top six teams are seeded for the D2 meet:

1) DeForest -- 263 points
2) Grafton -- 176 points
3) Waukesha Catholic Memorial -- 174 points
4) Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol -- 134 points
5) Monona Grove -- 133 points
6) Shorewood -- 132 points

It's hard to overstate how well DeForest swam at the Baraboo sectional. They won the meet going away, qualifying 15 of their 18 swimmers for state. This in a sectional which proved to be the deepest in the state, as Baraboo sectional swimmers make up 40 percent of the swimmers who qualified for the D2 meet. Add in: DeForest's usual depth in the distance events (they qualified seven swimmers combined in the 200 and 500 frees); their strength across the board (qualifying swimmers in each of the 11 swimming events); and the quality of their relay teams (seeded 4th or better in all three relays). Add it all up, and the Norskies certainly seemed poised to capture another title.

However, titles are won in the water, and not on paper. Here are some factors that might come into play:

-- Second-seeded Grafton is the only team competing for a state title that qualified divers -- three of them. A strong performance by the team's divers could give Grafton a boost going into the swimming portion of the meet.

-- A whopping 10 teams qualified all three of their relays for the state meet. DeForest leads the way with three relays seeded to finish 4th or better, but Grafton, Sturegon Bay/Sevastopol and Monona Grove all could move up in the standings with strong showings from their relays.

-- D2 state meet fans will be seeing a lot of Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, Grafton's Sadie Nenning, Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz, and Milton's Jennah Haney. Sellinger (200 free/100 fly) and Martin (50/100 frees) own top seed times in two events, and swim on two relay teams that will be swimming in the final heats of those events. Nening (backstroke, where's she's the defending state champ) and Meinholz (100 breaststroke) own top seeds in their specialties, as well as top-three seeds in the fly (Nening) and IM (Meinholz). They, too, swim on relay teams that will be fighting it out in the last heat of those events. Haney is seeded third in the 100 breaststroke, where she's the defending state champ, and second in the 200 free. She, too, will be a featured performer on two of Milton's relay teams. Other individuals to keep an eye on are Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark (seeded 1st in the 500 free and 3rd in the 200 free), Baraboo's Shannon Keeling (1st in the 200 IM, 5th in the fly), and Milton's Hailey Foss (seeded 2nd in both the 200 IM and 500 free).

Previewing the state D1 meet

State titles are won in the water, not on paper. But swimming, nearly unique among high school sports, allows fans to forecast the outcome of meets based on seed times of swimmers.

So here's how the top six teams are seeded for the state D1 meet this Saturday:

1) Hartland-Arrowhead -- 278 points
2) Waukesha South/Mukwonago -- 245
3) Muskego -- 189
4) Madison East -- 172
5) Wausau East -- 144
6) Madison Memorial -- 141

Observations:

-- There is little doubt the Waukesha South/Mukwonago sectional displaced the Middleton sectional as the fastest qualifying meet for D1. Last year, the top three teams coming into the state meet were Middleton, East and Memorial. This year, to the top three teams came out of the WS/M sectional. The majority (17 of 33) of the top-three seeds in each of the 11 events came out of the WS/M sectional.

-- It may be a tall order for WS/M to catch Arrowhead. The single best way to catch up to teams at the state meet is to improve the seed placing of relay teams, and hope the team ahead of you falters a bit, as relays are worth twice as many points. But WS/M already owns an eight-point advantage in terms of seeding over Arrowhead in the relays, and has two top-seeded relay teams (200/400 frees) -- in other words, WS/M can't go up much further. HA can, with its 200/400 free relays seeded 3rd and T-4th. Plus, HA qualified two divers for the state meet, while WS/M did not have any divers participate in the sectional meet. An early indication of the how the two teams will compete against each other will come in the 200 medley relay, where HA is seeded 1st and WS/M is seeded 5th.

-- HA's across-the-board strength is evident, and a key reason they are favored to win back the title they lost last year after five consecutive state meet wins. They are seeded to score in every single event, the only D1 team that can say that. WS/M has swimmers seeded to score in each of the 11 swim events; those swimmers will have to find a way to edge out their HA counterparts if they hope to catch and pass HA in the team race.

-- Madison East will have to get a big day out its relays if it hopes to catch either of the top two seeded teams. East won two relays last year on its way to garnering its first state title; their relays this year are seeded 2nd (both the 200 and 400 free relays) and 13th (medley). East at a minimum will also need sprinter Ruby Martin (seeded 1st in both the 50 and 100 frees) to hold her seed spots, and sophomore Aja Van Hout (defending state champ in the 200 IM and 500 free) to repeat last year's performance, to have a shot at defending.

-- Does Muskego have enough depth to edge their way past the top teams? The team had an outstanding sectional meet, led by 200/500 free swimmers Brittany Walsh and Jessica Wolf, and freshman backstroker Emma Szczupakiewicz. But the team qualified only two relays for state, missing out on the 200 free relay.

-- As for Madison Memorial, they will hope to repeat their performance from last year, when they improved their seed placements more than any other team at the state meet. The Spartans will have to make up a lot of ground, however. They did qualify all 18 swimmers for the meet -- a first for the venerable program -- and showed last year that swimmers coming out of the second and even first heats of the meet can move up dramatically at the meet.

Q & A with MG's Hayley Martin

Senior Hayley Martin will graduate from Monona Grove as the most decorated swimmer in the school's history. She holds six individual school records (50, 100, 200, and 500 frees, 100 back, 200 IM) and is a member of two school-record relay teams (200/400 free relays). She's won 10 sectional titles in individual events and relays, and enters this weekend's state Division 2 swim meet as the top seed in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.

Name: Hayley Kathryn Martin
School: Monona Grove High School
Year: Senior
Favorite event to swim: 100 free
Proudest accomplishment as a swimmer: I would say getting the Monona Grove girls swim team to the point where it is now. I'm proud to say I was a part of the team that finished a school-best 3rd place at the state meet, when just two years before we finished 17th. I'm also extremely proud to say I was a part of the team that has set 8 (hopefully soon to be 11) new team records.
Favorite swimming memory: That's a tough one. I guess I would say winning the 400 free relay at state last year. Katie Barta and I had been on four top-ranked relays and it felt so good to finally win one, especially to do it together...with the help of two really fast freshmen.
Favorite non-swimming activity: Going to movies...favorite movie currently in theaters is "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa."
Favorite food: Pasta...I eat it just about every day.
Music you listen to get psyched up for a meet: Creedence Clearwater Revival but once I'm at the meet it's all Techno.
Role model: My uncle because at the age of 50 he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He then lost about 50 pounds and at the age of 52 ran the Chicago Marathon.
Favorite swimmer: Ian Thorpe...even though he retired, and Dara Torres because she retired but still swam in the Olympics.
Family: Sunshine (mom), Chuckles (dad), Hank (brother) a junior swimming for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Plans after high school: I plan to go to college and continue swimming.
Career goal: I don't know all the details yet, but I'm pretty sure it involves me getting filthy rich without really doing much at all. I plan to major either in journalism or history.

Go fast or go home -- sectional round-ups

Swimmers are usually a quiet lot -- they tend to be more reflective than boastful, more focused than animated. But they often make up for it with their T-shirts. "Go fast or go home" is a favorite.

That about sums up what it took to make it to state this year in both D1 and D2. Cut-off times were much faster than a year ago in nearly all races, and the depth of quality performances was evident throughout the six D1 and four D2 sectionals. In D1, for instance, the cutoff to qualify for the 100-yard breaststroke was nearly a second faster than a year ago. In D2, 10 swimmers qualified for the 100-yard butterfly with times under one minute, compared to three swimmers a year ago.

In D1, the Waukesha South/Mukwanago sectional featured a terrific contest between the hosts and Hartland-Arrowhead, with HA eventually prevailing 391-362. Arrowhead got all 18 of its entries through to state, including three divers. Muskego also made a strong showing at the sectional with some top finishes and finished in third place with 297 points. It was the fastest sectional in the state; of the top three seeds in the 11 swimming events (33 fastest seeded swimmers in the state meet), 17 came out of the WS/M sectional.

Over at the always competitive Middleton sectional, Madison Memorial showed again that superior depth pays off. The Spartans racked up 375.5 points for an easy win over Middleton (315). Defending state champs Madison East finished third with 302 points. East won seven of the 11 events, led by Ruby Martin (50/100 free) and Aja Van Hout (200 IM/500 free), who also swam on the team's winning 200 and 400 free relays. But none of the Purgolders three relays earned top seeds at the state meet. For Memorial, coach Jason Verhelst achieved a first -- all 18 swimmers entered into the sectional meet qualified for state. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who earned top-three seeds in the state meet in both the 200 free and the 100 back. But the news coming out of the Middleton sectional is that many of the swimmers who did qualify for state won't be seeded as high as they were at last year's state meet.

Also swimming well in the D1 sectionals was Wausau East, which won the Hudson sectional and sent all three relays to the final heat of the state meet. Other sectional winners were Neenah, Mequon Homestead, and Racine Case.

In D2, the big news was DeForest's dominant win at the very deep and fast Baraboo sectional. The Norskies, two-time defending state champs, won their fifth straight sectional title with 358 points, an 82-point margin over second-place Edgewood. DeForest qualified swimmers for state in every single event save for diving, and won two of the three relays (medley, 400 free). What made DeForest's showing all the more impressive was the quality of swimming at the Baraboo sectional; fully 40 percent of the qualifiers for the state D2 meet came out of Baraboo.

In Plymouth, a deep Sturgeon Bay-Sevastopol team held off Grafton, 319-296. Both teams qualified all three relays for the state meet, plus several individual qualifiers. In Cudahay, a surging Elkhorn team won the sectional with a 313-286 win over Whitnall. Elkhorn has been swimming extremely well as of late, and both of their freestyle relays ended up with top-three seeds for the state meet. Menomonie won the Stevens Point sectional, but doesn't look to be a big factor in the team race at the state D2 meet.

D2 sectionals -- what to look for

Over in Division 2, two of the four sectionals stand out -- those at Baraboo and Plymouth.

Start with Baraboo. This should be an old-fashioned barn-burner. It features the defending state champs and top-ranked (latest coaches poll) DeForest, 2nd and 3rd-ranked Sauk Prairie and Milton, three other teams in the top 10 (Baraboo, 6th; Monona Grove, 9th; McFarland, 10th), plus an Edgewood squad (13th in the latest poll) that's been swimming very well of late. That's seven of the top 13 D2 teams in the state -- whew! DeForest, based on its win last week in the Badger Conference North swim meet (over Sauk, Baraboo and McFarland), appears on paper to be the favorite. But sectional meets -- unlike conference meets, where teams with lots of quality depth do well -- have much smaller numbers of entries, and thus teams with one or two dominant swimmers, combined with three high-placing relays, can do well. That might bode well for the likes of Sauk (freestyler Abby Diehl and butterfly/backstroker Alison Meng), Milton (breaststroke state champ Jennah Haney), and Monona Grove (freestyle sprinter Hayley Martin). It wouldn't be a shock if DeForest comes out on top, but look for a logjam of teams competing for the other top spots, as well.

In Plymouth, the top two teams from the Small State Invitational -- often a harbinger of the state D2 meet -- will square off again: champs Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol and Grafton. Shorewood (with its terrific duo of Elli Sellinger and Clare Chamberlain), Whitefish Bay (with sprinter Maggie Smith) and Plymouth (with D2 freshman of the year Kate Criter) will also compete for the sectional title. Add in Berlin/Green Lake (Siri Smits) and Brookfield Academy (Kelsey Hojan-Clark), and the Plymouth meet probably features the best raw individual talent of any of the D2 sectionals. Who will emerge as sectional title winner is anyone's guess, but Sturgeon Bay has looked very good all season long.

The Cudahay sectional features some strong talent as well; look for Waukesha Catholic Memorial, Whitnall and Elkhorn to be among the top teams coming out of here. Up in Stevens Point, Colby Abbotsford recently entered the state coaches poll as the 18th ranked team in the state; they will likely battle New London and Shawano for top honors.

D1 sectionals -- what to look for

Sectional swim meets are this Saturday, Nov. 7. There is something both special and nerve-wracking about sectional swim meets. It is the only way swimmers can qualify for the state swim meet, so they can't have an off day. And given that swimmers can only automatically qualify for the state meet by winning an event, the day is prolonged by the wait for other results to pour in from around the state to find out who's qualified. In short, the intensity at sectional meet rises significantly over the regular season meets, and how a swimmer handles the one-and-done nature of sectional qualifying often determines whether they move on to the state meet.

In D1, the two big sectionals to watch will be at Middleton and Waukesha South/Mukwonago. Middleton boasts the deepest talent pool, with defending state champs Madison East (ranked 1st in the latest state coaches poll), Madison Memorial (3rd), Middleton (5th), Madison West (6th), and Oregon (7th). Last year saw Middleton edge out Memorial by just three points via a win in the last event, the 400 free relay. Of course, that was also the sectional that saw third-place East win six of the 11 swim races and emerge as a real threat for a state title, which they won a week later. Those three teams will battle it out again this Saturday, with Madison West (coming off a solid runner-up finish in the Big Eight Conference meet) and possibly Oregon also in the mix. The meet will also features several solid swimmers such Janesville Craig's Hailey Schneider, Verona's Katelyn Baltes, and Madison LaFollette's Britney Hilgendorf. Look for swimmers and relays finishing in 6th and 7th place still having a good shot at qualifying for state from this sectional.

At the Waukesha South/Mukwonago sectional, Hartland-Arrowhead and the host team will battle it out for top honors. HA defeated WS/M at the Classic 8 conference meet last week, and will be looking to qualify all of its relays and a number of swimmers for the state meet. HA is a real threat for the D1 state title, but the team has some young swimmers who will be under the pressure-cooker of sectional qualifying for the first time. Expect Brookfield Central and Muskego to round out the contenders here.

As for the other sectionals, look for:

-- Wausau East (9th in the latest coaches poll) to contend for the Hudson sectional title, and Wisconsin Rapids Becca Weiland to do well in the freestyle sprints;

-- Oshkosh West and Neenah to battle it out in the Neenah sectional.

-- Homestead and Cedarburg to lock up in the Cedarburg sectional; and

-- Badger Big Foot and Racine Case to contend for the sectional title at Kenosha Bradford.

Conference round-ups

Conference swim meets wrapped up this past weekend; here's a brief summary of the big ones:

-- As expected, Madison Memorial swept to a big win in the Big Eight Conference, garnering 555 points to win by nearly 200 points. Madison West (365), Middleton (355) and Madison East (349) duked it out all day long at the UW Natatorium for the next three spots. Memorial can probably "out-depth" any team in the state; the talent pool there is extraordinarily deep. The Spartans also got a strong showing from junior Jackie Powell (winner of the 200 free and 100 back), and received a win from its 400 free relay. East continued to look very sharp as it prepares to defend its D1 state title; the Purgolders won six of the 11 events, setting conference records in all of them (200 medley and free relays, Aja Van Hout in the 200 IM and 500 free, and Ruby Martin in the 50 and 100 free sprints). Considering some of those records were held by the likes of outstanding Memorial swimmers such as Jane Evans and Michelle Jesperson, it was a pretty impressive showing by East's small squad. Full results here:
http://www.spartanswimmingdiving.com/files/conference_meet/2008/2008_Conference_Meet_Results.pdf


-- Hartland-Arrowhead won the Classic 8 conference meet quite easily over a solid Waukesha South/Mukwanago squad, 678-540.5. Arrowhead won 9 of the 12 events at the meet, including the dive meet. Interestingly, one of Arrowhead's best swimmers -- sophomore Emma Goral, the defending state champ in the 100 fly -- only swam that event at the conference meet. Instead of a second individual event, she swam on all three winning relays -- perhaps a sign of Arrowhead's strategy for the state D1 meet, where it figures to be a strong contender.

-- Brookfield Central defeated neighborhood rival Brookfield East in the Greater Metro meet, led by junior Katie Schroeder's wins in the 200 IM and 100 fly.

-- D1 Mequon Homestead won the North Shore meet quite easily over D2 Whitefish Bay and Grafton, despite winning only one event. Whitefish Bay, which edged Grafton by just six points for second place, was led by junior sprinter Maggie Smith, who won the 50 (25.22) and 100 (55.33) frees. Grafton got a terrific meet from junior Sadie Nenning, who won the 200 IM in a very fast 2:08.81 (second-fastest time posted this year in D2) and contributed two strong legs on winning relay teams.

-- D2 teams Shorewood and Whitnall hooked up for a real shoot-out at the Woodland Conference meet, winning all of the events between them. Whitnall took six event, but Shorewood's five wins and an edge in depth proved the difference, as they won 443-402. Whitnall was led by state meet veteran Liz Bishop, who posted a very fast 1:06.31 in winning the 100 breaststroke, and swam legs on two winning relays. Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain and Elli Sellinger continued to be one of the stronger duos swimming this year, winning three conference titles and combining for a win on the team's 400-yard freestyle relay.

-- D2 Elkhorn won the Southern Lakes Conference meet by just nine points over D1 Badger-Big Foot, and showed they could make some noise at the D2 state meet. The Elkhorn squad was led by freshman Rachel Johnson, who won conference titles by completing the rare 50/500 free double. The team also won the 200 and 400 free relays with times that ranked 2nd (200) and 4th (400) fastest in the state this year.

Clipping along -- Sturgeon Bay's D2 prospects

Since the start of the season, the Sturgeon Bay-Sevastopol girls swim co-op has been impressive. The Clippers may not get the publicity of other teams statewide, since they are far outside the orbit of the Madison/Milwaukee-area girls swimming arena that has dominated recent state meets. Part of what makes SB/S hard to evaluate is that they rarely swim against top-notch competition -- the Bay Conference simply can't compete with the likes of the Badger North and South conferences, or the various suburban Milwaukee conferences, for depth of talent.

But SB/S has been sharp when it's gone up against the higher-profile programs in the state. It was the top-finishing D2 squad in the D1-heavy Wisconsin Invitational, held earlier this season at the UW Natatorium, and the Clippers won the Small State Invitational last month in Shorewood that included all but a small handful of the state's top D2 programs.

What's impressive about the Clippers is their ability to swim times in line with the best in D2 against competition that's not that strong. Take their Bay Conference meet Thursday night, which SB/S won by more than 200 points. Their winning 200 medley (1:54.55) and 400 free (3:43.9) relays swam times competitive with the best swum so far this season in D2. Swimmers Cassidy Smith, Sierra Townsend, and sisters Taylor and Mackenzie Trelka also swam times at the conference meet that are certainly competitive with anything swum in the final heats of recent D2 state meets.

The Clippers will get a strong dose of competition in their sectional. The WIAA, rather than placing SB/S among its northern neighbors in the Stevens Point sectional, has placed the team in the Plymouth sectional, a much more competitive meet. There they will match up against the likes of Grafton (who they edged out for the Small State Invitational title), Shorewood, Plymouth and Whitefish Bay. With the talent also brought to that sectional by teams such as Berlin-Green Lake and Brookfield Academy, the Plymouth sectional ranks alongside Baraboo as the toughest D2 sectional. Don't be surprised to see the Clippers come out of the sectional with a bevy of state qualifiers.

Badger Conference swim meets

As expected, Oregon and DeForest won their respective conference swim meets Halloween night -- both had gone through their duel-meet seasons undefeated, so their wins at the conference swim meets were no surprise.

For DeForest, it was business as usual -- they beat Baraboo by 60 points (493-433) with their usual mix of superior depth and top-flight distance swimmers (sweeping the top three spots in the 500 free and 2nd and 3rd places in the 200 free). The Norskies won only two of the 11 events at the meet -- Casey Wolter in the 500 free and the 200 free relay, which has been strong all season. The shorter of the two freestyle relays was the best event of the night, with DeForest edging Baraboo by .12 seconds (1:43.04 winning time), and 3rd-place Sauk Prairie only .41 seconds behind the Norskies.

For Sauk Prairie and McFarland (third and fourth in the meet, with 356 and 298 points respectively), the meet showcased why the two teams will still be strong factors at sectionals. Sauk got two wins from senior Abby Diehl (200 free -- 1:57.33; 100 free -- 54.64) and a win in the meet-ending 400 free relay with a strong time of 3:43.48 (trumping DeForest by more than a second.) Along with sophomores Alison Meng (who won the 100 fly and was 2nd in the 100 back) and Kelsey Kohlbeck (3rd in the fly), Sauk has some strong contenders for top finishes at the sectional meet. McFarland was led by Stirling Smith (winner of the 100 breaststroke, 2nd in the IM) and its winning medley relay team.

Over at Monona Grove, host of the Badger South meet, Div. 1 Oregon won the first conference title in years by a team not named Verona (now moved to the Big Eight). Maddie Schwartz won two events for the Penthers (500 free/100 back) and the team won both the medley and 400 free relays, along with a second-place finish in the 200 free relay. The Panthers garnered 495 points to easily win over Edgewood (392), which grabbed second place in the meet (without benefit of a win in any event) through some impressive swims by the Crusader's strong freshmen class.

Milton (363 points) and the host Silver Eagles (348) battled all night long for third place, and featured the meet's two most impressive swimmers. Milton's Jennah Haney won the 200 free with a time (1:54.66) that's only one-tenth of a second behind the fastest D2 time posted this year. She came back to win the 100 breaststroke (where she's the two-time defending D2 state champ) in a time of 1:06.45, a new conference record. MG's Hayley Martin continued to dominate in the freestyle sprints, winning the 50 free in 24.56 (missing the conference record by .02 seconds) and the 100 free in 53.19, bettering her state-best posted time by .03 seconds. She also anchored the Silver Eagle's winning 200 free relay, which swam a D2 season-best time of 1:42.30.

Most of the Badger Conference teams, North and South, will meet Nov. 7 at the D2 Baraboo sectionals in what should be a terrific meet -- the latest state coaches poll has 7 of the top 11 teams in D2 swimming at the sectional, including the top three ranked teams (DeForest, Milton, Sauk Prairie). Look for lots of 5th, 6th, 7th and maybe even 8th-place finishers to qualify for the state meet out of this sectional.

Conference meets

Conference swim meets kick off Halloween night. The Badger Conference, split between north and south divisions, should be home to some especially good meets. In the Badger North, defending state D2 champs DeForest will host Sauk Prairie, Baraboo, and McFarland, among others. DeForest is currently ranked first in the latest state coaches poll, while Sauk is ranked 3rd, Baraboo 7th, and McFarland 9th. In the Badger South, 10th-ranked Monona Grove plays host to 2nd-ranked Milton, 11th-ranked Edgewood, and Div. 1 Oregon, ranked 13th among the larger schools. Conference swim meets, with far more entries allowed than at the sectional swim meets, reward teams with plenty of depth, so look for DeForest and Oregon to do well against their conference foes.

Saturday will be the state's most competitive conference meet -- the Big Eight Conference, featuring top-ranked Madison East, 3rd-ranked Madison Memorial, 5th-ranked Middleton, and 6th-ranked Madison West. Verona and Janesville Craig will also bring some talented swimmers to the conference meet, held at the UW Natatorium.

Traditional D2 powers Shorewood and Whitnall will hook up in the Woodland Conference swim meet Saturday as well, while the North Shore Conference swim meet in suburban Milwaukee will feature 7th ranked D1 Homestead going up against D2 Whitefish Bay and an emerging Grafton team that has risen to 8th in the latest D2 state rankings and could be a real threat at the state meet.

Much is at stake in these conference meets -- conference titles for many, of course, but it's also the last meet before the state-qualifying sectional meets for both D1 and D2. Coaches will often use the conference meets to fine-tune relays, and it also serves as a final warm-up for the individual events that swimmers often swim at sectionals.

Switching seasons -- Chap. 2

Here's the WIAA's Tom Shafranski on switching boys and girls swim seasons (from the 10/24/08 WIAA Bulletin):

"Seasonal Placement
Question: I read in the Wisconsin State Journal that boys and girls swimming is switching seasons. Is this a “done deal” or is this in discussion? When will it be implemented?

"There are significant consequences with moving sports -including participation, etc. Interpretation: First of all, please understand the issue of flip-flopping WIAA girl’s and
boy’s swimming and diving is currently being discussed by school administrators at WIAA Area Meetings. No decisions have been made. If a decision is made, it will be at least four years before implementation of the change is made. This is a good time for coaches to discuss this issue with their athletic director. At our WIAA Area Meetings, we are hearing concerns from athletic directors regarding boy swimmers having difficulties with fall sport opportunities. I am organizing a survey of the WIAA boy’s swimming programs that will identify the number of swimmers who participate in fall sports. This survey is intended to help identify quantifiable data for this issue. Moving girl’s swimming to the winter and keeping boy’s swimming there as well creates a facility issue for swimming pools across the State. As you know, pools have many recreational and community programs at their sites along with high school swimming and diving programs. In addition, it does not solve the “preferred seasons” issue. This “preferred seasons” problem developed this past summer when the Michigan High School Athletic Association lost their suit on seasonal placement and had to pay over $7 million in legal fees. Currently, the WIAA is not balanced with the number of girls and boys sports in their “preferred seasons.” The “preferred season” for girl’s swimming and diving is the winter season. Switching girl’s swimming to the winter and boy’s to the fall will place the WIAA membership in compliance. Swimming and diving have been chosen because the least amount of conflict exists with the number of participants and school teams that could be affected."

Interpretation (there are several):

-- If the WIAA decides to switch girls and boys swim seasons, everyone will be "grandfathered" in, i.e. no one currently swimming will be forced to switch seasons during their high school career. For instance, if the WIAA announces in the fall of 2009 that swimming seasons will switch (girls will move to winter, boys to fall), all freshmen swimmers (girls and boys) will be permitted to finish their high school careers in the same season in which they began.

-- The WIAA wants some hard data to support the current argument being made by (mainly) boys swim coaches that a switch in seasons would potentially damage boys swimming. The state high school swim coaches association (WISCA) is already organizing a survey of coaches; the WIAA is looking beyond opinions to get some idea of how many boy swimmers (and girls, presumably) participate in sports in the season to which they would be switched.

-- The WIAA would do well -- and coaches and ADs concerned about the switch should push for -- better defining what it means by "preferred seasons." Preferred by whom? Is this all about avoiding the kind of expensive lawsuit seen in Michigan? Or are there more substantial issues at play? The WIAA's use of the word "compliance" is also somewhat vague. In compliance with what, exactly?

One prediction: outgoing WIAA executive director Doug Chickering -- who earns praise from most quarters of athletic observers in the state -- won't make this decision. Instead, look for his predecessor to take it on and make the eventual decision on season switching.

DeForest turns the tide on Baraboo

At the start of the season, Baraboo surprised a few swim observers by winning the Badger North Conference relays -- an all-relay meet that is often a good indicator of a team's strength and depth. In doing so, they knocked off Badger Confernce North rival (and two-time defending state D2 champs) DeForest.

Nearly two months later, the teams finally met in their conference duel meet -- and DeForest turned the tables in a big way, winning 102-68 at Baraboo Tuesday night. The Norskies won eight of the 11 events in the meet, including two impressive wins in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Sophomore Casey Wolter and junior Lindsey Verhulst led the way for DeForest, with two individual wins each (Wolter 200/100 frees; Verhulst 50 free/100 breaststroke), and strong relay legs on the winning freestyle relays.

The two teams will see each again later this month at the Badger Conference North season-ending meet, hosted by DeForest, and then at the D2 sectional meet, hosted by Baraboo Nov. 8.

East vs. Memorial: Memorial wins; East looks sharp

The much-anticipated duel meet between two of the state's best D1 teams -- Madison East and Memorial -- lived up to its billing: a packed house at East High School, television crews from the Madison TV stations, and some great swimming. It also went according to form: Memorial's superior depth trumped East's top-flight talent.

Details: Memorial won 93-77, giving the team its fourth straight Big 8 conference dual-meet title and 23rd overall. But East won 8 of the 11 events, and demonstrated why it will be a force at the state D1 meet. East stars Ruby Martin (swimming in her last home meet of her career), Becca Soderholm, and Aja Van Hout all won two individual events, and the trio combined with Ruby's sister Ivy to win both the 200 and 400 free relays. Van Hout continues to just dominate opponents this year; she swam a state-season best 1:52.31 in the 200 free, breaking her previous team record in the process, and then turned around for a 4:56.57 500 free, swimming alone for much of the race. (In the 200, she beat Memorial's Jackie Powell, holder of the state's third-best 200 free time this year and one of the state's best all-around swimmers, by nearly four seconds.) Soderholm was also impressive, winning both the 200 IM and the 100 fly quite easily over Memorial's Kelsie Saxe. Memorial won the medley relay by more than two seconds with a strong lineup (seniors Kayla Smith and Kendra Loch, along with Saxe and Powell), but East came back with wins in the freestyle relays.

In all candor, East looked like the sharper squad Wednesday night. Some of the times East swam were quite impressive -- Soderholm's fly time (58.71) was not that far off her 4th-place time last year at state (57.99) and her IM time was the third-fastest posted this year in the state, topped only by teammates Van Hout and Ruby Martin. East's 400-free relay time of of 3:32.78 was two seconds better than the next-fastest time posted this year, and came within .05 seconds of the team-record time set by East last year at state -- and left Memorial's 400 free relay behind by nearly four seconds at the conclusion of the duel meet.

Of course, there are three weeks left before the state D1 meet -- an enternity in the minds of most swim coaches aiming to get their swimmers to peak the right time. Memorial head coach Jason Verhelst in well-known for doing just that, and indicated that's his focus.

"Our primary goal is the state meet," he told the Wisconsin State Journal after the winning effort against East. "Everything we have done this year has been focused on that for our varsity girls."

Details here from the State Journal:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/wiaa//310834

The big duel meet of the season

It's almost here -- the most anticipated duel meet of the season. That would be Madison East hosting Madison Memorial, 5 p.m. Wednesday. Get there early -- East High's pool isn't exactly overflowing with seating.

The duel meet features the two teams that battled back and forth last year for the Div. 1 state title. East won its first state title by 3.5 points over Memorial by extracting nearly as many points as possible out of its six swimmers. Both teams returned a strong core of swimmers from last year's meet, and have been ranked among the top three teams all season long.

Truth be told, Memorial is the favorite to win the meet between the two teams. The Spartans are the kind of team that dominates duel meet -- lots of depth to go along with strong relays and solid swimmers in every event. It's the kind of lineup designed to win duel meets. East counters with some of the state's very best swimmers, and three top-flight relays.

In the end, the final score may matter less than some of the individual matchups -- will Memorial's Jackie Powell and East's Aja Van Hout go head-to-head in the 200 free, where they own the state's top two times? Or the 500 free, which Van Hout won last year at state and Powell finished 4th? How will Memorial sprinter Kayla Smith match up against the Martin sisters, Ruby and Ivy, in the freestyle sprints? Or the potential match-up between Memorial's Kelsie Saxe and East's Becca Soderholm in both the 200 IM and the 100 fly?

Still, the individual races may pale in comparison to what promises to be a real shoot-out in the relays. East won state last year in large part because two of its three relays finished ahead of Memorial at the state meet. Notably, the eight-hundreths-of-a-second win by East over Memorial in the 200 free relay -- and the four-point swing it produced -- proved to be the difference between first and second place.

It should be a great start to what will be a series of matchups between these two top squads in the coming weeks -- they'll face off again at the Big Eight Conference meet Nov. 1, the Middleton sectional Nov. 8, and the state Div. 1 meet Nov. 15.

D2 down the stretch

The state's best D2 times were in separate venues this weekend -- most swam at the Small School Invitational, while DeForest, Sauk Prairie and Monona Grove took on Div. 1 Oregon and Badger-Big Foot at the Fort Atkinson Invitational.

DeForest cleaned up at Fort Atkinson in a meet (scored to 16 places, both A and B relays scoring) that played to the team's strength -- depth of talent. DeForest won just one event -- sophomore Casey Wolter in the 500 free -- and didn't finish higher than 3rd in any relay. But the Norskies depth carried them to a 462-397 over Oregon. Sauk edged MG for third place (306.5 to 288) behind a strong showing from sophomore Alison Meng, who won the 100 fly and finished second in the 100 back. MG's Hayley Martin continued her strong season, with wins in the 100/200 frees, and a come-from-behind anchor leg in the 200 free relay that gave the Silver Eagles a win in the event. MG, which has lost the last two 200 free relays at state by a combined time of .34 seconds, swam a 1:42.32, the fastest D2 time posted this year.

Over at Shorewood, two teams made a strong statement that they will be contenders at the state D2 meet -- Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol and Grafton. They finished a close 1-2 at the meet, with SB/S edging Grafton by just three points, 271-268. McFarland finished third with 207.5 points, followed by Plymouth and Madison Edgewood. Traditional D2 powers Whitefish Bay, Shorewood and Whitnall finished 7th-through-9th.

For SB/S, strong showings in the relays helped cement 1st place, with a win in the 200 free relay and runner-up finishes in the medley and 400 free relays. Grafton was paced by junior standout Sadie Nenning, two-time defending state champ in the 100 back. She won both the back and the 100 fly (the latter in a thrilling race with Plymouth's Kate Criter and Shorewood's Elli Sellinger), and swam the leadoff leg's on Grafton's winning medley and 400 free relays.

D1 down the stretch

While Madison East and Madison Memorial took the weekend off from competition, Hartland-Arrowhead was busy dominating the field at the Highlander Invitational at Mequon-Homestead's pool. H-A won 8 of 11 events at the meet to win in a romp (405 points) over runner-up Waukesha South/Mukwonago (264) and third-place Middleton (228.5). Leading the way for H-A was freshman Haley Pietila (100/200 free victories) and sophomore Emma Goral, who continues to rack up impressive times a year after winning the D1 state title in the 100 fly. With its win, H-A moved up to second in the latest WISCA (state coaches association) poll, behind East and ahead of Memorial. H-A will certainly be the favorite in their tough Waukesha South/Mukwonago sectional Nov. 8; they are a very balanced team, with the real possibility of qualifying swimmers for state in each of the eight individual events, along with all three relays and at least one diver.

Fast freshmen

Every year, several freshmen make a big impact on the state high school swim scene -- a product, it seems, of girls maturing sooner as swimmers than boys (rare is the state title won in the boys divison by a freshman; it occurs frequently in girls swimming). Last year, it was Aja Van Hout of Madison East, Hartland-Arrowhead's Emma Goral, and Middleton's Katie Delaney making the big impact in D1, with Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain, Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark, and Monona Grove's Kelsey Millin making a strong showing in D2.

This year, look for three freshmen in D1 to make a strong showing at sectionals and the state meet -- Hartland-Arrowhead's duo of Haley Pietila and Kate Jones, and Muskego's Jessica Wolf. Pietila has two times in the top three so far this season (200 and 100 frees), and could be a strong contender for the 200 free title, depending on who swims what at the sectional meets. Jones has a top-five time in the 100 back, and the two freshman and Goral are the reason H-A is considered a strong contender for the D1 state title it held for five straight years before finishing 5th last year. Wolf, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the top distance swimmers in the state, with top-five times in the 200 and 500 frees.

In D2, Plymouth's Kate Criter has made a sensational debut, with the state's leading breaststroke time so far this season (1:05.96, which would've won state last year), plus top-three times in the 50 free and 100 fly. Her coaches will have a tough decision to choose her two individual events for a Plymouth team that has climbed to 7th in the latest WISCA D2 poll and could surprise some folks at the sectional and state meets. Meanwhile, Anna Meinholz has joined big sister Ellie at Waukesha Catholic Memorial, currently ranked 9th. Anna has the third-best breaststroke time posted so far this season.

State rankings

The latest state rankings are out from the WISCA (state high school coaches) website. The rankings are devised by assinging points to teams who have swimmers and relays in the top 30 time list compiled by WISCA (diving not included in the poll rankings). Here they are...

D1:

1) Madison Memorial; 2) Madison East; 3) Hartland-Arrowhead; 4) Waukesha South-Mukwanago; 5) Middleton; 6) Oregon; 7) Oshkosh West; 8) Appleton East; 9) Wauseu East; 10) Madison West.

No surprises here; Memorial, defending state champs East, and H-A have been the top teams all season long. The only mild surprise is Oregon, which swims against mainly D2 competition in the Badger South Conference but is D1 for state qualifying. The Panthers have a very good group of swimmers, and are the favorites for the conference title later this month. But their Middleton sectional is brutally difficult -- Memorial, East, West, Middleton and Verona all swim in the same sectional along with Oregon. The key for Oregon may be their relays -- they have the talent depth to qualify three relays for state. There is a good chance all five teams ranked ahead of them will qualify all three of their relay teams for state.

D2:

1) DeForest; 2) Milton; 3) Shorewood; 4) Baraboo; 5) Sauk Prairie; 6) Monona Grove; 7) Plymouth; 8) McFarland; 9) Waukesha Catholic Memorial; 10) Whitefish Bay.

The WISCA poll, based on top-30 times, heavily weights teams with considerable depth, and that's DeForest's strength. Few teams in D2 can boast the kind of depth that the Norskies can. Plus, the Norskies return a bevy of swimmers who have considerable experience at the state meet. The question for DeForest -- can their swimmers put up the top finishes needed at state to put them in the running for a third straight title? Right now, only one DeForest swimmer -- sophomore Casey Wolter in the 500 free -- has a top-five time in the statewide top-30 list. Meanwhile, Shorewood, Milton, Plymouth and Monona Grove all have swimmers with times in the top three of individual events.

One thing's for sure -- the Baraboo D2 sectional promises to be a barn-burner. Six of the top eight teams in the latest state poll swim there, plus an Edgewood team that finished 5th last year at state. It wouldn't be surprising to see individuals and relays placing 7th or even 8th at the sectional qualifying for state.

One more note -- the D2 poll probably understates the strength of Plymouth and unranked Grafton. Both teams will qualify some strong individuals and -- unlike most of the teams ranked ahead of them -- place some divers at the state meet.

D2--Midway through the season

While D1 looks like a three-way race for the state title, D2 looks like a logjam. DeForest and Baraboo have been impressive in winning some invitationals (DeForest -- Fond du Lac, Baraboo its own invitational), while Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and Whitnall have all looked solid coming out of the Milwaukee suburbs (all three schools have swimmers who are likely contenders for state titles -- Shorewood's duo of Clare Chamberlain and Elli Sellinger, Whitefish Bay's Maggie Smith, and Whitnall's Liz Boshop). Meanwhile, Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol has been putting up some solid performances, including the highest finish of any D2 team at the D1-heavy Wisconsin Invitational held earlier this season at the UW Natatorium. Last year's third-place finisher, Monona Grove, is led by sprinter Hayley Martin, who has the state's leading D2 times this year in the 50 and 100 frees, and Milton has had a solid year led by state champion Jennah Haney and senior Hailey Foss. Meanwhile, both Plymouth and Grafton have strong swimmers poised by qualifying for the state meet, and an added weapon -- divers who will likely qualify and score team points at the state meet.

The difficulty with predicting D2 this year is that so many of the defending champions in individual events -- DeForest's Kelly Winckler, New Berlin West's Beckie Thompson, and Greendale's Jenna Lennertz won five of the eight invidual events last year -- graduated, leaving a void to be filled. Several D2 teams have swimmers ready to take the place on the winner's podium; the winning team in D2 is likely to emerge from a squad that can put together a few top finishers in individual events, and qualify three relays for state.

Midway point of the season

We're halfway through the 2008 girls season, so here's a quick rundown of what to expect at the D1 and D2 state meets Nov. 14-15.

D1:

The race for the D1 team state title appears to be between last year's state champs (Madison East), East's Big Eight Conference rival and last year's runner-up (Madison Memorial), and the team whose five-year run as state champs was broken last year (Hartland Arrowhead). Call it a matchup among the few (East), the many (Memorial), and the young guns (Arrowhead).

East's chances of defending its title center on senior Ruby Martin and sophomore Aja Van Hout. Martin is the defending state champ in the 50 free, and with defending champ Stephanie Armstrong not swimming this year, the favorite in the 100 free. Van Hout is the defending state champ in the 200 IM and 500 free, and has been tearing through meets this season (setting four East High team records already). In short, they are probably the two best swimmers in the state; put them together on any two relays, and those relays are unlikely to lose, given the quality swimmers East can use to augment the duo. It's not inconceiveable to suggest East would go into the state meet favored to win six events (four individual events, two relays) -- that's 160 points right there, or a pretty good foundation upon which to defend the state title.

Memorial relies on depth and more depth, although junior Jackie Powell is a threat to win the D1 100 back title. The Spartans will certainly qualify three top relay teams for the state meet; their relays last year finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd last year at state, and all but two of the swimmers on those relays return, augmented by some new additions to the team. Memorial may be the only D1 team in the state with a legitimate shot at qualifying a swimmer in each of the eight individual swimming events.

Arrowhead's been strengthened with an influx of freshmen, notably freestyler Haley Pietila and backstroker Kate Jones. They join sophomore Emma Goral, defending state champ in the 100 fly, to provide a solid core of young swimmers who will likely qualify with fast times for the state meet and form the foundation for the team's relays.

At the Wisconsin Invitational held in mid-September at the UW-Madison Natatorium, Arrowhead beat out Memorial 337-297, with East in third with 262 points. Two weeks later, however, Memorial turned the tables on Arrowhead at the Middleton Invitational, edging them by a 408-402.5 margin. Of course, down the stretch of the season, East and Memorial will face off three times in two weeks before the state meet -- their dual meet Oct. 22 at East, the Big Eight Conference meet Nov. 1, and the Middleton sectional Nov. 8.

Wisconsin Invitational--prelims-final preview?

The second annual Wisconsin Invitational is in the books, and chief organizer Jason Verhelst (main swim job: head girls coach, D1 power Madison Memorial) pronounced it a success. The meet featured several top D1 and D2 teams, and was held at the UW-Madison Natatorium, site of the annual D1 and D2 state swim meets. More importantly, it served as a trial for something Verhelst would like to see implemented at the state meet: a preliminary-finals format.

"It's something we've been pushing for with the WIAA," Verhelst told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Thirty-five other states have prelims-finals (state meets) and somehow Wisconsin doesn't. So we're trying to demonstrate that you can run a quality prelims-finals meet in one day at the same venue that we hold state at."

The main argument in favor of a prelims-finals format at the state swim meet (beyond most states doing it) seems to be that it more closely parallels the experience that swimmers have during their non-high-school club seasons. All but the longest of races are swum prelims-finals during the club season, and it's a fair bet that most swimmers who have the ability to qualify for state -- certainly at the D1 level, and increasingly at the D2 level -- are swimming part of the year at the club level.

There are, however, several arguments that have been raised in swimming circles against a prelims-finals approach for the state meet. Chief among them is that is doesn't replicate what swimmers experience at the club level. High school swimming, goes this argument, is by design different than club swimming, and therefore the culmination of the high school season -- the state meet -- ought to be different than what's offered at the club level. In addition, it makes for a very long day for the swimmers, particularly the top swimmers. Madison East, last year's D1 state champs, had four swimmers last year qualify for the state meet in two individual events and two relays. That's potentially eight swims at a one-day meet for those swimmers.

"It definitely pushes your endurance to see how many times you can perform in a row," East staet champ Ruby Martin told the Wisconsin State Journal after the Wisconsin Invitational.

Expect to hear more about this idea at the WIAA level in the coming years.