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.