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.