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.