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.