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
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2 comments:
Phil, did you see the new pool announcement for Pleasant Prairie (Kenosha)? If not, go to: http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPool.pdf and http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPoolPlans.pdf
Who do you think will be this years girls state swimmer of the year D1 and D2?
Do you know where some of the graduating seniors will be swimming next year?
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