D1 boys preview

It would be hard to top the conclusion of last year's Division 1 boys swim season, when the outcome of the state meet came down to the last 15 yards of the last event of the meet, and involved four teams.

(To recap, Madison Memorial needed to win the 400 free relay, or finish two places ahead of Hartland Arrowhead, to win its fourth straight title. Memorial had the lead going into the last leg of the relay, only to see Badger-Big Foot's Wes Lagerhausen swim a mind-boggling 44.06 anchor leg to catch the Spartans. Still, it looked like Memorial had won the title with its second-place finish, as Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights edge Arrowhead for third place in the relay. But the Sauk swimmers were DQ'd for an early entry on a start, moving Arrowhead up to third place in the relay. The additional two points for HA gave them the state title over Memorial, 217-216.)

Can HA repeat? To do so, they'll have to ride the broad shoulders of sprinter Mitchell Friedemann and distance swimmer Ryan Hansen, two of the best swimmers in the state. Friedemann, a junior, will be looking for a third straight title in the 100 back, and with top sprinters Lagerhausen and Nicolet's Steve Cebertowicz graduated, improve on his 3rd-place finish in the 100 free. Hansen, meanwhile, came within two-tenths of a second (in the 200 free, where he finished second) of capturing both the 200 and 500 free races at the state meet, and enters this season as the top threat in each event. But HA will have to fill some spots to repeat; eight of the 12 slots on relays that placed at state last year were swum by now-departed seniors. Look for juniors Cody Roller (16th at state in the IM, 13th in fly) and Chris Jenkyns (7th 500 free, 17th back), along with sophomore Brent Schreibel (12th 500 free), to play bigger roles for HA this year.

As for Memorial, they'll look to junior Michael Drives, who along with Friedemann and Hansen is the top returning swimmer in the state. He's the defending champ in the 200 IM, and finished 3rd in the 500 free. The Spartans, however, were a senior-dominated team last year; look for seniors Jake Schneider and Shawn Marcott to step up this year for Memorial. The Spartans will also count on diver Nate Broadbridge, who finished 11th last year at state but could move up to the podium this year after the graduation of a number of the state's top divers.

It's been more than 30 years (1976 -- Beloit) since a team outside either the Milwaukee or Madison areas won the state D1 title. Is Wausau East the team to break the string this year? The Lumberjacks return some top-quality swimmers, led by seniors Lucas Koenig (2nd fly, 3rd 50 free) and Josh Hall (2nd breaststroke, 11th IM). Junior Danny Brebrick (12th 100 free, 13th 100 breast, anchor free leg on 1st-place medley relay) provided additional points for Wausau East at the state meet; the Lumberjacks will likely have to add some depth to contend for the title.

Marquette finished 3rd last year at state behind strong showings from all of its relays (4th place finishes by both the medley and 400 free, and a 3rd place in the 200 free). Seniors Wes Borden (12th 200 free, 10th 100 fly), Andrew Breger (8th 50 free), and Seph Scheid (13th 50 free, 14th fly), along with junior Joe Bastien, lead a strong contingent of returning swimmers. Junior Mike Donofrio finished 4th last year in the dive meet behind three departed seniors, and will look to contend for a state title this year.

Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, one of the smaller D1 programs in the state, showed it could swim with the big sharks last year with a 6th-place finish at state. The co-op returns a strong nucleus of swimmers, including Tyler Lentz (2nd IM, 5th breaststroke), Matt Friede (8th 200 free, 6th 100 free), and Tyler Evans (5th 50 free, 7th 100 fly) -- the trio made up three-fourths of the swimmers who won the 200 free relay last year and would've finished 3rd in the 400 free relay absent the DQ.

A darkhouse candidate to move up the standings could be Middleton, which finished 11th last year at state. The Cardinals are led by senior Sam Niesen (3rd 200 free, 2nd back), and return everyone who swam at state last year, including all members of its three relay teams. Middleton is also expected to add some high-quality freshmen to the fold, and will certainly contend with Memorial for top honors in the always competitive Big Eight Conference.

Other D1 swimmers to watch this season include: the Greendale/Greenfield co-op duo of Jack Lennertz (12th IM, 4th fly) and Mike Lucchesi (4th 200 free, 7th 100 free); Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Nietzel (1st place 100 breaststroke, 4th IM); New Berlin West/Eisenhower's Byron Butler (1st place butterfly, 7th backstroke), and Waukesha West/Mukwonago's Dillon Wiesner (3rd breaststroke, 10th IM).