Arrowhead captures second big win

Hartland Arrowhead continued to stake a claim on being the top Div. 1 team in the state, coming away with a dominant win at the Metro Swim Officials Invite at Mequon Homestead HS Tuesday.

It's the second big invitational win for HA; earlier this month, they topped defending D1 champs Madison Memorial at the Barracuda Invite at Brookfield East.

Arrowhead captured the holiday-season meet at Homestead with 476 points, easily topping second-place Bayport (347). Lake Forest, a strong Chicago-area swim program which won this meet last year, finished 3rd (301), with D2 power Whitefish Bay (238) and Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown (220) rounding out the top 5.

HA, ranked #1 in the latest state coaches D1 poll, was led by junior breaststroker Brent Schreibel, an emerging force in the event, and backstroker Chris Jenkyns. In a meet that featured a mix of high school and college-level events, Schreibel took both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes, the latter by a mere three-tenths of a second over Homestead's Cody Burkard in one of the best races of the meet. Jenkyns added wins in the 100 back (54.49) and 200 back (2:00.89). Sophomore Jake Prodoehl contributed a win in the 500 free (4:58.75), and Jenkyns, Schreibel, and Prodoehl joined flyer Cody Roller to capture the 200 medley relay (1:41.60).

Arrowhead this year brought a lot of state-meet experience to the table, but needed to show its top swimmers could swim with the best in the state. Led by Schreibel and Jenkyns, HA looks like a top contender for the D1 state title in February.

Other highights of the meet:

-- Despite finishing second by more than 100 points, Bayport's runner-up finish should not be overlooked. The Pirates returned a strong core of swimmers this year that's been augmented by the return of senior Andrew Sumnicht, who skipped his junior year of high school swimming to focus on club swimming. Sumnicht, who qualified for the state meet as a sophomore, had a solid meet with a win in the 200 IM (2:00.74) over Greenfield/Greendale's Matt Jungers (2:00.88) in the best race of the day, along with a 3rd in the 400 IM. Bayport also got a win in the 50 free from junior James Killian (22.32), and a very good meet from senior Ryan Keuler, who had 2nd-place finishes in the 100 free (48.66) and 200 free (1:46.22). The three swimmers also joined senior Mitch King to win the 200 free relay (1:29.83) in a time that's faster than any posted on the WISCA top-30 list so far. Bayport certainly looks to be one of the favorites at the Neenah sectional, and could make some serious noise at the D1 state meet.

-- Greenfield/Greendale junior Jack Lennertz, second last year at the D1 state meet in the 100 fly, won both fly events at the meet -- a dominant, near-7-second win in the 200 fly (1:55.74) and the 100 fly (52.23). Lennertz is looking this year to add another state fly title to the family mantle; sister Jenna was a four-time D2 state champ in the 100 fly.

-- The match-up between D2 powers Whitefish Bay and Shorewood was a bit of a letdown, as both teams were missing top swimmers -- sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo for WB, and Kasmir Bohannon and Stephen Meyer for Shorewood. Without two of its best swimmers, Shorewood finished 8th at the meet with 143.5 points.

-- One of the most impressive wins of the night came from Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan, who won the 100 free in 48.59. Donovan swam the 200 free last year at the D2 state meet, finishing 6th. With three of the top four finishers in the 200 free returning in D2, might Donovan opt for the 100 free, where three of the top four finishers last year graduated? We'll find out -- Donovan's winning 100 free time is faster than any time posted on the D2 top-30 list for the event so far.

UPDATE: Some very good photos of the meet here:

http://www.mequonnow.com/multimedia/photos/80352897.html

UPDATE 2: Results here...
2009 Metro Swim Officials Results Splits

An update on Garrett Weber-Gale

Here's a good story by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Gary D'Amato on Garrett Weber-Gale, arguably the most notable swimmer to come out of Wisconsin's high schools.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/etc/80120667.html

Weber-Gale swam for Nicolet High School, and still holds state Div. 1 records in the 100 free (43.49) and back (49.73). He went on to swim at the University of Texas following his high school career. He swam a leg on the United States' famous winning 400-meter free relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics that featured Michael Phelps; the photo of Weber-Gale and Phelps celebrating the come-from-behind victory is one of the more famous swimming photos of recent history.

Note to all aspiring swimmers out there -- Weber-Gale swam on "C" relays while a freshman at Nicolet.

Big 8 tilt goes to Mad. Memorial

In a big early-season test for Madison Memorial, the Spartans easily handled Big 8 rival Verona in a tri-dual at Janesville Craig Friday night.

Memorial used its superior depth to outpoint the Wildcats 106-64. The teams split 10 of the 11 races in the meet, but Memoria's three relay wins, combined with plenty of 2nd-through-5th places, gave it the victory over Verona. Michael Drives was the lone individual winner for the Spartans, taking the 200 free (1:46.91) and the breaststroke (1:01.24). Verona's Derek Toomey continued his strong season with wins in both sprints (22.02 50 free; 48.74 100 free), and was joined as a double-winner for the Wildcats by junior Spencer Ritt (54.84 fly/58.62 back).

In the best race of the night, Verona senior Jacob Olandt just out-touched Memorial sophomore Patrick Franken in the 500 free, 4:55.98 to 4:55.99. If anyone is hankering for a spot in the D1 state meet this year, it's certainly Olandt. Two years ago, he came within three spots of qualifying for state. Last year, his sectional time of 5:00.31 was the 24th-fastest in the state, but he was knocked out of the state meet by a slower automatic sectional winner qualifier. His times so far indicate he's determined to take his place on the starting blocks this year in the 500.

One final note -- keep an eye on Janesville Craig junior Alex Loftus. His win in the 200 IM was the only one by a Craig swimmer at the meet, and his time -- 2:02.88 -- is one of the fastest posted in D1 this season.

Swim polls and top-30 times

As the boys season heads into the traditional mid-season holiday break from meets, it's worth a mention to encourage boys coaches to submit times to the WISCA coaches website, which compiles top-30 times for both D1 and D2 and uses those times to calculate its poll of the top 10 teams in the state.

The first poll is out (http://www.wisca.net/polls), and although (conflict alert -- my son swims for Monona Grove) I'd like to think Monona Grove has improved enough to rank 2nd in the state for D2, I'm objective enough to think that's not an accurate reflection of the pecking order in D2 this year.

As previously mentioned, the beauty of the WISCA poll -- as opposed to polls in other sports like football and basketball -- is that it's totally merit-driven, based solely on times. But the poll can only be accurate if a full complement of coaches are submitting their team's times. So coaches --if you have a few minutes during the holiday break -- submit those times!

Here's the first WISCA poll of the season:

D1

1 -- Arrowhead
2 -- Madison Memorial
3 -- Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights
4 -- New Berlin West-Eisenhower
5 -- Madison West
6 -- Janesville Craig
7 -- Fond du Lac
8 -- DeForest-Sun Prairie
9 -- Waukesha North-Kettle Moraine

D2
1 -- McFarland
2 -- Monona Grove
3 -- Plymouth
4 -- Grafton
5 -- Medford

Wisconsin Valley Conference results

Kudos to the Wisconsin Valley Conference, which has an excellent website that posts results from lots of athletic contests, including swimming. Here's the conference website:

http://www.wvcstats.org/index.html

Click on the tab for "Boys Swimming," and then on "Schedule/Results" listed above the conference standings for a rundown on meets in the conference. Click on an individual meet to get results. They even have archived results of conference meets going back several years. Well done.

Barracuda Invite: Arrowhead tops Mad. Memorial

In one of the first big meets of the boys season, Hartland Arrowhead topped defending Div. 1 state champs Madison Memorial at the Barracuda Invitational at Brookfield East High School Wednesday night.

Arrowhead swam to a 497-444 victory over the Spartans as the two teams dominated the six-team invite. Brookfield finished 3rd with 305.5 points, followed by Middleton (286.5), Marquette (274), and Brookfield Academy (143).

Arrowhead won the meet with a strong display of team depth (in a meet that counted only one relay for points, but allowed 30+ individual entries per team). Arrowhead also picked up 29 points in diving to to 14 for Memorial. Memorial won two relays to one for Arrowhead, and each team won three individual events. Arrowhead, 4th last year at the state meet after having won four state titles this decade, will certainly get a motivational boost from beating the defending state champs.

Leading the way for HA was senior Chris Jenkyns, who took the 500 (4:52.86), was 2nd in the back (54.51), and led off his team's winning medley relay. Also winning for HA: sophomore Jake Prodoehl in the very fast 200 free (1:46.48) and junior Brent Schreibel in the breaststroke (1:02.83 -- a commanding win by 1.4 seconds).

For Memorial, senior Michael Drives took the 200 IM in a state-leading 1:56.53 (his winning margin was more than six seconds) and the 100 free in 48.22. Sophomore Ben Anderson added a win in the 50 free (22.53) by a clear half-second -- a pretty big margin for the shortest race of the meet.

Other meet highlights:

-- As mentioned, the 200 free was a terrific race, with Prodoehl edging a solid field that saw five swimmers go under 1:51. Interestingly, the first three finishers in the race were sophomores -- Prodoehl was followed to the wall by Marquette's Lucas Kuriga (1:47.67) and Memorial's Patrick Franken (1:48.23).

-- The 500 free/200 free relay is always a tough double to pull off, as the events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule and differ so dramatically. But Franken, an emerging star for the Memorial Spartans, pulled it off with aplomb, as he finished second to Jenkyns in the 500 free (4:58.86), then turned around right away to anchor Memorial's winning 200 free relay (1:31.21).
The host Brookfield team squeezed in between Memorial and HA for 2nd-place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:31.73.

-- Brookfield Academy's super twosome of juniors Jack Donovan and Jonathan Marks had solid performances -- Donovan won the fly (53.38) and added a 5th in the 200 free (1:50.87), while Marks garnered a 3rd in the breaststroke (1:05.51) and a 4th in the IM (2:06.18).

-- Marquette senior Michael Donofrio dominated the competition in diving, winning by more than 60 points with a score of 424.70. Donofrio led the state diving competition at one point during last year's meet before falling to 4th; he's one of the favorites to take the D1 state diving crown this year.

-- Watch out for Memorial's 400 free relay; the quartet of Franken, Michael Salerno, Anderson and Drives has the look of a very good relay, and their winning time of 3:17.08 (more than three seconds over runner-up HA) is solid for this time of the season. With a meet on the line and the outcome hanging on the 400 free relay, Drives isn't a bad guy to have anchoring.

(Thanks to Barracuda Invite meet manager Chad Knutson for forwarding results.)

UPDATE: Results here...
Barracuda Invite Meet Results

The Iowa pipeline continues

The University of Iowa continues to look to Wisconsin high schools for swim recruits. Iowa just announced this year's recruits, and they included four top Wisconsin high school swimmers:

-- Katelyn Baltes of Verona;
-- Abby Tuchscherer of Oshkosh West;
-- Elise Borja of Waukesha South/Mukwonago;
-- Tyler Lentz of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights.

Here's a rundown:

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2009/dec/15/iowa-women-sign-nine/

In the past two years, the Hawkeyes have lured state champs Tommy Ratdke of Cedarburg and Byron Butler of New Berlin to Iowa City. Look for even more recruiting trips by Iowa into Wisconsin in the coming years; it's hard to imagine this (http://www.recserv.uiowa.edu/geninfo/construction/eastcampus.htm)

won't continue to be a lure for Wisconsin swimmers, especially compared to this:

An emerging 500 swimmer -- Kiel/EL-G's Nic Halverson

Sometimes, a close miss can serve as a motivation. That appears to be the case with sophomore Nic Halverson of the Divison 2 Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah co-op swim team.

Last year as a freshman, Halverson just missed qualifying for the D2 state meet in the 500 free. His time of 5:12.44 fell less than 1.2 seconds away from making into the state meet -- not much in the longest event swum at the high school level.

Halverson's looking to make amends this year. So far he's swum two of the fastest 500 free times in the state for D2 swimmers -- a 5:05.34 in a tri-dual meet against Plymouth and West Bend, and then a 5:02.61 to capture 1st place at the Oshkosh West Invite. In the latter race, he outdueled Appleton North/East's Jake Iotte (himself one of the best young 500 free swimmers in the state; he was 5th last year at the D1 state meet in the event) by just under a second.

The D2 500 free is fairly deep this season -- 12 of the 16 state qualifiers from last year return this season. But Halverson's early-season times suggest he'll be a factor in the race come Feburary.

UPDATE: Some results from yesterday are posted in the comments section -- thanks!

No mercy -- McFarland romps at Fort Invite

The British pop singer Duffy raced to the top of the music charts last year with her song "Mercy" that featured the refrain: "I'm begging you for mercy."

High school swimmers may want to add the song to their I-Pods/phones/touches when they go up against McFarland this year. Against a pretty good field of teams, the Spartans romped to victory at the Blackhawk Invite at Fort Atkinson HS Saturday. McFarland easily topped a solid Verona squad 452-380, with Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (last year's D1 state runner-up) in 3rd (247), Madison Edgewood (T-4th last year at D2 state) in 4th (234.5) and the host Blackhawks in 5th (219). Even more impressive -- the Spartans routed the field without top sprinter Peter Grenzow, who took the meet off to take college-prep exams.

Looking sharp for McFarland were senior Brian Heiser and sophomore Ryan O'Donnell. Heiser looked like he's ready to defend his D2 state title in the 200 free with a 1.34-second win in the 200 free (1:46.62) over Edgewood senior Chase Stevens (1:47.96). O'Donnell won the 200 IM over Verona's Spencer Ritt in an impressive early-season time of 2:01.90. Owing in part to Grenzow's absence (a key member of McFarland's relays the past few years), the Spartans didn't win any relays, but (in a meet that allowed both A and B relays for scoring) utilized its great depth to earn top-8 finishes by both relays in each of the three relay events.

One indication of the Spartans' depth -- junior Geof Glover. Last year, McFarland was so deep Glover only swam one event at the sectional qualifying meet -- the 100 back, in which he qualified for state. This year he appears poised to add the 200 IM, as he raced to 3rd place at the meet with an impressive 2:08.08 -- a time that would've qualified for state last year in the event. He added a 4th-place finish in the backstroke.

Other meet highlights:

-- Verona's Derek Toomey won both sprint showdowns with Sauk's Matt Friede, winning the 50 free (21.55 to 21.81) and the 100 free (47.73 to 47.94). As someone said to me after the meet, it's not that the Purdue-bound Friede is swimming slow early in the season; it's that Toomey is razor-sharp early on. These two will see more of each other throughout the season, including the Madison West Invite in January and the Middleton sectionals.

-- Sauk's Iowa-bound Tyler Lentz and Edgewood junior Drew teDuits went up against each other twice, with each winning once. Lentz topped teDuits, one of the best juniors in the state, 52.18 to 53.19 in the fly, but teDuits came back to beat out Lentz in the backstroke, 52.50 to 52.80, with O'Donnell coming in 3rd at 53.90. It will be interesting the see where these two swimmers line up at sectionals; Lentz, who won the 200 IM at D1 state last year, was third at state in the back, and the other top-five finishers in the backstroke all graduated. teDuits, fresh off an appearance at the short-course nationals meet in Washington, will certainly swim the back as the defending D2 state champ. He's a very good flier, but also finished 2nd in the 50 free at D2 state (and last year's state champ graduated).

-- The three top teams battled it out in the meet's final event, and Friede helped Sauk pull out the win in the 400 free relay with a 46.99 anchor leg. Toomey's 46.53 anchor leg was not quite enough, as Sauk ended up winning with a 3:21.87 to Verona's 3:22.49. McFarland back-loaded its 400 free relay, and despite two sub-49-second splits from Heiser and O'Donnell, had to settle for third with a 3:22.97 -- all solid early-season times.

Arrowhead beats W. South/Cath. Memorial in early-season tilt

In a big early season match-up between two of the better Milwaukee-area D1 squads, Hartland Arrowhead beat Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial 104-79 Thursday night.

Arrowhead utilized its superior depth to capture the win between two squads expected to be among the top D1 teams come state meet time in February. Arrowhead took two of the three relays and went 1-2 in the diving to help capture the win.

It was a terrific meet with some very close races. In the 200 free, state meet veterans Ryan Finke of WS/CM and Jake Prodoehl of HA hooked up in the 200 free, with Finke just edging Prodoehl by a mere two-hundreths of a second (1:47.89 to 1:47.91). WS/CM's Collin Neitzel, a double-threat this year at the state meet in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, just beat out HA's Cody Roller in the 200 IM (2:03.58 to 2:03.95). Prodoehl came back in the 100 free to top WS/CM's Eric Oberst in the 100 free, 49.28 to 49.55. Brent Schreibel of HA pulled off a mild upset in the 100 breaststroke, topping Neitzel 1:03.16 to 1:03.53.

These two teams will cross paths again this season, including the Waukesha South sectional. Both showed Thursday they have a lot of swimmers likely to be making appearances at the UW Natatorium come February. (Thanks to Danni Caldwell for meet results.)

Plymouth tops Sheboygan North

It's almost always a good meet with D2 Plymouth goes up against its D1 neighbors to the east, Sheboygan North and South. Last night, Plymouth topped North 101-85 in a meet that saw the Panthers win 10 of 12 events, including all three relays. Junior Brian Linzmeyer set a new school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.40. Results here from the Sheboygan Press (a paper others in the state much larger would do well to emulate in terms of covering high school swimming):

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091211/SHE020507/912110571/1089/SHE02

Speaking of Plymouth, here's a nice story on how local swim parents (are there any more dedicated parents in high school athletics?) raised more than $30,000 to buy a new timing and diving system for the high school pool, which annually hosts both girls and boys D2 sectional meets:

http://www.plymouth.k12.wi.us/news/120709pool.htm

SB/S's Savanna Townsend named Green Bay-area swimmer of the year

After leading her Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol girls team to its first-ever Div. 2 state championship, it should come as no surprise that freshman Savanna Townsend has been named swimmer of the year by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Here's the full story:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091211/GPG020507/912110500/-1/varsity

Few freshman have made as big of an impact at the D2 state meet as Townsend did this past season, but it's always refreshing to hear these kind of "there's no I in team" comments come from someone of her ability: "I wouldn't consider myself the head of the team at all," she told the paper. "The team, the captains, they have a lot of responsibility and they do a great job. It's not just one person that takes the lead."

See this link for the rest of the Press-Gazette's all-area girls swim team:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091211/GPG020507/912110499/0/GPG020507/Girls-swimming-Press-Gazette-all-area-team

Hunting for another title -- Milton's Jeff Maxwell

At first glance, Milton's Jeff Maxwell doesn't look like a championship swimmer. With a compact frame and sturdy build, he looks like he might fit in as a linebacker on his high school football team.

And although a hard worker in the pool, he's not necessarily a slave to the water; fall mornings in late November are just as likely to find him in out in the fields with his rifle (surely he's one of the few -- if not only -- top-tier high school swimmers in the Wisconsin to have his picture published in the local newspaper with his 14-point buck with a 20-inch spread -- this from 2007):

But Maxwell has been one of Division 2's top swimmers since his freshman year; in six individual swims at the state meet, he's never finished lower than 4th. He's also swum on six Milton relays that have qualified for state, including three that have earned top-six podium finishes.

This year, the senior swimmer has set off with one top goal in mind -- recapture his Division 2 title in the 500 free. Maxwell won the 500 free as a sophomore, edging Cedarburg's Tommy Radtke by less than .30 seconds to win in 4:42.72. He also finished 2nd to Radtke in the 200 free that year. Last year, despite improving his time in each event, he finished lower on the podium -- 4th in the 200 free, and second to McFarland senior Graham Thoresen in the 500 free by a mere .23 seconds in the 500 free. Now he's back for one last try at the 500, as well as working to help his Milton teammates defend the Badger South Conference title the Red Hawks won in their first year in the conference.

Name: Jeff Maxwell
School: Milton High School
Year: Senior
Favorite event to swim: 500 Free
Proudest accomplishment as a swimmer: Earning a college scholarship to UW- Milwaukee.
Favorite swimming memory: Sophomore year state championship in the 500 Free.
Favorite non-swimming activity: Hunting and Fishing
Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo
Music you listen to get psyched up for a meet: Depends on my mood, either rock or rap.
Role model: My parents
Favorite swimmer: Ryan Lochte
Family: Jeff (father), Monica (mother), Katie (sister)
Plans after high school: Attend college at UWM and graduate with a BS from the College of Health Sciences, then apply to a college of pharmacy
Career goal: Pharmacist

More results from last weekend

More highlights from last weekend:

-- New Berlin won the Comet Invitational at Delavan-Darien, with 435 points to 410 for runner-up Milton (410). Fort Atkinson (380), Lake Geneva Badger/Big Foot (267.5), and the host Comets (242) rounded out the top five finishers. NB won 8 of 11 events at the meet, taking all three relays quite easily. Jasen Johnson contributed two wins each along with two legs on the winning relays, while Alex Rodenkirk (200 IM -- 2:02.99) and Josh Solie (50 free -- 22.84) also contributed wins. Johnson's 1.01.14 in the 100 breaststroke set a meet record. Also setting a meet record was Milton distance ace Jeff Maxwell, who posted a 4:49.81 in the 500 free; Maxwell also took the 200 free (1:48.82). Earlier last week, Rodenkirk broke two NB pool records in a dual meet against Wauwatoa East/West, including a 1:45.36 200 free that broke a record that had stood for 33 years. Rodenkirk also broke the pool 100 free record at the meet with a 47.99, while Johnson topped the pool record in the 100 breaststroke. (Thanks to Faith Rodenkirk of New Berlin for information on the two meets.)

-- Hartford posted a win at its own Hartford Relays, winning 82 to 80 over Sheboygan South in the all-relay meet. In an interesting twist, Hartford and Sheboygan South had a showdown in the 10-by-50 free "Battle Royale" relay to determine the winner of the meet; Hartford won 4:03.84 to South's 4:05.35 to take first place in the meet.

-- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial won the Compass Meet Friday night with 548 points, topping runner-up Watertown with 507 points. Waukesha West finished third with 458, followed by Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine 4th (411) and Appleton West/Kimberly 5th (266). Colin Neitzel was a double-winner for WS/CM in the 200 IM (2:04.55) and 100 breaststroke (1:03.20), as was Noah Potratz (500 free -- 4:47.42; 100 back -- 59.05). Ryan Finke (200 free -- 1:47.52) and Alex Swain (100 free -- 50.48) also contributed wins for the team. Watertown's Nick Wolhaupter was a double winner in the 50 free (22.12) and 100 fly (53.39).

-- Marquette (174 points) won the Cougar Relays at Janesville Craig over Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown (160) in a meet that the MF/H/G co-op might have won save for a DQ on its first-place 400 IM relay that won by more than six seconds. Craig (142), Janesville Parker (122) and Monona Grove (110) rounded out the top five. The host Cougars set a meet record in the 300 breaststroke relay, as Spencer Mattox, Nick Strub and Alex Loftus teamed up to win in 3:16.75. Also setting meet records were the MF/H/G 4-by-100 IM relay and Marquette's backstroke relay. The best race of the day came in the 400 free relay, where two relays that qualified for the state meet last year -- D1 MF/H/G and D2 Monona Grove -- battled it out. In the end, MF/H/G star Sean Kimmitt held off MG's Aaron Pomeroy to give his relay a 3:29.98 to 3:30.11 win; the winning time also set a meet record.

-- Led by sophomore Josh Lefeber, Franklin won the Cudahy Packer Small School Invite with 299 points to 291 for runner-up Oak Creek. The host Packers finished 3rd with 192 points, followed by Beaver Dam Wayland Academy (192) and Fond du Lac (157). LeFeber set two meet records -- a 1:51.24 in the 200 free (beating a record that had been held by former state champ Michael Schultz of Martin Luther) and 1:05.26 in the 100 breaststroke. LeFeber also anchored Franklin's winning 200-yard free relay. (Thanks to Oak Creek's Marvin Vissers for results.)

D2 news -- Milton moved to Baraboo sectional

On the WIAA website, Milton -- which for most of the decade has swum at the Cudahy sectional with other southeastern Wisconsin D2 teams -- has been moved to the Baraboo sectional. The move was apparently precipitated by the inclusion of Milwaukee's Pius XI High School into the Cudahy sectional (previously a D1 school for swimming). Nicolet HS, whose enrollment dropped it down to D2 this year after being in D1, had already been placed in the Cudahy sectional, and the addition of Pius XI would've put 14 teams into that sectional.

Here's the sectional line-up:

http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/assignments.pdf

The move makes sense, as Milton's Badger Conference brethren all swim at the Baraboo sectional. But the addition of Milton to the Baraboo sectional will make an already strong sectional that much better, as Milton returns one of the state's best D2 swimmers -- Jeff Maxwell -- along with strong depth displayed at last week's Badger Conference Relays meet. The Baraboo sectional last year qualified 57 swimmers and relays for the state meet (second only to the Cudahy sectional with 62), and features three-time defending champ McFarland and a Madison Edgewood squad that finished tied for 4th last year at state.

A team on the rise -- Berlin/Green Lake

At last year's D2 boys state meet, one team that caught my eye was Berlin/Green Lake. It wasn't so much that the B/GL co-op did well -- they scored 37 points to finish 17th overall -- but that the team did it with all underclassmen, including two very good freshmen in Greg Hameister and Dylan Young.

This past weekend, the B/GL showed they are ready to make even more noise. The team finished second at the Oshkosh West Invite, trailing only traditional D1 Fox Valley power Neenah and beating out a very good Appleton North/East team for third. Plymouth, a solid D2 team returning most of its state swimmers from last year, finished well back of B/GL in 4th. See partial results here from the Oshkosh Northwestern:

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20091206/OSH020507/91205066/1148/OSH02

Hameister led the way for B/GL, with a 2nd and 4th in his individual events and relay legs that helped produce two 2nd-place finishes in the 200 and 400 free relays. But several other B/GL swimmers garnered top-six finishes, an indication the team is adding depth to the four swimmers who took part in last year's state meet.

There is a strong tradition of solid swimming for Berlin/Green Lake; the co-op won the D2 state title as recently as 2001. Early on this season, they certainly look to be one of the contenders for a sectional title at the Plymouth sectional in February.

Verona sprints to big win at Nicolet Invite

The newly formed Verona-Mount Horeb swim co-op (they're neighboring school districts) ventured over to the north suburbs of Milwaukee last Saturday for one of the first big meets of the season, and came away with an impressive win at the Nicolet Sprint Invitational. The Wildcats scored 336.5 points to win over D2 powers Whitefish Bay (318) and Shorewood (284.5). Middleton (279.5) and Madison East (186) rounded out the top five.

It's not surprising that a sprint invitational would be dominated by solid sprinters, and Verona/MH has a good one in senior Derek Toomey. He posted wins in the 50 free (21.55) by more than a second over Whitefish Bay's Chuckie Prestigiacomo, one of the better D2 sprinters in the state, and raced to a truly impressive four-second win in the 100 free in 47.30. That's not far off the time Toomey swam last year at the D1 state meet (47.17) to finish 5th. There are a bunch of top D1 sprinters back this year, but Toomey's performance Saturday certainly stamps him as a top contender in the two sprints come Februrary.

Toomey's contributions were augmented by a strong meet from junior Spencer Ritt, who won both the 100 and 200 IMs. The 200 IM was a particularly fun race to watch, as Ritt -- a very good flier and backstroker -- got off to a big lead during the first two strokes and then held off a hard-charging Jay Tomasiewicz of Shorewood. In the end, Ritt just held off Tomasiewicz 2:04.51 to 2:05.62. Verona also got a strong meet from senior Jacob Olandt, normally a 500-yard free swimmer who finished second in both the 100 and 200 frees. The Wildcats this year are a deep and veteran team, and with Toomey and Ritt have two top-tier swimmers. It will interesting to see them tangle -- frequently, as it turns out -- with defending D1 champs Madison Memorial this year. The two Big Eight schools will swim against each other in dual, conference and sectional meets this year, as well as some invites.

As for the rest of the meet:

-- The performance of Whitefish Bay and Shorewood should reinforce the notion that the Milwaukee suburban neighbors will be two of the better D2 squads in the state. Topping a very deep Middleton squad at Nicolet is no small feat. The two schools have a number of versatile swimmers, and enough depth to probably put together three state-qualifying relays. Whitefish Bay was particularly impressive in winning the 400 medley relay by nearly seven seconds; the Blue Dukes return all of the swimmers who swam on the team's 3rd-place 200 medley relay last year at state.

-- Madison East senior Robert Miner had a solid meet, with wins in the 200 free (1:48.66) and 50 fly (24.22). The UW-Green Bay recruit had two podium finishes at last year's state meet in the 200 free and 100 fly.

-- Looking for one of those breakout freshmen? Try Grafton 9th grader Al Nenning, whose sisters Sadie and Bailey have been stars for the Grafton girls team for several years. Nenning went up against state meet veterans Ritt and Jason Castillo of Whitefish Bay in the 100 IM and held his own, finishing third. He's already posted some solid times on the WISCA coaches top-30 list.

-- Monona Grove's divers had an impressive first meet, outscoring the field at Nicolet with 44 points behind first-place senior Trevor Sisson, a 4th-place from freshman Patrick Sisson, and a 9th place from junior Austin Anderson. Trevor Sisson, the top returning D2 diver from last year's state meet, won handily, topping Verona's Bill Reilly 407.20 to 362.20.

Submitting results

I'm keenly interested in seeing results from around the state, submitted by coaches, meet organizers, or anyone else for that matter. A couple of commentators said they were having trouble getting through my email address. Here it is:

wimcdade@tds.net

I hope it works; it's worked for others who have seen the blog and contacted me. And thanks for sending any and all results -- it's really appreciated!

(Original post now corrected; thanks for the help!)

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/boys-season-gets-underway.html

Hojan-Clark swims a sub-4:48 500 free

I'm normally reluctant to highlight non-high school season activities, as the primary focus of the blog is high school swimming.

But this bears mentioning. At the Short Course National Championships being held in Federal Way, Wash., Elmbrook Swim Club's Kelsey Hojan-Clark (a junior at Brookfield Academy) yesterday swam a 4:47.96 in the 500 free to finish 14th in the event. That's under the all-time 500 free time swum by a Wisconsin high schooler (4:48.60, swum by Madison East's Aja Van Hout last year at the D1 state meet).

Hojan-Clark, who smashed the D2 state record in the 500 free last month with a time of 4:50.19, swam a 4:49.07 in the short-couse meet prelims, then came back to cut more than a second off that time. You can watch the race here; Hojan-Clark is in Lane 8 at the top of the picture:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20091203/women_s_500yd_free_b_final-17427.html

Neenah's Spaay named Fox Valley swimmer of the year

Neenah's Amy Spaay, 3rd this year at the D1 state meet in the breaststroke, has been named all-area swimmer of the year by the Appleton Post-Crescent. See story here:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091128/APC020507/911280641/-1/varsity

The rest of the Post-Crescent all-area girls swim team can be found here:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091128/APC020507/911280629/0/varsity

Congrats to Amy for a well-deserved recognition and a fine high school career.

Spartans look sharp

The defending D2 champs, McFarland, took to the water for the first time this season at the Badger Conference (North and South combined) Relays Tuesday night at a crowded Waunakee pool, and had no trouble coming away with a win.

The Spartans easily topped the 11-team field with 166 points, 48 more than runner-up (and defending Badger Conference South champs) Milton. It was close for the next few spots, as Fort Atkinson (106), Edgewood (104) and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (104) all finished within two points of each other.

McFarland won four of the 10 events at the all-relay meet, and never finished lower than 4th in any of the relays. Of all things, the Spartans stacked their 4 X 25-yard free relay, which led to the interesting site of defending state champ Brian Heiser (200 free) doing an in-water start ala an 8-year-old for his 25-yard anchor leg.

Sauk won the opening and closing events -- the 400 medley and the 400 free relay -- with lineups that may look very familiar come sectional and state meet time. In the medley, it was backstroker Stephen Hanko leading off, followed by Paul Ballweg (breaststroke), Tyler Lentz (fly) and Matt Friede (free). The relay won by nearly seven seconds over an Edgewood relay that included stars Drew teDuits and Chase Stephens; don't be surprised to see that same Sauk line-up in the regular 200 medley relay toward season's end. The same four swimmers for Sauk then clocked in a respectable 3:23.94 to win the 400 free relay.

UPDATE: Results here...

2009 Badger Conf Relay Results

In other D2 swim news, Ashwaubenon traveled to the Door County Y and beat Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door 106-75 in a non-conference matchup between two traditionally strong D2 programs. Full story here from the Door County Advocate:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091202/ADV02/912020527/0/adv&theme=ADVSPORTS

Boys season gets underway

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time for the boys swim season to move into full swing. A number of conferences around the state have their season-opening swim meets tonight (many of them relay-only meets). There is also a good dual meet tonight "Up North," as Ashwaubenon travels to Sturgeon Bay in a match-up that features two teams that finished in the top 10 last year at the D2 state meet. Both teams lost some solid swimmers to graduation, so it will be a good test to see how these two traditional D2 powers look early in the season.

This weekend will see meets and inviationals at Oshkosh West, Cudahy, Nicolet and Janesville Craig, among others. We'll report on them as we get results.

A note (plea?) to coaches, parents, and other interested parties -- feel free to send results (in any format, but PDFs appreciated) to the email at: wimcdade@tds.net or simply post meet scores in the comments section. Thanks for your help in supporting the blog!

Madison-area girls swimmers of the year

Madison East's Aja Van Hout and Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell have been named Madison-area swimmers of the year, featured in the Preps Extra edition of the Sunday Wisconsin State Journal (Nov. 29, 2009). Both Van Hout and Powell won two events at this year's girls D1 state meet -- Van Hout setting a record in the 200 IM and winning the 500 free, while Powell defended her title in the 200 free and also won the 100 free. Van Hout added a third gold medal via her lead-off leg on East's first-place 400 free relay. Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock, who won her record fourth consecutive D1 state diving title, was named diver of the year.

I'd post a link to the story, which also lists a number of other swimmers making the Madison-area swim team, but cannot find a link to the story on the madison.com website (which relegates swimming behind gymnastics and bowling as sports its readers might be interested in). I'll keep looking for it; if anyone out there finds a link, feel free to post it in the comments section or send me an email.

Congratulations to Aja, Jackie, and Kylie -- the honor is well-deserved.

D1 sectional at Schroeder

The Milwaukee-area D1 boys sectional, held for several years at Nicolet High School, has been moved to the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer. Marquette will serve as the host school for the sectional, according to the WIAA website.

The switch to Schroeder was prompted by Nicolet being moved this year for boys swimming from D1 to D2. Swim teams are placed in one of the two divisions for swimming based on enrollment, with the largest 60 percent of schools (or co-ops) placed in D1, and the remaining 40 percent placed in D2.

More recruiting updates

See the recruiting post for more recruiting updates; several have been posted in the past few days:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/11/recruiting-news.html

D1 boys season preview 2009-10

Here's what to look for during the upcoming D1 boys swim season:

-- Madison Memorial took home the title last year -- its 10th in school history, and fourth in the last five years -- with a combination of an amazing meet by Michael Drives, a strong showing in diving, and a host of swimmers moving up slightly from their seed placements at the state meet. It was enough to give the Spartans an 18-point victory over Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights. Drives, the best swimmer in the state, broke two state records last year, albiet one that resulted in a second-place finish to Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen in their thrilling duel in the 500 free. Now a senior, the West Point-bound Drives is the kind of versatile swimmer who can enter most any event -- as the current Natatorium pool-record holder in the 200 free, will he feel he's accomplished enough in that race and move back to the 200 IM, which he won at state his sophomore year? Sophomore state qualifiers Patrick Franken (500 IM/500 free) and Ben Anderson (50 free/fly) return, and junior Michael Salerno will take over as a top sprinting threat for the Spartans. But Memorial has to replace several graduated swimmers who contributed points at the state meet, including diver Nate Broadbridge, who's second-place finish at diving help propel the Spartans to the title. Memorial almost always brings in a strong freshman class; they'll need another one if they hope to repeat.

-- Besides Memorial, the state's other dominant D1 program during the decade has been Hartland Arrowhead, with four titles and three runner-up finishes. HA has to replace Hansen and the 37 points he scored at state last year in the 200 and 500 frees, but the team brings a lot of depth to the table this year. Nine swimmers who took part in the state meet last year return for coach Bob Jenkyns, including seniors Cody Roller (6th 200 IM/13th fly) and Chris Jenkyns (9th 500 free/11th back) and sophomore Jake Prodoehl (11th 200 free/8th 500 free). HA may not have the dominant swimmer that Hansen was the past two years at state, but this is one of the deepest squads in D1 this year.

-- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights was the surprise of the D1 state meet last year, earning its first runner-up trophy behind oustanding showings at the meet by three swimmers and two relays. Two of those swimmers -- seniors Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede -- return for coach Todd Wuerger this year, forming perhaps the best one-two punch in D1. The Iowa-bound Lentz won the 200 IM last year and finished 3rd in the back; he also contributed strong legs on Sauk's winning (and record-breaking) 200 free relay, as well as its first-place 400 free relay. The Purdue-bound Friede anchored both of those relays, shared a gold medal with a tie for 1st in the 50 free, and finished 2nd in the 100 free. Junior Paul Ballweg, also a member of the two winning relays, returns, as does junior backstroker Stephen Hanko. Look for Sauk to have two more outstanding relays at the state meet this year, along with Friede and Lentz being threats to win each of their individual events. If Wuerger can find a bit more depth, the Eagles may be in a position to make a run for another trophy this year.

-- If Sauk has the best one-two punch in the state, the Greenfield/Greendale co-op may have the best one-two-three punch. Senior Mike Lucchesi and juniors Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers comprise a versatile and strong trio; between them, the garnered six top-7 finishes in their individual events at last year's state meet, highlighted by Lennertz' runner-up finish in the fly. A DQ by the team's medley relay at last year's state meet --featuring all three of the swimmers -- cost the co-op a higher spot than their 10th place finish. It will be interesting to see if head coach Dale Schrank combines his fast trio into two relays, or spreads them out among three relays. An added bonus for the team: they will host the sectional meet this year, previously held at Racine Park, at Greenfield High School's brand-new pool.

-- No team suffered a bigger single loss to graduation than the New Berlin West/Eisenhower co-op, which lost three-time state champion Byron Butler (now at Iowa, yet another D1 state champ of recent years who has chosen to go out-of-state to swim collegiately). But New Berlin returns a solid cast of swimmers; they'll likely slug it out with Arrowhead at the Waukesha South sectional this year, and are looking to improve upon their 6th-place showing at last year's state meet. Among the swimmers returning: Pitt-bound senior Alex Rodernkirk (7th in the 200 free/6th in the 100 free) and sophomore Jasen Johnson (11th fly/15th breaststroke).

-- Fox Valley Conference foes Appleton North/East and Neenah both had top-10 finishes at last year's state meet, and return some strong state-qualifying swimmers. For North/East, look for senior Josh Kinney (200 IM/breaststroke) and sophomore Jake Iotte (200 IM/500 free) to lead the way; at Neenah, a strong junior class includes Matt Hollub (100 free/100 back), Aaron Sears (500 free/breaststroke), Connor Christiansen (200/500 frees), and Matt Lagieski (breaststroke).

Other notable teams and swimmers to watch:

-- Wausau East's Danny Brebrick returns to defend his 100 free title; East graduated two state champions in Lucas Koenig and Josh Hall.
-- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Nietzel looks to take back the 100 breaststroke title he won as a sophomore before finishing 4th to Hall last year.
-- Muskego's Bobby Wolf (13th 200 free/4th 500 free) and Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst (5th 200 free/3rd 500 free) are two of the state's top returning distance swimmers.
-- Verona will build around sprinter Derek Toomey (6th 50 free/5th 100 free), versatile junior Spencer Ritt (12th fly/9th back) and distance swimmer Jacob Olandt.
-- Marquette sophomore Lucas Kuriga hopes to repeat his strong freshman season, when he finished 4th in the 200 free and 15th in the fly.
-- Madison East got podium finishes from UW-Green Bay-bound Robert Miner in both the 200 free and fly; he'll be joined by double-state-qualifier Aaron Lickel (IM/100 free) and relay swimmer Coleman Fraser.
-- Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton junior diver Nathan Cox returns to defend his title; he'll be pushed by Appleton West/Kimberly senior Stephen Bothun and Marquette senior Michael Donofrio.

Kelsey Hojan-Clark repeats as MJS swimmer of the year

It's two in a row for Brookfield Academy junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark; just like last year, she's been named the Swimmer of the Year by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. See this:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/73077602.html

Here's the understatement of the year, found near the end of the story:
"Hojan-Clark, who is receiving some interest from Division I schools..."

You think?

D2 boys season preview 2009-10

Here's a rundown of the upcoming D2 boys season:

-- McFarland was an easy winner of its third straight state title last year, its 122-point margin over Whitefish Bay the largest at the state meet since 2005. Despite losing two senior stalwarts in Bradon O'Donnell and Graham Thoresen, the Spartans return more than enough talent to make a run at a fourth straight title. Coach Nick Weiss' squad is led by senior Brian Heiser -- the UW-Green Bay recruit is the defending state champ in the 200 free, finished 3rd in the 100 free, and swam on two gold-medal relays, including the team's record-breaking 400 free relay. He'll be joined by fellow senior Peter Grenzow, who qualified for state last year in both the 50 and 100 frees, and has anchored four Spartan relays to first-place finishes at state during his career. Sophomore Ryan O'Donnell had an impressive freshman campaign last year, when he finished 2nd (200 IM) and 3rd (backstroke) in his individual events at state and swam on two first-place relays. A host of other state-qualifying swimmers from last year's squad -- senior Ben Psyk, junior Geoff Glover, and sophomores Jacob Mandli, Collin Morgan, Max Schimanski and Ryan Krattiger -- also return, giving McFarland the kind of depth that few D2 teams can match. In fact, of the 17 individual "swims" McFarland had at state last year, the swimmers responsible for 13 of them return. It remains to be seen whether this squad can match the performance of last year's team, which won all three relays at state and had 8 individual top-3 finishes. But it's an awfully good -- and deep -- squad.

-- Perhaps the team best-suited to make a run at McFarland is last year's runner-up, Whitefish Bay. The Blue Dukes return a senior-dominated squad with considerable state-meet experience -- sprinter and UW-Madison recruit Chuckie Prestigiacomo (50/100 frees); Boston College-bound Jason Castillo (200 IM/breaststroke); Tommy Hiller (fly, 500 free); Chris Fink (200 free/backstroke); junior DJ Freisch (IM/breaststroke); and Walker Brengel (200 free). Add in seniors Rob Colton and Domi Lauko, both of whom swam on state-qualifying relays last year, and Whitefish Bay is one of the few teams in the state with the kind of depth needed to tangle with McFarland. The key for Whitefish Bay may rest in moving their swimmers into the top tier of competitors at the state meet -- WB's relays last year finished with two 3rds and a 9th, while its individual swimmers had five top-6 podium finishes compared to nine for McFarland.

-- Shorewood returns a strong nucleus of swimmers that helped the Greyhounds to a tie for 4th at last year's state meet. Leading the team is senior Stephen Meyer, who finished 2nd in both the fly and backstroke at state, and came within two-tenths of a second of winning both events. He's joined by junior Kasmir Bohannon (200 free/back); senior Mike Ross (IM/breaststroke); sophomore Jay Tomasiewicz (IM/500 free); senior Asher Kaufman (breaststroke); junior Isaac Flegel-Mishlove (500 free); and senior Arthur Staub (medley and 200 free relays). They'll need to replace the points at state generated by Karl Weisling, who had two podium finishes in the 200 and 500 frees as a senior last year.

-- Madison Edgewood features perhaps the best one-two punch in D2 in junior Drew teDuits and senior Chase Stephens. teDuits won the backstroke last year, nearly breaking the state record in the event, and finished 2nd in the 50 free, while contributing strong legs on Edgewood's medley and 400 free relays. The Northwestern-bound Stephens finished 3rd at state last year in both the 200 and 500 frees, and anchored two top-three relays. Edgewood -- which tied Shorewood for 4th last year at state -- will look for juniors Eric Wendorf and Eric Madsen, along with sophomore Mark Vukich, to step up to replace graduated state qualifiers Chris Kuecker and Matt Everts.

Other teams and swimmers to watch during the season:

-- Cedarburg graduated all of its 31.5 points it scored in diving at last year's state, along with distance swimmer Jim Akkala. But junior Carl Newenhouse (4th at state in the back, 11th in the 100 free) returns, as do state qualifiers Connoer Neuville (500 free), Nate Jones (back), and three-fourths of all three relays that made it to state.
-- Delavan-Darien returns Alex Reigert, the defending state champ in the 100 breaststroke who also finished 5th in the 100 free, along with Kevin Schneider, a state qualifier in the IM and fly.
-- Fort Atkinson is one of several D2 teams with a powerful twosome of swimmers returning: junior Evan Hill (6th in both the fly and back at state) and sophomore Wyatt Paul (7th in both the 50 and 100 frees), both also featured on Fort's two strong relays at state last year.
-- Brookfield Academy is home to another strong twosome -- between them, juniors Jack Donovan (200 free/fly) and Jonathan Marks (200 IM/breaststroke) had three top-six podium finishes at state.
-- Milton returns former state champion Jeff Maxwell, who finished second in the 500 free by less than a third of a second last year after winning the event as a sophomore. Maxwell, a versatile swimmer, also finished 4th last year in the 200 free. State qualifier Erik Swanson (breaststroke) also returns for the Redhawks.
-- Plymouth returns state qualifiers Jesse Gambrell (200 IM/breaststroke), Brian Linzmeyer (200 free) and Andrew Connor (breaststroke), along with state qualifying divers Zach Schroeder and Josh Suchon.
-- Monona Grove returns double state qualifiers Aaron Pomeroy (50/100 frees) and Jake McDade (200 IM/500 free), along with nearly all of the team's two relays (200/400) that qualified for state. Senior Trevor Sisson, 3rd last year at state, is the top returning diver in the state; freshman brother Patrick joins him on the boards this year.

A different sort of recruit -- Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf and her remarkable comeback from cancer

Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf, one of D1's better sprinters, has decided to extend her swimming career at nearby UW-Green Bay.

That she's able to continue swimming at all is a remarkable story, chronicled in this Sheboygan Press report:

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091120/SHE020507/911200406/1089/SHE02

In 2008, Wolf garnered two top-10 finishes at the D1 state meet, including a 4th in the 50 free. But before she began her senior year of swimming, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma, and underwent radiation treatments and chemotherapy. Her return to swimming was uncertain, but Wolf battled all the way back to again qualify for state. In her last individual race, she set a school record in the 100 free. With her cancer in remission, Wolf will continue her swimming career for the Phoenix.

Said her mother, Jean: "I've told Parker, 'You've already won the biggest race of your life; you've beaten cancer.'"

Recruiting news

Here's a quick look so far of high school swimmers who have announced their intentions for collegiate swimming after this season.

(A personal note on recruiting: Although I do want to encourage comments on this post, I am not a big fan of posting stories or comments that speculate about who is going where, or what schools a given swimmer may be considering. My preference is to list only recruiting commitments posted or publicized somewhere else -- a college or university announcement, a local newspaper or media report, a reputable website like collegeswimming.com. Coaches, parents, and swimmers are free to comment, of course, on where swimmers are headed. But the intent here is to post only known public commitments, not speculative ones. Thanks for your understanding.)

Girls:

Jackie Powell (Madison Memorial) -- Northwestern.
Tracey Vogel (Hartland Arrowhead) -- Buffalo.
Emily Russart (Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay) -- Northwestern.
Chloe Bartuska (McFarland) -- St. Cloud State.
Erica Halley (Appleton East) -- Illinois State.
Source: Collegeswimming.com website

Boys:

Tyler Lentz (Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights) -- Iowa.
Matt Friede (Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights) -- Purdue.
Alex Rodenkirk (New Berlin West/Eisenhower) -- Pittsburgh.
Robert Miner (Madison East) -- UW-Green Bay.
Source: Collegeswimming.com website

In addition, Madison Memorial's Michael Drives has announced on his Facebook page that he plans to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.

Finally, according to collegeswimming.com, three Wisconsin swimmers who bypassed part or all of high school swimming have signed on with major colleges. They are: Mitchell Friedmann -- Arizona; Dak Stone -- Ohio State; Emily Schwabe -- Louisiana State.

Update (also check the comments section for additions to this list): Brian Heiser (McFarland) -- UW-Green Bay; Stephanie Armstrong (who won a state championship in the D1 100 free as a sophomore, then left high school swimming to swim for Waukesha Express) -- Indiana; Natalie Johnson (Hartland Arrowhead) -- Northern Iowa.

More updates: Abbey Tuchscherer and Hilary Woldt (Oshkosh West) -- Tuchscherer to Iowa; Woldt to Buffalo.

Several UW-Milwaukee signings: Women -- Briana Huth (Appleton North); Molly Piepenburg (Cedarburg); Erika Pliner (Ashwaubenon); Diana Diel (home-schooled; did not compete in high school swimming); Men -- Jeff Maxwell (Milton); Chris Jenkyns (Hartland Arrowhead).

Jennah Haney (Milton) -- University of Wisconsin.
Brittany Walsh (Muskego) -- Louisville.

Marin Thompson (Germantown) -- Illinois.

Katie Schroeder (Brookfield Central) -- Michigan State.

Diver Sara Axness (Eau Claire Memorial) -- Minnesota.

Some sad news to pass along

Word comes from a friend that former Janesville Craig swim coach and longtime swim official Wes Mayer passed away in Janesville Tuesday morning. Mayer, 77, was both a high school and collegiate swim official for more than 50 years, and was a charter member of the Southern Wisconsin Swimming Officials Association. A highly respected and well-liked official, he was also a mentor to many swim officials throughout the state.

His full obituary is here:

http://gazettextra.com/obits/2009/nov/19/wesley-mayer/

It's always been my sense, in watching swim meets over the years, that swim officials prefer to stay in the background; they only really come to the forefront at a meet when they have to make an (oftentimes difficult) disqualification or ensure the rules of swimming are enforced. But without officials, there would be no swim meets -- and I have yet to meet a swim official who didn't truly love the sport of swimming. So next time you're at a meet, and have a minute, thank the officials.

2009 girls season review

Another girls swim season is in the books; a few highlights before moving on to season-ending recognition:

-- Five state records were broken at the Div. 1 and Div. 2 state meets, compared to six records broken last year at the two state meets. This year's records: Aja Van Hout, Madison East, 200 IM, 2:00.06 (2:0139); Emily Russart, Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay, 100 breaststroke, 1:02.53 (1:02.70); D2 -- Kelsey Hojan-Clark, Brookfield Academy, 200 free, 1:49.13 (1:49.94), and 500 free, 4:50.19 (4:53.94); Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, 200 free relay, 1:36.02 (1:38.95).

-- Div. 2 event winners at the state meet had faster times than their counterparts in Div. 1 in four events -- both the 200 and 500 frees, the 200 free relay, and the 100 back. Last year, only one D2 time bettered a winning D1 time. This year, D2 swimmers had half of the top-6 times among all state meet swimmers (D1 and D2 combined) in the back, breaststroke, and fly, and two of the top-6 times in all three of the relays. The D2 field can't match D1 in terms of depth, but this year's results are an indication that the very top tier of D2 swimmers can hold their own with swimmers from the state's largest schools.

-- Did the much-discussed suit ban make a difference in times at the state meets? Hard to tell, without a comprehensive list of which swimmers wore them last year. But they were pretty prevelant among the winners last year. At this year's state meets, 14 of the winning times were slower than last year's winning times; eight were faster. Comments and observations on this issue, of course, are welcome.

On to the post-season recoginition.

D1

Swimmer of the year: It may be getting to the point where swim fans take East's Aja Van Hout for granted. They shouldn't. A swimmer of Van Hout's caliber comes along about once every 10 years or so. She's on her way to accomplishing what only two swimmers in the history of the state have done -- win eight individual titles during her high school career. Perhaps the most notable feature of Van Hout is that -- at least in the biggest meet of the year -- she never has anything close to an indifferent race. Everyone expects her to win, and she does -- time and again. And she clearly inspires her teammates; East came into this year's state meet seeded nearly five seconds behind a very strong Hartland Arrowhead squad in the 400 free relay. But Van Hout's amazing 49.94 lead-off leg (a mere .17 off the all-time state record in the 100 free) gave the East relay a lead that her teammates refused to give up. A treat to watch. Runners-up: Arrowhead's Emma Goral, who won her third straight butterfly title, and was the leader of Arrowhead's dominant D1 title team this year; and Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell, who for the second year in a row won two individual titles.

Swim of the year: Van Hout's record-breaking 200 IM win at the state meet. When you knock off a record held by Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke (the only swimmer in the history of the state with eight individual and eight relay gold medals), you've accomplished something. And Van Hout broke it pretty easily, by more than 1-1/2 seconds, and became the second high school swimmer in the past year (along with Michael Drives of Madison Memorial) to set a UW Natatorium pool record at a state meet. Runner-up: Emily Russart's record-breaking win in the 100 breaststroke over Eau Claire Memorial freshman phenom Leah Pronschinske. Also worth mentioning: Distance swimmers Katie Delaney of Middleton and Ilsa Feierabend of Madison West. Neither one swam at the state meet in the final heat of their events -- the 200 and 500 frees -- but they earned top-6 podium finishes in both races. Delaney came home with two bronze medals, while Feierabend earned a 6th place (200) and 4th place (500), with both swimmers breaking the 5-minute mark in the 500.

Relay of the year: In a close call, Arrowhead's state-winning 200 medley relay. The team of Kate Jones, Caryn Knight, Emma Goral and Haley Pietila came into the state meet as the top-seeded team, but swimming right next to them were both a loaded-up Madison East squad, along with Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay, the defending champs in the event. Arrowhead's medley had come in as the top seed in last year's state meet, as well, only to see B/B/WB upend them by .14 seconds. The two relays also hooked up at the Wisconsin Girls Invite at the Nat in October, and B/B/WB again edged Arrowhead by a narrow two-tenths. It looked like Arrowhead would lose for a third time after the first two legs of the medley, when the team found itself in third place. But Goral's terrific fly leg gave Arrowhead the lead, and Pietila anchored the team home to victory. Runner-up: East's grab-the-lead-and-hold-on-for-dear-life 400 free relay, which nipped favored Arrowhead by four-tenths of a second.

Rookie of the year: Shawano-Bonduel freshman Mackenzie Buss came in as a highly anticipated freshman, and her program's move up this year from D2 to D1 didn't stop her from winning the state title in the 100 backstroke. Buss, the #3 seed in the event coming out of sectionals, grabbed an early lead in the race and never let go. Runners-up: Burlington co-op freshman Anna Brooks didn't have the state meet she wanted, with a 5th in the 200 IM and a 10th in the 500 free, but she was one of the leading swimmers in a program that looks to be a strong presence for several years. Arrowhead freshman sprinter Julia Mikota got on the podium in both her individual free sprints, and won a gold medal anchoring the team's winning 200 free relay. Waukesha South/Mukwonago's Kayla Skenandore, although a sophomore, eschewed club swimming for her first season of high school swimming, and earned runner-up finishes at the state meet in both the 200 free and 100 fly.

D2

Swimmer of the year: A no-brainer -- Brookfield Academy junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark. Last year, Hojan-Clark showed her great potential with wins in both the 200 and 500 frees at the state meet. This year, she smashed the long-standing state records in each race, held since 1996 by Shorewood's Jamie Belfor, one of D2's greatest swimmers. Hojan-Clark swims for the one of the smallest schools in Div. 2, and as such doesn't have the opportunity to shine in relays that lots of other top-tier swimmers do. But no matter -- her two record-setting performances at this year's state meet stood out. Runners-up: Sauk Prairie junior Alison Meng, who won both the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly, and helped Sauk's medley and 400 free relays to two podium finishes; Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol freshman Savanna Townsend, whose state-meet performance carried the Clippers to the first state title in school history.

Swim of the year: Again, a no-brainer -- Hojan-Clark's 500 free win at state. You may have to be a distance-race junkie (like I am) to appreciate how good this swim was. Hojan-Clark's opening 200 -- a 1:54.14 -- would have beat every other D2 swimmer in the 200 free (save for her own record-breaking swim in the race). She closed with an astonishing 1:56.54 for the final 200 yards, an amazing display of back-half speed. She swam the race alone after about 75 yards, yet kept expanding her lead the entire race. She never once split a 50 free above 30 seconds. Here's one request: Can someone arrange to have the state's two finest swimmers -- Van Hout and Hojan-Clark -- swim against each other next year? Please? Begging is not beneath me...Runners-up: Hojan-Clark's record-breaking 200 free at state; Meng's 100-yard backstroke win at state, where she bested a field that included two former state champs in the event, and won in a time (57.19) that was .25 seconds faster than D1 winner Buss; Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan, who won the 100 breaststroke over a loaded field that included four other state-record breakers from last year's meet and two former state titleists in the event.

Relay of the year: Sturgeon-Bay/Sevastopol's 200 free relay. Very early in the year, in the midst of the hard training that's not conducive to fast times in meets, SB/S's 200 free relay popped a 1:39.36, less than half-a-second slower than the existing D2 record in the event. The SB/S relay -- sisters Savanna and Sierra Townsend, along with McKenzie Trelka and Michaela Rabas -- kept it up all season long, and entered the state meet as the clear favorites in the event, with a seed time a half-second below the state record. But no one was expecting the relay's 1:36.02 -- a record by nearly three seconds, and a second faster than Arrowhead's winning 200 free relay in D1. A record that may stand for a while -- unless SB/S (which returns all four members of the relay next year) has another go at it. Runner-up: Swimming the anchor leg in the last event of the meet in the final race of her careeer, Whitefish Bay senior Maggie Smith rallied the Blue Dukes from third place in the 400 free relay with a 51.19 split (fastest in the field by more than half-a-second) that gave her team their second relay win of the state meet.

Rookie of the year: Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol freshman Savanna Townsend was the catalyst behind a squad that entered the season as a possible contender for a state title and ended with the first-place trophy high above their heads. Townsend came into the state meet with a lot riding on her shoulders, and somehow managed to exceed expectations -- a 1st in the 50 free, a close 2nd in the 100 free, a lights-out 23.14 anchor leg on the team's record-setting 200 free relay, and a 51.77 anchor leg on the team's 6th-place 400 free relay that secured the team title. She'll be faced with a tough encore next year. Runners-up: The Holmquist sisters of Milton, Abby and Katelyn, who qualified for three individual events and keyed a Milton squad that finished 5th at state despite the loss of some key seniors from last year's team; Ellen Stello of Shorewood, who put together four podium finishes at the state meet in her individual and relay events.

Scenes from the state meet

Here are a few photos from the Division 2 state meet (I was timing at the D1 meet, so was unable to grab any photos from that meet; click on the photos to enlarge):

Members of the Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol swim team take a peek at their medals as they await the trophy presentation after capturing their first Div. 2 state title.



The trophy hoisted high above.



Red-clad Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol fans cheer on their team after the trophy presentation.



The state swim meet is loud, intense, and a constant din of cheering and noise. It can be hard for swimmers to find a quiet spot to focus on their race. Here's Monona Grove's Kelsey Millin (blue cap), sitting along the benches that line the UW Natatorium behind the starting blocks, trying to catch a few quiet moments before her race in the 100-yard butterfly. She finished third in the event.

Update:

Peter Zuzga, a photographer for the MyCommunityNow website (the website of suburban newspapers printed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), has a wonderful collection of photos of Milwaukee-area swimmers from the Div. 2 state meet here:

http://www.mycommunitynow.com/multimedia/photos/70103597.html

D1 state meet recap

In a meet that was both predictable -- and not -- here's what happened that was predictable at the D1 state meet Saturday:

-- Hartland Arrowhead won the title, its seventh in eight years, with a 122-point margin;
-- Madison East's Aja Van Hout won two events, and set another state record;
-- Four swimmers defended their individual titles from a year ago, as did one relay.
-- Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock won her fourth straight state diving title.

Here's what was not:

-- Two swimmers came out of the second heat -- not the last, fast heat -- to claim individual titles. When was the last time that happened?
-- Madison East, competing with all of four swimmers (and thus only two relays), claimed its second consecutive runner-up trophy, to go along with its state championship trophy from 2007.
-- Waukesha South/Mukwonago and Muskego, seeded to finish 2nd and 3rd in the meet (51 and 45 points, respectively, ahead of East), both fell down in the standings, finishing third and fourth.

For Arrowhead, the meet was the conclusion of a dominating season which saw the team win every meet it entered. For right now, Arrowhead boasts a very deep and talented pool of swimmers that the rest of the D1 field simply can't match.

"Nothing's ever easy," Warhawks coach Jennifer Leider told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's hard to kind of approach it that way, but we knew we had a lot more weapons on this year's team coming in."

You could tell it was going to be an Arrowhead night right from the start, as its 200 medley relay won in a terrific battle with the last two teams to win the medley at state -- Madison East and Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay. The Warhawks were trailing after the first two legs on the relay, but then junior Emma Goral jumped in the pool, and all was put right for Arrowhead. The two-time defending champ in the 100 butterfly split a 24.95 fly leg, giving anchor swimmer Haley Pietila a lead she never gave up.

Goral came back later in the meet to claim her third straight title in the fly -- her 55.27 is the 4th-fastest in the event. Out of the water, Goral is a pretty unassuming-looking swimmer, but in the water, she's a superb technician who gets a better push off the wall than any butterfier in the state.

"I made sure to nail my turns, I had a great start and I just concentrated on me - on what I was doing - and I knew I'd come away with the win," Goral told the Milwaukee paper. "I'm really looking forward to next year. I'm going to get back to training hard and hopefully I can get that state record (54.55) next year finally."

As for Van Hout, she electrified the crowd with her win in the 200 IM, her time of 2:00.06 breaking the previous state record of Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke (2:01.39) by well over a second. Van Hout then came back with a win in the 500 free, in a race where she had to hold off a game Brittany Walsh of Muskego. Van Hout never trailed in the race, but she could never shake Walsh, and with 150 yards it was no sure thing that Van Hout would win her third straight 500 (Walsh at one point in the race had four consecutive 50 splits faster than Van Hout). But Van Hout held on, her winning time of 5:51.77 3+ seconds slower than her record time last year, but still second all-time in D1 state history. Walsh was second in 4:52.84 (nearly exactly what she swam a year ago when she also finished second.)

As for the rest of the meet:

Performance of the meet: A tie between Madison Memorial senior Jackie Powell in the 100 free and Madison East's Ivy Martin in the 50 free. Both came out of the slower, second heat to claim a state title -- Powell with a 50.82 in the 100 free that easily won the title over Pietila (51.51). Powell had shown earlier in the meet she would be a force in the 100, as she powered her way past Pietila at the halfway point of the 200 free and finished out in 1:49.90 to win by nearly 2-1/2 seconds. Martin followed up on the success of her sister, Ruby -- who won the 50 free the past two years -- as she won with a 23.55 that Wisconsin Rapids' junior Becca Weiland (23.66) couldn't quite match in the final heat.

Race of the meet: Another tie, this one between the 100 breaststroke and the meet-ending 400 free relay. The highly anticipated 100 breaststroke shoot-out lived up to its advance billing, with two-time defending champion Emily Russart of Badger/Big Foot (1:02.53) holding off Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske (1:02.94). Russart set a state record, breaking her own mark (1:02.70) she set two years ago, while Pronschinske became only the second breaststroker in state history to go under 1:03 in the event. Pronschinske is wonderful-looking breaststroker, with a smooth stroke and a rapid turnover. In truth, she might have been just slightly faster than Russart in the water. But Russart, the taller of the two, got terrific pushes off the wall on all three of her turns, and her powerful underwater pull off her start gave her a lead in the race she never gave up.

As for Madison East's 400 free relay, the team's performance sealed their second straight runner-up trophy. East, Muskego, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago were within 6 points of each other entering the relay, and with all three teams in the final heat, the runner-up trophy was up for grabs. Standing in everyone's way was Arrowhead, which came in with the fastest seed time and featured Goral and three of the team's top sprinters.

Conventional wisdom for relays suggests spreading out your fastest swimmers, going with your second-fastest swimmer on the lead-off leg and saving your fastest swimmer for the anchor leg. But East coach Matt Matteson turned that on its head, putting out Van Hout and Martin on the first two legs. Van Hout's lead-off leg of 49.94 would've won the 100 free, and Martin then helped extend the lead. That left it to the Soderholm sisters -- sophomore Chelsea and senior Becca -- to hold on to the lead. Becca Soderholm entered the pool for the anchor leg with about a one-second lead, and with 50 yards to go, it looked like Arrowhead anchor Julia Mikota was on her way to overtaking her and giving Arrowhead its third relay title of the meet. But Soderholm dug in, and as the crowd rose to its feet, the two swimmers battled for the lead. In the end, Soderholm and East held on -- not by much (four-tenths of a second) -- but enough to elicit a scream and a jig on the pool deck from the East relay, and the runner-up trophy that arrived in their hands a few minutes later. A great ending to a very good meet.

Swimmer of the meet: One more tie, between Arrowhead's Goral and East's Van Hout. Both ended up with three gold medals and a silver medal for their day's work. Maybe Van Hout gets a slight edge for her record-breaking swim in the 200 IM, but Goral is Arrowhead's rock. In a meet that featured some inconsistent swims by the Arrowhead team, Goral proved as reliable as Old Faithful, with a win in the fly and great relay legs. Wisconsin swim fans have the good fortune of getting to watch these two swimmers for one more year.

Clipping along to victory -- D2 state meet recap

Give credit where it's due -- of the five D2 teams seeded to finish within 33 points of each other before the night began, Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol swam the best all meet long, and came away deservedly with its first state championship.

The win was a sweet one for a Clippers team that came in with high hopes for a top finish at last year's state meet, only to end up 14th. The team swam great all year -- in all candor, consistently posting the best times of D2 teams throughout the year -- and the key question coming into Friday night: Could they bring it for the big meet? They did, in flying colors, in a tightly contested meet that wasn't settled until the meet-ending 400 free relay.

Of course, it helps when you add a freshman to your squad the caliber of Savanna Townsend. It was truly a team effort on SB/S's part -- they qualified nine individuals, and had six swimmers participating on their three relays -- but Savanna Townsend stood out during the meet. She won the 50 free, finished a close second in the 100 free, anchored the team's record-breaking 200 free relay with a scintillating 23.14 split (the fastest of the night in the event by more than half-a-second), and secured the first-place trophy with a 51.77 anchor leg on the 400 free relay that clinched 6th place in the relay and the team's 15-point win over three-time defending champs DeForest.

"Savanna's been a championship swimmer for a long time," said a dripping wet head coach Mike McHugh after the meet. "We knew she had the potential."

And give credit to McHugh, as well. Coaches (in all sports, really) receive both too much credit and too much blame for their team's performances. But McHugh made a crucial line-up switch before sectionals that paid off for the Clippers. He took junior Michaela Rabas out of the 200 IM for sectional -- where McHugh figured she would've qualified for state -- and put her on three relays, including the meet-ending 400 free relay. McHugh said the move cost the team points at sectionals, where the team finished third at Plymouth behind Whitefish Bay and Shorewood, but assured the Clippers would have three relays competing at what was expected to be -- and turned out to be -- a very close meet.

"Without Michaela on that relay, we probably don't win state," he said. "We gave up a sectional title to try to win state."

McHugh's decision to load up the freestyle sprints also paid off in a big way. He loaded up the 50 and 100 frees at sectionals with eight entries, and got six through to state (3 each in the 50 and 100). Seeded to score 52 points at state, the Clipper sprinters scored 64 -- a big portion of their margin over DeForest. Before the season began, McHugh took a close look at last year's D2 state meet, reviewed who was graduating and returning in various events, assessed his team's strengths, and figured freestyle sprints were the way to go.

"It was just a logical move," he said.

So congratulations to Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, and look out next year as well -- the team returns a good share of the swimmers who led the team to the title.

As for DeForest and Whitefish Bay, the teams swam nearly exactly as seeded -- 186 points for DeForest (seeded at 182), and 179.9.5 for Whitefish Bay (seeded at 178). DeForest coach Sue Winckler said she was happy with how her team swam.

"Our girls swam well; we moved up in points," she said. "But Sturgeon Bay moved up a little more. We had a lot of fast swims."

Other meet highlights:

-- Performance of the night: A tie between Brookfield Academy junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark's 500 free win and Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol's 200 free relay. Is there a better swimmer in D2 than Hojan-Clark? Maybe a better question -- is there a better swimmer in the entire state? After first setting a state record in the 200 free by 8/10's of a second with a time of 1:49.13, Hojan-Clark obliterated the 500 record with a time of 4:50.19, nearly four seconds under the previous state record (both of them dating to 1996 and held by Shorewood's Jamie Belfor, generally recognized as one the best D2 swimmers in state history). Her 14+ second victory was hardly boring; with each lap, Hojan-Clark extended her lead to a rising chorus of cheers from an appreciative audience at the Nat. It was a stunning swim; only Madison East star Aja Van Hout, two-time winner of the D1 500 free, has ever swum a faster 500 free in state history. And Hojan-Clark swam the race alone for the last 400 yards against some high-caliber swimmers, including runner-up Casey Wolters of DeForest and Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain.

As for the Clippers' 200 free relay, here's the thing -- its record time of 1:36.02 actually could've been faster. With leadoff swimmer Sierra Townsend giving the team a lead with a 24.15 start -- and the team desperately needing the 40 team points it would get from winning the relay -- relay swimmers Rabas, McKenzie Trelka, and Savanna Townsend took fairly conservative relay starts, making sure not to DQ (in a meet that did see two relay DQs). The Clippers' relay was already more than half-a-second under the existing state record coming into the meet with a seed time of 1:38.43; McHugh predicted before the meet they could maybe get that down to 1:37.50. McHugh had to do a double-take when he looked at the scoreboard following the relay win. "I was just absolutely floored."

-- Race of the night: In a meet with a lot of close races, the best came early, when Milton senior Jennah Haney edged out Shorewood's Chamberlain in the 200 IM. Haney came in with the top seed, but Chamberlain was the two-time defending state champ in the event. The two pulled away from the field quickly, and when Chamberlain turned for the third leg of the event, the breaststroke, she was ahead by nearly a second. But Haney, one of D2's best breaststrokers, ripped off a 35.82 leg on the breaststroke, making up ground on Chamberlain, a very good breaststroker herself. When the two turned for the final 50-yard free sprint, Chamberlain held the slightest of edges, and still had the lead coming off the final turn. But Haney nudged ahead with 15 yards to go, and held off Chamberlain 2:04.83 to 2:04.98. Here's a video of Haney talking about her win:
http://host.madison.com/html_6f7b6cc8-d0d4-11de-9bd3-001cc4c002e0.html

-- Swimmer of the night: It has to go to Hojan-Clark with her two record-setting wins, but Sauk Prairie junior Alison Meng deserves mention for her two wins in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke. In the fly, she bested a field that saw four swimmers go under 58 seconds and nine under 1 minute. In the back, she won a tightly contested race that included defending state champ Siri Smits. Meng also helped Sauk to a 2nd-place finish in the medley relay and a 4th in the 400 free relay.

-- Good egg award: Whitefish Bay senior Maggie Smith might've been justified in feeling some disappointment on the night; after all, she swam a career-best 23.89 in the 50 free only to finish runner-up in the event for the third year in a row. But Smith's three anchor relay legs produced two gold medals in the medley and 400 free relays, and a podium finish (6th) in the 200 free relay. Her terrific 51.18 anchor leg on the 400 free relay brought her team back from third place in the relay to a second relay win on the night. It left Smith departing the Natatorium for the last time in her high school career, arm in arm with her relay teammates, singing songs as they headed for the locker room. That's a champion in anyone's book.

D2 state meet live

It's official -- SB/S wins with 201 points, ending DeForest's three-year run as state champs. Norskies finish 2nd with 186, , Whitefish Bay 3rd with 179.5, Shorewood 4th with 167, Milton 5th with 153, and Sauk in 6th with 141. Great meet; thanks for tuning in.
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That should do it; final results aren't in, but Sturgeon Bay should have their first-ever D2 title. They finished 6th overall in the 400 free, with DeForest 4th. Whitefish Bay gets another great anchor leg from senior Maggie Smith to pull out the win. Sauk Prairie 2nd, and Shorewood comes out of the first heat to grab third in the relay.
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DeForest has to win the 400 free relay, and SB/S finish 9th or lower, to overcome SB/S lead. It's SB/S at 175, with DeForest at 156. DeForest is seeded 2nd in the 400 free relay, SB/S 5th.
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Emily McClellan of Delevan-Darien, who's been terrific all season long, comes back and takes the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.97. Plymouth's Kate Criter led most of the race, only to finish 3rd. Wauk. Catholic Memorial's Anna Meinholz finishes 3rd, with Milton's Jennah Haney in 4th. 400 free relay coming up.
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Team scores thru the backstroke -- St. Bay -- 175; DeForest 144, Shorewood 135, Milton 134, Whitefish Bay 125.5, Sauk 107. St. Bay has no breaststrokers, while Milton has Jennah Haney contending for a title, and DeForest has Lindsey Verhulst. St. Bay/S looks to have the lead leading into the 400 free relay.
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Sauk Prairie junior Alison Meng continues her great night, with another win, this in the 100 back. She edges Milton's Katelyn Holmquist and Grafton's Sadie Nening. Defending champ Siri Smits of Berlin/Green Lake finishes 5th. Meng goes 57.19 in what was a very close race with the top three separated by less than three-tenths of a second.
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Sturgeon Bay/S just rips off a magnificant win in the 200 free relay -- 1:36.02, breaking the previous state record set last year by Monona Grove by nearly three seconds. This relay has been terrific all season, but what a race! And with pretty safe relay starts -- no real risk-taking by the SB/S swimmers. DeForest 2nd, Elkhorn 3rd, Edgewood 4th. SB/S, if they can get some decent results out of their backstrokers, may be headed for the state title. But DeForest is still there.
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Watching Kelsey Hojan-Clark swim is like watching a perfectly tuned athlete. She wins the 500 free, smashing the state record, in 4:50.19, nearly four seconds under the former state record. Casey Wolter for DeForest finishes 2nd, in 5:04.65, while Clare Chamberlain finishes 3rd. A magnificant night from Hojan-Clark -- two state records, taken from what is generally considered one of D2's all-time best swimmers, Jamie Belfor of Shorewood.
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The team race is close, but Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, which has been swimming well all night long, is now in first with 120 points, followed by Shorewood 100, DeForest 93, Whitefish Bay 87.5, Milton 84, Sauk 83, Grafton 81. SB/S has its big relays to come -- the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. But watch Milton -- they have a lot of back-half points seeded in this meet.
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Elli Sellinger of Shorewood moved over to the 100 free this year, and it proved the right move for the senior. She wins the 100 free in 52.69; Savanna Townsend of SB/S 2nd, with Kelsey Kohlbeck of Sauk in 3rd and Sierra Townsend of SB/S -- who held the lead for much of the race swimming in lane 1 -- in 4th. Top-seeded Chelsea Statz of DeForest moves down to 5th.
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In a race with four swimmers under 58 seconds, Sauk's Alison Meng wins the 100 fly in 57.06. DeForest's Leah Winckler moves up two spots to finish 2nd, with MG's Kelsey Millin in 3rd, and Elkhorn's Terrin Seaver 4th.
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Two great races just concluded. Milton's Jennah Haney beats two-time defending champ Clare Chamberlain in the 200 IM, 2:04.83 to 2:04.98. The two were neck and neck virtually the entire race, with Chamberlain holding a slight edge off the turn for the final 50 free. But Haney came down the final 15 yards and just out-touched her rival from Shorewood. Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan 3rd, 2:08.41.

The, freshman Savanna Townsend of SB/S just edged Whitefish Bay's Maggie Smith in the 50 free -- 23.86 to 23.89. It's the third year in a row that Smith has finished 2nd in the event. Alli Bellford of New Berlin Eisenhower 3rd, while Sauk's Kelsey Kohlbeck and SB/S's McKenzie Trelka moved out of the first heat to take top-6 finishes in the 50 free.

Team scores thru the 50: Milton -- 84; Grafton (with 33 diving points) 78; SB/S -- 71; Whitefish Bay -- 71; Shorewood -- 67; DeForest -- 62. All seem to be swimming well; DeForest is creeping up from its seeds, but so is SB/S and Milton.


Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark with an amazing swim -- 1:49.13, breaks all-time record set by Shorewood's Jamie Belfor in 1996. Dominating win; Shorewood's Elli Sellinger 2nd in 1:55. DeForest's Wolter and Statz moved up in their seedings, finishing 3rd and 5th. An incredible swim by the junior from Brookfield Academy.
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Whitefish Bay off to a great start with a win the medley -- 1:48.47. St. Bay 2nd, Milton moves up from 8th seed to finish 3rd. Great anchor leg by Whitefish Bay's Maggie Smith. DeForest moved up as well, from 16th seed to finish 13th.
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Full results for all 16 divers, and team scores through the first event, are now up on the WIAA website.
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The first event -- the 200 medley relay -- might provide some hints as to how this very tight meet will go. All five of the highest-seeded teams in the meet -- Sturgeon Bay/Sevatopol, DeForest, Whitefish Bay, Milton and Shorewood -- all have relays in the medley. All but DeForest are in the second, faster heat.
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We're about 30 minutes away from the start of the swim meet; proving that swimmers are multi-dimensional, one of the senior captains of the Monona Grove girls swim team -- Abby Graf -- will sing the national anthem for tonight's swim meet.
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Senior Kristin Capcik of Milwaukee Lutheran caps a fine career with a win in the D2 diving competition. She edges Whitnall's Rachel Stave by about six points to win. Capcik was 2nd last year and 4th as a sophomore. Grafton's McElligot and Zarem go 3-4, and their 33 points is two more than Grafton was seeded to score in the dive portion of the meet. New Berlin West sophomore Katie Hausmann gets 5th, while Edgewood sophomore Sheridan Hearn gets the last spot on the podium with a 6th place finish.
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Dive meet is over; results soon. A pile of swimmers are waiting to get into the Nat locker rooms in the annual jam-up at the downstairs doors.
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As the swim meet progresses, feel free to ask questions and comments as to particular swimmers. I'll try to get to them as time allows. Send to comments (as opposed to the personal email address posted here) on this blog item. We'll track down results; the WIAA plans to post results as well on it website.
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Grafton divers Molly McElligot and Katelyn Zarem hold down the 3rd and 4th place spots as the final round of diving takes place.
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Capcik of Milwaukee Lutheran has taken the lead in diving, drawing a big cheer from the Milwaukee Lutheran fans here at the Nat. Stave of Whitnall is second. Three dives to go before the dive meet concludes.
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We're going to reformat; all new posts will be on the top of the post, instead of scrolling down to see new posts. Also, please induge mis-spellings, typos and whatnot -- the swim meet will be fast-paced, so a few errors may creep in. Divers are wrapping up; swimmers are making their way into the Nat, and a good crowd is already here -- with DeForest fans sitting in their traditional spot nearest the starting blocks.
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OK, we're blogging the state meet live. It's 2:50 p.m., and the D2 divers are underway. Whitnall freshman Rachel Stave is the top-seeded diver, with a sectional score of 429.75. In the random order of diving, she's 4th among the 16 divers. Kristin Capcik, a senior from Milwaukee Lutheran, is seeded second. She was runner-up last year, and the highest-placing finisher returning from last year's state dive meet.
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We're halfway through diving; Stave, Capcik and Edgewood's Sheridan Hearn are all among the top 5 as of right now.
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