McFarland showed it was one of the best Div. 2 boys teams in years, exceed by only the 2005 Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door squad. Only that SB/SD team exceeded McFarlands' point total of 332 since the WIAA split swimming into two divisions in 1993.
Meanwhile, Madison Memorial's winning total of 200.5 was the lowest in state history since the first year of 16-place scoring in 1982.
So how would the two Spartan squads fare against each other in a mythical match-up? Well, the WIAA does allow teams to move up a division, at their own discretion, if they want to compete against higher-caliber opponents at state-level competition. No one's taken up the WIAA on the rule since it was put in place a few years ago.
But what if McFarland had chosen to do so this year? They would've won the D1 title as well. Slotting McFarland's state qualifiers and relays into the Div. 1 meet would have resulted in a final tally of 195 for McFarland to 192.5 for Memorial.
Memorial won the state title on the strength of its relays, all of which had top-four finishes at the D1 meet, along with a win and a second-place from star swimmer Michael Drives in the 200/500 frees. But McFarland would've nearly matched Memorial's performance in the relays -- scoring 84 points in the D1 meet to Memorial's 90 -- and McFarland's distance swimmers would have out-pointed Memorial's in the 200 and 500 frees by a 48-42 margin. Led by brothers Brandon and Ryan O'Donnell, McFarland also would've out-pointed Memorial in the 200 IM, the 100 fly, and the 100 back.
Don't look for McFarland to move up to Div. 1 anytime soon. The three-time state champs are well below the enrollment level needed to involuntarily move up to Div. 1, and it's doubtful the school will make the move on its own. One can probably guess the "four-peat" signs are already being printed in McFarland.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
About that Waukesha South D1 sectional...
Maybe the Waukesha South pool is faster than the UW Natatorium.
What else explains the fall-off in the performance of the swimmers who qualify for state out of the Waukesha South sectional when they reach the state meet at the Nat?
Last fall, the top-three seeded teams for the girls D1 state meet were Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego --all of which swam their sectional at the intensely competitive Waukesha South sectional. In the end, all three girls teams placed lower than their seed placements -- Arrowhead, although it still won the meet, dropped 22 points, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago dropped 69.5 points.
Would the same results play out at the state Div. 1 boys meet? Sure looks that way. The five highest-seeded teams coming out of the Waukesha South sectional all placed lower than their seeds have predicted. Hartland-Arrowhead (seeded 173, scored 160), New Berlin (dropped 23), Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (dropped 47), Hartford (dropped 12), and Men. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (swimmers seeded to score 44, scored 33) -- collectively the top teams coming out of the sectional dropped 106 points from their seeding.
It should be noted that many swimmers coming out of the Waukesha South sectional did improve their times at the state meet. But at the highest levels of the sport, among swimmers aiming to compete at the state meet, the final meet of the season is usually when they swim their fastest times. Their training -- or tapering in swim lingo -- is geared toward the final meet. For nearly all swimmers in the state, the UW Nat is the fastest pool they'll swim in all season. All of that leads --usually, and with most swimmers -- to time drops, often dramatic ones, at the state meet. So swimmers who don't drop time, or drop only modest amounts of time, can get bypassed at the state meet by swimmesrs dropping dramatic amounts of time.
So what gives with the Waukesha South sectional results, and the corresponding performance at the state meet? One or two programs failing to match their seed placements is one thing; eight teams over the course of two separate seasons seems to represent a trend. Explanations? Here's a few speculative ones:
-- The Waukesha South sectional, for both boys and girls, is probably the most competitive in the state, and certainly the deepest. In the midst of such intense competition, it's probably not unusual for swimmers to collectively swim faster times than other sectionals in the state. Top-flight competition tends to spur on fast times.
-- Because of the intensity and depth of the Waukesha South sectional, coaches are left with little choice but to taper their swimmers' training for that meet, instead of holding off those tapers until the state meet. Cut-off times to qualify for the state meet, and to make it into the top-scoring final heats, are getting lower and lower, with some dramatic drops this year in particular (both boys and girls). At Waukesha South, that trend is exacerbated by the quality and depth of the competition. Ergo swimmers who don't do extremely well at the meet risk being left behind, or not qualifying with as fast of a time. It's awfully tough to swim at the absolute highest levels of one's ability two weeks in a row; maybe the Waukesha South qualifiers are spent after the meet and don't have as much left for the state meet.
-- Maybe the pool is just that fast.
Other thoughts?
What else explains the fall-off in the performance of the swimmers who qualify for state out of the Waukesha South sectional when they reach the state meet at the Nat?
Last fall, the top-three seeded teams for the girls D1 state meet were Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego --all of which swam their sectional at the intensely competitive Waukesha South sectional. In the end, all three girls teams placed lower than their seed placements -- Arrowhead, although it still won the meet, dropped 22 points, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago dropped 69.5 points.
Would the same results play out at the state Div. 1 boys meet? Sure looks that way. The five highest-seeded teams coming out of the Waukesha South sectional all placed lower than their seeds have predicted. Hartland-Arrowhead (seeded 173, scored 160), New Berlin (dropped 23), Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (dropped 47), Hartford (dropped 12), and Men. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (swimmers seeded to score 44, scored 33) -- collectively the top teams coming out of the sectional dropped 106 points from their seeding.
It should be noted that many swimmers coming out of the Waukesha South sectional did improve their times at the state meet. But at the highest levels of the sport, among swimmers aiming to compete at the state meet, the final meet of the season is usually when they swim their fastest times. Their training -- or tapering in swim lingo -- is geared toward the final meet. For nearly all swimmers in the state, the UW Nat is the fastest pool they'll swim in all season. All of that leads --usually, and with most swimmers -- to time drops, often dramatic ones, at the state meet. So swimmers who don't drop time, or drop only modest amounts of time, can get bypassed at the state meet by swimmesrs dropping dramatic amounts of time.
So what gives with the Waukesha South sectional results, and the corresponding performance at the state meet? One or two programs failing to match their seed placements is one thing; eight teams over the course of two separate seasons seems to represent a trend. Explanations? Here's a few speculative ones:
-- The Waukesha South sectional, for both boys and girls, is probably the most competitive in the state, and certainly the deepest. In the midst of such intense competition, it's probably not unusual for swimmers to collectively swim faster times than other sectionals in the state. Top-flight competition tends to spur on fast times.
-- Because of the intensity and depth of the Waukesha South sectional, coaches are left with little choice but to taper their swimmers' training for that meet, instead of holding off those tapers until the state meet. Cut-off times to qualify for the state meet, and to make it into the top-scoring final heats, are getting lower and lower, with some dramatic drops this year in particular (both boys and girls). At Waukesha South, that trend is exacerbated by the quality and depth of the competition. Ergo swimmers who don't do extremely well at the meet risk being left behind, or not qualifying with as fast of a time. It's awfully tough to swim at the absolute highest levels of one's ability two weeks in a row; maybe the Waukesha South qualifiers are spent after the meet and don't have as much left for the state meet.
-- Maybe the pool is just that fast.
Other thoughts?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Best race ever? The D1 500 free broken down
Rarely in sports these days does the real thing live up to the hype. Not so with the Div. 1 500 free, which more than lived up to its billing in a race that featured perhaps the two best swimmers in the state -- Madison Memorial's Michael Drives and Hartland-Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen.
Much of the hype centered on the two swimmers' performance leading up to the race. Drives, third last year at the state meet in the 500, had swum a 4:34.22 at the UW Natatorium three weeks earlier at the Madison West Invite. Hansen, who won the 500 free last year at state (4:35.26), came into this year's state meet seeded first in the event after a sensational 4:31.20 at the Waukesha South sectional that was more than a second under the exisiting state record.
The two swimmers also offer a stark contrast in style and approach. Drives has a very long reach with a stroke that is measured and almost elegant; he's one of those swimmers that you might think, "He doesn't look that fast." His underwater pull is tremendous, and he gets a terrific push off the wall on his turns and stays underwater for a long time. Hansen, meanwhile, is all flurry and activity, with a rapid arm turnover. When he goes into a wall for his turn, he looks like he can't get up on top of the water fast enough to begin his stroke again.
The two also attack their races much differently -- Drives deliberate and stalking, often succeeding through long, sustained periods of fast swimming. Hansen, on the other hand, just goes out and attacks a race, always preferring to swim from the lead, and tries to maintain his fast pace. It worked brilliantly last year in the 500 free, when Hansen went out in a 1:46.00 in the opening 200, got clear of both Drives and Memorial teammate Chris Johnson, and was never headed, winning by more than 2.5 seconds.
The 200 free offered a preview of the 500 free, with Hansen seeded 1st by a second over Drives. Hansen as usual got off to a fast start, opening with a 22.16 for his first 50, compared to Drives' 22.69 (Hansen's opening 50 in the 200 was faster than eight of the 24 D1 swimmers who swam the 50 free at state). But then Drives put it into overdrive, and just absolutely took the race -- and his opponent -- apart. He split the next 50 nearly a second faster than Hansen, and the third 50 more than a second-and-a-half faster. You could hear a collective gasp go up from the crowd when Drives easily pulled away, opening up a larger-than-two-body-length lead as he drove toward the finish. He touched out in 1:38.02, smashing the previous state record (1:39.21 by the UW's Wes Lagerhausen two years ago) and beating Hansen by nearly three seconds. Hansen's 1:40.71 was almost two seconds faster than he swam the year before, when he was just out-touched by Johnson of Memorial for first place. But after this year's 200 free, he was clearly the beaten swimmer. And it wasn't just the margin of victory; Hansen appeared to offer little resistance when Drives took the race into another gear.
All that was merely prelude to the 500 free, and it seemed few folks outside the orbit of Hartland-Arrowhead thought Hansen could come back after the 200 free defeat. Nonetheless, he attacked the race similarly, opening with a 22.78 first 50, and a 49.08 opening 100. Drives, swimming in lane 5 with Hansen in lane 4, opened his first 100 in 50.69 -- about a second-and-a-half behind Hansen, but clearly within range with 400 yards to go. Even by now, after first 100 yards, it was apparent it was going to be a two-person race for first place.
Drives then started to reel in Hansen -- by the 200-yard mark, he'd cut .61 seconds off Hansen's lead. He cut another half-second off the lead by the halfway mark of the race. By then, the crowd anticipated a repeat of the 200 free race -- Hansen off to an early lead, then overtaken by Drives. At 300 yards , the two were virtually tied; 50 yards later, as the race entered its closing stages, Drives had moved ahead. Surely Drives would pull away to the win.
Then something happened. He didn't. Hansen stayed right on Drive's shoulder, furiously maintaining his stroke to keep up for the next 100 yards. Just before they reached the turn for the final 50 yards, Hansen nudged ahead -- by a scant three-tenths of a second. As the two competitors came off the turn for the final 50 yards, the crowd rose as one, screaming at the top of its collective lungs. Stroke for stroke, the two swimmers went after each other, driving for the final push off the wall. When the two came out of their final turns, Hansen still had the lead, and then closed out the race, sprinting ahead to finish exactly one second ahead of Drives. Their times -- Hansen at 4:28.98, Drives at 4:29.98 -- were the two fastest 500s swum in state history, and well under the previous record of 4:32.67 set by Middleton's Jimmy Graves in 2005.
It didn't take long for the two swimmers to embrace and congratulate each other on the race. Surely each had pushed other faster and harder than they would have accomplished alone. The crowd stayed standing and offered the longest ovation of the day. It doesn't get much better than that.
Much of the hype centered on the two swimmers' performance leading up to the race. Drives, third last year at the state meet in the 500, had swum a 4:34.22 at the UW Natatorium three weeks earlier at the Madison West Invite. Hansen, who won the 500 free last year at state (4:35.26), came into this year's state meet seeded first in the event after a sensational 4:31.20 at the Waukesha South sectional that was more than a second under the exisiting state record.
The two swimmers also offer a stark contrast in style and approach. Drives has a very long reach with a stroke that is measured and almost elegant; he's one of those swimmers that you might think, "He doesn't look that fast." His underwater pull is tremendous, and he gets a terrific push off the wall on his turns and stays underwater for a long time. Hansen, meanwhile, is all flurry and activity, with a rapid arm turnover. When he goes into a wall for his turn, he looks like he can't get up on top of the water fast enough to begin his stroke again.
The two also attack their races much differently -- Drives deliberate and stalking, often succeeding through long, sustained periods of fast swimming. Hansen, on the other hand, just goes out and attacks a race, always preferring to swim from the lead, and tries to maintain his fast pace. It worked brilliantly last year in the 500 free, when Hansen went out in a 1:46.00 in the opening 200, got clear of both Drives and Memorial teammate Chris Johnson, and was never headed, winning by more than 2.5 seconds.
The 200 free offered a preview of the 500 free, with Hansen seeded 1st by a second over Drives. Hansen as usual got off to a fast start, opening with a 22.16 for his first 50, compared to Drives' 22.69 (Hansen's opening 50 in the 200 was faster than eight of the 24 D1 swimmers who swam the 50 free at state). But then Drives put it into overdrive, and just absolutely took the race -- and his opponent -- apart. He split the next 50 nearly a second faster than Hansen, and the third 50 more than a second-and-a-half faster. You could hear a collective gasp go up from the crowd when Drives easily pulled away, opening up a larger-than-two-body-length lead as he drove toward the finish. He touched out in 1:38.02, smashing the previous state record (1:39.21 by the UW's Wes Lagerhausen two years ago) and beating Hansen by nearly three seconds. Hansen's 1:40.71 was almost two seconds faster than he swam the year before, when he was just out-touched by Johnson of Memorial for first place. But after this year's 200 free, he was clearly the beaten swimmer. And it wasn't just the margin of victory; Hansen appeared to offer little resistance when Drives took the race into another gear.
All that was merely prelude to the 500 free, and it seemed few folks outside the orbit of Hartland-Arrowhead thought Hansen could come back after the 200 free defeat. Nonetheless, he attacked the race similarly, opening with a 22.78 first 50, and a 49.08 opening 100. Drives, swimming in lane 5 with Hansen in lane 4, opened his first 100 in 50.69 -- about a second-and-a-half behind Hansen, but clearly within range with 400 yards to go. Even by now, after first 100 yards, it was apparent it was going to be a two-person race for first place.
Drives then started to reel in Hansen -- by the 200-yard mark, he'd cut .61 seconds off Hansen's lead. He cut another half-second off the lead by the halfway mark of the race. By then, the crowd anticipated a repeat of the 200 free race -- Hansen off to an early lead, then overtaken by Drives. At 300 yards , the two were virtually tied; 50 yards later, as the race entered its closing stages, Drives had moved ahead. Surely Drives would pull away to the win.
Then something happened. He didn't. Hansen stayed right on Drive's shoulder, furiously maintaining his stroke to keep up for the next 100 yards. Just before they reached the turn for the final 50 yards, Hansen nudged ahead -- by a scant three-tenths of a second. As the two competitors came off the turn for the final 50 yards, the crowd rose as one, screaming at the top of its collective lungs. Stroke for stroke, the two swimmers went after each other, driving for the final push off the wall. When the two came out of their final turns, Hansen still had the lead, and then closed out the race, sprinting ahead to finish exactly one second ahead of Drives. Their times -- Hansen at 4:28.98, Drives at 4:29.98 -- were the two fastest 500s swum in state history, and well under the previous record of 4:32.67 set by Middleton's Jimmy Graves in 2005.
It didn't take long for the two swimmers to embrace and congratulate each other on the race. Surely each had pushed other faster and harder than they would have accomplished alone. The crowd stayed standing and offered the longest ovation of the day. It doesn't get much better than that.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A wild and wacky D1 state meet
Was there a full moon hiding behind all the snow that fell on Madison Saturday? That may be the only thing to explain the odd, strange and unpredictable events that took place at the Div. 1 state meet.
Maybe the only normal thing about the day's meet was that the pre-meet favorite, Madison Memorial, ended up winning its 10th title with 200.5 points. It was the lowest winning score at a D1 meet since the the first year that the WIAA began 16-place scoring in 1982.
How strange was the meet? Let us count the ways:
-- There was a tie for 1st in the 50 free -- the first tie for a gold medal at the state meet since 1964. Wausau East's Lucas Koenig and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede were the two atop the podium.
-- Two winners came out of the second heat, and well back in the second heat (Wausau East's Lucas Koenig, T-1st in the 50 free, was seeded 12th, and Sauk's mind-boggling 400 free relay was seeded 13th.)
-- A total of six swimmers and two relays came out of the second heat to make the top six and stand on the medal-winner's podium.
-- The winner of the 100 free, Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, came out of lane 1 to win, and did so pretty easily, winning by nearly three-tenths of a second.
-- Lane 4 of the final heat -- the very top seed in the meet -- seemed to be cursed, as no one won out of the top-seeded lane until more than halfway through the meet.
-- A DQ once again played a major role in the final standings of the top teams.
All in all, the crazy results reflected the talent pool in D1 this year -- pretty deep, and spread out all over the state. It was also a meet that featured perhaps the most anticipated race in years in D1, and that race somehow managed to exceed those expectations.
Memorial's win was about as un-flashy of a victory as it gets. Only junior sensation Michael Drives won a race for the Spartans. The team didn't win any relays, but got top-four finishes out of all three relays (the only team to do so) to pile up points. A succession of Spartan swimmers -- Patrick Franken in the 200 IM and 500 free, Kyle Challis in the 100 fly and 100 back, and Ben Anderson and Jake Schneider, both in the 50 free -- quietly improved their seed times throughout the meet to add more points in what was a close contest throughout. Finally, diver Nate Broadbridge gave the team a big boost to start when he improved his seed by four places to finish runner-up in the diving competition.
It was sweet redemption for the vaunted program, which lost the title last year by one point to Hartland-Arrowhead when a DQ in the final heat of the 400 free relay moved Arrowhead past the Spartans. "(To know) what these seniors went through last year losing by a point ... they were determined to come out and win this year," Memorial coach Paul Eckerle told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Right from the get-go, you could see that they wanted it and to see them come away with it at the end, I'm just really proud of them."
In short, the Spartans swam slightly better than expected, unlike Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights and Wausau East, which rightly could be characterized as swimming out of their collective minds. The two teams improved on their seed placements by nearly 100 points -- runner-up Sauk (182.5 points vs. a seeded 133) and Wausau East (175.5 points vs. a seeded 129).
For Sauk, coach Todd Wuerger's gamble to try to qualify three relays for state paid off. The team scrambled their relays at sectionals to try to get all three to qualify, and it worked. Wuerger than rearranged the teams for state, essentially conceding the medley relay (which finished 22nd), while putting his top four swimmers -- senior Tyler Evans, juniors Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz, and sophomore Paul Ballweg -- on the two free relays. It worked in ways even Wuerger probably couldn't imagine. First, the 200 free relay defended its championship and set a state record (1:24.32) in a very fast race that saw two other relays -- Marquette and Memorial -- better the old record of 1:25.73. The Sauk relay was anchored by Friede, whose blistering 20.02 leg bested the field by nearly half-a-second. Then the same foursome, swimming out of lane 2 in the second of third heats of the 400 free relay, swam virtually alone the entire race and clocked in at 3:07.63, more than four seconds faster than any of the seeded times of relays in the final heat, and just off the state record of 3:07.48.
Could anyone top it? Wausau East made a gallant effort, led by Koenig, who swam great all day and got the team off to a lead with a 46.22 opening leg that it never relinquished. When anchor Danny Brebrick touched out, WEast just missed first place by .13 seconds, and Sauk had its second relay win of the day in unusual fashion. The outcome decided who got the second-place trophy, as the 12-point swing between the two teams gave Sauk the runner-up trophy that Wuerger conceded was unexpected. "For a small town like us to finish second in the meet, that's just unbelievable," he told the State Journal. "I would have never imagined that would have happened." Sauk's second-place finish was augmented by a host of top finishes -- Friede took 2nd in the 100 free to go along with his T-1st in the 50 free, Evans took 3rd in the 50 free and 4th in the 100 fly, and Lentz captured the 200 IM title and came back for a 3rd in the 100 back.
Coming up just short in the race for 2nd, however, didn't deter from what was an outstanding meet for Wausau East, which easily defended its 200 medley relay title, and saw three of the swimmers on that relay -- Keonig in the 50 free, Brebrick in the 100 free, and Josh Hall in the 100 breastroke -- win gold medals. All looked sharp, but Hall may have had the sweetest meet. He started off by obliterating the field of breaststrokers in the medley relay (his split of 25.32 seconds was nearly two seconds better than anyone else in the field, and essentially won the relay for East), moved up three spots to finish 4th in the 200 IM, and then beat rival Collin Neitzel of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial in the 100 breaststroke. Hall, runner-up to Neitzel last year, nearly broke the state record (56.17; record 55.87 by Memorial's Chris Wood), and did so with water apparently clogging up his goggles for much of the race.
Other highlights from the meet:
-- Drives' performance in the 200 free was singularly impressive, as he set a state record of 1:38.02 (set two years ago by current UW swimmer Wes Lagerhausen) and easily won his much-anticipated duel with Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen. Drives let Hansen take the early lead, reeled him back in during the second 50 yards, and then exploded to the finish, drawing away to a win by nearly three seconds over his rival. Drives' time bettered the UW pool record, of all things, held by Olympian Peter Vanderkaay set while swimming for the University of Michigan. Drives swam his "internal" 100 -- the second and third 50s -- in 49.37, when he pulled away for the win. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.
-- Drives and Hansen then hooked up again in the 500 free, in the meet's most anticipated race. Hansen, seeking redemption after the 200 free and trying to defend his state championship in the event from last year, got off to his usual fast start, clocking a 49.08 opening 100. Drives bided his time, and when he moved ahead of Hansen midway through the race, it looked to be a repeat of the 200 free. But Hansen gamely hung on, then dug in for the last 100 yards as the swimmers went stride-for-stride, 20 yards ahead of the field, with the crowd standing and roaring. Hansen pulled away in the end, winning with a record time of 4:28.98 to 4:29.98 over Drives. The two swimmers embraced after the finish -- a mutual-admiration society for two oustanding competitors.
-- New Berlin's Byron Butler won both the 100 fly and the 100 back, beating rival Jack Lennertz in the fly by almost half-a-second and easily winning the 100 back by nearly 1.5 seconds over Middleton's Sam Niesen.
-- As for that DQ, it once again played a role in who brought home hardware from the meet. Entering the final event, the 400 free relay, Memorial stood atop the standings with 170.5 and the 3rd-seeded relay; a DQ on the Spartans was really all that stood between them and a state title. Marquette was second with 152 points and the top-seed in the relay; bringing home the 2nd-place team trophy was a real possibility for the team. Sauk at 142.5 and Wausau East with 141.5 points, along with Arrowhead at 132 points, occupied the next three slots. For Marquette, any finish in the top three guaranteed second place in the team standings, but when Sauk clocked in its near-record time in the second heat, it put a lot of pressure on all of the final-heat relays. For Marquette, the meet ended with disappointment, as the top-seeded relay DQ'd, relegating the senior-heavy team to 5th place in the team standings. Memorial's 4th-place finish in the relay clinched the team title. Somehow it was an oddly appropriate ending to
a night filled with the unexpected and unusual.
Maybe the only normal thing about the day's meet was that the pre-meet favorite, Madison Memorial, ended up winning its 10th title with 200.5 points. It was the lowest winning score at a D1 meet since the the first year that the WIAA began 16-place scoring in 1982.
How strange was the meet? Let us count the ways:
-- There was a tie for 1st in the 50 free -- the first tie for a gold medal at the state meet since 1964. Wausau East's Lucas Koenig and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede were the two atop the podium.
-- Two winners came out of the second heat, and well back in the second heat (Wausau East's Lucas Koenig, T-1st in the 50 free, was seeded 12th, and Sauk's mind-boggling 400 free relay was seeded 13th.)
-- A total of six swimmers and two relays came out of the second heat to make the top six and stand on the medal-winner's podium.
-- The winner of the 100 free, Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, came out of lane 1 to win, and did so pretty easily, winning by nearly three-tenths of a second.
-- Lane 4 of the final heat -- the very top seed in the meet -- seemed to be cursed, as no one won out of the top-seeded lane until more than halfway through the meet.
-- A DQ once again played a major role in the final standings of the top teams.
All in all, the crazy results reflected the talent pool in D1 this year -- pretty deep, and spread out all over the state. It was also a meet that featured perhaps the most anticipated race in years in D1, and that race somehow managed to exceed those expectations.
Memorial's win was about as un-flashy of a victory as it gets. Only junior sensation Michael Drives won a race for the Spartans. The team didn't win any relays, but got top-four finishes out of all three relays (the only team to do so) to pile up points. A succession of Spartan swimmers -- Patrick Franken in the 200 IM and 500 free, Kyle Challis in the 100 fly and 100 back, and Ben Anderson and Jake Schneider, both in the 50 free -- quietly improved their seed times throughout the meet to add more points in what was a close contest throughout. Finally, diver Nate Broadbridge gave the team a big boost to start when he improved his seed by four places to finish runner-up in the diving competition.
It was sweet redemption for the vaunted program, which lost the title last year by one point to Hartland-Arrowhead when a DQ in the final heat of the 400 free relay moved Arrowhead past the Spartans. "(To know) what these seniors went through last year losing by a point ... they were determined to come out and win this year," Memorial coach Paul Eckerle told the Wisconsin State Journal. "Right from the get-go, you could see that they wanted it and to see them come away with it at the end, I'm just really proud of them."
In short, the Spartans swam slightly better than expected, unlike Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights and Wausau East, which rightly could be characterized as swimming out of their collective minds. The two teams improved on their seed placements by nearly 100 points -- runner-up Sauk (182.5 points vs. a seeded 133) and Wausau East (175.5 points vs. a seeded 129).
For Sauk, coach Todd Wuerger's gamble to try to qualify three relays for state paid off. The team scrambled their relays at sectionals to try to get all three to qualify, and it worked. Wuerger than rearranged the teams for state, essentially conceding the medley relay (which finished 22nd), while putting his top four swimmers -- senior Tyler Evans, juniors Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz, and sophomore Paul Ballweg -- on the two free relays. It worked in ways even Wuerger probably couldn't imagine. First, the 200 free relay defended its championship and set a state record (1:24.32) in a very fast race that saw two other relays -- Marquette and Memorial -- better the old record of 1:25.73. The Sauk relay was anchored by Friede, whose blistering 20.02 leg bested the field by nearly half-a-second. Then the same foursome, swimming out of lane 2 in the second of third heats of the 400 free relay, swam virtually alone the entire race and clocked in at 3:07.63, more than four seconds faster than any of the seeded times of relays in the final heat, and just off the state record of 3:07.48.
Could anyone top it? Wausau East made a gallant effort, led by Koenig, who swam great all day and got the team off to a lead with a 46.22 opening leg that it never relinquished. When anchor Danny Brebrick touched out, WEast just missed first place by .13 seconds, and Sauk had its second relay win of the day in unusual fashion. The outcome decided who got the second-place trophy, as the 12-point swing between the two teams gave Sauk the runner-up trophy that Wuerger conceded was unexpected. "For a small town like us to finish second in the meet, that's just unbelievable," he told the State Journal. "I would have never imagined that would have happened." Sauk's second-place finish was augmented by a host of top finishes -- Friede took 2nd in the 100 free to go along with his T-1st in the 50 free, Evans took 3rd in the 50 free and 4th in the 100 fly, and Lentz captured the 200 IM title and came back for a 3rd in the 100 back.
Coming up just short in the race for 2nd, however, didn't deter from what was an outstanding meet for Wausau East, which easily defended its 200 medley relay title, and saw three of the swimmers on that relay -- Keonig in the 50 free, Brebrick in the 100 free, and Josh Hall in the 100 breastroke -- win gold medals. All looked sharp, but Hall may have had the sweetest meet. He started off by obliterating the field of breaststrokers in the medley relay (his split of 25.32 seconds was nearly two seconds better than anyone else in the field, and essentially won the relay for East), moved up three spots to finish 4th in the 200 IM, and then beat rival Collin Neitzel of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial in the 100 breaststroke. Hall, runner-up to Neitzel last year, nearly broke the state record (56.17; record 55.87 by Memorial's Chris Wood), and did so with water apparently clogging up his goggles for much of the race.
Other highlights from the meet:
-- Drives' performance in the 200 free was singularly impressive, as he set a state record of 1:38.02 (set two years ago by current UW swimmer Wes Lagerhausen) and easily won his much-anticipated duel with Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen. Drives let Hansen take the early lead, reeled him back in during the second 50 yards, and then exploded to the finish, drawing away to a win by nearly three seconds over his rival. Drives' time bettered the UW pool record, of all things, held by Olympian Peter Vanderkaay set while swimming for the University of Michigan. Drives swam his "internal" 100 -- the second and third 50s -- in 49.37, when he pulled away for the win. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.
-- Drives and Hansen then hooked up again in the 500 free, in the meet's most anticipated race. Hansen, seeking redemption after the 200 free and trying to defend his state championship in the event from last year, got off to his usual fast start, clocking a 49.08 opening 100. Drives bided his time, and when he moved ahead of Hansen midway through the race, it looked to be a repeat of the 200 free. But Hansen gamely hung on, then dug in for the last 100 yards as the swimmers went stride-for-stride, 20 yards ahead of the field, with the crowd standing and roaring. Hansen pulled away in the end, winning with a record time of 4:28.98 to 4:29.98 over Drives. The two swimmers embraced after the finish -- a mutual-admiration society for two oustanding competitors.
-- New Berlin's Byron Butler won both the 100 fly and the 100 back, beating rival Jack Lennertz in the fly by almost half-a-second and easily winning the 100 back by nearly 1.5 seconds over Middleton's Sam Niesen.
-- As for that DQ, it once again played a role in who brought home hardware from the meet. Entering the final event, the 400 free relay, Memorial stood atop the standings with 170.5 and the 3rd-seeded relay; a DQ on the Spartans was really all that stood between them and a state title. Marquette was second with 152 points and the top-seed in the relay; bringing home the 2nd-place team trophy was a real possibility for the team. Sauk at 142.5 and Wausau East with 141.5 points, along with Arrowhead at 132 points, occupied the next three slots. For Marquette, any finish in the top three guaranteed second place in the team standings, but when Sauk clocked in its near-record time in the second heat, it put a lot of pressure on all of the final-heat relays. For Marquette, the meet ended with disappointment, as the top-seeded relay DQ'd, relegating the senior-heavy team to 5th place in the team standings. Memorial's 4th-place finish in the relay clinched the team title. Somehow it was an oddly appropriate ending to
a night filled with the unexpected and unusual.
McFarland dominates terrific D2 meet
It was a McFarland night at the Div. 2 state swim meet Friday; the Spartans won all three relays, added three individual titles, and garnered six other top-five finishes from their very deep squad to capture the title 332-210 over Whitefish Bay.
The Spartans looked sharp all night long, and showed who was boss early in the meet when they easily won the 200 medley relay and then went 1-2 in the first two indivudal races of the night. From there it was just a matter of how large their margin of victory would be in front of the boisterous Spartan crowd that packed the UW Natatorium.
But McFarland's dominance didn't deter from what was a truly exciting meet, with some extremely close races, great finishes, and one awe-inspiring, record-breaking performance. Highlights:
-- As expected, the 200 free was one of the best races of the night, with four Badger Confernce foes (Brian Heiser and Graham Thoresen of the Spartans, Jeff Maxwell of Milton and Edgewood's Chase Stephens) battling it out in a back-and-forth race. Heiser, seeded 4th and swimming in lane 6, took command right before the turn for the final 25 yards and won by two-tenths of a second over his teammate, with Stephens third and Maxwell fourth, the four swimmers separated by less than a second. For three years, Heiser and Thoresen have formed a powerful twosome in this race, with Thoresen often leading his teammate. But Heiser, who was extremely sharp all night long, used his great closing speed to take the race.
-- McFarland's Brandon O'Donnell and Thoresen, two seniors looking for their first individual state titles, got them -- O'Donnell in the 200 IM and Thoresen in the 500 free. O'Donnell led his brother Ryan to a 1-2 finish, cheered by among others current UW swimmer Derrick O'Donnell. Brandon's time of 1:52.94 was fifth all-time in D2; his brother and former Olympian Neil Walker of Verona are among the three swimmers who have posted faster IM times in meet history. Thoresen, meanwhile, finally got his individual win in his last attempt, as he edged Maxwell 4:39.16 to 4:39.39 in a race that saw the two swimmers go at each other stroke for stroke for the entire race. The two pulled away from third-place finisher Stephens at about the 200-yard mark and waged an intense duel over the last 300 yards.
-- Two terrific finishes highlighted the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. In the fly, Elkhorn's Dalton Anderson won the first boys state title in school history with a 50.69 win over Shorewood's Stephen Meyer (50.82) and Derrick O'Donnell (50.87). Anderson, who emerged mid-season as a real threat in this event, took control fron the onset and held off the late-surging challengers. Another five yards, and Anderson may very well have finished third. But he touched out in stride, and celebrated his win with a big fist pump. The 100 back was even closer, as Edgewood's Drew teDuits somehow managed to touch first in 50.96, with the snake-bitten Meyer in second in 50.98 and Ryan O'Donnell in third in 51.13. teDuits was third coming off the wall for the final 25 yards, but his tremendous reach and pull gave him a Michael-Phelps-like victory. He hit the wall perfectly with his final stroke, while Meyer was caught between strokes and tried to reach for the wall with his final stroke. Kudos to the announcer at the Nat for pronoucing the winner's name correctly; teDuits celebrated by donning a pair of sunglasses on the podium. Only Walker of Verona has swum a faster backstroke at the D2 state meet than teDuits' 50.96.
-- Alex Riegert of Delavan-Darien, with his father sporting a team-colors blue-and-yellow moustache, won the 100 breaststroke over close friend and teammate Nathaniel Johnson with a 57.93, fourth-fastest all-time in D2.
-- Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf came up just short in his bid for a state title, finishing second in the 100 freestyle for the second year in a row. River Falls' Eric Emerson won the title with a 47.73; Lonsdorf touched out in 47.96. The Rhinelander school district has tentatively announced plans to cut the boys swimming program due to budget constraints.
-- In the race for the runner-up trophy, Whitefish Bay swam very well all night long and captured some hardware. Ashwaubenon finished third with 169 points, with Edgewood and Shorewood tied for fourth with 167 points.
-- McFarland could not have put a more emphatic exclamation point on its third straight state title than with its performance in the 400 free relay. The Spartans dominated from the outset, with Brandon O'Donnell leading off with a 46.75 that the team increased swimmer by swimmer. Heiser (46.99), Ryan O'Donnell (46.47) and Thoresen (47.63) followed, as the Spartans smashed the all-time D2 state record in the race (3:07.84), breaking the previous record held by Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door by 2.6 seconds. The time was less than three-tenths of a second off the all-time state record in D1, held by Madison Memorial. It left Spartans head coach Nick Weiss awestruck. "I'm speechless," he told the Wisconsin State Journal. "These guys far exceeded my expectations. I knew they'd swim fast but I had no idea it was going to be this good."
The Spartans looked sharp all night long, and showed who was boss early in the meet when they easily won the 200 medley relay and then went 1-2 in the first two indivudal races of the night. From there it was just a matter of how large their margin of victory would be in front of the boisterous Spartan crowd that packed the UW Natatorium.
But McFarland's dominance didn't deter from what was a truly exciting meet, with some extremely close races, great finishes, and one awe-inspiring, record-breaking performance. Highlights:
-- As expected, the 200 free was one of the best races of the night, with four Badger Confernce foes (Brian Heiser and Graham Thoresen of the Spartans, Jeff Maxwell of Milton and Edgewood's Chase Stephens) battling it out in a back-and-forth race. Heiser, seeded 4th and swimming in lane 6, took command right before the turn for the final 25 yards and won by two-tenths of a second over his teammate, with Stephens third and Maxwell fourth, the four swimmers separated by less than a second. For three years, Heiser and Thoresen have formed a powerful twosome in this race, with Thoresen often leading his teammate. But Heiser, who was extremely sharp all night long, used his great closing speed to take the race.
-- McFarland's Brandon O'Donnell and Thoresen, two seniors looking for their first individual state titles, got them -- O'Donnell in the 200 IM and Thoresen in the 500 free. O'Donnell led his brother Ryan to a 1-2 finish, cheered by among others current UW swimmer Derrick O'Donnell. Brandon's time of 1:52.94 was fifth all-time in D2; his brother and former Olympian Neil Walker of Verona are among the three swimmers who have posted faster IM times in meet history. Thoresen, meanwhile, finally got his individual win in his last attempt, as he edged Maxwell 4:39.16 to 4:39.39 in a race that saw the two swimmers go at each other stroke for stroke for the entire race. The two pulled away from third-place finisher Stephens at about the 200-yard mark and waged an intense duel over the last 300 yards.
-- Two terrific finishes highlighted the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. In the fly, Elkhorn's Dalton Anderson won the first boys state title in school history with a 50.69 win over Shorewood's Stephen Meyer (50.82) and Derrick O'Donnell (50.87). Anderson, who emerged mid-season as a real threat in this event, took control fron the onset and held off the late-surging challengers. Another five yards, and Anderson may very well have finished third. But he touched out in stride, and celebrated his win with a big fist pump. The 100 back was even closer, as Edgewood's Drew teDuits somehow managed to touch first in 50.96, with the snake-bitten Meyer in second in 50.98 and Ryan O'Donnell in third in 51.13. teDuits was third coming off the wall for the final 25 yards, but his tremendous reach and pull gave him a Michael-Phelps-like victory. He hit the wall perfectly with his final stroke, while Meyer was caught between strokes and tried to reach for the wall with his final stroke. Kudos to the announcer at the Nat for pronoucing the winner's name correctly; teDuits celebrated by donning a pair of sunglasses on the podium. Only Walker of Verona has swum a faster backstroke at the D2 state meet than teDuits' 50.96.
-- Alex Riegert of Delavan-Darien, with his father sporting a team-colors blue-and-yellow moustache, won the 100 breaststroke over close friend and teammate Nathaniel Johnson with a 57.93, fourth-fastest all-time in D2.
-- Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf came up just short in his bid for a state title, finishing second in the 100 freestyle for the second year in a row. River Falls' Eric Emerson won the title with a 47.73; Lonsdorf touched out in 47.96. The Rhinelander school district has tentatively announced plans to cut the boys swimming program due to budget constraints.
-- In the race for the runner-up trophy, Whitefish Bay swam very well all night long and captured some hardware. Ashwaubenon finished third with 169 points, with Edgewood and Shorewood tied for fourth with 167 points.
-- McFarland could not have put a more emphatic exclamation point on its third straight state title than with its performance in the 400 free relay. The Spartans dominated from the outset, with Brandon O'Donnell leading off with a 46.75 that the team increased swimmer by swimmer. Heiser (46.99), Ryan O'Donnell (46.47) and Thoresen (47.63) followed, as the Spartans smashed the all-time D2 state record in the race (3:07.84), breaking the previous record held by Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door by 2.6 seconds. The time was less than three-tenths of a second off the all-time state record in D1, held by Madison Memorial. It left Spartans head coach Nick Weiss awestruck. "I'm speechless," he told the Wisconsin State Journal. "These guys far exceeded my expectations. I knew they'd swim fast but I had no idea it was going to be this good."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Burning questions -- Div. 1 state
More questions, Div. 1 bracket:
-- Can anything top last year's D1 meet? Maybe this year's. Last year's state title, you may recall, came down to the last lap of the last heat of the last race, and centered on four teams: Defending champs Madison Memorial, Hartland-Arrowhead, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, and Badger Big Foot. Memorial would've won the title by finishing first in the relay, or two places ahead of HA. Arrowhead's only hope was to either beat Memorial, or finish right behind them (assuming Memorial didn't win the relay). Arrowhead raced out to an early lead, only to see Memorial claw back into the race and take the lead with 25 yards to go. But Badger Big Foot's Wes Lagerhausen swam a remarkable anchor leg, and touched out Memorial for the win. Still, it looked like the Spartans had the title in the bag, as Sauk had edged out Arrowhead for 3rd place in the relay. But then the scoreboard revealed a DQ on third-place Sauk, moving Arrowhead up from third to second place in the race. The extra two points gave Arrowhead the state title. This year, four teams -- Memorial and Arrowhead again, along with Marquette and New Berlin -- are seeded within 29 points of each other. Memorial and Arrowhead are the deeper of the two teams, but Marquette brings two divers to the meet (Memorial has one diver; New Berlin and HA don't have divers), as well as the 1st seed in the meet-ending 400 free relay. Expect a tight contest throughout the day.
-- Will the Michael Drives-Ryan Hansen shoot-outs decide the Div. 1 team title? Maybe. The pair -- Drives from Memorial, Hansen of Arrowhead -- will square off in both the 200 and 500 frees, and have created as much pre-meet buzz as any races this year. Hansen is the defending state champ and the #1 seed in the 500, having posted an astonishing 4:31.20 at sectionals, a time more than a second faster than the current D1 record. Drives is the #3 seed, but earlier this season at the Natatorium posted a 4:34.22 in the 500. Hansen is also the #1 seed in the 200 free, with Drives #2. Look for the winner of the 200 free to be under 1:40; will the magical 4:30 barrier be broken at a state meet for the first time in the 500? Don't bet against it. Arrowhead, seeded 20 points behind Memorial, certainly needs Hansen to hold his seed placements and win both events to make their case for a second state title in a row. Drives can put a major dent in those plans should he emerge the winner. These promise to be two terrific races.
-- Just how good are Arrowhead's 500 free swimmers? Teams are restricted to 18 individual entries for the nine events in the meet; Arrowhead chose to use five of those on its 500 free swimmers, and remarkably all of them qualified for state. Brent Schreibel got the last spot as the 24th seed, while Matt Ahern and Chris Jenkyns -- son of Arrowhead coach Bob -- will swim in the second heat. Hansen is joined by freshman phenom Jake Prodoehl in the final heat. The 500 free is a race in which swimmers can dramatically drop time, and thus move up and into scoring position. If Arrowhead gets a big showing out of its quintent of 500 swimmers, the team could have a big day.
-- Who will win two other potentially first-rate duels -- the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke? In the fly, defending state champ Byron Butler of New Berlin will match up against Greenfield-Greendale's Jack Lennertz. Both enter the meet as the only swimmers with sub-50 second seed times -- Lennertz #1 with a 49.78 and Butler with a 49.97. Flying runs in the Lennertz family; sister Jenna was a four-time D2 state champ in the 100 fly while swimming for Greendale. The state record in the event is one of the most respected in the state -- 47.71 by Kyle Bubolz of Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine. Perhaps one or both swimmers will take a run at it. Meanwhile, Wausau East's Josh Hall and Waukesha South/Catholic Memoria's Colin Neitzel are set for a rematch in the 100 breaststroke. Last year, Hall entered as the top seed, only to see Neitzel grab an early lead and never give it up. They enter the meet against as the top two seeds, with Hall holding a slim .05 seconds edge over his rival (58.04 to 58.09). It might not just be a duel between these two, either; three other swimmers come in with seed times under 59 seconds.
-- Will the times from the very fast Waukesha South sectional hold up at state? Or, to put it more bluntly, is it the pool or the competition? Last week, the Waukesha South sectional was clearly the fastest in the state, and sent more swimmers to state than any other sectional (13 in the 500 free alone). It's clearly a reflection of the deep talent pool in suburban Milwaukee that swims at that sectional. But there is some speculation is swimming circles that the Waukesha South pool -- known to be a very fast pool -- may even be faster than the UW Natatorium, and thus the sectional seed times coming out of the Waukesha South pool are tough to match at state. To cite one example, last fall the top three teams based on seed times for the girls state meet -- Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego -- came out of the Waukesha South sectional. Yet all three schools lost points from their seeded totals once they swam at the Nat, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago losing nearly 70 points from the seeds. Tapered too soon? Better tapers by swimmers and teams seeded behind them? Or just a very fast pool? It's hard to tell, and probably unknowable. But it will be interesting to watch how the Waukesha South sectional swimmers do overall -- seven of the 11 #1 seeds in the state meet came from there.
-- Can Carlos Rios bring home a diving title to Milwaukee Riverside, and the Milwaukee City League? Not known for its swimming and diving prowess, the City League last had a state diving champion more than half-a-century ago, when Don Hapka won it in 1950 for Milwaukee Tech (now known as Bradley Tech). Rios enters the state dive meet as the #3 seed; he finished 5th last year, with only Marquette's Michael Donofrio (seeded 4th this year) a returning diver who finished ahead of him (Donofrio finished fourth last year). #1 seed Nathan Cox of Meno. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton, eighth last year, and #2 seed Nick Badilla of Appleton North/East, a state qualifier last year, also figure to be in the mix.
-- Can anything top last year's D1 meet? Maybe this year's. Last year's state title, you may recall, came down to the last lap of the last heat of the last race, and centered on four teams: Defending champs Madison Memorial, Hartland-Arrowhead, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, and Badger Big Foot. Memorial would've won the title by finishing first in the relay, or two places ahead of HA. Arrowhead's only hope was to either beat Memorial, or finish right behind them (assuming Memorial didn't win the relay). Arrowhead raced out to an early lead, only to see Memorial claw back into the race and take the lead with 25 yards to go. But Badger Big Foot's Wes Lagerhausen swam a remarkable anchor leg, and touched out Memorial for the win. Still, it looked like the Spartans had the title in the bag, as Sauk had edged out Arrowhead for 3rd place in the relay. But then the scoreboard revealed a DQ on third-place Sauk, moving Arrowhead up from third to second place in the race. The extra two points gave Arrowhead the state title. This year, four teams -- Memorial and Arrowhead again, along with Marquette and New Berlin -- are seeded within 29 points of each other. Memorial and Arrowhead are the deeper of the two teams, but Marquette brings two divers to the meet (Memorial has one diver; New Berlin and HA don't have divers), as well as the 1st seed in the meet-ending 400 free relay. Expect a tight contest throughout the day.
-- Will the Michael Drives-Ryan Hansen shoot-outs decide the Div. 1 team title? Maybe. The pair -- Drives from Memorial, Hansen of Arrowhead -- will square off in both the 200 and 500 frees, and have created as much pre-meet buzz as any races this year. Hansen is the defending state champ and the #1 seed in the 500, having posted an astonishing 4:31.20 at sectionals, a time more than a second faster than the current D1 record. Drives is the #3 seed, but earlier this season at the Natatorium posted a 4:34.22 in the 500. Hansen is also the #1 seed in the 200 free, with Drives #2. Look for the winner of the 200 free to be under 1:40; will the magical 4:30 barrier be broken at a state meet for the first time in the 500? Don't bet against it. Arrowhead, seeded 20 points behind Memorial, certainly needs Hansen to hold his seed placements and win both events to make their case for a second state title in a row. Drives can put a major dent in those plans should he emerge the winner. These promise to be two terrific races.
-- Just how good are Arrowhead's 500 free swimmers? Teams are restricted to 18 individual entries for the nine events in the meet; Arrowhead chose to use five of those on its 500 free swimmers, and remarkably all of them qualified for state. Brent Schreibel got the last spot as the 24th seed, while Matt Ahern and Chris Jenkyns -- son of Arrowhead coach Bob -- will swim in the second heat. Hansen is joined by freshman phenom Jake Prodoehl in the final heat. The 500 free is a race in which swimmers can dramatically drop time, and thus move up and into scoring position. If Arrowhead gets a big showing out of its quintent of 500 swimmers, the team could have a big day.
-- Who will win two other potentially first-rate duels -- the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke? In the fly, defending state champ Byron Butler of New Berlin will match up against Greenfield-Greendale's Jack Lennertz. Both enter the meet as the only swimmers with sub-50 second seed times -- Lennertz #1 with a 49.78 and Butler with a 49.97. Flying runs in the Lennertz family; sister Jenna was a four-time D2 state champ in the 100 fly while swimming for Greendale. The state record in the event is one of the most respected in the state -- 47.71 by Kyle Bubolz of Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine. Perhaps one or both swimmers will take a run at it. Meanwhile, Wausau East's Josh Hall and Waukesha South/Catholic Memoria's Colin Neitzel are set for a rematch in the 100 breaststroke. Last year, Hall entered as the top seed, only to see Neitzel grab an early lead and never give it up. They enter the meet against as the top two seeds, with Hall holding a slim .05 seconds edge over his rival (58.04 to 58.09). It might not just be a duel between these two, either; three other swimmers come in with seed times under 59 seconds.
-- Will the times from the very fast Waukesha South sectional hold up at state? Or, to put it more bluntly, is it the pool or the competition? Last week, the Waukesha South sectional was clearly the fastest in the state, and sent more swimmers to state than any other sectional (13 in the 500 free alone). It's clearly a reflection of the deep talent pool in suburban Milwaukee that swims at that sectional. But there is some speculation is swimming circles that the Waukesha South pool -- known to be a very fast pool -- may even be faster than the UW Natatorium, and thus the sectional seed times coming out of the Waukesha South pool are tough to match at state. To cite one example, last fall the top three teams based on seed times for the girls state meet -- Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego -- came out of the Waukesha South sectional. Yet all three schools lost points from their seeded totals once they swam at the Nat, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago losing nearly 70 points from the seeds. Tapered too soon? Better tapers by swimmers and teams seeded behind them? Or just a very fast pool? It's hard to tell, and probably unknowable. But it will be interesting to watch how the Waukesha South sectional swimmers do overall -- seven of the 11 #1 seeds in the state meet came from there.
-- Can Carlos Rios bring home a diving title to Milwaukee Riverside, and the Milwaukee City League? Not known for its swimming and diving prowess, the City League last had a state diving champion more than half-a-century ago, when Don Hapka won it in 1950 for Milwaukee Tech (now known as Bradley Tech). Rios enters the state dive meet as the #3 seed; he finished 5th last year, with only Marquette's Michael Donofrio (seeded 4th this year) a returning diver who finished ahead of him (Donofrio finished fourth last year). #1 seed Nathan Cox of Meno. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton, eighth last year, and #2 seed Nick Badilla of Appleton North/East, a state qualifier last year, also figure to be in the mix.
Burning questions -- Div. 2 state
Here are a few questions as preparations are under way for the Div. 2 state meet:
-- If one concedes the state title to McFarland (and the Spartans are seeded 140 points ahead of the competition), who will lay claim to the runner-up trophy? Five teams -- Shorewood, Ashwaubenon, Delavan-Darien, Whitefish Bay and Edgewood -- can make a legitimate claim on second place, as they are separated by a mere 29 points based on seeding. D-D probably has the least amount of room to move up -- they qualified seven swimmers, and only have two relays swimming compared to the others' three relays -- while Shorewood (12 swimmers, three relays) and Whitefish Bay (11 swimmers, three relays, plus a diver) arguably have the greatest ability to move upward and grab ahold of 2nd place. Maybe it will come down to the last event, which would be fun -- all six of the top-seeded teams, led by McFarland, qualified their 400 free relays into the final heat.
-- Will either Graham Thoresen or Brandon O'Donnell of McFarland, or perhaps both, finally win an individual state title? The two seniors have been stalwarts during McFarland's run to the past two state titles, and they form the foundation for what is McFarland's best team yet. Both have won gold medals on relays -- they swam on the Spartans winning 400 free relay last year, and O'Donnell has swum fly on two straight 1st-place medley relays -- but they have fallen just short in their bids for an individual state title. O'Donnell finished 2nd last year in both the 200 IM and 100 fly, but both winners have since graduated. He is seeded 2nd in both events this year. Thoresen, third last year in the 200 free and third the past two years in the 500 free, will return to face strong fields in both events this year. He, too, is seeded 2nd in both events.
-- Speaking of McFarland, it may be a stretch for the Spartans to exceed the all-time Div. 2 team score of 393, held by the great 2005 Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door squad. Can they do the next best thing, and break the SB/SD state record in the 400 free relay? McFarland's 400 free relay has been the most dominant D2 relay in the state this year, and enters the state meet with a seed time of 3:16.27, more than four seconds faster than 2nd-seeded Whitnall. The McFarland relay this year has been comprised of the two O'Donnell brothers, Brandon and Ryan, along with Thoresen and Brian Heiser. Just for kicks, here are the splits on that 2005 SB/SD relay: Luke Cummings: 49.14; Sam Parent: 48.08; Kevin Campbell: 48.10; Shane Eliason: 45.12.
-- Can Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf bring home a state title to Hodag-land? If he does, it surely will be bitter-sweet. Lonsdorf, a senior who has signed with the Univeristy of Wyoming, came into last year's state meet as the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees, and finished runner-up in both events. This year, with lots of fast times swum at sectionals, he enters as the 4th seed in the 50 free and 3rd seed in the 100 free. He will be the school's lone representative at the state meet, and maybe its last; the Rhinelander school district, under severe budget pressure, has announced tentative plans to cut the boys swimming program for the coming school year.
-- Can Edgewood's Chase Stephens chase down his Badger Conference rivals in the 200 and 500 freestyles? One of the more intriguing story lines during the D2 season has been the emergence of Stephens as a legitimate threat to Badger Conference swimmers Jeff Maxwell of Milton and McFarland's duo of Thoresen and Heiser in the distance events. He came within inches of knocking off Thoresen in each event at the Waunakee sectionals, and earlier this season topped Maxwell at the Platteville Invite in the 500 free. In the 200 free, Stephens is seeded 3rd, behind top-seeded Maxwell and 2nd-seeded Thoresen and just ahead of 4th-seeded Heiser; the four swimmers are separated by just 1.21 seconds. In the 500, it's Maxwell, Thoresen and Stephens in the seeding, separated by less than 2.5 seconds. Both should be terrific races.
-- Who will emerge as the ultimate winner in the season-long duel between divers Will Mathee of Cedarburg and Mitchell Spaeth of Plymouth? Mathee is the defending state champ, with Spaeth as runner-up last year, but Spaeth comes in as the top-seeded diver based on sectional scores. The pair have waged some very good duels this year, with Spaeth winning both the sectional title and the Small School Invite title three weeks ago. They are the only two divers entering the state meet with scores above 400.
-- If, as expected, Edgewood's Drew teDuits makes the podium (he is seeded 2nd in the 50 free and 1st in the 100 back), can we expect the announcers at the Natatorium to pronounce his name correctly? Here's a hint: Tee-Dites. That's "tee," like the thing you hit a golf ball off of, followed by "Dites," like Kites (the thing kids fly in the springtime), except it's a D instead of a K. It helps not to look at the name while trying to pronounce it.
-- If one concedes the state title to McFarland (and the Spartans are seeded 140 points ahead of the competition), who will lay claim to the runner-up trophy? Five teams -- Shorewood, Ashwaubenon, Delavan-Darien, Whitefish Bay and Edgewood -- can make a legitimate claim on second place, as they are separated by a mere 29 points based on seeding. D-D probably has the least amount of room to move up -- they qualified seven swimmers, and only have two relays swimming compared to the others' three relays -- while Shorewood (12 swimmers, three relays) and Whitefish Bay (11 swimmers, three relays, plus a diver) arguably have the greatest ability to move upward and grab ahold of 2nd place. Maybe it will come down to the last event, which would be fun -- all six of the top-seeded teams, led by McFarland, qualified their 400 free relays into the final heat.
-- Will either Graham Thoresen or Brandon O'Donnell of McFarland, or perhaps both, finally win an individual state title? The two seniors have been stalwarts during McFarland's run to the past two state titles, and they form the foundation for what is McFarland's best team yet. Both have won gold medals on relays -- they swam on the Spartans winning 400 free relay last year, and O'Donnell has swum fly on two straight 1st-place medley relays -- but they have fallen just short in their bids for an individual state title. O'Donnell finished 2nd last year in both the 200 IM and 100 fly, but both winners have since graduated. He is seeded 2nd in both events this year. Thoresen, third last year in the 200 free and third the past two years in the 500 free, will return to face strong fields in both events this year. He, too, is seeded 2nd in both events.
-- Speaking of McFarland, it may be a stretch for the Spartans to exceed the all-time Div. 2 team score of 393, held by the great 2005 Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door squad. Can they do the next best thing, and break the SB/SD state record in the 400 free relay? McFarland's 400 free relay has been the most dominant D2 relay in the state this year, and enters the state meet with a seed time of 3:16.27, more than four seconds faster than 2nd-seeded Whitnall. The McFarland relay this year has been comprised of the two O'Donnell brothers, Brandon and Ryan, along with Thoresen and Brian Heiser. Just for kicks, here are the splits on that 2005 SB/SD relay: Luke Cummings: 49.14; Sam Parent: 48.08; Kevin Campbell: 48.10; Shane Eliason: 45.12.
-- Can Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf bring home a state title to Hodag-land? If he does, it surely will be bitter-sweet. Lonsdorf, a senior who has signed with the Univeristy of Wyoming, came into last year's state meet as the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees, and finished runner-up in both events. This year, with lots of fast times swum at sectionals, he enters as the 4th seed in the 50 free and 3rd seed in the 100 free. He will be the school's lone representative at the state meet, and maybe its last; the Rhinelander school district, under severe budget pressure, has announced tentative plans to cut the boys swimming program for the coming school year.
-- Can Edgewood's Chase Stephens chase down his Badger Conference rivals in the 200 and 500 freestyles? One of the more intriguing story lines during the D2 season has been the emergence of Stephens as a legitimate threat to Badger Conference swimmers Jeff Maxwell of Milton and McFarland's duo of Thoresen and Heiser in the distance events. He came within inches of knocking off Thoresen in each event at the Waunakee sectionals, and earlier this season topped Maxwell at the Platteville Invite in the 500 free. In the 200 free, Stephens is seeded 3rd, behind top-seeded Maxwell and 2nd-seeded Thoresen and just ahead of 4th-seeded Heiser; the four swimmers are separated by just 1.21 seconds. In the 500, it's Maxwell, Thoresen and Stephens in the seeding, separated by less than 2.5 seconds. Both should be terrific races.
-- Who will emerge as the ultimate winner in the season-long duel between divers Will Mathee of Cedarburg and Mitchell Spaeth of Plymouth? Mathee is the defending state champ, with Spaeth as runner-up last year, but Spaeth comes in as the top-seeded diver based on sectional scores. The pair have waged some very good duels this year, with Spaeth winning both the sectional title and the Small School Invite title three weeks ago. They are the only two divers entering the state meet with scores above 400.
-- If, as expected, Edgewood's Drew teDuits makes the podium (he is seeded 2nd in the 50 free and 1st in the 100 back), can we expect the announcers at the Natatorium to pronounce his name correctly? Here's a hint: Tee-Dites. That's "tee," like the thing you hit a golf ball off of, followed by "Dites," like Kites (the thing kids fly in the springtime), except it's a D instead of a K. It helps not to look at the name while trying to pronounce it.
Back after a 10-year absence
Little-noticed among the results that poured in from last week's sectionals was a 5th-place finish by the 200-yard freestyle relay from Jefferson at the Div. 2 Waunakee sectional. The relay's time of 1:35.03 was good enough to qualify for the Division 2 state meet this Friday.
For Jefferson, one of the smallest schools in the state to offer a full-fledged, non-co-op boys program, it was a very big deal. The school will be making its first appearance in 10 years at the Div. 2 state meet. Seniors Doug Posorske, Lee Olson, and Eric Beccue -- who serve as tri-captains for the team -- joined freshman Marcos Lares in swimming on the relay that got the school its first bid to the state meet in a decade. Posorske added to the achievement by qualifying for state in both of his individual events -- the 50 free (seeded 13th) and the 100 butterfly (seeded 7th).
For the Jefferson relay, it was the culmination of a season-long goal. The team had targeted its 200-free relay for a state bid all season long, and during the course of the season the foursome had broken the school record three times. They broke it again at the Waunakee sectionals, and when results from around the state were posted Saturday night, the relay had made it to state.
This time of year, at schools like Madison Memorial, Hartland-Arrowhead, and McFarland, qualifying for the state meet is expected -- something that's routinely done, year after year. At a school like Jefferson -- far from the swimming meccas of Madison and greater Milwaukee -- it's not. Jefferson's 200-yard free relay probably won't win a state title (it's seeded 15th), but, importantly, it will be at the UW Natatorium, competing for one.
So here's to the swimmers from Jefferson and head coach Vicki Schuyler. Most schools at the state Div. 1 and 2 meets will bring more swimmers; few will bring a prouder group of student-athletes.
For Jefferson, one of the smallest schools in the state to offer a full-fledged, non-co-op boys program, it was a very big deal. The school will be making its first appearance in 10 years at the Div. 2 state meet. Seniors Doug Posorske, Lee Olson, and Eric Beccue -- who serve as tri-captains for the team -- joined freshman Marcos Lares in swimming on the relay that got the school its first bid to the state meet in a decade. Posorske added to the achievement by qualifying for state in both of his individual events -- the 50 free (seeded 13th) and the 100 butterfly (seeded 7th).
For the Jefferson relay, it was the culmination of a season-long goal. The team had targeted its 200-free relay for a state bid all season long, and during the course of the season the foursome had broken the school record three times. They broke it again at the Waunakee sectionals, and when results from around the state were posted Saturday night, the relay had made it to state.
This time of year, at schools like Madison Memorial, Hartland-Arrowhead, and McFarland, qualifying for the state meet is expected -- something that's routinely done, year after year. At a school like Jefferson -- far from the swimming meccas of Madison and greater Milwaukee -- it's not. Jefferson's 200-yard free relay probably won't win a state title (it's seeded 15th), but, importantly, it will be at the UW Natatorium, competing for one.
So here's to the swimmers from Jefferson and head coach Vicki Schuyler. Most schools at the state Div. 1 and 2 meets will bring more swimmers; few will bring a prouder group of student-athletes.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
State swim meet scored by seeding
A popular parlor game this time of year in swimming is to "score" the state meet based on the seeds of each team. It's speculative, yes, and swimmers have a way of dramatically improving on their seeds (or sometimes not). But scoring based on seeding provides some insights into the relative strength of teams, and can forecast what to expect as the meet unfolds. So here goes:
D1:
The race for the team title in D1 looks wide open. Madison Memorial, seeking its 10th state title, is seeded 1st with 190 points. But the Spartans are closely followed by defending state champs Hartland-Arrowhead (173), Marquette (170), and New Berlin (164). Six other teams (in order, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, Greenfield/Greendale, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, Wausau East, Appleton North/East, and Hartford) are seeded to score more than 100 points in the meet. The closely bunched meet reveals the central truth about D1 this year -- the talent is spread throughout a bunch of teams (e.g., three different teams -- New Berlin, Hartford, and Marquette -- own the top three seeds in the relays). What's also notable is how low Memorial's seed total is -- Memorial would need to improve its seeding by 27 points (certainly possible) to match Arrowhead's winning total from last year (217), which was the lowest total by a winning squad since 1982. Of the top four seeded teams, Memorial and Marquette have divers participating, which will likely give them a head-start on the competition when the swim meet starts.
D2:
McFarland -- top-seeded in all three relays, and with swimmers in all eight individual swimming events -- is head and shoulders above the D2 field with 320 points based on seeding. It's a long way to the rest of the field, which is tightly bunched -- Shorewood (180), Ashwaubenon (178), Delavan-Darien (167), Whitefish Bay (165) and Edgewood (151). All but Delavan-Darien qualified three relays for the meet, so there is potential for a lot of moving up and down the scoreboard based on how the relays play out. Neighborhood rivals Shorewood and Whitefish Bay appear on paper with the best chance at emerging from the crowded field, as WB has 11 swimmers spread across each of the eight swimming events, plus one diver, while Shorewood has 12 swimmers in six swimming events.
D1:
The race for the team title in D1 looks wide open. Madison Memorial, seeking its 10th state title, is seeded 1st with 190 points. But the Spartans are closely followed by defending state champs Hartland-Arrowhead (173), Marquette (170), and New Berlin (164). Six other teams (in order, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, Greenfield/Greendale, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, Wausau East, Appleton North/East, and Hartford) are seeded to score more than 100 points in the meet. The closely bunched meet reveals the central truth about D1 this year -- the talent is spread throughout a bunch of teams (e.g., three different teams -- New Berlin, Hartford, and Marquette -- own the top three seeds in the relays). What's also notable is how low Memorial's seed total is -- Memorial would need to improve its seeding by 27 points (certainly possible) to match Arrowhead's winning total from last year (217), which was the lowest total by a winning squad since 1982. Of the top four seeded teams, Memorial and Marquette have divers participating, which will likely give them a head-start on the competition when the swim meet starts.
D2:
McFarland -- top-seeded in all three relays, and with swimmers in all eight individual swimming events -- is head and shoulders above the D2 field with 320 points based on seeding. It's a long way to the rest of the field, which is tightly bunched -- Shorewood (180), Ashwaubenon (178), Delavan-Darien (167), Whitefish Bay (165) and Edgewood (151). All but Delavan-Darien qualified three relays for the meet, so there is potential for a lot of moving up and down the scoreboard based on how the relays play out. Neighborhood rivals Shorewood and Whitefish Bay appear on paper with the best chance at emerging from the crowded field, as WB has 11 swimmers spread across each of the eight swimming events, plus one diver, while Shorewood has 12 swimmers in six swimming events.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sectionals -- D1
D1 sectionals this past weekend went as anticipated -- faster times than last year (notably in the fly and breaststroke), although perhaps not as noticeable as some of the D2 qualifying time drops. The Waukesha South sectional was exceptionaley fast, Memorial dominated the Middleton sectional, and Marquette won going away in the Nicolet sectional. On to the recaps:
Hudson -- Eau Claire, with a strong showing by its distance swimmers and a terrific meet by senior Will Weggel depth, won the sectional title 392-315 over Wausau East. Memorial's 500 free swimmers swept the top three spots, while Weggel won the 50 free and 100 fly, upsetting Wausau East's Lucas Koenig in the latter event. East left with lots of hardware, however, as it won five of the 11 even swimming events, led by two-time winner Josh Hall (200 IM, 100 breaststroke). East's 200 medley relay won by more than five seconds and will be looking to defend its title this week at the D1 state meet.
Neenah -- The host team won its sectional 374-336.5 over Bayport with only one win -- backstroker Matt Hollub. Bayport racked up six wins in the sectional, but couldn't match the host's depth. Appleton's Ryan Goggans was a double winner in the 200/500 frees.
Middleton -- Madison Memorial dominated the always fast Middleton sectional, topping Verona easily 392.2-279. The Spartans won all three relays, Michael Drives doubled up in the 200 and 500 frees, and Shaun Marcott went under 1:00 to win the breaststroke. Add in Nat Broadbridge's win in the diving, and Memorial cruised to victory and emerged as the favorite for this week's D1 title. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede doubled up in the freestyle sprints, and enters the state meet with the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees. Teammate Tyler Lentz, meanwhile, won the 200 IM and will go into the state meet as the 2nd seed. Middleton (278), Madison West (248.5) and Sauk (224) rounded out the top five.
Nicolet -- The weakest of the six sectionals nonetheless produced a strong contender for a state title in Marquette, which won all but one of the 11 swimming events to win easily, 429.5-335.5 over host Nicolet. Sprinter Andrew Breger, presumably well after a season beset with shoulder problems, won both the 50 and 100 free sprints and swam on two of the team's winning relays. Milwaukee Riverside's Carlos Rios will carry the hopes of the Milwaukee City League on his shoulders; he won the Nicolet diving sectional title and goes into the state meet as the top seed in diving.
Waukesha South -- This is the home of amazing times and stunning depth; one wonders if the WIAA shouldn't at some point consider a realignment of teams in the Milwaukee area, particularly given the weakness of the not-so-far-away Nicolet sectional. In the end, Hartland-Arrowhead waged a terrific battle with New Berlin, coming out on top 312-291. Others in the top five included Wauesha South/Catholic Memorial (242.5), Meno. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (238.5), and Hartford (200). HA was led by Ryan Hansen, newly signed to the University of Utah and the defending state champ in the 500 free. Hansen won the 200 free (1:41.34), then came back with a stunning 4:31.20 in the 500 free, or more than a second below the current state record. Hansen's a treat to watch -- he attacks the 500 like a sprint, racing off to the lead that he tries to hold -- and should be fun to watch this Saturday. How deep is this sectional? A total of 13 swimmers in the 500 free qualified for state.
Racine Park -- Kenosha Tremper beat Kenosha Bradford 338-309, but the real noise came from Greenfield/Greendale and its trio of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers. The trio won five events among them (Lucchesi the 100 free, Lennertz the 50 free and 100 fly, and Jungers the 200 IM and the 100 back; Lucchesi was 2nd to Lennertz in the 50 free)and helped G-G to easy wins in the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Hudson -- Eau Claire, with a strong showing by its distance swimmers and a terrific meet by senior Will Weggel depth, won the sectional title 392-315 over Wausau East. Memorial's 500 free swimmers swept the top three spots, while Weggel won the 50 free and 100 fly, upsetting Wausau East's Lucas Koenig in the latter event. East left with lots of hardware, however, as it won five of the 11 even swimming events, led by two-time winner Josh Hall (200 IM, 100 breaststroke). East's 200 medley relay won by more than five seconds and will be looking to defend its title this week at the D1 state meet.
Neenah -- The host team won its sectional 374-336.5 over Bayport with only one win -- backstroker Matt Hollub. Bayport racked up six wins in the sectional, but couldn't match the host's depth. Appleton's Ryan Goggans was a double winner in the 200/500 frees.
Middleton -- Madison Memorial dominated the always fast Middleton sectional, topping Verona easily 392.2-279. The Spartans won all three relays, Michael Drives doubled up in the 200 and 500 frees, and Shaun Marcott went under 1:00 to win the breaststroke. Add in Nat Broadbridge's win in the diving, and Memorial cruised to victory and emerged as the favorite for this week's D1 title. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede doubled up in the freestyle sprints, and enters the state meet with the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees. Teammate Tyler Lentz, meanwhile, won the 200 IM and will go into the state meet as the 2nd seed. Middleton (278), Madison West (248.5) and Sauk (224) rounded out the top five.
Nicolet -- The weakest of the six sectionals nonetheless produced a strong contender for a state title in Marquette, which won all but one of the 11 swimming events to win easily, 429.5-335.5 over host Nicolet. Sprinter Andrew Breger, presumably well after a season beset with shoulder problems, won both the 50 and 100 free sprints and swam on two of the team's winning relays. Milwaukee Riverside's Carlos Rios will carry the hopes of the Milwaukee City League on his shoulders; he won the Nicolet diving sectional title and goes into the state meet as the top seed in diving.
Waukesha South -- This is the home of amazing times and stunning depth; one wonders if the WIAA shouldn't at some point consider a realignment of teams in the Milwaukee area, particularly given the weakness of the not-so-far-away Nicolet sectional. In the end, Hartland-Arrowhead waged a terrific battle with New Berlin, coming out on top 312-291. Others in the top five included Wauesha South/Catholic Memorial (242.5), Meno. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (238.5), and Hartford (200). HA was led by Ryan Hansen, newly signed to the University of Utah and the defending state champ in the 500 free. Hansen won the 200 free (1:41.34), then came back with a stunning 4:31.20 in the 500 free, or more than a second below the current state record. Hansen's a treat to watch -- he attacks the 500 like a sprint, racing off to the lead that he tries to hold -- and should be fun to watch this Saturday. How deep is this sectional? A total of 13 swimmers in the 500 free qualified for state.
Racine Park -- Kenosha Tremper beat Kenosha Bradford 338-309, but the real noise came from Greenfield/Greendale and its trio of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers. The trio won five events among them (Lucchesi the 100 free, Lennertz the 50 free and 100 fly, and Jungers the 200 IM and the 100 back; Lucchesi was 2nd to Lennertz in the 50 free)and helped G-G to easy wins in the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sectionals -- D2
D2 sectionals were fast this year -- very fast. How fast? Qualifying time standards fell in every event this year save for one -- the backstroke. Some dropped noticeably, like the 200 IM, which fell 2.5 seconds. Relay qualifying times were also much faster, with the 400 free relay qualifying time dropping an astounding 5.5 seconds (3:27.02 this year vs. 3:32.53 last year).
To cite a few examples, Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's John Parent broke 1:50 in the 200 free and failed to make the final heat. Last year, any time under 23 seconds in the 50 free got a swimmer into the final heat; this year, 23 seconds barely got you into the state meet (last two qualifying times were 23 flat and 23.07.) Only two swimmers this year above 50 seconds in the 100 free made state; last year there were 10. And on and on -- similar to the girls season last fall, it was swim fast or go home.
It was also a tale of some lopsided results -- two of the four sectionals (Waunakee and Cudahay) sent more than two-thirds of the individual swimmers, and exactly two-thirds of the relays, to state.
Here's a summary from the four D2 sectionals:
Stevens Point -- Ashwaubenon won going away, 399.5-305 over runner-up Berlin/Green Lake. The Jaguars won all three relays, went 1-2 in the diving, and had a double-winner in Phillip Crum (200 IM, 100 breaststroke), along with a win from ace sprinter Jake Pelishek in the 50 free, who topped a very good field in the 50 free (2nd went to Eric Emerson of River Falls and 3rd to Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf, runner-up at state last year in the event). The Jaguars decided to put senior Chris Vandervest (who has signed a Div. II football letter-of-intent for Minnesota-Duluth) on all three relays, and it paid off; the medley relay with Vandervest leading off won by more than six seconds. Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door (294), River Falls (284), and Rice Lake (202.5) rounded out the top five.
Waunakee -- Just in case anyone was wondering, McFarland showed who's the boss of D2 this year with an outstanding showing at the Waunakee High School pool, winning with 427 points over Edgewood's 307. The Spartans won all three relays (all ended up as the top seeds for this week's state meet), six of the eight individual swimming events, and qualified 17 of its 18 individual entries to state. Leading the way was the senior tandem of Graham Thoresen and Brandon O'Donnell. Thoresen won the 200 and 500 frees in two thrilling duels with Edgewood's Chase Stephens (winning the 200 by .04 seconds, and the 500 by .09 seconds), while O'Donnell won his specialties (200 IM, 100 fly). Only Edgewood's Drew teDuits, who won the 50 free and the 100 back, and Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson, who won the diving the night before, broke up the McFarland party. And just in case you're wondering whether McFarland's going away after this year -- well, they're not. Seven of the team's 17 state qualifying bids (five different swimmers) were won by freshmen. Edgewood provided a good battle for the Spartans in the two free relays, and with teDuits and Stephens the Crusaders have two of the better D2 swimmers in the state. But few teams can come close to matching McFarland's depth; it's why they'll be a heavy favorite this Friday at the UW Natatorium for a third straight state title. Fort Atkinson (235), Waunakee (228), and Oregon (194) rounded out the top five.
Plymouth -- Cedarburg continued its fine late-season run with a 384-358.5 win over the host team. Diving is strong in this sectional (half the divers at state came out of this sectional), and Cedarburg parlayed a 2-6-7 finish in the diving to help it to the win. The squad won all three relays, got a double-win from Carl Newenhouse (100 free, 100 back), and added a win from distance swimmer Jim Akkala (500 free). Plymouth took home three wins courtesy of double-winner Jesse Gambrell (200 IM, 100 breaststroke) and Brian Linzmeyer (200 free). Rounding out the top five were Port Washington (228), Milwaukee Lutheran (185.5), and Grafton (180).
Cudahay -- The sectional at Cudahay was arguably the deepest of the four sectionals, sending more individual entries to state than any other. Whitefish Bay emerged from a very fast meet the winner with 351 points to 328 for runner-up Shorewood. It was a wild and wooly meet; WB won without winning a single event, but parlayed its depth into three top-five finishes in the relays and a number of top-10 finishes. The meet was abnormally deep in some areas -- in the breaststroke, 10 swimmers qualified for the state meet. Whitnall loaded up its relays with its two best swimmers -- Tyler Leroy and Doug Bell only swam one individual event -- and it paid off, as the team won the 200 and 400 free relays and all three relays qualified for state. And did any two swimmers have a better sectional meet in the state than Delavan-Darien's dynamic duo of Nathaniel Johnson and Alex Riegert? Johnson won the 200 IM, earning the top seed at the state, followed by Riegert winning the 100 free and similarly earning the top seed at state. The pair then went 1-2 in the breaststroke -- separated by a mere .02 seconds (with Reigert outtouching his teammate) -- and they earned the top two seeds at state in the event. The pair also led D-D to a win in the medley relay and a runner-up finish in the 400 free relay. Not a bad day's worth of work. Milton's Jeff Maxwell won both the 200 and 500 frees and established himself as the favorite in both events with times of 1:45.21 (200) and 4:43.83 (500, where he's the defending state champ). Milton ended up third (277), followed by D-D (251) and Whitnall (228).
To cite a few examples, Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's John Parent broke 1:50 in the 200 free and failed to make the final heat. Last year, any time under 23 seconds in the 50 free got a swimmer into the final heat; this year, 23 seconds barely got you into the state meet (last two qualifying times were 23 flat and 23.07.) Only two swimmers this year above 50 seconds in the 100 free made state; last year there were 10. And on and on -- similar to the girls season last fall, it was swim fast or go home.
It was also a tale of some lopsided results -- two of the four sectionals (Waunakee and Cudahay) sent more than two-thirds of the individual swimmers, and exactly two-thirds of the relays, to state.
Here's a summary from the four D2 sectionals:
Stevens Point -- Ashwaubenon won going away, 399.5-305 over runner-up Berlin/Green Lake. The Jaguars won all three relays, went 1-2 in the diving, and had a double-winner in Phillip Crum (200 IM, 100 breaststroke), along with a win from ace sprinter Jake Pelishek in the 50 free, who topped a very good field in the 50 free (2nd went to Eric Emerson of River Falls and 3rd to Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf, runner-up at state last year in the event). The Jaguars decided to put senior Chris Vandervest (who has signed a Div. II football letter-of-intent for Minnesota-Duluth) on all three relays, and it paid off; the medley relay with Vandervest leading off won by more than six seconds. Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door (294), River Falls (284), and Rice Lake (202.5) rounded out the top five.
Waunakee -- Just in case anyone was wondering, McFarland showed who's the boss of D2 this year with an outstanding showing at the Waunakee High School pool, winning with 427 points over Edgewood's 307. The Spartans won all three relays (all ended up as the top seeds for this week's state meet), six of the eight individual swimming events, and qualified 17 of its 18 individual entries to state. Leading the way was the senior tandem of Graham Thoresen and Brandon O'Donnell. Thoresen won the 200 and 500 frees in two thrilling duels with Edgewood's Chase Stephens (winning the 200 by .04 seconds, and the 500 by .09 seconds), while O'Donnell won his specialties (200 IM, 100 fly). Only Edgewood's Drew teDuits, who won the 50 free and the 100 back, and Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson, who won the diving the night before, broke up the McFarland party. And just in case you're wondering whether McFarland's going away after this year -- well, they're not. Seven of the team's 17 state qualifying bids (five different swimmers) were won by freshmen. Edgewood provided a good battle for the Spartans in the two free relays, and with teDuits and Stephens the Crusaders have two of the better D2 swimmers in the state. But few teams can come close to matching McFarland's depth; it's why they'll be a heavy favorite this Friday at the UW Natatorium for a third straight state title. Fort Atkinson (235), Waunakee (228), and Oregon (194) rounded out the top five.
Plymouth -- Cedarburg continued its fine late-season run with a 384-358.5 win over the host team. Diving is strong in this sectional (half the divers at state came out of this sectional), and Cedarburg parlayed a 2-6-7 finish in the diving to help it to the win. The squad won all three relays, got a double-win from Carl Newenhouse (100 free, 100 back), and added a win from distance swimmer Jim Akkala (500 free). Plymouth took home three wins courtesy of double-winner Jesse Gambrell (200 IM, 100 breaststroke) and Brian Linzmeyer (200 free). Rounding out the top five were Port Washington (228), Milwaukee Lutheran (185.5), and Grafton (180).
Cudahay -- The sectional at Cudahay was arguably the deepest of the four sectionals, sending more individual entries to state than any other. Whitefish Bay emerged from a very fast meet the winner with 351 points to 328 for runner-up Shorewood. It was a wild and wooly meet; WB won without winning a single event, but parlayed its depth into three top-five finishes in the relays and a number of top-10 finishes. The meet was abnormally deep in some areas -- in the breaststroke, 10 swimmers qualified for the state meet. Whitnall loaded up its relays with its two best swimmers -- Tyler Leroy and Doug Bell only swam one individual event -- and it paid off, as the team won the 200 and 400 free relays and all three relays qualified for state. And did any two swimmers have a better sectional meet in the state than Delavan-Darien's dynamic duo of Nathaniel Johnson and Alex Riegert? Johnson won the 200 IM, earning the top seed at the state, followed by Riegert winning the 100 free and similarly earning the top seed at state. The pair then went 1-2 in the breaststroke -- separated by a mere .02 seconds (with Reigert outtouching his teammate) -- and they earned the top two seeds at state in the event. The pair also led D-D to a win in the medley relay and a runner-up finish in the 400 free relay. Not a bad day's worth of work. Milton's Jeff Maxwell won both the 200 and 500 frees and established himself as the favorite in both events with times of 1:45.21 (200) and 4:43.83 (500, where he's the defending state champ). Milton ended up third (277), followed by D-D (251) and Whitnall (228).
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Conference round-up -- D1
Division 1 conference meets last weekend gave a pretty good indication of what to expect this coming weekend at sectionals -- Madison Memorial, Hartland-Arrowhead, and Marquette look strong, with Middleton, Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights, and Greenfield-Greendale nipping at their heels.
-- Memorial won the always tough Big Eight Conference meet, all the stronger this year with the addition of Verona. They beat out a Middleton squad that made a strong showing, 497-471, with Madison West topping Verona 385.5-337 for third. All four squads will make their presence felt at the Middleton sectional meet. Memorial's Michael Drives, fighting a cold, won the 200 and 500 frees, and the team's 200-yard free relay scored a solid win by more than a minute over Middleton. But the Cardinals won the other two relays, and it was no surprise that senior Purdue recruit Sam Niesen swam on those winning relays. He garnered four wins overall with 1st-place finishes in the back and 100 free.
-- Arrowhead topped Marquette 458-420 in the Classic 8/Greater Metro Conference meet at the fast Waukesha South pool in a meet in which depth paid off for HA. The squad won three events to seven for Marquette, but rode its superior depth to a win. Notable swims for HA included Ryan Hansen's wins in the 200 free (1:41.66) and 500 free (4:36.65), the event in which he's the defending state champ. Only Drives on Memorial has swum faster this year in those two events, and the two swimmers appear headed for a showdown in both events at the UW Natatorium.
-- Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights finished second to two-time defending D2 champ McFarland in the Badger North Conference swim meet, despite winning seven events. The result prompted Eagles coach Todd Wuerger to suggest McFarland might be the best team in the state, D1 or D2.
-- Lake Geneva Badger-Walworth Big Foot on the Southern Lakes Conference meet easily over D2 Elkhorn, with Nathan Kidder winning the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints.
-- Hartford won the four-team Wisconsin Little Ten Conference meet led by Aiden Kohnhorst and Tyler, who each won two individual events and contributed legs on the team's winning medley and 200 free relays.
-- New Berlin edged D2 Shorewood in the Woodland Conference meet, with the Greenfield-Greendale co-op finishing third. G-G's trio of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers won five events, with Lennertz blazing to a win in the 100 butterfly in a D1 season-best time of 50.27. The trio also swam on the team's winning 400 free relay, with Lucchesi and Lennertz swimming on the winning 200 free relay. G-G is one of those teams that won't score as many points in conference and even sectionals meets as they will at state; look for the co-op to make a strong showing at the state D1 meet. New Berlin won four events at the conference meet, led by Byron Butler's win in the backstroke, where he will certainly be a strong contender for a state title.
-- Wausau East won the Wisconsin Valley Conference swim meet 343-308 over runner-up Stevens Point, with wins in all three relays and six individual events. Lucas Koening, Danny Brebrick and Josh Hall contributed five individual wins for East, with Hall being named conference swimmer of the year.
-- Bayport won the Fox River Classic Conference 553-474 over D2 Ashwaubenon. Ryan Keuler and Max Van Egeren both won two individual events and swam on two first-place winning relays for Bayport.
-- Memorial won the always tough Big Eight Conference meet, all the stronger this year with the addition of Verona. They beat out a Middleton squad that made a strong showing, 497-471, with Madison West topping Verona 385.5-337 for third. All four squads will make their presence felt at the Middleton sectional meet. Memorial's Michael Drives, fighting a cold, won the 200 and 500 frees, and the team's 200-yard free relay scored a solid win by more than a minute over Middleton. But the Cardinals won the other two relays, and it was no surprise that senior Purdue recruit Sam Niesen swam on those winning relays. He garnered four wins overall with 1st-place finishes in the back and 100 free.
-- Arrowhead topped Marquette 458-420 in the Classic 8/Greater Metro Conference meet at the fast Waukesha South pool in a meet in which depth paid off for HA. The squad won three events to seven for Marquette, but rode its superior depth to a win. Notable swims for HA included Ryan Hansen's wins in the 200 free (1:41.66) and 500 free (4:36.65), the event in which he's the defending state champ. Only Drives on Memorial has swum faster this year in those two events, and the two swimmers appear headed for a showdown in both events at the UW Natatorium.
-- Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights finished second to two-time defending D2 champ McFarland in the Badger North Conference swim meet, despite winning seven events. The result prompted Eagles coach Todd Wuerger to suggest McFarland might be the best team in the state, D1 or D2.
-- Lake Geneva Badger-Walworth Big Foot on the Southern Lakes Conference meet easily over D2 Elkhorn, with Nathan Kidder winning the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints.
-- Hartford won the four-team Wisconsin Little Ten Conference meet led by Aiden Kohnhorst and Tyler, who each won two individual events and contributed legs on the team's winning medley and 200 free relays.
-- New Berlin edged D2 Shorewood in the Woodland Conference meet, with the Greenfield-Greendale co-op finishing third. G-G's trio of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers won five events, with Lennertz blazing to a win in the 100 butterfly in a D1 season-best time of 50.27. The trio also swam on the team's winning 400 free relay, with Lucchesi and Lennertz swimming on the winning 200 free relay. G-G is one of those teams that won't score as many points in conference and even sectionals meets as they will at state; look for the co-op to make a strong showing at the state D1 meet. New Berlin won four events at the conference meet, led by Byron Butler's win in the backstroke, where he will certainly be a strong contender for a state title.
-- Wausau East won the Wisconsin Valley Conference swim meet 343-308 over runner-up Stevens Point, with wins in all three relays and six individual events. Lucas Koening, Danny Brebrick and Josh Hall contributed five individual wins for East, with Hall being named conference swimmer of the year.
-- Bayport won the Fox River Classic Conference 553-474 over D2 Ashwaubenon. Ryan Keuler and Max Van Egeren both won two individual events and swam on two first-place winning relays for Bayport.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Conference round-ups -- D2
Conference swim meets went pretty much as expected, with only a mild surprise or two. Here's a recap:
-- In the Badger North, McFarland won handily over D1 Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights, 559-449. Waunakee made a strong showing, finishing third and only nine points behind Sauk. The Sauk trio of Tyler Evans, Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz was sharp as usual, combining for five wins and swimming legs on the winning medley and 200 free relays. But McFarland's depth as usual paid off; to cite just one indicator, the Spartans' B relays never finished lower than tied for 6th (their A relays finished twice second and first in the 400 free relay). The 200 free was anticipated to be one of the best races of the meet, and it was; Friede won with a 1:46.07, followed by McFarland's Brian Heiser in 1:46.64 and Graham Thoresen in 1:47.10.
-- In the Badger South, Milton beat back a spirited Edgewood squad by 11 points, 445-434. The runners-up swam remarkably well; the Crusaders swam without sophomore Drew teDuits, seeded to win conference in both the 50 free and 100 back and swim key legs on two relays. But teDuits fell ill on the eve of the meet, a real blow to the team's chances (Edgewood had edged Milton in a duel meet earlier this year.). But Edgewood coach Dave Dahler rallied his team prior to the meet's start, and the team nearly pulled off the win without teDuits. Leading the way was junior Chase Stephens, who set a Fort Atkinson pool record in winning the 500 free (4:49.30), won the 200 free, and swam on two winning relays (200/400 free). Also swimming extremely well for Edgewood was senior Chris Kuecker, who finished second in both the 100 and 200 frees and joined Stephens on the winning freestyle relays. Edgewood may not have the depth to challenge McFarland for a sectional title this week at Waunakee, but if teDuits regains his health in time, the Crusaders look ready to make some noise. Milton's Jeff Maxwell led the way for his team with wins in the 200 IM and 100 back.
-- Elkhorn finished second in the Southern Lakes to D1 Lake Geneva Badger-Walworth Big Foot, with Delavan-Darien placing third. D-D, led by its trio of Nate Johnson, Alex Reigert, and Kevin Schneider, won the medley and 400 free relays, along with Johnson winning both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Elkhorn's Dalton Anderson turned in the year's fastest time in the 100 fly with a winning time of 51.64. And keep an eye out for Jefferson's Doug Posorske -- he swam a strong second-place fly to Anderson in 55.60 and a very strong second in the 50 free with a time of 22.65, which puts him into the top 10 of fastest D2 50 free times this year.
-- In something of a surprise, Cedarburg used good depth and a strong showing by its divers to take the North Shore Conference title over Whitefish Bay, 458-416. Defending state champ Will Mathee won the diving for Cedarburg, which also got wins from Carl Newenhouse in the 100 backstroke and its 400 free relay. WB got individual wins from Chris Fink (200 free), Chuckie Prestigiacomo, and Jason Castillo along with its medley relay.
-- Shorewood finished a close second to D1 New Berlin in the Woodland Conference, 462-441. Whitnall finished 5th and Brown Deer/University School 6th at the meet. Shorewood was led by Kasmir Bohannon (200 free), Stephen Meyer (100 backstroke) and Karl Weisling (500 free), who all posted third-place finishes in what is a very competitive conference this year. Those three joined Asher Kaufman in posting a 2nd-place finish in the medley relay.
-- Ashwaubenon finished 2nd to D1 Bayport in the Fox River Classic conference meet, led by sprinter Jake Pelishek. He won the 50 free with a D2-leading time this year of 22.07 and swam anchor on the team's 200 free relay, which posted a strong 1:32.22 in finishing second, and the 200 medley relay, which also finished second with a 1:43.21. Both relay times are the third-fastest posted this year in D2.
-- Plymouth won the Eastern Wisconsin Conference championship, as the team swept all three relays and five of the nine individual events. Diver Mitchell Spaeth continued a strong season with an all-time conference score of 436.35, the year's highest D2 score.
-- In the Badger North, McFarland won handily over D1 Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights, 559-449. Waunakee made a strong showing, finishing third and only nine points behind Sauk. The Sauk trio of Tyler Evans, Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz was sharp as usual, combining for five wins and swimming legs on the winning medley and 200 free relays. But McFarland's depth as usual paid off; to cite just one indicator, the Spartans' B relays never finished lower than tied for 6th (their A relays finished twice second and first in the 400 free relay). The 200 free was anticipated to be one of the best races of the meet, and it was; Friede won with a 1:46.07, followed by McFarland's Brian Heiser in 1:46.64 and Graham Thoresen in 1:47.10.
-- In the Badger South, Milton beat back a spirited Edgewood squad by 11 points, 445-434. The runners-up swam remarkably well; the Crusaders swam without sophomore Drew teDuits, seeded to win conference in both the 50 free and 100 back and swim key legs on two relays. But teDuits fell ill on the eve of the meet, a real blow to the team's chances (Edgewood had edged Milton in a duel meet earlier this year.). But Edgewood coach Dave Dahler rallied his team prior to the meet's start, and the team nearly pulled off the win without teDuits. Leading the way was junior Chase Stephens, who set a Fort Atkinson pool record in winning the 500 free (4:49.30), won the 200 free, and swam on two winning relays (200/400 free). Also swimming extremely well for Edgewood was senior Chris Kuecker, who finished second in both the 100 and 200 frees and joined Stephens on the winning freestyle relays. Edgewood may not have the depth to challenge McFarland for a sectional title this week at Waunakee, but if teDuits regains his health in time, the Crusaders look ready to make some noise. Milton's Jeff Maxwell led the way for his team with wins in the 200 IM and 100 back.
-- Elkhorn finished second in the Southern Lakes to D1 Lake Geneva Badger-Walworth Big Foot, with Delavan-Darien placing third. D-D, led by its trio of Nate Johnson, Alex Reigert, and Kevin Schneider, won the medley and 400 free relays, along with Johnson winning both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Elkhorn's Dalton Anderson turned in the year's fastest time in the 100 fly with a winning time of 51.64. And keep an eye out for Jefferson's Doug Posorske -- he swam a strong second-place fly to Anderson in 55.60 and a very strong second in the 50 free with a time of 22.65, which puts him into the top 10 of fastest D2 50 free times this year.
-- In something of a surprise, Cedarburg used good depth and a strong showing by its divers to take the North Shore Conference title over Whitefish Bay, 458-416. Defending state champ Will Mathee won the diving for Cedarburg, which also got wins from Carl Newenhouse in the 100 backstroke and its 400 free relay. WB got individual wins from Chris Fink (200 free), Chuckie Prestigiacomo, and Jason Castillo along with its medley relay.
-- Shorewood finished a close second to D1 New Berlin in the Woodland Conference, 462-441. Whitnall finished 5th and Brown Deer/University School 6th at the meet. Shorewood was led by Kasmir Bohannon (200 free), Stephen Meyer (100 backstroke) and Karl Weisling (500 free), who all posted third-place finishes in what is a very competitive conference this year. Those three joined Asher Kaufman in posting a 2nd-place finish in the medley relay.
-- Ashwaubenon finished 2nd to D1 Bayport in the Fox River Classic conference meet, led by sprinter Jake Pelishek. He won the 50 free with a D2-leading time this year of 22.07 and swam anchor on the team's 200 free relay, which posted a strong 1:32.22 in finishing second, and the 200 medley relay, which also finished second with a 1:43.21. Both relay times are the third-fastest posted this year in D2.
-- Plymouth won the Eastern Wisconsin Conference championship, as the team swept all three relays and five of the nine individual events. Diver Mitchell Spaeth continued a strong season with an all-time conference score of 436.35, the year's highest D2 score.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Madison West Invitational @ UW Natatorium
The state's biggest meet of the season took place last Saturday, with Madison West hosting an invitational with 20 mainly D1 teams competing. This has always been a fast meet, as it's held at the UW-Madison Natatorium and features several top D1 teams.
Although chief rival Hartland-Arrowhead didn't compete, Madison Memorial continued to make its case for being the favorite for the D1 state title later this month with an easy win. The Spartans beat next-door neighbor Madison West 309.5-204. It was a real log-jam after that, with Middleton, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, Marquette, Verona, Sauk Prairie, Neenah and Wausau West all bunched together in 4th-through-9th place separated by 26.5 points.
West coach Jean Shearer was elated with her team's runner-up finish, telling the Wisconsin State Journal that the key to the team's success was getting in shape. Huh? Turns out West is full of swimmers who play soccer, run cross country, and pursue other sporting activities in the fall, and thus it takes them a while to get into swimming shape compared to teams stocked with club swimmers.
A few other meet highlights:
-- Is there a better male swimmer in the state than Memorial's Michael Drives? You'd be hard-pressed to name one. Drives won two events -- the 200 IM and the 500 free -- both with season-best times this year in D1 (1:55.37 in the IM; 4:34.22 in the 500). His win in the 500 free was something to see -- a truly remarkable race that he won by nearly 18 seconds and drew the loudest applause of the meet from the appreciative crowd. He also anchored two Memorial relays to wins. Drives isn't just a terrific swimmer; he's humble and gracious in victory, making sure to shake hands with his competitors and genuinely congratulating them for their efforts. And here's another thing -- he doesn't duck tough opponents. Knowing Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Tyler Lentz would be at the meet and likely swimming in the 200 IM, Drives swam that event instead of the 200 free and the pair hooked up in a terrific race that Drives pulled out by 1.2 seconds (1:55.37 to 1:56.57 for Lentz). The night before, at Memorial's Big Eight duel meet at Madison East, Drives swam the 100 fly against East's Robert Miner, who had been posting some of the state's fastest fly times of the year. Rumor had it that Miner's times had been posted in the Memorial pool prior to the meet. Drives won that race, too, with a 52.49 to Miner's 53.25 that came down to the last 20 yards. Great swimmers take on big challenges -- one reason Drives is the leading force behind Memorial's drive to a 10th state title.
-- Memorial never seems to rebuild; it just re-loads. One good example came from the team's 200 medley relay, which was just edged out by defending state champs Wausau East in the medley, 1:40.09 to 1:40.10. Memorial finished third last year at state in the medley, but only breaststroker Shaun Marcott returned to swim the medley at the Invitational. Instead, Memorial used Illinois transfer Kyle Challis (backstroke), freshman Ben Anderson (fly) and senior diver Nate Broadbridge (anchoring free -- who knew?) to put together a strong relay. Broadbridge will certainly be an asset in Memorial's bid for a state title -- he won the diving competition last weekend, and is a strong contender for the state diving title this year.
-- Middleton's Sam Niesen was a double winner at the meet, easily taking the 200 free (1:42.91) by more than two seconds and the 100 back (52.19) in a terrific duel with Edgewood's Drew teDuits (52.53). Look for Niesen to swim the back at sectionals; he's the likely state favorite with two-time defending state champ Mitchell Friedmann of H-A opting for club swimming this year.
-- The best individual race of the night came in the 100 fly, where six swimmers went under 54 seconds and the final three places finished with .12 seconds of each other. It was Wausau East's Lucas Koening winning with a 53.39, followed closely by Sauk's Tyler Evans (53.42) and Madison East's Miner (53.52).
-- The meet also featured a highly anticipated match-up between the top two finishers at the state meet last year in 100 breaststroke -- defending champ Collin Neitzel of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial and Wausau East's Josh Hall. The diminutive Hall came into last year's state meet as the top seed and favorite, only to lose to the lanky Neitzel. Hall got his revenge last weekend, though, winning easily with a time of 58.21 to Neitzel's 1:00.89. This should be one of the better races to watch at this year's D1 state meet.
-- It was fitting that the last race of the night would come down to the last legs between the meet's best two swimmers -- Memorial's Drives and Middleton's Niesen (who began swimming against each other in outdoor summer club programs when they were not much older than toddlers; Niesen beat out Drives for the 8 & under 100 IM title at the 2000 Madison All-City swim meet). The two entered the water literally tied, with Memorial holding a a slim one-tenth of a second lead over Middleton (with Wausau East also in the mix). Drives and Niesen quickly got past East anchor Danny Brebrick, and duked it out over the last 50 yards neck and neck. Drives edged Neisen by .11 seconds in the end, with both swimming quick anchor legs of 46.24 (Drives) and 46.25 (Niesen). It should be fun to see those teams, and that relay in particular, match up against each other in the coming weeks -- Memorial and Middleton will meet up twice more at conference and sectional meets before the season-ending D1 state meet.
Although chief rival Hartland-Arrowhead didn't compete, Madison Memorial continued to make its case for being the favorite for the D1 state title later this month with an easy win. The Spartans beat next-door neighbor Madison West 309.5-204. It was a real log-jam after that, with Middleton, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, Marquette, Verona, Sauk Prairie, Neenah and Wausau West all bunched together in 4th-through-9th place separated by 26.5 points.
West coach Jean Shearer was elated with her team's runner-up finish, telling the Wisconsin State Journal that the key to the team's success was getting in shape. Huh? Turns out West is full of swimmers who play soccer, run cross country, and pursue other sporting activities in the fall, and thus it takes them a while to get into swimming shape compared to teams stocked with club swimmers.
A few other meet highlights:
-- Is there a better male swimmer in the state than Memorial's Michael Drives? You'd be hard-pressed to name one. Drives won two events -- the 200 IM and the 500 free -- both with season-best times this year in D1 (1:55.37 in the IM; 4:34.22 in the 500). His win in the 500 free was something to see -- a truly remarkable race that he won by nearly 18 seconds and drew the loudest applause of the meet from the appreciative crowd. He also anchored two Memorial relays to wins. Drives isn't just a terrific swimmer; he's humble and gracious in victory, making sure to shake hands with his competitors and genuinely congratulating them for their efforts. And here's another thing -- he doesn't duck tough opponents. Knowing Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Tyler Lentz would be at the meet and likely swimming in the 200 IM, Drives swam that event instead of the 200 free and the pair hooked up in a terrific race that Drives pulled out by 1.2 seconds (1:55.37 to 1:56.57 for Lentz). The night before, at Memorial's Big Eight duel meet at Madison East, Drives swam the 100 fly against East's Robert Miner, who had been posting some of the state's fastest fly times of the year. Rumor had it that Miner's times had been posted in the Memorial pool prior to the meet. Drives won that race, too, with a 52.49 to Miner's 53.25 that came down to the last 20 yards. Great swimmers take on big challenges -- one reason Drives is the leading force behind Memorial's drive to a 10th state title.
-- Memorial never seems to rebuild; it just re-loads. One good example came from the team's 200 medley relay, which was just edged out by defending state champs Wausau East in the medley, 1:40.09 to 1:40.10. Memorial finished third last year at state in the medley, but only breaststroker Shaun Marcott returned to swim the medley at the Invitational. Instead, Memorial used Illinois transfer Kyle Challis (backstroke), freshman Ben Anderson (fly) and senior diver Nate Broadbridge (anchoring free -- who knew?) to put together a strong relay. Broadbridge will certainly be an asset in Memorial's bid for a state title -- he won the diving competition last weekend, and is a strong contender for the state diving title this year.
-- Middleton's Sam Niesen was a double winner at the meet, easily taking the 200 free (1:42.91) by more than two seconds and the 100 back (52.19) in a terrific duel with Edgewood's Drew teDuits (52.53). Look for Niesen to swim the back at sectionals; he's the likely state favorite with two-time defending state champ Mitchell Friedmann of H-A opting for club swimming this year.
-- The best individual race of the night came in the 100 fly, where six swimmers went under 54 seconds and the final three places finished with .12 seconds of each other. It was Wausau East's Lucas Koening winning with a 53.39, followed closely by Sauk's Tyler Evans (53.42) and Madison East's Miner (53.52).
-- The meet also featured a highly anticipated match-up between the top two finishers at the state meet last year in 100 breaststroke -- defending champ Collin Neitzel of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial and Wausau East's Josh Hall. The diminutive Hall came into last year's state meet as the top seed and favorite, only to lose to the lanky Neitzel. Hall got his revenge last weekend, though, winning easily with a time of 58.21 to Neitzel's 1:00.89. This should be one of the better races to watch at this year's D1 state meet.
-- It was fitting that the last race of the night would come down to the last legs between the meet's best two swimmers -- Memorial's Drives and Middleton's Niesen (who began swimming against each other in outdoor summer club programs when they were not much older than toddlers; Niesen beat out Drives for the 8 & under 100 IM title at the 2000 Madison All-City swim meet). The two entered the water literally tied, with Memorial holding a a slim one-tenth of a second lead over Middleton (with Wausau East also in the mix). Drives and Niesen quickly got past East anchor Danny Brebrick, and duked it out over the last 50 yards neck and neck. Drives edged Neisen by .11 seconds in the end, with both swimming quick anchor legs of 46.24 (Drives) and 46.25 (Niesen). It should be fun to see those teams, and that relay in particular, match up against each other in the coming weeks -- Memorial and Middleton will meet up twice more at conference and sectional meets before the season-ending D1 state meet.
Small School State @ Shorewood
To no one's surprise, McFarland ran away with the Small School Invite title at Shorewood last Saturday, stamping itself (as if it hadn't already) as the team to beat at D2 state this year.
It was a dominant win by the Spartans, with their 367 points topping runner-up Whitefish Bay by 96 points. McFarland won half of the eight individual events, and all three relays, prompting Whitefish Bay junior Chuck Prestigiacomo to suggest the Spartans might be the best D2 team in history. How good are the Spartans? At a meet with 19 teams, the lowest finish among the Spartans' 18 individual swimmer entries was 11th place.
For Whitefish Bay, the meet served as their notice to the rest of the state that they are the team to beat for the runner-up trophy at D2 state. The team secured its runner-up finish by 52 points over the third-place hosts, with Sturgeon Bay and Milton rounding out the top five (Ashwaubenon, Madison Edgewood and Waunakee were the top-10 D2 teams absent from the meet). Other highlights:
-- McFarland continues to dominate teams in the distance events, going 1-2 in the 200 free and 1-7 in the 500 free, with senior Graham Thoresen winning both events. Thoresen pulled away from teammate Brian Heiser in the 200 free in the last 50 yards to win with a 1:45.98, the year's fastest time in D2. Heiser finished ahead of Milton's Jeff Maxwell (1:46.88 to 1:48.65) in a race that featured three of the best D2 distance swimmers in the state. Thoresen hooked up with Maxwell again in the 500 free, and after the pair swam away from the rest of the field in the opening 100 yards, Thoresen pulled away in the last 200 yards to win with a 4:47.04 to Maxwell's 4:50.09. The two rivals will surely hook up again at state in what should be a very good race, one in which Maxwell is the defending state champ.
-- The best race of the meet came in the 200 IM, with McFarland's O'Donnell brothers -- Brandon and Ryan -- hooking up against Delavan-Dariens' Nate Johnson. The O'Donnell brothers got off to an early lead, Brandon leading his little brother, but were chased down by Johnson, a great breaststroker, on the third leg of the race. In the end, Brandon O'Donnell just out-touched Johnson for the win by a hundreth of a second (1:59.01 to 1:59.02, the two fastest times of the season). Look for the two to see each other again at state, where O'Donnell finished second last year to Johnson's third, possibly joined by freshman Ryan O'Donnell.
-- Two other swimmers had breakout meets -- Whitefish Bay's Prestigiacomo and Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan. Prestigiacomo, a junior, won the 100 free over Heiser and finished second in the 50 free to Delavan-Darien's Alex Riegert. He also helped his team's medley relay finish second and 400-free relay finish third. Donovan, meanwhile, has been having a very good season after his terrific debut last year as a freshman, when he qualified for state in both the 200 free and 100 fly. He stamped himself as a state title contender in the 100 fly with an upset over Brandon O'Donnell in the 100 fly, winning with a time of 53.54 to 53.85.
-- Perhaps the biggest upset of the meet came in diving, where Plymouth's Mitchell Spaeth won over defending D2 state champ Mill Mathee of Cedarburg, 424.95-406.55. Spaeth was last year's runner-up; these two dive against each other frequently, and will see each other again at the Plymouth sectional and certainly at state.
It was a dominant win by the Spartans, with their 367 points topping runner-up Whitefish Bay by 96 points. McFarland won half of the eight individual events, and all three relays, prompting Whitefish Bay junior Chuck Prestigiacomo to suggest the Spartans might be the best D2 team in history. How good are the Spartans? At a meet with 19 teams, the lowest finish among the Spartans' 18 individual swimmer entries was 11th place.
For Whitefish Bay, the meet served as their notice to the rest of the state that they are the team to beat for the runner-up trophy at D2 state. The team secured its runner-up finish by 52 points over the third-place hosts, with Sturgeon Bay and Milton rounding out the top five (Ashwaubenon, Madison Edgewood and Waunakee were the top-10 D2 teams absent from the meet). Other highlights:
-- McFarland continues to dominate teams in the distance events, going 1-2 in the 200 free and 1-7 in the 500 free, with senior Graham Thoresen winning both events. Thoresen pulled away from teammate Brian Heiser in the 200 free in the last 50 yards to win with a 1:45.98, the year's fastest time in D2. Heiser finished ahead of Milton's Jeff Maxwell (1:46.88 to 1:48.65) in a race that featured three of the best D2 distance swimmers in the state. Thoresen hooked up with Maxwell again in the 500 free, and after the pair swam away from the rest of the field in the opening 100 yards, Thoresen pulled away in the last 200 yards to win with a 4:47.04 to Maxwell's 4:50.09. The two rivals will surely hook up again at state in what should be a very good race, one in which Maxwell is the defending state champ.
-- The best race of the meet came in the 200 IM, with McFarland's O'Donnell brothers -- Brandon and Ryan -- hooking up against Delavan-Dariens' Nate Johnson. The O'Donnell brothers got off to an early lead, Brandon leading his little brother, but were chased down by Johnson, a great breaststroker, on the third leg of the race. In the end, Brandon O'Donnell just out-touched Johnson for the win by a hundreth of a second (1:59.01 to 1:59.02, the two fastest times of the season). Look for the two to see each other again at state, where O'Donnell finished second last year to Johnson's third, possibly joined by freshman Ryan O'Donnell.
-- Two other swimmers had breakout meets -- Whitefish Bay's Prestigiacomo and Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan. Prestigiacomo, a junior, won the 100 free over Heiser and finished second in the 50 free to Delavan-Darien's Alex Riegert. He also helped his team's medley relay finish second and 400-free relay finish third. Donovan, meanwhile, has been having a very good season after his terrific debut last year as a freshman, when he qualified for state in both the 200 free and 100 fly. He stamped himself as a state title contender in the 100 fly with an upset over Brandon O'Donnell in the 100 fly, winning with a time of 53.54 to 53.85.
-- Perhaps the biggest upset of the meet came in diving, where Plymouth's Mitchell Spaeth won over defending D2 state champ Mill Mathee of Cedarburg, 424.95-406.55. Spaeth was last year's runner-up; these two dive against each other frequently, and will see each other again at the Plymouth sectional and certainly at state.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)