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.