Girls 2009 season preview cont'd -- D1

Two questions as the D1 2009 girls swim season opens:

-- Can anyone stop Hartland-Arrowhead from winning its 7th state title in the past eight years?

-- Can anyone stop Madison East's Aja Van Hout?

The forecast here says: No, and no.

For the team race, HA would appear to have all the tools it needs to repeat as state champs. It has top-tier swimmers, state-qualifying quality at nearly stroke and race, and enough depth to put together three competitive relays. Two-time state champ Emma Goral (100 fly) leads a strong returning cast that includes returning state meet swimmers Haley Pietila (2nd in both the 200 and 100 frees), Caryn Knight, Kate Jones, Holly Johnson, and Tracy Vogel. Only Vogel and Knight are seniors; HA recaptured its state title last year with a lot of young swimmers. In fact, HA lost only seven points to graduation from the 256 points it scored to win last year's D1 state meet. Add in state-qualifying divers Mary Woodson and Lindsey Day, and HA looks like a solid candidate to repeat come November.

Madison East gave HA a run for the money last year after capturing its first state title in 2007. The Purgolders return a solid group of swimmers, led by Van Hout, who has won seven gold medals in the eight races she has swum at state so far in her careeer (four individual titles, three 1st-place relays). Senior Becca Soderholm (two 2nd-place finishes last year in the 200 IM and 100 fly) and junior Ivy Martin (3rd in the 50 free) also return for East, but departing senior Ruby Martin (four state individual titles, four relay state titles) will leave big shoes to fill.

As for Van Hout, she has a very good chance of joining some elite company in Wisconsin girls high school swim history -- only two swimmers (HA's Andrea Boritzke and Waukesha North's Connie Wright) have won eight individual state titles. Van Hout has won the 200 IM and 500 free each of the past two years, and her winning margins last year (3.37 seconds in the IM, 4.27 seconds in the 500) suggest she'll be tough to beat.

Other teams to watch:

-- Muskego had aims at a top-three finish at state last year, only to finish 5th. But the team returns a strong grup of swimmers, including three of the best sophmores around -- Emma Szczupakiewicz (2nd at state in the 100 back), Sami Pochowski (4th 100 free), and Jessica Wolf (4th 500 free). Add in senior Brittany Walsh (2nd in the 500 free and 3rd in the 200 free at state), and Muskego has top-tier swimmers to match up with most any team in the state. With a bit more depth, Muskego could be competing for some state trophy hardware in November.

-- Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay, like Muskego, returns a small but very strong group of swimmers that can compete with the best in D1, led by two-time state champ Emily Russart (100 breaststroke). Fellow seniors Lindsey Mikrut (4th 100 fly) and Ellie Lorensi, along with junior Maddie Clark, combined to win the 200 medley relay last year at state and give BBFWB a solid group of swimmers with the potential to place high at the state meet.

-- Waukesha South/Mukwonago has perhaps the most disappointing state meet of the top-tier teams, coming in seeded to finish 2nd and ending up a distant 4th. A number of swimmers return for WSM, led by distance swimmer Courtney Sheehan (4th 200 free, 5th 500 free). But the team also graduated several seniors, including top sprinter Arianna Gorenc.

-- Wausau East finished 8th last year, a strong showing for a team that hopes to move up this year with the return of most of its top swimmers. Juniors Hanna Hawker, Lea Koenig and Lauren Sichterman join senior Katie Gojewski to form what should be some formidable relays -- WEast finished 3rd in the medley and 2nd in the 200 free relay last year.

-- What of Madison Memorial? Coach Jason Verhelst usually finds himself reloading vs. rebuilding, but this year may be different. The Spartans -- 3rd-place finishers last year at state -- graduated a number of solid seniors, including top sprinter Kayla Smith and relay stalwarts Mackenzie King and Kendra Loch. Senior Jackie Powell returns to defend her state titles in the 200 free and 100 back. The Spartans also return a number of state meet swimmers from last year, including Mary Van Leuven, Kayce Smith, Alissa Endres, Dana Johnson, Ally Boutelle and Catie Beecher. The key question -- can those swimmers join Powell among the upper tier of finishers at state?

Other top swimmers to watch this year:

-- Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock will attempt to become only the second diver in state history -- and the first in D1 -- to capture four state titles. She'll no doubt also be chasing the all-time scoring record of Oshkosh North's Lauren LeRoy (502.45) at the state meet; Rosenstock's winning score of 471.60 last year was the second-best in D1 history.

-- Middleton junior Katie Delaney's time last year at state in the 500 free (4:54.65) was the 4th-fastest all-time in the event, but unfortunately it only netted her a 3rd-place finish at state. Swimming in lane 8, her gasp after looking up at her time on the scoreboard last year was one of the highlights of the state meet. She's finished 3rd and 2nd her first two years at state in this event.

-- With the graduation of a number of top sprinters, Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf will hope to improve on her placements this year at state; she was 4th in the 50 free and 7th in the 100 free.

-- Janesville Craig's Haily Schneider will look to move up higher on the podium this year after 3rd (200 IM) and 5th (100 breaststroke) place finishes at state last year; the same holds true for Green Bay East/Preble's Jasmine Lee, who posted 4th (200 IM) and 5th (100 back) place finishes last year.