Here's what to look for during the upcoming D1 boys swim season:
-- Madison Memorial took home the title last year -- its 10th in school history, and fourth in the last five years -- with a combination of an amazing meet by Michael Drives, a strong showing in diving, and a host of swimmers moving up slightly from their seed placements at the state meet. It was enough to give the Spartans an 18-point victory over Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights. Drives, the best swimmer in the state, broke two state records last year, albiet one that resulted in a second-place finish to Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen in their thrilling duel in the 500 free. Now a senior, the West Point-bound Drives is the kind of versatile swimmer who can enter most any event -- as the current Natatorium pool-record holder in the 200 free, will he feel he's accomplished enough in that race and move back to the 200 IM, which he won at state his sophomore year? Sophomore state qualifiers Patrick Franken (500 IM/500 free) and Ben Anderson (50 free/fly) return, and junior Michael Salerno will take over as a top sprinting threat for the Spartans. But Memorial has to replace several graduated swimmers who contributed points at the state meet, including diver Nate Broadbridge, who's second-place finish at diving help propel the Spartans to the title. Memorial almost always brings in a strong freshman class; they'll need another one if they hope to repeat.
-- Besides Memorial, the state's other dominant D1 program during the decade has been Hartland Arrowhead, with four titles and three runner-up finishes. HA has to replace Hansen and the 37 points he scored at state last year in the 200 and 500 frees, but the team brings a lot of depth to the table this year. Nine swimmers who took part in the state meet last year return for coach Bob Jenkyns, including seniors Cody Roller (6th 200 IM/13th fly) and Chris Jenkyns (9th 500 free/11th back) and sophomore Jake Prodoehl (11th 200 free/8th 500 free). HA may not have the dominant swimmer that Hansen was the past two years at state, but this is one of the deepest squads in D1 this year.
-- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights was the surprise of the D1 state meet last year, earning its first runner-up trophy behind oustanding showings at the meet by three swimmers and two relays. Two of those swimmers -- seniors Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede -- return for coach Todd Wuerger this year, forming perhaps the best one-two punch in D1. The Iowa-bound Lentz won the 200 IM last year and finished 3rd in the back; he also contributed strong legs on Sauk's winning (and record-breaking) 200 free relay, as well as its first-place 400 free relay. The Purdue-bound Friede anchored both of those relays, shared a gold medal with a tie for 1st in the 50 free, and finished 2nd in the 100 free. Junior Paul Ballweg, also a member of the two winning relays, returns, as does junior backstroker Stephen Hanko. Look for Sauk to have two more outstanding relays at the state meet this year, along with Friede and Lentz being threats to win each of their individual events. If Wuerger can find a bit more depth, the Eagles may be in a position to make a run for another trophy this year.
-- If Sauk has the best one-two punch in the state, the Greenfield/Greendale co-op may have the best one-two-three punch. Senior Mike Lucchesi and juniors Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers comprise a versatile and strong trio; between them, the garnered six top-7 finishes in their individual events at last year's state meet, highlighted by Lennertz' runner-up finish in the fly. A DQ by the team's medley relay at last year's state meet --featuring all three of the swimmers -- cost the co-op a higher spot than their 10th place finish. It will be interesting to see if head coach Dale Schrank combines his fast trio into two relays, or spreads them out among three relays. An added bonus for the team: they will host the sectional meet this year, previously held at Racine Park, at Greenfield High School's brand-new pool.
-- No team suffered a bigger single loss to graduation than the New Berlin West/Eisenhower co-op, which lost three-time state champion Byron Butler (now at Iowa, yet another D1 state champ of recent years who has chosen to go out-of-state to swim collegiately). But New Berlin returns a solid cast of swimmers; they'll likely slug it out with Arrowhead at the Waukesha South sectional this year, and are looking to improve upon their 6th-place showing at last year's state meet. Among the swimmers returning: Pitt-bound senior Alex Rodernkirk (7th in the 200 free/6th in the 100 free) and sophomore Jasen Johnson (11th fly/15th breaststroke).
-- Fox Valley Conference foes Appleton North/East and Neenah both had top-10 finishes at last year's state meet, and return some strong state-qualifying swimmers. For North/East, look for senior Josh Kinney (200 IM/breaststroke) and sophomore Jake Iotte (200 IM/500 free) to lead the way; at Neenah, a strong junior class includes Matt Hollub (100 free/100 back), Aaron Sears (500 free/breaststroke), Connor Christiansen (200/500 frees), and Matt Lagieski (breaststroke).
Other notable teams and swimmers to watch:
-- Wausau East's Danny Brebrick returns to defend his 100 free title; East graduated two state champions in Lucas Koenig and Josh Hall.
-- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Nietzel looks to take back the 100 breaststroke title he won as a sophomore before finishing 4th to Hall last year.
-- Muskego's Bobby Wolf (13th 200 free/4th 500 free) and Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst (5th 200 free/3rd 500 free) are two of the state's top returning distance swimmers.
-- Verona will build around sprinter Derek Toomey (6th 50 free/5th 100 free), versatile junior Spencer Ritt (12th fly/9th back) and distance swimmer Jacob Olandt.
-- Marquette sophomore Lucas Kuriga hopes to repeat his strong freshman season, when he finished 4th in the 200 free and 15th in the fly.
-- Madison East got podium finishes from UW-Green Bay-bound Robert Miner in both the 200 free and fly; he'll be joined by double-state-qualifier Aaron Lickel (IM/100 free) and relay swimmer Coleman Fraser.
-- Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton junior diver Nathan Cox returns to defend his title; he'll be pushed by Appleton West/Kimberly senior Stephen Bothun and Marquette senior Michael Donofrio.
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5 comments:
Collin Neitzel is actually from Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial which will also be very strong and deep this year. Eric Oberst, Ryan Finke, Max Evans-Nolan and Noah Potratz make this a team with a real opportunity to be one of the top teams at the WIAA D1 State.
Thanks -- we'll fix that!
collin actually finished fourth in 100 br last year
Corrected -- I'll eventually get it right. Thanks!
Let me be the first to predict that Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial will be the State D1 champs this year. The structure of Sectionals and State are such that a team like South, which struggles in duals because they have only 13 swimmers but has two quality swimmers in every event and should be able to finish top 8 in every relay, should shine. They are a legitimate threat to place two swimmers in the top 5 in the 500 free and the 100 breast, two in the top 8 in the backstroke events, the 200 free and in the IM, a top 8 swimmer in the 50 and 100 free and they will have solid relay teams. The only thing they lack is a diver.
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