Monday, November 2, 2009

Last state poll before sectionals

The latest WISCA (state coaches association) poll is out, and it shows Hartland Arrowhead (D1) and Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol (D2) on top (and thanks to all the Div. 2 coaches for posting results, making the D2 poll complete for the first time this season).

The polls -- based on top-30 times posted by coaches, and utilizing only the two best times of any given swimmer -- are a good reflection of where the two divisions sit on the eve of sectional qualifying competition. HA owns a big lead in Div. 1 -- 860 points to 334 for second-ranked Madison Memorial. One interesting development this season in D1 has been the emergence of a number of teams outside the Milwaukee-Madison orbit of swimming to move into the top 10. Here's the D1 poll:

1 -- Arrowhead: 860
2 -- Madison Memorial: 334
3 -- Madison East: 306
4 -- Waukesha South-Mukwonago: 304
5 -- Burlington-Catholic Central-East Troy-Waterford-Wilmont Union: 271
6 -- Muskego: 266
7 -- Wausau East: 248
8 -- Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln: 248
9 -- Oshkosh West: 226
10 -- Neenah: 214

In D2, the poll is a pretty accurate reflection of what appears to be a wide-open race this year for the state team title. Sturgeon Bay, which has swum well all season long and won the Small State Invite at Shorewood earlier this season, deserves the top spot in the poll. But titles are won in the water, not on paper, and there are a host of teams chasing the Clippers. It wouldn't be surprising to see any of the top half-dozen or so teams in the latest D2 poll come away with hardware from the state meet. Here's the D2 poll:


1 -- Sturgeon Bay-Sevastopol: 433
2 -- Milton: 399
3 -- Shorewood: 371
4 -- McFarland: 342
5 -- DeForest: 337
6 -- Madison Edgewood: 329
7 -- Sauk Prairie: 315
8 -- Whitefish Bay: 305
9 -- Plymouth: 243
10 -- Grafton: 216

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The WISCA state poll also awards points through the top 30 I think. It would be more realistic if it only scored 16 places.

Phil McDade said...

One other note about the rankings -- they don't include diving. So programs like Neenah in D1 and Grafton in D2 (both currently ranked 10th) are somewhat under-ranked, presuming they have their traditional strong diving presence at state. The same holds true for school's like Madison West and Edgewood, both of whom have divers who placed last year at state returning.