The newly formed Verona-Mount Horeb swim co-op (they're neighboring school districts) ventured over to the north suburbs of Milwaukee last Saturday for one of the first big meets of the season, and came away with an impressive win at the Nicolet Sprint Invitational. The Wildcats scored 336.5 points to win over D2 powers Whitefish Bay (318) and Shorewood (284.5). Middleton (279.5) and Madison East (186) rounded out the top five.
It's not surprising that a sprint invitational would be dominated by solid sprinters, and Verona/MH has a good one in senior Derek Toomey. He posted wins in the 50 free (21.55) by more than a second over Whitefish Bay's Chuckie Prestigiacomo, one of the better D2 sprinters in the state, and raced to a truly impressive four-second win in the 100 free in 47.30. That's not far off the time Toomey swam last year at the D1 state meet (47.17) to finish 5th. There are a bunch of top D1 sprinters back this year, but Toomey's performance Saturday certainly stamps him as a top contender in the two sprints come Februrary.
Toomey's contributions were augmented by a strong meet from junior Spencer Ritt, who won both the 100 and 200 IMs. The 200 IM was a particularly fun race to watch, as Ritt -- a very good flier and backstroker -- got off to a big lead during the first two strokes and then held off a hard-charging Jay Tomasiewicz of Shorewood. In the end, Ritt just held off Tomasiewicz 2:04.51 to 2:05.62. Verona also got a strong meet from senior Jacob Olandt, normally a 500-yard free swimmer who finished second in both the 100 and 200 frees. The Wildcats this year are a deep and veteran team, and with Toomey and Ritt have two top-tier swimmers. It will interesting to see them tangle -- frequently, as it turns out -- with defending D1 champs Madison Memorial this year. The two Big Eight schools will swim against each other in dual, conference and sectional meets this year, as well as some invites.
As for the rest of the meet:
-- The performance of Whitefish Bay and Shorewood should reinforce the notion that the Milwaukee suburban neighbors will be two of the better D2 squads in the state. Topping a very deep Middleton squad at Nicolet is no small feat. The two schools have a number of versatile swimmers, and enough depth to probably put together three state-qualifying relays. Whitefish Bay was particularly impressive in winning the 400 medley relay by nearly seven seconds; the Blue Dukes return all of the swimmers who swam on the team's 3rd-place 200 medley relay last year at state.
-- Madison East senior Robert Miner had a solid meet, with wins in the 200 free (1:48.66) and 50 fly (24.22). The UW-Green Bay recruit had two podium finishes at last year's state meet in the 200 free and 100 fly.
-- Looking for one of those breakout freshmen? Try Grafton 9th grader Al Nenning, whose sisters Sadie and Bailey have been stars for the Grafton girls team for several years. Nenning went up against state meet veterans Ritt and Jason Castillo of Whitefish Bay in the 100 IM and held his own, finishing third. He's already posted some solid times on the WISCA coaches top-30 list.
-- Monona Grove's divers had an impressive first meet, outscoring the field at Nicolet with 44 points behind first-place senior Trevor Sisson, a 4th-place from freshman Patrick Sisson, and a 9th place from junior Austin Anderson. Trevor Sisson, the top returning D2 diver from last year's state meet, won handily, topping Verona's Bill Reilly 407.20 to 362.20.
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