Saturday, January 30, 2010

Spartan, err, Small School State (w/ results)

Just in case anyone was wondering, Division 2 still belongs to McFarland.

The Spartans won nine of 11 swimming events at the Small School State Invitational at Plymouth HS, demonstrating why they've won three straight D2 titles. Great depth, strong individual performances, and the best relays in the state added up to a 337-251 over runner-up Whitefish Bay in a repeat of the finish of last year's small schools invite. Shorewood took 3rd with 196, a surprising Monona Grove squad finished 4th (183), and Berlin/Green Lake took 5th (174) in a meet that brought together (with the exception of Madison Edgewood) the state's top D2 teams.

Where to begin with McFarland? It's hard to single out a group of individuals who swim so well, but:

-- The 200 medley relay of Ryan O'Donnell, Jacob Mandli, Collin Morgan, and Peter Grenzow got things off to a bang with a pool- and meet-record time of 1:39.46, besting the previous meet record by the great 2005 Sturgeon Bay team by more than second. The dominating relay won by more than four seconds over 2nd-place Whitefish Bay.

-- O'Donnell won the 200 IM (1:57.31) and the 100 fly, the latter in a meet and pool record time of 52.11 in what was one of the best races of the meet (Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan finished 2nd in 52.45, also breaking the meet and pool record).

-- Collin Morgan, swimming out of lane 1 in the final heat both times, won the 50 (22.48) and 100 (48.92) frees, showing he'll be a serious contender for the D2 state sprint titles next month.

-- Jacob Mandli, in perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.69) over Plymouth's Jesse Gambrell (1:02.61) and defending D2 state champ Alex Riegert (1:02.80).

Oh, and O'Donnell, Morgan and Mandli are all sophomores. Seniors Brian Heiser and Peter Grenzow showed the old men of the Spartan squad still had something in them, as Heiser won the 200 free (1:45.75) and Grenzow swam legs on all three winning relays. Combined with a number of other top-16 finishes (no one on the team finished lower than 14th on the day), and the Spartans showed why they're still the heavy favorites for a four-peat come February.

Other meet highlights:

-- Only Milton's Jeff Maxwell in the 500 free (4:45.65) and Cedarburg's Carl Newenhouse in the 100 back (53.19) prevented a McFarland sweep in the swimming events. Maxwell put up a spirited challenge to O'Donnell in the 200 IM, finishing 2nd in 1:58.85, and afterward said he's still mulling whether to swim the 200 free or 200 IM come sectional time. He swam the IM as a freshman, but has swum the 200 free the last two years at state, finishing 4th last year and 2nd in 2008.

-- Grafton freshman Al Nenning had a strong meet, finishing 3rd in the 100 free (50.41) and 2nd in the 100 back (54.37), beating out last year's D2 state runner-up in the event, Shorewood's Stephen Meyer, by more than a second.

-- Monona Grove's 4th-place finish was spearheaded by senior diver Trevor Sisson, who continues to dominate his D2 opposition this year. He racked up 454.95 points to win by nearly 100 points over runner-up Zach Schroeder of Plymouth in a performance that had dive meet observors buzzing afterwards about Sisson's proficiency on the board. There may not be a stronger favorite for a state title at the D2 state meet next month than Sisson in diving. MG's 4th-place showing was augmented by strong showings in the two free relays, as the 200 free relay finished 2nd (1:32.49) and the 400 relay clinched 4th place overall for the team with a fifth-place finish (3:27.16).

UPDATE: Full results now posted...
Boys Small School State 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Two great dual meets

This week saw two terrific dual meets pitting top teams from both D1 and D2, both decided by a mere three points. Here are some highlights:

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial 93, Brookfield 90

The WS/CM Blackshirts, #1 in the latest D1 state coaches poll, fended off a spirited bid for an upset from the #11 Brookfield Central/East co-op at the very fast Waukesha South pool. WS/CM clinched the victory with a win in the meet-ending 400 free relay, as the foursome of Alex Swain, Ryan Finke, Max Evans-Nolan and Dan Streater came out on top in very fast (and season-best for the team) 3:17.48. The Blackshirts needed the relay win to get the victory, as they were ahead by just one point heading into the final event.

The teams split the other two relays, with WS/CM taking the 200 medley (Streater, Colin Neitzel, Eric Oberst, and Evans-Nolan -- 1:43.32), while Brookfield took the 200 free relay (Erik Wahlgren, Siegfriend Speder, Theo LeClere, and Spencer Rose -- 1:32.08). Brookfield's relay depth helped keep the meet close, as their B relays took third place in all three relay events.

The meet got off to a bang with two great races in the opening two individual events. In the 200 free, Finke held off LeClere, 1:46.17 to 1:47.64. Then the Blackshirts' Neitzel just out-touched Brookfield's Rose in the 200 IM, 2:00.19 to 2:00.23 as both swimmers recorded season-best times, according to the WISCA top-30 times list. WS/CM's Swain continued to demonstrate he's probably the top D1 freshman this year in the state with wins in the 50 (22.51) and 100 frees (49.10). And WS/CM's big one-two punch in the 500 -- Noah Potratz (4:44.11) and Evans-Nolan (4:45.66)-- continued their dominating ways with a 1-2 finish in the long race.

Brookfield also kept the meet close with a 1-2-3 sweep in the diving that generated 13 points. But make no mistake -- this was a strong showing from the Brookfield co-op against one of the very best teams in the state. They'll meet again at the Metro Conference meet and at the Waukesha South sectional.

Cedarburg 93, Whitefish Bay 90

Led by junior Carl Newenhouse, host Cedarburg captured a close win over Whitefish Bay in a clash of D2 powers -- WBay #3 in the lastest D2 state poll, the Bulldogs #7. Relay depth played a big part in the win for Cedarburg; the team's B relays got critical third-place points in all three relays to help provide the margin of victory.

As for Newenhouse, he took on WBay's powerful 200 IM duo of Jason Castillo and D.J. Freisch and came away with a win, his 2:03.13 beating Freisch's 2:05.45 and Castillo's 2:06.95 (and it's an awfully rare sight in a D2 dual meet to see three IMers under 2:07, a testament to the quality of swimmers at this meet). Newenhouse, who has emerged this season as one of the best overall D2 swimmers in the state, then took the 100 free in 49.14. The 100 free proved to be a big turning point in the meet, as the Bulldogs added a 3rd from Michael Winter and a 4th from Nate Jones to go from being five points down to WBay to one point ahead. Notable, too, for the Bulldogs was Connor Neuville's win in the 200 free (1:54.72) over WBay's Chris Fink (1:56.02) in another quality race.

After the 100 free, the Bulldogs padded their lead through the next few events to give them enough cushion to withstand WBay's traditional meet-ending strength, as Friesch (1:05.65) and Castillo (1:06.88) went 1-2 in the breaststroke and the Blue Dukes very good 400 free relay of Chris Fink, Friesch, Castillo and Chuckie Prestigiacomo went 3:22.47 to easily win the last event. It will be interesting to see these two teams hook up again in the North Shore Conference meet in early February, and presumably we'll see more of these swimmers at the D2 state meet in three weeks.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

35th annual Packer Relays -- another tie

Another invite, another tie. Last weekend it was the Hillmen Invite in Platteville that resulted in a tie between Madison Edgewood and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights.

Last night it was the Packer Relays at Cudahy -- one of the longer-running meets in the Milwaukee area -- that saw Oak Creek and Franklin come away at the end of the all-relay meet tied with 154 points. Oak Creek clinched the meet tie with a win in the meet's final event -- the 100-yard free relay -- edging out Franklin by .22 seconds.

Franklin's sophomore Josh Lefeber continued his fine season for the Sabers with some strong swims. Notably, he came from nearly nine seconds behind on his anchor leg of the 300-yard breaststroke relay to pull out a win with a 1:02.59 anchor leg.

Full results here...

35th Annual Packer Relays 012710

Other meet highlights this week:

-- New Berlin topped Shorewood 102-81 Tuesday, winning 10 of 12 events (NB's margin was pushed up as the team swept the diving portion of the meet and its 13 points. The swimming portion of the meet was 89-81). Alex Rodenkirk and Jason Johnsen continued their strong seasons for the NB co-op with two wins each (Rodenkirk: 200 free -- 1:50.50; 500 free -- 4:59.53/Johnsen: 100 fly -- 55.28; 100 breaststroke -- 1:04.22), and swimming legs on the team's winning medley and 200 free relays. Shorewood's Jay Tomasiewicz (200 IM -- 2:06.79) and Stephen Meyer (56.50) prevented the NB sweep. The two teams will see each other again next week at the Woodland Conference meet.

-- Fort Atkinson topped Monona Grove Tuesday 93-77 in a meet that saw some close races go Fort's way. For FA, sophomore Wyatt Paull picked up wins in the 200 free (1:52.07)and 100 free (50.23), as did junior Evan Hill in the 50 free (23.28) and 100 fly (57.01), the latter in a terrific race with MG sophomore Jack Allen (57.28). With the win, Fort kept its place tied atop the Badger Conference South standings (with Madison Edgewood and Milton) heading into next week's conference meet. MG's 200 free relay racked up another impressive win with a time of 1:32.37, second among D2 teams in the state according to the WISCA top-30 list. Story on the meet here from the local Daily Union: http://dailyunion.com/main.asp?SectionID=37&SubSectionID=111&ArticleID=4458&TM=44938.28
Full results here...
MG vs Fort Results 012610

-- As one commentator already noted, Cedarburg topped Whitefish Bay Tuesday night; working on getting results from that meet.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A big week of swimming

Tonight kicks off a big week of swimming, with a bunch of very good meets. Among them:

-- New Berlin hosts Shorewood tonight in a battle for Woodland Conference supremacy. The New Berlin co-op, which combines swimmers from both Eisenhower and West high schools, is ranked #6 among D1 teams in the lastest state coaches poll, while Shorewood -- which has been on a great run this month -- is ranked #2 among D2 teams. Shorewood beat out New Berlin for second place behind Brookfield at the invitational it hosted earlier this month.

-- In a big Div. 2 matchup, #3 Whitefish Bay travels to #7 Cedarburg tonight in a match-up of two of the North Shore Conference's top teams. The two D2 powers will see each other three times over the next 12 days -- this dual meet, Small School State and the conference swim meet -- before heading their separate ways for sectionals (WBay to Cudahy, Cedarburg to Plymouth).

-- Monona Grove hosts Fort Aktinson tonight in a key Badger South Conference meet. Fort, 3-1 in the conference and ranked #5 in D2, is trying to maintain its hold on 1st place in the South; the Blackhawks are currently tied with Madison Edgewood and Milton in a conference that has four teams ranked in the top 10 of D2. MG, 2-2 in the conference and ranked #9, looks to play the spoiler.

-- Plymouth visits Berlin/Green Lake in another big D2 contest tonight. Berlin/Green Lake is #6 in the lastet poll; Plymouth is #8. These two squads, along with Cedarburg, loom as the favorites for the Plymouth sectional title next month.

-- Marquette travels to Menomonee Falls Thursday to take on the Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton co-op in a contest between the two of the better squads in the Greater Metro Conference. Marquette is #12 in the last D1 state poll; MF/G/H is #18. A sure meet highlight: two of the top D1 divers in the state -- Nathan Cox of MF/G/H, the defending state champ, and Mike Donofrio, 4th last year -- will face off.

-- In a meet prompted by the Madison West Invite being moved from Jan. 30 to Jan. 2 because of a conflict with a UW swim meet at the Natatorium, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights hosts Verona/Mount Horeb in a rare weekend dual meet Saturday. The meet features two top-10 D1 teams, with Sauk #7 and Verona #8. But there are also all kinds of fun little sub-plots with this meet, chief among another chance for top sprinters Matt Friede of Sauk and Derek Toomey of Verona to knock heads again. They've had some very good and close battles already this year, and will certainly meet again at the Middleton sectional and the D1 state meet. Let's hope for decorum on the sidelines, as well, as it's brother against brother between the coaches Wuerger -- Bill's the head coach for Verona, Todd for Sauk.

-- Finally, Plymouth HS will host this year's Small School State Invitational Saturday in the biggest D2 meet of the year so far. Nine of the current top-10 D2 teams in the state (only Edgewood will be absent) and 15 of the top 17 small school teams in the state will be at the invite. McFarland won it last year, followed by Whitefish Bay. Look in particular for some terrific relay races this year.

UPDATE: Thanks for the anonymous poster who pointed out a big one I missed -- Brookfield Central/East vs. Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial at the fastest pool in Wisconsin (WSouth) this Thursday. Brookfield, #11 in the lastest state poll, takes on the newly minted #1 D1 team in the state in the Blackshirts. WS/CM is the favorite, but Brookfield's depth could make this a close dual meet.

Prep profile: Madison East's Aaron Lickel

It's always nice to see local papers highlight swimmers among the many hard-working prep athletes. Here's one from the Wisconsin State Journal on Aaron Lickel, who's qualified for Div. 1 state swim meet his first three years at Madison East:

http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_d4ab2030-09f9-11df-a80f-001cc4c002e0.html

Besides the talents and hobbies mentioned, I have it on good authority he's a pretty decent euchre player.

Monday, January 25, 2010

A new #1 -- get out your black shirts

The new state coach's poll is out (http://www.wisca.net/polls), and there is a new #1 team in D1 -- the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial co-op.

The Blackshirts displaced Hartland Arrowhead, the leader of every poll done by WISCA this season. WS/CM entered the poll in the first week of January in the #3 position, and have been climbing steadily toward the top ever since. Still, the D1 field looks closely contested among the top four squads, with defending D1 state champs Madison Memorial and Bayport joining the Waukesha co-op and HA as the top-tier teams in D1.

D2 remains pretty much the same -- three-time defending champs McFarland with a healthy lead, followed by the two closely matched neighboring teams, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay. Madison Edgewood made a strong move to #4 this week, while the remaining top 10 is extremely close.

Here's the latest poll:

D1

1: Waukesha South-Catholic Memorial -- 468 points
2: Hartland Arrowhead -- 405
3: Madison Memorial -- 396
4: Bay Port -- 383
5: Eau Claire -- 322
6: New Berlin West/Eisenhower -- 318
7: Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights -- 307
8: Verona/Mount Horeb -- 290
9: Wausau East -- 239
10: Greenfield/Greendale -- 210

D2

1: McFarland -- 657 points
2: Shorewood -- 462
3: Whitefish Bay -- 458
4: Madison Edgewood -- 368
5: Fort Atkinson -- 304
6: Berlin-Green Lake -- 278
7: Cedarburg -- 276
8: Plymouth -- 274
9: Monona Grove -- 273
10: Milton -- 247

Fit to be tied in Platteville

After nine individual races and three relays, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights and Madison Edgewood ended the Hillmen Men's Swimming Invitational in Platteville Saturday the way they began it -- tied.

The two Badger Conference schools -- Sauk from the North division and Edgewood from the South -- finished with 381 points. Hononegah, from Rockton, IL, finished third (336), followed by Milton (316) and Muskego (315).

Sauk got big days out of seniors Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz, with both setting meet and pool records. Friede ripped off a 1:45.12 200 free, edging out by a few tenths of a second the meet and pool record set by former D2 state champ Rion Epping of Delavan-Darien in 2000. Friede's winning 100 free time of 47.42 broke Badger/Big Foot state champion Wes Laugerhausen's pool record by .13 seconds (and Verona state champ Neil Walker's meet record dating back to 1993).

Lentz, meanwhile, continued his outstanding season with a near-seven-second win in the 100 fly (52.46 -- just off the pool and meet record set by former DeForest state champ Scott Trevorrow) and a fairly stunning 58.49 in the 100 breaststroke, which not only broke the pool and meet record by more than two seconds, but easily outpaced runner-up Alex Riegert of Delavan-Darien (1:01.94), the reigning D2 state champ in the event. It's the best 100 breaststroke time in D1 this year by more than half a second -- not bad for an event Lentz doesn't swim that often. I'm not sure there has been a more impressive swimmer this year in the state than Lentz; he has looked sharp from the very first meet of the season and continues to build an impressive resume heading into February.

Lentz and Friede also teamed up to give Sauk a first-place finish in the 200 free relay, where they are the defending state champs. Lentz also contributed a quick 23.35 fly leg on Sauk's winning medley relay.

Edgewood was led by junior Drew teDuits, apparently recovered from the mid-season ailment that forced him out of the Marquette Invite earlier this month after only one race. teDuits won the 200 IM (2:00.19 -- second-fastest this year in D2) and the 100 back (54.12). He also swam a very quick 22.90 fly leg on Edgewood's second-place medley relay.

Milton's Jeff Maxwell got the best of Edgewood's Chase Stephens in a match-up of D2's two best distance freestylers. Maxwell finished third in the 200 free with a 1:47.22 to Stephens' 4th-place 1:50.04, well off his best time of the season. Maxwell came back to take first in the 500 with a 4:45.46, just off his D2-leading season-best, while Stephens finished second in 4:51.15.

At the conclusion of the meet, Platteville/Lancaster head coach Tom Caccia suggested a swim-off -- between Edgewood assistant coach Dave Dahler and Sauk head coach Todd Wuerger -- to settle the tie. Cooler heads prevailed, and Sauk took home the first-place trophy with a flip of the coin. The Platteville meet organizers plan to order up a duplicate first-place trophy and send it to Edgewood.

Full results here...
2010 SHS Boys Invite


In other weekend meets:

-- Defending D1 state champ Madison Memorial topped top D1 contender Hartland Arrowhead 590.5-541.5 at the West Bend Invitational. Memorial took seven of the 12 events at the meet, including the two free relays, with Michael Drives (200, 400 frees), Ben Anderson (50 free, 100 fly) and Patrick Franken (200 IM) picking up individual wins. Memorial's relay wins in the 25-meter pool were particularly impressive, with a 3.83-second win over a solid Neenah team in the 200 free relay and a big 4.73-second win over Arrowhead in the 400 free relay. Arrowhead's medley relay, along with Jake Prodoehl in the 100 free and Chris Jenkyns in the 100 back, garnered wins for HA.

-- Bay Port picked up yet another invite win, this one at the Indian Invitational at Menomonee Falls. The Pirates tallied 516.5 points to easily top the host MFalls/Hamilton/Germantown co-op (362). Sheboygan South (274), Berlin/Green Lake (268.5) and Janesville Craig (226) rounded out the top five. As they have all year long, Bay Port relied on its outstanding crew of freestylers to take all three relays, along with wins in the 100 and 200 frees by Ryan Kueler (48.56; 1:47.15) and the 200 IM (2:02.02) and 500 free (5:01.68) by Andrew Sumnicht). Sean Kimmitt in the fly (52.82) and Nick Bietz in the back (56.92) picked up wins for the host team. MF/H/G diver Nathan Cox, the defending D1 state champ in diving, broke a pool record with his winning score of 503.20.
UPDATE: Results here...
Indian Invite Results1!23!2010

-- Racine Case held off a dominant showing of first-place finishes by Greenfield/Greendale to take the Kenosha Bradford Invitational 431-371 for G/G. The Green machine picked up wins in eight of the 12 events, with Jack Lennertz (50 free -- 22.71; 100 fly -- 51.94), Mike Lucchesi (200 free -- 1:47.07; 500 free -- 4:59.25) and Matt jungers (200 IM -- 2:01.87) all picking up individual wins for G/G. The co-op also swept all three relays. Tyler Bastian had the lone first-place finish for the winning squad, taking the 100 free in 52.01.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Memorial unbeaten streak runs to 100

Given the general strength of swimming in the Madison area, it's worth noting that longtime D1 state power Madison Memorial ran its unbeaten streak to 100 meets in the Big Eight Conference Friday night with a win over Madison West, 114-56.

The Wisconsin State Journal (finally) provides some nice coverage of the meet, complete with pictures and video. here:

http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_83cddeea-07bb-11df-a5c8-001cc4c03286.html

Memorial has won 10 state titles in its history, and it was nice to see former coach Gary Kolpin, who led the rise to prominence of the program, on hand for the milestone (he still can't get over the last loss by the Spartans in the Big Eight).

Memorial is the defending D1 state champs, and almost always swims well late in the season. With several other teams -- Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, and Bayport among them -- demonstrating their prowess this year, the D1 team race next month is shaping up as one of the better ones in recent years.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Greenfield's new pool



Greenfield High School recently opened its new pool, and two meets have already been held there. As the site of the Woodland Conference swim meet this year, as well as the sectional swim meet previously held at Racine Park, I decided to take a look at the pool and snap some pictures.

The Greenfield school district and those associated with this project deserves kudos for doing this right; it's one of the best high school pools in Wisconsin I've seen. Why?

-- The pool space feels big and airy. The pool sits on ground level, with all of the seating above, and an arching ceiling well above the second floor. Those used to swimming in low-ceiling pools that feel cramped will welcome competing here.

-- The eight-lane, 25-yard pool is plenty wide, not like some older pools with narrow lanes. Width usually means a faster pool. It's too early to tell whether the Greenfield pool will rival Waukesha South as the fastest pool in the state, but it certainly won't be a slow one.

-- There is ample deck space for officials, coaches and swimmers to congregate. This is not to be overlooked; pools are expensive to build, and oftentimes one of the first things to go when pool projects get scaled back is deck space. This feels roomy.

-- There are some nice architectural touches, particularly the windows on both the start and turn ends of the pool way up high, beneath the ceiling. Lighting is outstanding, as the lights are turned upward toward the white ceiling and reflect down, adding to the airy feel of the place.

-- The upper-level seating area holds 400. Just as you don't build a church for Easter Sunday, all pools could probably use more space for the once-a-year sectional meets. But it should be fine for most meets, and certainly adequate for sectionals. Right now the concrete seating area is a bit spartan, as benches have yet to be added.

All in all, a terrific addition to the Wisconsin high school pool scene.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A scrambled Badger Conference South

Apologies for getting around to this a day late, but the Badger Conference South -- one of the more competitive swim conferences in the state -- has a logjam at the top.

The jam-up comes courtesy of Madison Edgewood's narrow 86-84 victory over Milton Tuesday night at the Redhawks' pool. Combined with Milton's win earlier this season over Fort Atkinson, and Fort's own victory over Edgewood in December, the three teams now all stand 3-1 on the season with one dual-meet to go next week.

The previously mentioned match-ups between distance swimming standouts Chase Stephens of Edgewood and Jeff Maxwell didn't pan out, as Edgewood chose to put Stephens in the 50 and 100 free sprints. He won both (22.28 in the 50, a D2 season-fastest 48.16 in the 100), while Maxwell won the 200 (1:47.43) and 500 (a D2 season-best 4:44.49) frees. Edgewood's Drew teDuits added wins in the fly (52.57) and back (a D2 season-best 51.99) in a meet that saw a bunch of fast times.

Milton opened the meet strongly, with wins by its Maxwell-led medley relay (1:44.34), Maxwell in the 200 free, and Brandon Benson in the 200 IM (2:10.71). But Edgewood proved it's not just a two-man team, as Mark Vukich, Eric Wendorf and Eric Madsen all joined Stephens and teDuits on Edgewood's two winning free relays. Edgewood's first-place 400 free relay (3:22.67 -- a season-best for the Crusaders) clinched the win.

These two teams will go at it again this Saturday at the Hillmen Invitational in Platteville. And the Badger Conference South conference meet should be a real shoot-out -- the conference championship is awarded via a combination of points awarded for conference dual meets and the conference meet results. If all three first-place teams win their dual meets next week (Edgewood hosts Stoughton, Milton hosts Oregon, and Fort travels to Monona Grove), they'll be tied for points entering the conference meet, and the highest-finishing team among the three will take home the conference title. With four of the top-10 D2 teams in the state taking part (Fort is currently #4 in the latest WISCA poll, followed by Edgewood at #6, MG at #7, and Milton at #10), it should be a highly competitive -- and fast -- meet.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Round-up of weekend meets

It was a busy weekend for boys swimming. Here are some highlights:

-- The Brookfield co-op (Central and East high schools) won the Shorewood Invitational with 519.5 points, easily topping D2 power Shorewood (468.5) and New Berlin (421). Nicolet (270.5), West Bend (236.5) and Kenosha Tremper (184) followed. The Brookfield team, #9 in the latest state D1 poll, was led by senior Spencer Rose, who won the 200 IM (2:01.75) and contributed legs on the team's winning 200 free (1:31.22) and 400 free (3:19.48) relays. Distance swimmer Colton Gilmore picked up a win in the 500 free (4:57.73), while William Sass picked up a win in diving (372.55). New Berlin also won five events, including the medley relay, but couldn't keep up with Brookfield's superior depth. Alex Rodenkirk continued his fine season with wins in the 200 (1:45.58) and 100 free (47.52), while Jason Johnsen picked up win in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.94) and Josh Solie did likewise in the 50 free (22.90) for NB. Shorewood's Stephen Meyer picked up a win in the 100 back (55.34).

UPDATE -- Results here...
2010 SHS Boys Invite

-- D2 Ashwaubenon won the Neenah Rocket Sprint Invitational, a meet that featured almost all sprints, including the rarely contested (past the age of 8) 25-yard free (won by Appleton North/East's Josh Kinney in 11.72). The Ashwaubenon Jaguars won only one event at the meet -- the 100-yard free relay -- but used its depth to pick up the win, 540.5 tp 495. Appleton N/E finished 3rd with 477. Neenah's Matt Hollub had a hand in three wins for the host team, including the 100 free (48.6). Nathan Cox of Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton won the diving with 440.90 points over Appleton West/Kimberly's 369.90 in a match-up of two top contenders for the D1 state diving title; Cox is the defending state champ.

-- Sheboygan South won its Redwing Invitational, racking up 426 points to finish ahead of D2 rival Plymouth with 389 points. Plymouth won four events to Sheboygan South's one, but the Redwings used solid depth to capture the title. Plymouth's Jesse Gambrell won the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke; details here:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100117/SHE020507/1170543/-1/varsity

with some nice photos of the meet here from the Sheboygan Press:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=U0&Dato=20100116&Kategori=SHE0205&Lopenr=1160810&Ref=PH

-- Led by Greg Hameister, D2 Berlin/Green Lake won the Fond du Lac Invitational with 354 points, topping Racine Case (306). Other top teams included Hartford (300), Wausau East (289) and Waunakee (243). Hameister, emerging in his sophomore year as one of D2's better sprinters, won the 100 free (49.53) and was 2nd in the 200 free (1:50.01), while leading off his team's winning 400 free relay with a nifty 49.21 opening leg. Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst and Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, two of the better D1 swimmers around, hooked up twice in the 200 and 500 frees, with Kohnhorst winning both times (1:45.64 to 1:45.90 in the 200 free; 4:46.79 to 4:51.94 in the 500). Brebrick got a bit of revenge in the 200 free relay, his 21.75 anchor leg sealing a win for WEast in the event.

Full results here...
FondyInvite2010

Latest state polls

After a flurry of big meets this past week, the new state polls are out (http://www.wisca.net/polls). Here they are:

D1

1: Hartland Arrowhead -- 493 points
2: Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 487
3: Madison Memorial -- 442
4: Bay Port -- 435
5: New Berlin West-Eisenhower -- 340
6: Verona/Mount Horeb Area -- 325
7: Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights -- 316
8: Madison West -- 251
9: Brookfield Central-East -- 240
10: Wausau East -- 225

D2

1: McFarland -- 692 points
2: Shorewood -- 535
3: Whitefish Bay -- 491
4: Fort Atkinson -- 350
5: Cedarburg -- 323
6: Madison Edgewood -- 311
7: Monona Grove -- 308
8: Plymouth -- 298
9: Berlin-Green Lake -- 293
10: Milton -- 283

Thoughts: Pretty accurate portrayal of the landscape this year. D1 looks extremely close, with four teams -- Arrowhead, Waukesha S/CM, Memorial and Bayport -- separated by 58 points, which isn't that much. Then a jump-down to a second tier of teams, bunched fairly close together. From this glance, it looks like the Middleton and Waukesha South sectionals -- both with four top-10 teams -- look to be the most competitive this year.

In D2, three-time defending champs McFarland clearly have been the top squad this year, followed by neighboring rivals Shorewood and Whitefish Bay. The next seven teams are separated by only 67 points. As of this poll, the Baraboo sectional has five of the top 10 teams in the state -- that's one tough sectional.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

2009 boys qualifying times

The WIAA recently took down the 2009 boys D1 and D2 qualifying standards from their website.

In an effort to be your full-service swim blog, here they are (we'll be doing a bit more analysis on recent qualifying standards and this year's times as sectionals approach):
BoysQualifyingStandards 2009

Memorial-McFarland match-up -- Spartans win!

OK, OK, a free subscription to the blog for anyone who laughs at the headline.

Saturday's Cardinal Relays at Middleton saw a match-up between the two defending state champs in boys swimming -- the Div. 1 Spartans of Madison Memorial and Div. 2 Spartans of McFarland. Memorial came out on top 166-140 in a meet that saw a number of good races (Madison West was 3rd with 115, followed by Middleton at 98 and Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights with 78).

Memorial won three of the 11 swimming events, and sophomore Patrick Franken had a hand in all three wins. Franken, who emerged late last season as one of the top freshman in the state, anchored the winning 800-free relay with a scintillating 200 free split of 1:43.84 (7:25.24 overall). He also anchored Memorial's winning 200 free relay (1:29.32), his 22.04 anchor leg enough to keep the lead given to him by his teammates and hold off an on-rushing Matt Friede of Sauk (20.81 anchor leg). Franken also opened the 400 free relay for Memorial (49.55), which topped Sauk -- the defending state champs in the event -- by 3+-seconds with a time of 3:16.14, the fastest in the state this year for D1 teams.

McFarland picked up two wins -- the 400 IM medley (two 100 IMs sandwiched around one 200 IM), and the 300 breaststroke relay (alternating between 50 and 100 breaststrokes). In the former, sophomore Ryan O'Donnell ripped off a 1:55.75 200 IM leg to give the relay the lead and an eventual 2+-second win over Greenfield/Greendale's powerful trio of Mike Lucchesi, Matt Jungers, and Jack Lennertz. In the latter, sophomore Jacob Mandli sealed a win over a very good quartet of Madison West breaststrokers with a 1:01.31 anchor leg. McFarland racked up five other top-3 finishes in the relay meet, demonstrating the kind of depth that makes them tough competition for their D2 peers next month.

G/G got some revenge on McFarland in the 300 fly relay, with Lennertz -- probably the favorite for the D1 fly crown at state next month -- anchoring (51.23) a narrow, .26 seconds win over McFarland and O'Donnell (50.80).

Additional coverage by the Wisconsin State Journal here:

http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_44e003c2-0309-11df-9a07-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story

Full results here...

Middleton Relays Results 011610 (1)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Bayport rolls to another title

The Bayport express keeps rolling along, as the team from the Green Bay suburbs of Howard and Suamico ran up another impressive victory at the Appleton North/East Lightning Invitational Friday.

The Div. 1 Pirates won 9 of 11 events at the meet, sweeping all three relays in the process. They racked up 528 points to finish well ahead of Div. 2 Whitefish Bay, 528-381. The host North/East co-op finished third (322), followed by Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door (221), Brown Deer/University School (200), and Ashwaubenon (195.5).

What makes Bayport a tough team to match up against is their abundance of freestyle sprinters. High school swimming is weighted toward short freestyle races, and the Pirates have a bunch of good ones, evidenced by the team's sweep of the top three spots in the 100 free. Ryan Keuler (48.74) led the way, followed by teammates James Killian (49.91) and Mitch King (50.62). Killian (22.21) and King (23.60) led a 1-3 finish for the team in the 50 free, with Killian easily topping University of Wisconsin recruit Chuckie Prestigiacomo of Whitefish Bay by more than seven-tenths of a second. Keuler added a win in the 200 free (1:46.24) with a four-second win over Appleton North/East's Jake Iotte (1:50.31).

Of course, with an abundance of free sprinters, you're bound to have good free relays, and Bayport has some of the best in the state. Its winning 200 free relay Friday night (Killian, King, Keuler and Andrew Sumnicht) posted a 1:29.32, topping its previous best time this season by nearly half-a-second; only Madison Memorial (1:29.21) has swum a faster 200 free relay time this season among D1 squads according to the lastest state coaches top-30 list. The 400 free relay of King, Sumnicht, Max Van Egeren and Teddy Stackman posted a 3:18.03, more than two seconds faster than its previous best time and 4th-fastest in the state this year among D1 relays, according to the top-30 list. For good measure, the Pirates' medley relay of Keuler on back, Stackman on breaststroke, Van Egeren on fly and Killian on free posted a near-five-second win in the event with a time of 1:40.03, second-fastest in the state and once again topping their previous season best. Sumnicht added a double win in the 200 IM (2:01.91) and 500 free (4:55.25), while Van Egeren cruised to an easy win in the 100 fly with a time of 54 seconds flat.

So far, much of the speculation around the best Div. 1 teams in the state has centered on defending state champs Madison Memorial, #1 ranked Hartland Arrowhead, and a surging Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial squad. It's probably time to add Bayport to that list.

As for the runners-up, Whitefish Bay continued to post a number of impressive swims, particularly its relays. Its relays finished 3rd (medley), 2nd (200 free) and 3rd (400 free) at the meet. Its 200 free relay time of 1:31.18 is faster by more than a second than any other 200 free relay posted yet this year among D2 squads, and its 400 free relay went 3:23.62 -- its fastest of the year, and second-fastest among D2 relays this year. Chris Fink picked up a win in the 100 back (55.89) for the Blue Dukes.

UPDATE: Full results here....

Lightning Invite Results 011510

Friday, January 15, 2010

Rosenstock makes Sports Illustrated

Madison West diver Kylie Ronsenstock, who this past fall won her fourth state Div. 1 diving title, is featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd," which features outstanding accomplishments by high school and collegiate athletes.

See here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/scorecard/faces/2010/01/18/

Rosenstock was profiled by the Wisconsin State Journal in November just prior to winning her 4th title:

http://host.madison.com/sports/columnists/rob_hernandez/article_1953dec4-cd97-11de-acec-001cc4c03286.html

She'll continue her diving career at Stanford.

A great rivalry about to unfold

One of Wisconsin's best swimming rivalries is about to unfold in the coming weeks.

Milton's Jeff Maxwell and Madison Edgewood's Chase Stevens will have the opportunity to swim against each other five times in the next five weeks in their specialties -- the 200 and 500 frees. The two Div. 2 seniors currently own the two top times on the WISCA top-30 list in the 500 -- 4:45.41 for Maxwell, 4:45.55 for Stephens -- as well as the 200 -- 1:44.59 for Stephens, 1:46.21 for Maxwell.

Although nothing is guaranteed, there's a good chance Maxwell and Stephens will be swimming both the 200 and 500 frees against each other alot in the next several weeks. Milton goes up against Edgewood next Tuesday in a key Badger South Conference dual meet match-up. Four days after that, Milton and Edgewood will take part in the Hillmen Boys Swimming Invitational in Platteville. Then it's the Badger Conference South swim meet Feb. 16, sectionals at Baraboo Feb. 13 (Milton was moved into the Baraboo sectional with Edgewood earlier this season), and the D2 state meet Feb. 19.

Both are a sure bet to swim the 500 free come D2 sectional time -- they are the top two returning swimmers in the event. Maxwell, who won the D2 500 free title as a sophomore, was just edged out last year by McFarland senior Graham Thoresen, his time of 4:39.39 falling just .23 seconds short of a repeat win. Stephens was third in the race last year with a 4:43.14. The top three swimmers last year were nearly eight seconds clear of the field at the end.

As for the 200 free, Stephens was third last year at the D2 meet, his 1:43.21 just .31 seconds behind winner Brian Heiser of McFarland in an extremely close race. Maxwell finished 4th with a 1:43.83. Maxwell is a very versatile swimmer, and has other choices beyond the 200 free as his second event, but he's swum the 200 free the last two years at sectionals and state.

The two swimmers also offer a contrast in styles. The compact Maxwell, who looks like he'd be just at home playing linebacker on a football team, uses his powerful legs and upper body to power through the water, and gets a great push of the wall on turns. The lanky Stephens, meanwhile, uses the tremendous reach of his 6'-7" frame to just eat up yardage. As a friend of mine said while we watched him swim the other day: "You can't teach height."

Both will soon depart the Wisconsin high school swim scene -- Maxwell off to swim at UW-Milwaukee, Stephens to swim for Northwestern. But for the next several weeks, their battle in two of high school's longest events should be a treat to watch (and for what it's worth, in a sport that seems to lure a bunch of terrific high schoolers, Maxwell and Stephens are two of the nicest and best sportsmen around).

So here's my advice -- if you're at an upcoming meet with these two teams, wait to take the bathroom break or trip to concessions until after the 500 free. It'll be worth it.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New pool and a great meet

Greenfield's new pool made its debut this week with a terrific dual-meet matchup between two Woodland Conference rivals -- New Berlin and Greenfield/Greendale.

The two squads feature several of the top Milwaukee-area Div. 1 swimmers, but New Berlin had the better of the match-ups, winning 9 of the 12 events.

Two freestyle races -- the 100 and 200 frees -- matched up NB's Alex Rodenkirk against G/G's Mike Lucchesi, and Rodenkirk (having a very good season so far) came out on top both times. In a very fast and close race in the 200, Rodenkirk went 1:45.47 in the 200 to 1:45.90 for Lucchesi, then 47.59 in the 100 free to 48.55 for Lucchesi.

NB's Jason Johnson also had two big wins over G/G's Matt Jungers, out-touching him in the 100 fly 53.56-53.62, then coming back with a 7+-second win in the 100 breaststroke, with Johnson going 1:01.98.

G/G's Jack Lennertz won twice, topping NB's top sprinter Josh Solie in the 50 free (22.41-22.97), and then earning a near-3-second win the 100 back (56.69) over NB's Matt Schumacher. Solie, swimming the funky 50-500 free double on the night, edged out G/G's Andrew Staszak in the 500 free (5:14.94-5:15.55).

And in the best race of the night, most of the the top guns for each team faced against each other in the 400 free relay, and the NB team of Schumacher, Solie, Johnson, and Rodernkirk anchoring came from behind to top the G/G team of Lucchesi, Staszak, Lennertz and Jungers, 3:22.39 to 3:23.55.

Interestingly, the three best teams in the Woodland Conference -- New Berlin, Greenfield/Greendale, and Shorewood -- all go their separate ways for sectional competition. NB heads to to the highly competitive Waukesha South sectional, G/G will host the Greenfield sectional this year, and D2 Shorewood swims at the Cudahy sectional. All three teams will certainly send multiple swimmers to the UW Natatorium for state meets next month.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Sorting out the Badger Conference

The Badger Conference -- divided into North and South divisions -- remains one of the most competitive swim conferences in the state. Last year's D2 state champs -- McFarland -- along with last year's D1 runners-up -- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights -- came out of the North, while three of the top nine teams in last year's D2 state meet (Edgewood, Milton and Fort Atkinson) came out of the South.

Last night's dual meets in the Badger went a long way toward sorting out the dual-meet champs in both divisions. In the North, McFarland traveled to Sauk and came away with a convincing 102-68 win. Sauk has two of the best swimmers in the state in Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede, but McFarland has some top ones as well, along with the kind of depth that few teams in the state -- D1 or D2 -- can match.

Lentz, the defending state champ in the 200 IM, easily won a match-up with McFarland's Ryan O'Donnell (2nd at D2 state last year in the IM) in the race (1:54.93-2:00.05), and came back later in the meet to lead a 1-2 Sauk finish with teammate Stephen Hanko in the backstroke. He also joined helped Sauk race to a 3+-second win in the meet-opening medley relay (1:41.78-1:44.98 for McFarland).

But McFarland can put quality swimmers in every event in a dual meet, and senior Brian Heiser led strong showings by the Spartans with wins in the two distance freestyles. Breaststroker Jacob Mandli, in the middle of a very good season, led a 1-2-3 finish for the Spartans in the breaststroke.

Fittingly, the best race of the night was the last, as the two teams battled it out in the 400 free relay. The Spartans opening trio of swimmers (O'Donnell, Peter Grenzow, and Colin Morgan) handed Heiser the lead going into the anchor leg, and that would be good enough in most races, as Heiser's 100 free speed is outstanding (he was 3rd last year in the 100 free at D2 state). But Friede is a special swimmer, and has tremendous closing speed. In the end, Friede caught his finish right on stroke, while Heiser was caught a bit in between strokes, and Sauk got the win with a time of 3:19.08 to 3:19.16 for the Spartans.

More details here from Sauk Prairie Eagle reporter Dan Larson:

http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_b1ecd3fa-fffd-11de-93a6-001cc4c03286.html

Down in Fort Atkinson, Milton solidified its hold on the Badger South dual-meet title with a 91-79 victory over Fort Atkinson. The Red Hawks were led by senior Jeff Maxwell, who won the 100 fly and 100 back, and led off the team's winning medley relay (1:44.85). Maxwell is the kind of swimmer that coaches crave -- you can slot him into almost any high school event (save for perhaps the breaststroke) and he'll usually emerge the winner. In Milton's case, that gives the deep Red Hawks squad a lot of versatility on how to build a dual-meet lineup. Breaststroker Erik Swanson also provided a key late-meet win with a strong showing (1:05.04) in the 100 breaststroke, and freshman Brandon Benson picked up a big win in the 500 free (5:23.66). Fort Atkinson actually had the edge in events won, 6-5, including two of the three relays, but Milton's superior depth proved to the difference.

Milton still has a solid Edgewood squad to tangle with next week (the Crusaders beat Monona Grove 96-74 last night), but thanks to Maxwell and Co., look primed to defend their Badger Conference South title next month.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Weekend meet round-up

Last weekend was a big one for swim invites around the state. Here's a quick round-up:

-- McFarland ran away from the seven-team field at the College Events Invitational at Stoughton HS Saturday, its 737 points easily topping fellow Badger Conference North team Baraboo (515). The Spartans won all three relays -- the 400 medley, the 200 free, and the 800 free -- and 10 of the 13 individual events. Only DeForest/Sun Prairie's Chris Hovel (50/100 frees) and Monona Grove's Jake McDade (200 back) prevented a clean sweep by McFarland. Double winners for the Spartans in individual events included senior Peter Grenzow (200 free/100 back) and Max Schimanski (1,000/500 frees). Particularly impressive was sophomore Jacob Mandli's 15+ second-win in the 200 breaststroke; his opening 100 of 1:04.07 would've easily won the 100 breaststroke (and only a few D2 breaststrokers have swum faster this year than his opening 100 split). Mandli finished 8th last year at the D2 state meet in the breaststroke, but currently owns the fastest time posted this year on the coaches top-30 list among D2 breaststrokers.

-- New Berlin won the Rocket Invitational at South Milwaukee for the third straight year, and another big day from their big three of Alex Rodenkirk, Jasen Johnson, and Josh Solie. Rodenkirk won the 200 (1:44.38 -- pool record) and 500 frees (4:49.35), while Johnson won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.18) and Solie the 50 free (22.74). Teammate Matt Schumacher added a win in the 100 free (51.83). All four had a hand in New Berlin's three winning relays, as well, with Johnson and Rondenkirk joining Jared Moranski and Chris Kaminski to set a pool record in the 200 free relay (1:32.34). With New Berlin, Hartland Arrowhead and Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial all swimming well this year, the Waukesha South D1 sectional looks to be a real shoot-out this year.

-- Bayport, probably the best D1 team in the state north of the Madison-Milwaukee axis, picked up a win in the Ashwaubenon Jaguars Invitational held at Lawrence College. The Pirates won all but one event in rolling to a win. Details and some times here:
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/201001100422/GPG020511/1100672

-- Sheboygan South picked up a win at the all-relay Sheboygan North Raider Relays, edged D2 Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door 112-94. Best details here in this story from the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: http://www.htrnews.com/article/20100110/MAN020507/100109044/-1/Varsity

Boys swim preview -- finally

Roughly two months after the start of boys swimming (57 days to be exact), the Wisconsin State Journal publishes its preview ("outlook," in WSJ terminology) of the high school season. See here:

http://host.madison.com/sports/columnists/rob_hernandez/article_a9672328-ff2d-11de-bb43-001cc4c002e0.html

Only one month and one week to the boys D1 and D2 state meets!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Boys invite at new Sun Prairie pool

The WIAA provides a good service for coaches and schools looking for games (or wanting teams for tournaments and such) on their website with their "games wanted" section.

However, this is new, so I thought it worth posting on the blog. Sun Prairie, in the middle of completing work on its brand-new high school complete with an eight-lane pool (the first school pool in that community) is looking for teams for a boys invite in November. Here's the information:

Sun Prairie Inaugural Invite

Boys Invitational

We are looking for teams to participate in the first boys swim meet to be held at Sun Prairie's new pool. We are looking to host a 5-8 team early season regular invite with area teams. Please contact me if you are interested and I will forward the info on to my Athletic Director. We will establish times, etc... in the near future. Also, please let me know if you have any suggestions for the invite.

For more information contact:
Rob Meyer
608-834-6796
rjmeyer@spasd.k12.wi.us

New state poll posted

The latest state coach's poll is out, with some interesting changes:

D1

1 -- Hartland Arrowhead: 541 points
2 -- Waukesha South-Catholic Memorial: 507
3 -- Madison Memorial: 461
4 -- Bay Port: 443
5 -- New Berlin West-Eisenhower: 374
6 -- Eau Claire Memorial: 360
7 -- Verona/Mount Horeb: 358
8 -- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights: 302
9 -- Madison West: 300
10 -- Brookfield Central-Brookfield East: 266

D2

1 -- McFarland: 710 points
2 -- Shorewood: 578
3 -- Whitefish Bay: 560
4 -- Monona Grove: 382
5 -- Berlin-Green Lake: 351
6 -- Plymouth: 350
7 -- Kiel-Elkhart Lake-Glenbuelah: 286
8 -- Cedarburg: 225
9 -- Milton: 185
10 -- Rice Lake: 178

Thoughts: With more teams posting results, the statewide polls are beginning to more accurately reflect the landscape of the boys swim season so far. Bayport, which has assembled a very deep and versatile group of swimmers this year with some top-tier relays, is a notable addition to the D1 poll. In D2, Shorewood flipped spots with Whitefish Bay after a terrific week last week that saw the Shorewood swimmers beat the Blue Dukes in a dual meet and then come back and win the Bulldog Invite at Cedarburg Saturday against a solid cast of D2 teams.

Still, some notable teams with very good swimmers haven't posted times yet -- Greenfield/Greendale, Marquette, Muskego, Neenah, Wausau East and Chippewa Falls in D1, and Madison Edgewood, Fort Atkinson, Waunakee, Baraboo, (is there something in the water in the Badger Conference this year?) and Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door in D2.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Bulldog Invite: A good week for Shorewood

It was a very good week for Shorewood's swimmers. Three days after topping north suburban rival Whitefish Bay in a battle of two of the best Div. 2 squads in the state, the Greyhounds came back to top a good field of D2 teams at the Bulldog Invite Saturday at Cedarburg.

Shorewood won with 345 points, 15 more than the host Bulldogs and 32 more than third-place Berlin/Green Lake. Plymouth, another solid D2 squad, finished 4th with 279.5 points.

Shorewood got wins from sophomore Jay Tomasiewicz in the 200 IM (2:05.36) and senior Stephen Meyer in the 100 fly (55.28). Both swimmers also garnered 2nd-place finishes -- Meyer in the back, Tomasiewicz to his teammate in the fly -- and swam legs on two of Shorewood's relays that placed second. Along with Meyer, one of D2's top senior swimmers, Tomasiewicz has really stepped up this year and emerged as one of the better sophomore swimmers in D2.

Other meet highlights:

-- As expected, Plymouth looks to be putting together a solid medley relay for the sectional-state meet run. Good medley relays are made by breaststrokers, and Plymouth has a very good one in senior Jesse Gambrell. His split on the medley relay Saturday -- 28.04 -- was faster than anyone else in the field by more than a second, and catapulted the relay to a victory. He was joined on the medley by junior backstroker Brian Linzmeyer, flier Jeff Pagel and anchor Alex Krueger -- all with solid legs on a relay that went 1:43.64. Plymouth last year finished 12th at the D2 state meet in the medley relay; don't be surprised to see this quartet finish much higher this year. Gambrell also had one of the most dominating wins in the meet, winning the 100 breaststroke by more than four seconds in 1:02.98.

-- Cedarburg's very close second-place finish was led by junior Carl Newenhouse, certainly one of the best D2 juniors in the state. The backstroke specialist focused instead Saturday on the two distance freestyle races and came away with wins in the 200 free (1:47.59) and the 500 free (4:52.40). His leadoff 100 free leg of 48.79 also gave the Bulldogs a lead they never gave up, as they won the meet-ending 400 free relay in 3:25.75.

-- Berlin/Green Lake sophomore Greg Hameister continued his fine season with wins in the 50 (23.00) and 100 frees (49.23). Hameister finished 9th and 12th in the two sprints at last year's D2 meet; his times so far this season suggest he'll be moving up.

-- Grafton 9th-grader Al Nenning certainly put his stamp on freshman-of-the-year honors in D2 with a big win over Meyer in the 100 back. Meyer came within two-hundreths of a second of winning the D2 state title in the back last year, but Nenning topped him by nearly seven-tenths of a second in the back. The freshman also finished second to Hameister in the 50 free (23.12) and along with Newenhouse and Hameister were the only swimmers to post sub-50 second splits in the 400 free relay.

Full results here...
2010 Cedarburg Bulldog Boys Swim Invite Results

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Another big win for the Blackshirts

Do we have a new favorite for the state Div. 1 title to be settled next month?

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial put its name into consideration for that discussion Saturday by emerging with a big win at the Marquette Swimming Invitational -- 310.5 to 230.5 over runner-up (and #1 in the latest state coach's poll) Hartland Arrowhead.

Maybe the Blackshirts had something of an advantage; the meet was swum in their home Waukesha South pool. But there's no getting around their performance Saturday afternoon; they were clearly the best team at the highly competitive meet that drew 19 teams, including a few from Illinois. It's the team's second big invite win this month. Earlier this month, they beat out an array of Madison-area D1 squads in winning the Madison West Invite.

The WS/CM co-op came away with its win at the Marquette Invite by relying on a versatile group of swimmers who racked up a bunch of top-10 finishes in the meet, run with a regular schedule of high school events as well as diving. Their relays may or may not win state titles this year, but they are showing they can swim with any relays in the state. At the Marquette meet, they went 1st (200 free relay), 2nd (400 free relay), and 3rd (medley).

Winning individual titles at the meet for WS/CM were 500 free swimmer Noah Potratz (4:42.84) and Collin Neitzel in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.24). What's notable about WS/CM is the team's ability, with limited depth, to place swimmers into high-scoring positions in nearly every event. Potratz, for instance, finished 6th in the 200 free, while teammate Ryan Finke finished 2nd. Neitzel added a 5th in the 200 IM. And freshman sprinter Alex Swain continues to impress, with top-5 finishes in both the 50 and 100 frees at a meet with lots of top-tier sprinters.

Other notable races and performances at the meet:

-- Madison Edgewood's Chase Stephens -- a top contender for D2 state titles in the 200 and 500 frees this year -- had an impressive meet, with a win in the 200 free (1:44.59) and a 2nd in the 500 free with a time (4:45.55) only about two seconds slower than his state-meet last year that garnered him 3rd place in the race.

-- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Tyler Lentz obliterated the field in the 200 IM with a 1:53.82, about 4-1/2 seconds ahead of runner-up Matt Jungers of Greenfield/Greendale. Let's hope the anticipated state-meet showdown between Lentz and Madison Memorial's Michael Drives in this event comes to fruition next month. Lentz added a win in the back later in the meet.

-- The Matt Friede/Derek Toomey rivalry continued, with Sauk's Friede emerging with two wins over his sprinting rival from Verona (not to make excuses, but Toomey has been under the weather and skipped Friday night's Big 8 meet for Verona).

-- In perhaps the biggest upset of the meet, Mequon Homestead's Eric Larsen topped Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown's Nathan Cox in diving, 428.70-426.75. Cox, the defending D1 state diving champ, dove very well, but Larsen -- 6th last year at the D1 state meet -- just edged him out. Marquette's Mike Donofrio was 3rd.

-- Best race of the meet? Probably the 200 free relay, where the WS/CM team of Swain, Eric Oberst, Dan Streater, and Ryan Finke won with a 1:29.60 that was just .31 seconds ahead of Verona/Mount Horeb (1:29.91). Greenfield/Greendale -- with its 200 free relay stacked with its big three of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Jungers -- squeezed in between the two teams, but the relay and its 1:29.79 was DQ'd.

Full results here...

Marquette Invite 2010

Greenfield's pool to open today

Greenfield's new pool, approved by voters in a referendum and the latest high school pool to come on line, will host an open house today to celebrate its debut. Details here:

http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/81018802.html

The pool will be the site of a Division 1 sectional next month, previously held in Racine.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Shorewood tops Whitefish Bay

In perhaps the most anticipated dual meet of the season in Div. 2, Shorewood just edged suburban rival Whitefish Bay 89-87 Wednesday night at Shorewood . The two teams currently hold the #2 (Whitefish Bay) and #3 (Shorewood) spots in the latest D2 WISCA state poll, behind three-time defending state champs McFarland, and are probably the only two teams in the state with both the quality and depth of swimmers to give Spartans a run for their money at the D2 state meet next month.

Shorewood was led by seniors Stephen Meyer and R.J Hayes. Meyer, one of the best D2 swimmers in the state, won the 100 fly (55.31) and the 100 back (54.96), while Hayes -- back at Shorewood after a year spent in Europe as a foreign exchange student -- won the 200 (1:52.48) and 100 frees (51.45). Sophomore Jay Tomasiewicz, who has been having a terrific year so far, posted a key win in the 200 individual medley (2:02.85) to give the Greyhounds some early-meet momentum.

Whitefish Bay showed its chops early, winning the 200 medley relay (1:42.20) in a time faster than its season-best and fastest yet this year in D2. McFarland has won the medley relay at state the last three years, but Whitefish Bay has put together a very solid medley this year that could challenge the Spartans dominance in the race. For the Blue Dukes, sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo garnered a win in the 50 free (23.08), while Jason Castillo won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.72). Whitefish Bay also won the 400 free relay in D2-leading 3:22.50, but the meet-ending victory wasn't quite enough to overcome a solid showing of depth at the meet by Shorewood.

These two neighboring schools compete in different conferences -- Shorewood in the Woodland, Whitefish Bay in the North Shore -- but they'll butt heads again later this month at the Small School Invite at Plymouth (with McFarland there as well, for good measure) and will meet up again and fight it out at the Cudahy sectional in February (where WBay is the defending sectional champs).

UPDATE: Full results here...
shorewood-wbay-jan6-2010

Monday, January 4, 2010

Making waves in Eau Claire

For the past several years, Eau Claire Memorial has been a regional swim power with little to show when it comes to state meet time. But maybe this year's trip to Madison for the Eau Claire swimmers will prove more bountiful.

Eau Claire Memorial, now in a co-op swim program with former city rival Eau Claire North, has put together a squad this year capable of a strong showing at the Div. 1 state meet in February. This past weekend, the Memorial/North co-op traveled to Minnesota (and the first-rate University of Minnesota natatorium -- a better pool than anything found in Wisconsin) to take part in the annual Maroon & Gold Invitational. Competing against mainly Twin Cities-based Minnesota schools, Eau Claire came away with a victory in the Maroon division of the meet (the division representing the second-largest of the four divisions of schools taking part in the meet). The squad's 596.5-559 win over Mounds View (MN) confirmed the Eau Claire squad is for real.

As so often the case in high school swimming, the Eau Claire squad's fortunes have improved with the arrival of some top-tier talent. Three freshman played key roles in Eau Claire's win in the Twin Cities, led by Alex DeLakis, an early candidate for freshman of the year in D1. DeLakis won the 100 breaststroke in a school-record time of 59.18, and finished second in the 200 IM with a solid mid-season time of 1:59.18. He also anchored the team's winning 200 free (1:31.77) and 400 free (3:21.69) relays. Freshman Jake Folz and Trevor Manz also contributed top-10 finishes for Eau Claire, while juniors Isiah Rozich and Wes Manz also had strong meets for Eau Claire.

Full results from the meet here:

http://www.south-high-swimming.org/Mens/MG10/Maroon%20and%20Gold-Maroon%20Divison%20Results.pdf

The Twin Cities win certainly stamps Eau Claire as the favorite in the Hudson sectional in February. Eau Claire Memorial won that sectional title three of the last four years, but its best showing at state in the past four years was 15th back in 2006. Look for a move up this year from Eau Claire's swimmers.

Moe-toring along in Door County

Here's a nice story from the Door County Advocate on Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's Moritz "Moe" Alber, an exchange student from Germany who's emerged as one of the Clippers' top swimmers this season.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/ADV02/912300491/0/adv&theme=ADVSPORTS

Of particular note is Alber's views on being part of a high school team (contrasted to his German club team), and his enjoyment of relays.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Now posting results!

After, in all honesty, procastinating on this for a while, I've now posted results from several meets in blog links. The following blog posts now have full results posted near the end of the post (either right-click on the results to zoom in to read, or click on the underlined "results" link to see the results).

Here are blog posts with results now posted, including this weekend's Madison Invite:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/01/turning-black-into-gold-waukesha-scm.html

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/arrowhead-captures-second-big-win.html

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/barracuda-invite-arrowhead-tops-mad.html

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/spartans-look-sharp.html

As always, I'm appreciative of those who submit results; we'll keep working to post them. Keep the results coming via the email address on the main page of the blog. Thanks for supporting the high school swim blog!

Turning black into gold: Waukesha S/CM wins Madison Invite

They are not the deepest of teams, and they didn't win a single event Saturday afternoon. But the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial Blackshirts proved that quality counts most, as they came away with a 5-1/2 point victory over defending Div. 1 state champs Madison Memorial at the Madison Invite at the UW Natatorium.

The Blackshirts, one of the few Milwaukee-area teams to take part in the meet, placed all three of their relays in the top four, and had swimmers finish in the top 8 in all but one event to emerge with the close victory. It was a back-and-forth fight for the top spot all afternoon between Waukesha S/CM and Memorial, and with two events to go, the Blackshirts held the slimmest of leads -- a half-point. But breaststrokers Collin Neitzel, Eric Oberst, and Derrick Rendon came away with 32 points in the event, to 18 for Memorial's top three breaststrokers, and the Blackshirts' 4th-place finish in the meet-ending 400 free relay sealed the win, much to the delight of the small but vocal Blackshirt fan contingent.

In the end, Waukesha S/CM scored 297.5 points to 292 for Memorial. Verona/Mount Horeb finished in 3rd with 228.5, with host team Madison West in 4th with 210 and Marquette in 5th with 198. The meet featured 15 teams, down from previous years, when the meet was held later in January. It was moved to Jan. 2 -- with most schools still on holiday break -- because of a UW collegiate swim meet later this month. Still, it was a good test, as most of the Madison-area D1 teams took part.

The Blackshirts don't have a dominant swimmer, just a bunch of very good ones. Neitzel led the way for the team Saturday with a 2nd place in the 200 IM to go with his 3rd in the breastroke; he added solid relays legs on the medley and 400 free relays. But notable for Waukesha S/CM was the performance of freshman sprinter Alex Swain. In a meet featuring lots of good sprinters, Swain finished T-4th in the 50 free and 5th in the 100 free, and led off his team's 3rd-place 200 free relay and 4th-place 400 free relay. The Blackshirts feature a nice cast of versatile swimmers, but Swain's emergence as a top sprinter gives the team a lot of flexibility in putting together three solid relays come sectional and state meet time.

Waukesha S/CM's performance also suggests the Waukesha South sectional this year will be one of the key ones to watch this year. Besides the host school, Hartland Arrowhead and New Berlin West/Eisenhower will make the sectional one of the most competitive in the D1 field this year. Look for some fast sectional qualifying times out of that sectional this year.

Other meet highlights:

-- One of the best -- and most entertaining -- rivalries developing this year is between Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede and Verona/Mount Horeb's Derek Toomey. The two senior sprinters are near-carbon copies -- long and lean swimmers, with tremendous reaches on their freestyle strokes. They've been posting some of the fastest sprint times of the year in D1, and Saturday they had two terrific races. In the 50 free, Toomey got a tremendous jump off the starting gun, and held the lead going into the turn. But Friede closes extremely well, and at the flags with just a few yards to go, pulled slightly ahead. He touched out in 21.40, just ahead of Toomey's 21.49. It looked like a repeat in the 100 free, as Toomey again got the jump off the start and held a slight .15 second lead at the 50-yard mark. As the two headed for the finish after the last turn, it looked like Friede would pull off another come-from-behind win. But Toomey somehow found just enough to hold him off, his winning time of 47.46 just ahead of Friede's 47.48. As the two glanced up at the scoreboard to see the outcome, they each let out a smile and quickly slapped hands. These two will see each other again at the Middleton sectionals and presumably state. (And it's worth noting that the freestyle sprints in D1 are looking like some of the best potential races at the state meet -- besides Friede and Toomey, the 50 and/or 100 sprints will likely feature Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, New Berlin's Alex Rodenkirk, and the Greenfield/Greendale duo of Jack Lennertz and Mike Lucchesi.)

-- Memorial's Michael Drives continues to make the very good look fairly routine, as he swam to two easy victories in the 200 IM and 500 free. With chief rival Tyler Lentz opting to swim the 200 free at the meet, Drives easily won the IM by more than seven-and-a-half seconds (1:56.18) over Neitzel. He then came back to post a 4.43.22 win in the 500 free -- well off his meet-record time from last year of 4:34.22, but a solid mid-season time nonetheless. Look for Drives to swim these two events at sectionals and state this year.

-- Madison Edgewood's Drew teDuits was the meet's other double winner, taking his speciality the backstroke in 52.98, and coming out on top in the fly with a 51.49. In the latter race, he outdueled Madison East's Robert Miner is a rematch of a terrific summer race between the two at the Madison All-City Meet, which Miner won by seven-hundreths of a second. Will teDuits opt for the fly at sectionals this year? With two of the top three D2 finishers in the fly graduated, including last year's state champ, the field is somewhat open in the event. A mid-season time of 51.49 is argument enough to at least consider it -- it's faster by a second-and-a-half than any time posted in the fly this year in D2.

-- Madison West always seems to have good breaststrokers, and the host team displayed its strength once again in the event Saturday, as the team's top breaststrokers -- Peter Faecke, Will Elsas, and Jesse O'Keefe -- finished 2nd, 4th, and 6th.

-- In an early-morning terrific duel in front of, oh, a dozen or so fans, two of the best divers in the state faced off, with Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson edging Marquette's Mike Donofrio 387 to 386.70 (which, in swimming terms, is roughly equivalent to winning a 500 free by a tenth of a second.) With his win, Sisson stamped himself as the favorite for the D2 state diving title; he was third last year. Donofrio, 4th last year at D1 state after leading the competition at one point, certainly didn't hurt his case to be one of the top contenders for the D1 title this year.

UPDATE: Results here...

Mad Invite 2010 Results