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