Sectional match-ups worth watching

As results pour in Saturday after sectionals, here are some races and match-ups worth looking for:

D1

At the Greenfield/Greendale sectional, the host team has 8 of the 11 top seeds in swimming events, the most of any team in any division. Will that be enough to give the talented but not deep G/G squad the sectional 1st-place plaque? And who wins the match-up between the brothers DeVroy of Kenosha Bradford -- senior John and junior Joe -- in the 100 back? They own the top two seeds in the event.

The improving Hudson sectional will see a renewal of the local rivalry between Eau Claire Memoria/North and Chippewa Falls/McDonnell Central. Eau Claire's season was bolstered by the addition this year of Alex DeLakis, one of the top D1 freshman in the state. CF/MC's surge to a sectional contender is led by sophmore Austin Byrd. They'll go head-to-head in the 200 IM. A terrific contest is also shaping up here in the 200 free relay, where the top three seeded teams -- Eau Claire and CF/MC joined by Wausau East -- are separated by .14 seconds.

Two of the very best sprinters in the state -- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede and Verona/Mount Horeb's Derek Toomey -- will lock horns again in both the 50 and 100 frees at the Middleton sectional. They pair own the two fastest seed times in the state in the two sprints, and have been trading off wins against each other most of the season. It's also been a while since a swimmer from Janesville Craig has nudged his way to a first-place finish in this Madison-dominated sectional. Can it happen this year? Craig breaststrokers Alex Loftus and Spencer Mattox own the #1 and #3 seeds in the event this year. And strap on your seat belts for the meet-ending 400 free relay here -- the top three seeded teams (Madison Memorial, Sauk and Verona) are separated by less than two seconds, with the prospect that Friede and Toomey will be battling Memorial star Michael Drives on the anchor legs.

Bay Port and the host Rockets are expected to battle it out for first place in the Neenah sectional, and they will face each other aplenty at the meet. Bay Port and Neenah swimmers and relays own two of the top three seeds is seven events -- the 200 free, the 100 free, the 100 back, the 100 breaststroke, and all three relays. How swimmers from the two teams sort themselves out in those events will probably go a long way toward deciding who emerges from this sectional in first place.

Talent abounds in the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial sectional, the most competitive D1 sectional in the state. Nowhere is that more evident than in the 200 free, where seven swimmers have seed times of 1:47.08 or better. Alex Rodenkirk of New Berlin leads the way with a seed time of 1:44.36. Other potential terrific races here include the 50 free -- where the top three seeds are separated by one-tenth of a second -- and the 100 fly, with six swimmers seeded at 53.56 or faster. And how is this for quirky seeding? Arrowhead slotted five backstrokers into the meet, all five ended up seeded in the final heat, and with their times will be placed in lanes 1 through 5. Senior Chris Jenkyns of HA leads the way with a time of 53.39. This is another sectional where it's worth staying until the end, as Arrowhead, WS/CM and New Berlin own seed times within about a half-second of each other in the 400 free relay -- and all three are seeded under 3:17. The relay could determine the winner of the sectional.

D2

McFarland enters the Baraboo sectional as the favorites, with Madison Edgewood trying to close the gap on the three-time defending state champs. Four of the best swimmers in the sectional -- two from each team -- will match up in what should be two terrific races. In the 200 free, defending state champ Brian Heiser of McFarland goes up against Edgewood's Chase Stephens -- the pair own the two fastest seed times in the state in the event by more than four seconds. Then Edgewood's Drew teDuits goes up against the Spartans' Ryan O'Donnell in the 100 fly, an event neither swam last year at sectionals. They, too, own the top two seed times in the state in the event. Another great race -- O'Donnell against Milton's Jeff Maxwell in the 200 IM; the pair own the only sub-2 minute seed times in the event in the state. O'Donnell was 2nd in this event last year at state to his brother Brandon, while Maxwell swam the 200 free the last two years at state. But he switched to the IM to set up a rematch with O'Donnell of their 200 IM race at the Small School State Invitational, which O'Donnell won by 1.54 seconds.

Whitefish Bay and Shorewood will battle it out for first place in the Cudahy sectional, and the outcome will likely depend on how six races shake out. The two teams own the top two seeds in each of the three relays. In addition, they own five of the top seven seeds in the 200 IM, and seeds #2 through #6 in the 100 free. Then there's the breaststroke, where WBay's terrific duo of D.J. Freisch and Jason Castillo goes up against five Shorewood breaststrokers seeded 11th or higher. And speaking of the breaststroke, how many Cudahy sectional swimmers in the event will make it to state? Last year it was an amazing 10; this year, eight are seeded to make it.

Will the divers from Plymouth be enough to help the host team capture the sectional title? Plymouth has three divers entered to one for Cedarburg, and none for Berlin/Green Lake and Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah -- the top four teams in the sectional. This may turn out to be the most closely contested of the four D2 sectionals. And just how many of Kiel's 500 free swimmers will make it to state? Five are entered in the event, and four are seeded to get out, led by brothers Nic and Tim Halverson.