State meet swimmers worth knowing about

The focus at the state swim meet, of course, is on the winning teams and swimmers; after all, they keep time and score for a reason.

But hundreds of swimmers will take part in the D1 and D2 state meets, and it's worth noting those who may not grab the headlines once the meet is concluded. Here are some of their stories:

-- Last year, Fond du Lac's Jonathan Drewson was not really that close to qualifying for the state meet -- the 33rd fastest D1 swimmer in the state in the 100 free, and nearly a second away from qualifying for state. Now he finds himself in the fastest heat of the fastest, most nerve-wracking race of the meet -- the 50 free. At his sectional meet in Neenah, the senior qualified as the 6th seed for the state meet in the 50 free, and for good measure made it in the 100 free as well, as the 14th seed. Coverage here from the Fond du Lac Reporter:
http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20100214/FON020507/2140716/1319/FON0205/Fond-du-Lac-s-Drewsen-to-State-in-50-free--100-free

-- It was no surprise that Watertown's Nick Wolhaupter made it to state this year; the junior has been one of the top D1 sprinters all season long. But teammate Erich Schnell came from way back at the uber-competitive Waukesha South sectional to qualify as well. Schnell was seeded T-11th at the sectional in the 50 free, and dropped 1.21 seconds off his seed time -- an eternity in the 50 free -- to qualify as the 13th overall seed in the event at state. Schnell also grabbed one of the last two spots in the 100 free at the state meet, dropping nearly two seconds off his seed time at sectionals to make it. Joining the two sprinters will be 500 free swimmer David Burleson and two relays as Watertown will be taking a large contingent of swimmers to the state meet. Coverage here from the Watertown Daily Times:
http://www.wdtimes.com/articles/2010/02/15/sports/sports1.txt

-- Can Verona/Mount Horeb senior Derek Toomey find redemption at the Natatorium? Two years ago, Toomey was working to break 51 seconds in the 100 free. Now through a lot of hard work and dedication, he's become one of D1's best sprinters. It's hard to imagine having a sectional meet both as good and frustrating at the same time as Toomey experienced last week at Middleton. Sprinting rival Matt Friede of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights out-touched him for first place in the 50 and 100 frees by .09 and .14 seconds, respectively. Then Madison Memorial's Michael Drives out-touched him on the anchor legs of the 200 and 400 free relays by .04 and .03 seconds, respectively, the latter despite a scintillating 45.80 anchor leg by Toomey. That's four second-place finishes by a combined time of less than a third of a second. Toomey enters the state meet as the 2nd seed in the 50 free and 3rd seed in the 100 free, while the 200 and 400 free relays he anchors will be the 2nd and 4th seeds.

-- The last time a swimmer from Franklin scored points at the D1 state meet was in 2003. Franklin sophomore Josh Lefeber hopes to change that Saturday. He's Franklin's first multiple-event qualifier in at least a decade. He's seeded 19th in the 100 breaststroke after winning the sectional breaststroke title at Greenfield/Greendale, and 20th in the 200 IM.

-- Proving that good things come to those who wait, we present McFarland senior Miles Hegg. Swimming for the deepest team in D2, with a strong tradition of breaststrokers, Hegg had never cracked McFarland's sectional line-up in an individual or relay event. But he quietly put together a very solid year this season, and came into the sectional meet at Baraboo seeded 3rd in the 100 breaststroke. With just this one chance to qualify for state, he dropped nearly three seconds off his seed time, and ended up with the 9th overall seed at the D2 state meet.

-- Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's Moe Alber came to the SB/SD team from Germany as an exchange student with experience in club swimming there. One notable difference with high school swimming here, Alber said in a feature story in the Door County Advocate, is the crowd's involvement and excitement compared to club meets in Germany. Wait until he shows up on deck Friday at the Natatorium, one of the most electric atmospheres of any state competition in Wisconsin. Alber will be swimming in three events at the D2 state meet for SB/SD; the Door County Advocate profiles the team's performance at last week's sectionals here:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20102170462

-- Three years ago as a freshman, Whitewater's Drew Kuchan finished 23rd -- dead last -- at the Cudahy sectional meet in the 50 free, barely breaking 30 seconds. He finished next-to-last in the 100 free, as well. Now he'll be swimming Friday in the 100 fly -- Whitewater's first-ever participant in the D2 state meet. The senior dropped nearly three seconds from his seed time at sectionals -- going from a 59.90 to a 57.02 in the fly -- to make it as the 13th overall seed in the D2 state meet. UPDATE: A very good story from the Daily Union newspaper about Drew here: http://dailyunion.com/main.asp?SectionID=37&SubSectionID=111&ArticleID=4659


-- It helps to be tall in swimming; the long reach of a lengthy limb eats up yardage in ways shorter swimmers can't match. So here's a shout-out to Madison Edgewood's Eric Madsen and Waunakee's Ryan Duffy, neither of whom top out at much more than 5'6" (if that). Both will be competing at the D2 state meet in the 500 free for the first time. Madsen, a junior who has swum on Edgewood's state-qualifying 400 free relays the past two years, made it in an individual event for the first time by swimming a 5:05.17 at sectionals; he's seeded 10th at the D2 state meet. Duffy, a sophomore, had one of the more remarkable swims by any sectional competitor Saturday; seeded at a 5:20.64, he broke his career-best time by more than 20 seconds. His 4:59.79 earned him the 5th overall seed in the 500 free at the D2 state meet.