Wisconsin high school swim blog

A new era for the Wisconsin high school swim blog

2010-08-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

To all readers of the Wisconsin high school swim blog:

After considerable deliberation during the spring and summer, I've decided to move this blog to the website run by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Assocation website -- http://www.wisca.net/. The reasons for the move are several:

-- The WISCA website and the high school swim blog are the only two websites fully and exclusively devoted to the sport of Wisconsin high school swimming. My sense is that fans and supporters of high school swimming in the state seek out these two websites for information, and it made sense in many regards to merge the blog with the WISCA website.

-- Hosting the blog at the WISCA website will provide ease of access and a "one-stop shopping" website for high school swim information -- whether it be the popular top-30 times of the WISCA website, or the commentary and analysis provided by the blog.

-- I, along with WISCA's administrators, see great potential for making both the blog and the WISCA website better, with expanded and more in-depth coverage -- for instance, a possible "meet results" section, expanding on the meet results posted on the blog during the 2009-10 boys season; live blogging of state swim meets; and perhaps even video-casting of meets.

One significant change will be that blog readers will have to be registered members of the WISCA website. It does involve a cost, but we (myself and WISCA's administrators) feel the cost of a public membership to WISCA ($10 annually) will be well worth it in terms of expanded and better coverage of Wisconsin high school swimming. Registration details for the WISCA website are available here:
http://www.wisca.net/register.php

Finally, I'd like to say that the move to the WISCA website will in no way change the editorial independence of the blog. I would not have agreed to the move if that was not the case. I plan to keep the tone and direction of the blog as has it has been for the past two years -- focusing on the accomplishments of swimmers, supportive of swimming generally, and a positive source of information about high school swimming. We may examine important issues in the high school swim community from time to time, but the blog will first and foremost focus on the accomplishments and efforts of high school sports' hardest-working athletes.

I hope you'll join me at our new home; look for this year's season previews soon. Your enthusiastic support of the blog has made all of this possible, and motivated me to keep trying to improve it. As always, I welcome your ideas and thoughts, and please feel free to send them (supportive, critical, or just plain old informative) to:

wimcdade@tds.net

Thanks for your support of Wisconsin high school swimming, and this blog.

Sincerely,

Phil McDade

Old state swim meet broadcasts

2010-03-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

A blog reader (from Arizona!) emails to ask if anyone out there in the swimming world knows whether television broadcasts of the Wisconsin high school swim meet from 1977-80 are available anywhere. The reader says the state meet (back when it was a one-division format) was broadcast on the old Ch. 18 in Milwaukee (WVTV), but thought it also might have been broadcast statewide.

Any ideas? Maybe the Milwaukee Public Library? I'll do some checking as well, but anyone with any suggestions -- drop me a line or comment and I'll try to run it down.

See you in the fall

2010-02-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

Although I may occasionally post something in the next several months, this blog will go on its annual hiatus until the start of the girls' fall season in August.

I just wanted to take a quick minute to thank all of the coaches, parents, swimmers and readers of the blog who have taken an interest in it. In particular, I'd like to thank the growing legions of folks who email with results, tips, anecdotes, comments, and information about high school swimming. All of them may not make it into the blog, but all are truly appreciated, and help inform me and provide a broader perspective on this wonderful sport.

As I say to nearly everyone who talks to me about it, it's fun to do, and your enthusiasm and support help keep it going. See you in the fall!

(And I'd be happy to chat with anyone about it, regardless of what you think of it. I'll be hanging around -- as I suspect lots of blog readers will be -- at both the 12 & U and 13 & over USA state meets in the next several days, starting tonight at the UW Natatorium.

Swim meets aired on TV

2010-02-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to commentator for providing details on the boys state swim meet television schedule. Here it is:

The meets will air on FS Wisconsin:

The Division 1 meet will be aired on March 1 at 7 p.m.

The Division 2 meet will be aired on March 2 at 7 p.m.

Check local cable listings for the channel in your area.

http://www.wiaawi.org/releases/2009-10/bswimrelease.pdf

Leftovers from the boys season

2010-02-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a few leftovers and tidbits from the just-completed boys high school season:

Seedings

-- Attached are some links to two documents -- the D1 and D2 boys state meets that compare seed-time points (what teams would've scored had the meet gone perfectly to seed times) vs. the actual outcomes. For simplicity sake, I've downloaded just the scoring differential. i.e., how many more or fewer points teams scored at the state meets compared to their seeding. Thus, it provides a quick glance at which teams "seeded up" at the meets, and which ones did not.

Here are links to the final team scores from the WIAA website:

http://www.wiaawi.org/results/swimmingboys/2010/d1stateteamresults.htm
http://www.wiaawi.org/results/swimmingboys/2010/d2stateteamresults.htm

Simply add or subtract the final team results to the numbers provided in the links below to see whether a particular team did compared to their seed times at the meet.

(Why post this? I've found, in talking to and reading about coaches, that they almost all tell their swimmers to try to swim their best times, and let the results take care of themselves. Swimming's great virtue is that it allows a measure of assessing improvement (or not), regardless of the outcome of a particular swim or meet. Thus, I thought it a worthwhile exercise.)

D1:

State 2010 D1 Boys - Difference

D2

State 2010 D2 Boys - Difference

Thoughts:

-- Hard to imagine Greenfield/Greendale didn't set some kind of record in seeding up 99 points. The bulk of those additional points -- 66 -- came from coach Dale Schrank's strategy of spreading out his top three swimmers -- Mike Lucchesi, Matt Jungers, and Jack Lennertz -- on all three relays at sectionals (which helped secure a sectional title for the team at its home pool), and then placing the big three on just two relays at state. Still, arranging that is one thing, and going out and swimming as well as G/G did is another. A terrific meet from those swimmers.

-- For the second straight state meet, both Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights and Wausau East moved up in a big way. Last year, Sauk went up 49.5 points to capture second place at state; this year, the four-man team went up 48 points to finish in fifth place overall. WEast went up 46.5 points last year to finish third overall; this year, the team went up 41 points to grab a top-1o finish.

-- Wonder why McFarland is so good? Yes, they have top-tier talent, and a lot of it, which helps qualify solid relays for state. But once the Spartans arrive at the Natatorium, they always swim really well. McFarland came into the state meet seeded to win by nearly 100 points, and promptly added 30+ points to their seeded total. There's a reason these guys have won four straight D2 state championships. Maybe some of that great state-meet tapering is rubbing off on their rivals -- it's notable (to me at least) that the top-four placing teams in D2 this year (McFarland, Whitefish Bay, Monona Grove, and Shorewood) all swam very well at the state meet, with all of them seeding up by 18 points or more. Even with McFarland's recent domination, it's a good sign that other teams in D2 are rising up to the challenge of swimming well at the most important meet of the season.

State meet combined

The WISCA website has posted its analysis of the outcome of the state swim meet had both divisions entirely been combined. Out of respect for the website (access to the analysis is available to members and coaches), I won't reveal the outcome -- only to say it's both interesting and quite close.

As a takeoff on that exercise, for the past two years I've looked at the outcome of the D1 state meet had just McFarland moved up to the big-school division. Reason? Both of the past two D1 state meets have been closely contested, with historically low winning totals (Madison Memorial had 200.5 last year; Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial won this year with 197 points). Meanwhile, McFarland has run up huge winning margins the past two years. In addition, the WIAA does allow teams in all sports to voluntarily move up a division for competitive reasons (I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon with the Spartans, but I also don't think the WIAA will move to a one-division format in swimming. Thus, the analysis with McFarland's times placed in the D1 meet.)

Last year, McFarland would've won the D1 state meet. See:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-best-boys-swim-team-in-state.html

This year, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial would've still won -- by 1.5 points. My tally has WS/CM scoring 181 points, and McFarland 179.5. McFarland's terrific relays (86 points to 66 for WS/CM) and solid free sprinters would've been trumped by WS/CM's superior depth in events like the 200/500 frees, 100 fly, and 100 breaststroke.

D2 coaches (and swimmers) -- pat yourselves on the back

D1, of course, has the larger programs, and more depth, among the two divisions of swimming. It's not surprising the big schools have what are acknowledged as some of the best coaches in the state.

But I found this interesting little nugget in reviewing state meet results. Based strictly on seed times, and state meet performances, D2 relays outperformed their D1 counterparts by a wide margin this past weekend.

I looked at the top-16 relays that placed at state in both divisions. Here's what I found:

-- Seven of the D1 medley relays that placed in the top 16 cut time at state; nine added time. In D2, 12 of the 13 medley relays that scored points (there were three DQs) cut time.

-- 11 of the top-16 D1 200 free relays cut time; five added time. In D2, 13 of the 16 200 free relays cut time.

-- 11 of the top-16 D1 400 free relays cut time; five added time. In D2, 14 of the 15 200 free relays (one DQ) cut time.

In other words, 60 percent of the D1 relay teams at state that placed in the top 16 cut time. In D2, 89 percent of the relays cut time. A pretty impressive showing by the smaller schools -- and coaches.

TV broadcasts of state swim meets

A faithful blog reader emails to ask if I know when the boys swim meets will be broadcast on TV. I don't, and a check of schedules on Madison-area cable stations doesn't reveal anything, at least that I can find.

Anyone know? If so, shoot me an email or comment, and I'll post for every broadcast/cable area of the state that I receive. DVDs of both boys state meets can be ordered through this website: http://www.prepfilms.com/

Swimmers of the year

2010-02-24T05:28:00.000-08:00

Time for year-end accolades:

D1

Swimmer(s) of the year: Try as I might, I simply can't separate the accomplishments this year of seniors Matt Friede and Tyler Lentz of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights. In the words of the great philosopher Forrest Gump, they go together like peas and carrots. In their three years at Sauk, the twosome combined to win six individual state titles and were the major forces on four state-title relays (and another that came within .01 seconds of a fifth title). This year, they put together one of the great performances by teammates seen at a state meet -- Friede capturing the 50 and 100 free titles, and setting a state record in the 50 free (20.44, topping the 20.47 set in 2004 by Kyle Bubolz, one of the great Wisconsin high school swimmers of recent vintage), and Lentz swimming the third-fastest 200 IM in state history and then coming back to easily win the 100 back by more than two seconds. Then there were their contributions on Sauk's relays; a first-place medley relay out of lane 1, and then a remarkable near-repeat of their second-heat 400 free relay triumph of last year that fell just one-hundreth of a second shy of a four-gold medal day. Great careers capped by a great final meet. Runner-up: Madison Memorial's Michael Drives ended his terrific career, appropriately enough, on the winner's podium at the state meet following Memorial's thrilling win in the 400 free relay. Drives won three gold medals on the day, adding wins in the 200 and 500 frees with some of the fastest times ever posted by a D1 swimmer. Drives leaves Memorial as one of the state's most decorated swimmers, with four gold individual gold medals, one relay gold medal, and a member of Memorial squads that won two state team titles, and two runner-up trophies, during his career. Throughout it all, he remained humble in victory, gracious to others, and the very role model of a student-athlete -- he is off to West Point this fall. One suspects Drives preferred spending his last moments at a high school swim meet surrounded by teammates, celebrating a win accomplished together, instead of standing there by himself.

Relay of the year: At a state meet with three terrific relay performances, Sauk's first place in the medley wins out. Coming into the meet as the 7th seed, and swimming out of lane 1, the team of Stephen Hanko, Lentz, Paul Ballweg and Friede topped a #1 seeded Hartland Arrowhead medley that had been undefeated all season, and did it by two full seconds. Lentz and Friede, of course, were the relay's heavyweights, but the contributions of Hanko and Ballweg shouldn't be overlooked. Hanko opened with a 25.17 split on the back, only about a half-second behind Arrowhead, which gave Lentz the opening he needed to put his team in the lead after his breaststroke leg. All Ballweg had to do was keep his relay within striking distance of the lead, as Friede was clearly the fastest anchor in the field. Ballweg did better than that, his 23.95 fly leg giving Friede a lead that you knew he wouldn't give up. Sauk's two-second win was its fourth relay win in the past three years; Friede anchored all of them.

Race of the year: It'd be hard to top the craziness of the meet-ending 400 free relay, so we won't try. Three relays, three different heats, separated by three-hundredths of a second. Could it get any better? It may be years before Wisconsin swim fans see anything as entertaining as this year's 400 free relay at the state meet. So here's to: Greenfield/Greendale's team of Mark Liederbach, Mike Lucchesi, Matt Jungers, and Jack Lennertz, 3:09.27 (third place); Sauk's team of Lentz, Ballweg, Hanko, and Friede, 3:09.25 (runner-up); and the winning Memorial relay of Michael Salerno, Patrick Franken, Drives, and Ben Anderson, 3:09.24. Guys, it was quite a show.

Rookie of the year: Alex DeLakis of the Eau Claire Memorial/North co-op became the first freshman in three years to win in individual event at the state meet with his win in the 100 breaststroke, and he did it in thrilling fashion. DeLakis, third after 50 yards, delivered a 30.02 final split to earn a .58-second win over Wisconsin Rapids' Ryan Korslin. DeLakis added a runner-up finish in the 200 IM for an Eau Claire squad that finished 7th at state. Runner-up: Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial freshman Alex Swain played a central role in the Blackshirts' run to the state title. He scored six points in the 50 and 100 frees and -- just as importantly -- was a key cog in WS/CM qualifying all three relays to the state meet with final-heat seed times. Swimming the lead-off leg on both free relays, Swain helped the 200 relay finish 6th, and the 400 relay finish 7th at state.

D2

Swimmer of the year: On a team with a ton of very good swimmers, McFarland sophomore Ryan O'Donnell stood out this year, and capped a great season with a state meet for the ages. Two individual wins (200 IM, 100 fly, with the fly time of 49.74 breaking a 15-year-old state record), two relay wins, both in record time. O'Donnell comes from great lineage -- brothers Derrick and Brandon also won individual state titles -- but Ryan may turn out to be the best of the three. A truly dominating performance that surprised even his father. "I wasn't expecting this," said his father, Larry, amid the McFarland fans celebrating the team's fourth straight state title. Runner-up: Four years ago, Madison Edgewood's Chase Stephens was a skinny, tall freshman who had trouble executing a basic flip turn -- and couldn't break 56 seconds in the 100 free at the sectional meet. He ended his high school career with three gold medals around his neck -- wins in the 200 and 100 frees, and a meet-fastest 45.85 anchor leg that clinched Edgewood's win in the 400 free relay. Any swimmer who achieves a state title has worked hard, but few have had such a meteoric rise as Stephens. He's off to Northwestern this fall to continue his swim career.

Relay of the year: McFarland came into the D2 state meet having won the medley relay three years in a row. Could they make it four? No problem. Sparked by O'Donnell's dominating lead-off leg in the backstroke, McFarland breezed to a 4+ second win in the relay, and broke the previous state record by nearly eight-tenths of a second. Senior Peter Grenzow achieved (we think) state history by anchoring the same relay to victory four years in a row. How fast was O'Donnell's opening 23.46 back leg? Faster -- by more than a second -- than anyone swam in the D1 or D2 meets. It would've finished T-13th in the 50 free at the D2 state meet. (And don't look, but the first three medley relay swimmers for McFarland -- O'Donnell, Jacob Mandli on breaststroke, and Colin Morgan on fly -- are all sophomores.)

Race of the year: In a race that lived up to its pre-meet billing, the 100 fly proved to be the fastest and best race of the state meet, with both O'Donnell (49.74) and Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan (49.87) going under the previous state record of 49.99 held by Hudson's John Cahoy from 1995. Both O'Donnell and third-place finisher Drew teDuits of Edgewood switched into the event this year, and all three swimmers came into the final turn with a chance to win. But O'Donnell's tremendous push off the wall gave him the slighest of leads when he finally emerged above water, and he held off the on-coming Donovan. The race was so fast that Shorewood's Stephen Meyer, who cut more than four seconds off his seed time and finished 4th with a time of 51.01, would've finished second in the D1 state meet.

Rookie of the year: Grafton's Al Nenning, another competitor from a great swim family, showed he'll be a force in D2 swimming in future years with podium finishes in both the 200 IM (6th) and 100 back (5th). He was the only D2 freshman to qualify in two individual events this year. Runners-up: Two tall freshman -- Fort Atkinson's Lee Hollman, and Monona Grove's Mitchell Paull -- will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming years. The Badger Conference South swimmers both qualified for the 100 back in their freshman years, and both earned spots on state-qualifying relays for their teams.

Tragedy in Oshkosh; updated with memorial information

2010-02-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

News of the worst kind comes from Oskhosh, where Natalie Bolin -- a star swimmer for the Oshkosh West girls swim team -- died from injuries suffered in a car accident Saturday night. Bolin and three others, including Leah Bolin, fellow Oshkosh West swimmer Jennifer Rothe, and Oshkosh North/Lourdes swimmer Rachel Revolinski, were apparently on their way back home after watching the Div. 1 boys state swim meet Saturday.

From the Oshkosh Northwestern:
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20100221/OSH0101/100221022/1987/Update-Victim-identified-in-Saturday-night-crash-on-U.S.-Highway-41-as-Oshkosh-teen-Natalie-K.-Bolin

Word spread quickly through the Wisconsin swim community Sunday about the tragic accident. Bolin, a junior, had been a three-time state qualifier for her Oshkosh West team, following in the footsteps of her older sisters Ashley and Stephanie. All four of the girls in the accident were members of the Oshkosh YMCA Dolphins swim team, which posted this message on its home page:

http://www.oshyswimteam.org/Home.jsp?team=wioshy

The Dolphins website also has a link to information about a memorial that has been established in Natalie's name.

Also, this was recently posted on the Oshkosh Northwestern website regarding a Facebook page dedicated to Natlie:

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/section/blogs06?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=119a90bf-b481-4a01-804a-1b845f64e2ee&plckPostId=Blog%3a119a90bf-b481-4a01-804a-1b845f64e2eePost%3a25b8cc36-673e-4588-9ce6-79c10e6dc3e1&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

Our deepest sympathies are extended to the Bolin family and the Oshkosh swim community.

Another wild night at the D1 state meet

2010-02-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Another D1 state meet, another meet full of surprises. The state's largest schools took to the Natatorium and produced another night of podium finishes out of the first and second heats, a record swim in the 50 free, and maybe the strangest and wildest outcomes in both the 200 and 400 free relays seen at state.

Amid all the action, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial emerged with the first state title in program history. The Blackshirts scored 197 points -- the lowest winning total in D1 since the WIAA adopted 16-place scoring in 1982 -- to top defending state champs Madison Memorial by 14 points. Led by Greenfield/Greendale's 173 points, six others teams scored more than 100 points in the meet, and with the low winning score it proved that D1's top talent in Wisconsin is dispersed throughout all corners of the state.

UPDATE: Coverage here from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/84873477.html

...and the Wisconsin State Journal:
http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_15a3dcec-1b45-11df-8641-001cc4c002e0.html

WS/CM isn't a terribly deep team, swam well but not great at the meet, and didn't win a single race all night; it's the rare state champ that has its highest-finishing relay at state barely make the podium (its 200 free relay finished 6th, ahead of Madison East and Chippewa Falls/McDonnell Central by a mere .05 seconds). Instead, the Blackshirts relied on a handful of reliable and versatile swimmers who kept the team in the running for the first-place trophy all meet long. Ryan Finke (200 free), Eric Oberst (fly), Collin Neitzel (breaststroke), and the Max Evans-Nolan/Noah Potratz combo(500 free) produced top-six podium finishes for WS/CM, and the 22 points that Neitzel and Oberst produced in the breaststroke gave the team the margin it needed heading into the meet-ending 400 free relay. Seeded third in the relay, WS/CM needed a 10th-place finish to clinch the win, and its 7th-place finish did the job. So there must be something about the Natatorium that suits the Blackshirts; they stamped themselves as contendor for the D1 state title at the Madison West Invite in early January, when they topped Memorial by 5-1/2 points to win.

The Blackshirts' workmanlike victory stood in stark contract to the fireworks produced by Greenfield/Greendale and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, as the two co-ops lit up the scoreboad with first-place and podium finishes throughout the meet. G/G's Mike Lucchesi -- one-third of a powerful trio for the team that swam great all day -- got things off to great start for his team with a blistering 1:41.71 200 free out of the first heat. No one came close to it in the second heat, and only Memorial's Michael Drives and his 1:39.66 topped it in the third heat. Jack Lennertz came out of lane 6 in the second heat to claim third place overall in the 50 free, then led teammate Matt Jungers to a 1-2 finish in the fly. Jungers added a third in the 200 IM, while Lucchesi moved up three seed spots to claim fourth in the 100 free.

Sauk, meanwhile, showed it meant business in the first swimming event of the night. Swimming out of lane 1 in the final heat of the 200 medley relay, backstroker Stephen Hanko got his team off to a solid start and then let seniors Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede take over. Lentz split a blistering 26.39 on his breaststroke leg -- faster than the field by more than half-a-second -- and flier Paul Ballweg handed a slight lead off to Friede, one of the great relay swimmers in recent state history. Friede closed out the impressive two-second win (1:35.53) with a 20.02 free split. Lentz turned right around and defended his state title in the 200 IM with a 4+ second win (1:50.29) that ranks third all time in state history, behind only former Arrowhead star Ben Anderson. Lentz added a dominating, 2+ second win the 100 back. Friede, meanwhile, took home gold medals in the 100 and 50 frees, the latter with a record 20.44 that topped Kyle Bubolz' previous record of 20.47. Friede's 45.01 in the 100 is third-fastest in state history, behind only Bubolz and 2008 Olympic star Garrett Weber-Gale.

The meet's craziest moments came in the two free relays. In the 200 free relay, the on-fire G/G trio of Lucchesi, Jungers and Lennertz, joined by senior Mark Liederbach, swam out of lane 7 in the second heat and posted a 1:26.05, nearly two seconds faster than any seed time for the final-heat relays. The final heat turned into a tense, two-team battle between Memorial and Verona/Mount Horeb, and as the anchor swimmers entered the water, Verona's Derek Toomey found himself more than a second behind Memorial's Ben Anderson, who had earlier finished 5th in the 50 free. Toomey proceeded to uncork a 19.78 anchor leg, the fastest by a Wisconsin swimmer at the state meet in two years. When he out-touched Anderson at the end, Toomey let out a wild yelp, thinking he'd finally won gold after two excrutiatingly close seconds to Friede in the 50 and 100 frees. But then another look at the scoreboard showed the final time -- 1:26.26, or second to the G/G relay.

It was a hard pill to swallow for a swimmer who swam great all night -- Toomey's 50 (20.57) and 100 (45.19) free times are both among the six fastest times in state history. He capped his night with a brilliant 44.66 anchor leg on the 400 free relay that gave his Verona team, which swam really well all day, a fourth-place podium finish. But his performance showed that swimming is indeed a contest of inches and split-seconds -- Toomey's three second-place finishes were by a combined .53 seconds.

As for the 400 free relay, it may be a while before a state meet sees another race unfold like the one Saturday afternoon. G/G, swimming the same foursome that won the 200 free relay, took off in the first heat and posted a 3:09.27, well under any of the seed times posted by the remaining 16 relays. But looming in the second heat was Sauk, which won this relay a year ago swimming out of the second heat. With Friede putting in the fastest split of the night -- 44.63 -- Sauk touched out in 3:09.25, topping G/G by just .02 seconds and drawing a large roar from the crowd and astonishment from many of the coaches gathered on the deck of the Nat. Then it was up to Memorial to put a finishing touch on the event to beat all others -- after Drives gave his team the lead with powerful third leg, Anderson motored through his anchor leg. With the clock ticking down, the sophomore touched out in 3:09.24. "Did we win? Did we win?" the Spartan relay swimmers asked each other. Yes, you did -- by the thinnest margin in swimming.

Other meet highlights:

-- Eau Claire Memorial/North freshman Alex DeLakis became the first freshman in three years to win an individual state title with a 57.98 win in the 100 breaststroke. DeLakis trailed Wisconsin Rapids senior Ryan Korslin by nearly a second at the turn for the second half of the race, before closing with a very quick 30.02 to close out the win.

-- Drives took the 500 free by more than seven seconds in 4:31.58 after his earlier win in the 200 free. He now owns two of the three fastest times in state history in both events.

-- Mequon Homestead junior Erik Larsen upset defending state champ Nathan Cox of Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton in diving, outscoring Cox 406.05-379.65.

Madison.com to live blog the D1 state meet

2010-02-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

For those unable to squeeze into the UW Natatorium today for the D1 swim and dive meet today, madison.com (the website of the Wisconsin State Journal) plans to live-blog the meet. Go here to find a link:

http://host.madison.com/sports/

Spartans march on

2010-02-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Led by three record-breaking performances, McFarland rolled to its fourth straight Div. 2 state title Friday night at a very loud and boisterous UW Natatorium.

The Spartans rang up 340.5 points -- more than the 332 by last year's dominant squad -- to easily top Whitefish Bay (238). The Blue Dukes swam well all night long, and their runner-up trophy was well-deserved (and the team's fifth in the past seven years). But McFarland right now just has too much depth and firepower for the rest of the D2 field.

Monona Grove took third (187) in a spirited battle with Shorewood (187) and Madison Edgewood (176) for third.

Coverage, with lots of videos from winning Spartans, from the Wisconsin State Journal:
http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_f6a17ce6-1de2-11df-9f97-001cc4c03286.html

Coverage here from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/84830737.html

Highlights:

-- McFarland got its first record of the night in the first swimming event, winning the 200 medley relay by a whopping 4+ seconds with a time of 1:36.36, topping Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's record of 1:37.15 from 2005. Sophomore Ryan O'Donnell outsplit the field by more than a second with his 23.46 opening back leg, and fellow sophomores Jake Mandli (breaststroke), Collin Morgan (fly) and senior Peter Grenzow (free) had open water the rest of the race to chase the record. Grenzow earned a place in state history by anchoring the medley to four straight state titles.

-- O'Donnell can now lay claim to being D2's best swimmer after Friday night's performance. Besides leading off the medley, he took the 200 IM in 1:53.44 (6th-best all time in D2), beating Milton's Jeff Maxwell by 3+ seconds. He then took the 100 fly in a race that lived up to its billing as the best of the night. It was a race that featured O'Donnell matched up against Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan and Edgewood's Drew teDuits. As the three swimmers hit the wall for the final turn, it looked to be anyone's race. But O'Donnell's tremendous push off the wall and underwater pull took him nearly halfway down the lane, and he emerged from under the water with the lead. He touched out in 49.74, just edging Donovan's 49.87 as both swimmers celebrated breaking the previous record of 49.99 (John Cahoy of Hudson) that had stood since 1995. teDuits finished third in 50.27, still the 6th fastest time ever posted in the D2 state meet. To cap his record-breaking night, O'Donnell led off the Spartans 200 free relay with a 50 free split of 21.24, which would've easily won the D2 50 free title (Berlin/Green Lake's Greg Hameister won it in 21.89). Morgan and seniors Brian Heiser and Grenzow took off with the lead and closed out in 1:26.42, just edging the Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door record time of 1:26.63.

-- Edgewood senior Chase Stephens capped his fine career with wins in the 200 and 100 frees. He jumped off to an early lead in the 200 free, and held off defending state champ Heiser to win in 1:41.44, 6th best all time. The Northwestern-bound Stephens followed the same strategy in the 100 free, getting an early lead and closing out Delavan-Darien's Alex Riegert and Hameister by more than a second with a winning time of 46.74. Teammate teDuits defended his title in the 100 back, but drew a combined cheer and groan from the crowd when he touched out in 49.63, just two-hundreths of a second off the D2 state record of 49.61 held by Verona Olympia Neil Walker from 1994. teDuits' backstroke time is second-fastest in state history, D1 or D2. teDuits and Stephens then combined with fellow Crusaders Mark Vukich and Eric Madsen to close out the meet by winning the 400 free relay in 3:11.71, topping McFarland (3:14.44). It's the first relay in two years the Spartans have lost at state. The 400 free relay win took some of the edge off a disappointing start on the night for the Crusaders, as their 5th-seeded medley relay DQ'd.

-- As expected, Milton's Jeff Maxwell dominated the field in the 500 free, winning by more than 12 seconds with a time of 4:38.48. It was Maxwell's second state title in the event; he finished fourth or better in the 500 all four years of his high school career. He's now off to UW-Milwaukee to continue swimming and study for a career in pharmaceuticals, and Wisconsin high school swimming will miss him -- one of the real class acts in the sport.

-- Delevan-Darien's Riegert defended his state title in the 100 breaststroke, his 58.15 easily topping Plymouth's Jesse Gambrell (59.72). Nervous father Chuck Riegert, with his trademark blue-and-yellow moustache, cheered on his son from high atop the Natatorium stands: "He just didn't want to lose," he said afterwards.

-- MG senior Trevor Sisson capped a terrific career with a win in diving, his 420.05 points topping Cudahy's Ryan Citro by 27.10 points. Sisson uncorked a triple on his second dive that drew plenty of 7s from the dive judges to move out to an early lead and was the dominant diver all meet long. Sisson had placed 9th, 4th, and 3rd in previous state meets, and ended his career atop the podium.

-- Finally (and apologies are in order, for I can't really be objective about this...), has any team come from further back in fewer years than Monona Grove? In 2007, the Silver Eagles finished 10th at the Baraboo sectional meet with 76 points; only five teams scored fewer points in sectional competition in the entire state that year than MG. Three years later, the team grabbed 3rd place at last night's state meet. Coaches Jason Roth and Joel Coyne (himself a former MG swim star) have resurrected a program that made a bunch of parents (myself among them) and supporters very proud last night. So (if you'll indulge me...) here's to MG state swimmers and divers Trevor and Patrick Sisson, Austin Anderson, Mitchell Paull, Alex Heyworth, Jack Allen, Ben Weinhaus, Aaron Pomeroy, and Jake McDade (yep, he's mine), along with alternates Tyler Roehr and Sam Curcio. In the words of the team's motto: "Yeah buddy!"

D1 state meet -- what to watch for

2010-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

The D1 boys state meet is Saturday, with diving at 10 a.m. and swimming at 3 p.m. (Lane assignments, seed times, and diving orders are here:)
http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/d1lanes.pdf

Here's a pre-meet rundown of what to expect:

-- This has the potential to be a very close and exciting state meet, with the top two teams -- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial and Hartland Arrowhead -- separated based on seed times by only three points: http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/02/div-1-state-meet-scored.html
Defending state champs Madison Memorial looms as the third-seeded team, and enters the meet with the state's best swimmer -- senior Michael Drives. Should WS/CM hold on to its seed placement and win, they'd become the first program to win a D1 state title -- other than Memorial and Arrowhead -- since 2001.

-- Can swimmers and relays win a state meet event without swimming in the final, fastest-seeded heat? It sure looks that way in D1 -- last fall, the girls D1 state meet produced two winners out of the second heat, and last year's D1 boys meet did so, too. There are a number of solid swimmers who didn't make the final heat of this meet; keep the winning time of the earlier heats in mind as the final heat finishes out.

-- How far will the meet-opening 200 medley relay go toward sorting out the top contenders? All four of the highest-seeded teams have a medley relay in the meet, with Arrowhead owning the top seed, Bay Port the 3rd seed, and WS/CM the 6th seed. Memorial looks to move up from its 14th seed in the second heat.

-- Can Danny Brebrick of Wausau East repeat his feat of last year, winning a race from the outer-most lane? He did it last year in the 100 free, coming out of lane 1. This year, he's swimming in Lane 8 in the 200 free in what may be the deepest event in the meet. Drives returns to the event after his record-breaking swim of last year, when his 1:38.02 set not only the state's all-time record, but the UW Natatorium pool record.

-- Can Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights win half the events at the state meet? Don't laugh -- the Eagles have three of the top seeds in the meet (Matt Friede in the 50 and 100 frees, and Tyler Lentz in the 200 IM). Lentz, one of the sharpest-looking swimmers all season long in D1, has the 6th-fastest seed time in the 100 back. Their medley relay has been sharp all season, and odds are few if any swimmers will split breaststroke and free legs faster than Lentz and Friede. If teammates Stephen Hanko (back) and Paul Ballweg (fly) can hold up their end, Sauk looks to be a real threat swimming out of lane 1. Then there is the 400 free relay. Sauk's revamped 400 free relay line-up last year, swimming in the second heat, got out to a huge lead and finished with a time no one in the final heat of last year's meet could match. Swimmers and coaches often talk about the "clean water" theory of swimming relays, where jumping out to a big lead can provide a smoother and faster trip. Sauk is in lane 4 of the second heat of the 400 free relay, and this team has shown it knows how to win relays at state.

-- Another event with the potential to play a big role in the outcome of the team race is the 500 free. Memorial's Drives enters the race with the top seed, and he'll be joined by sophomore Parick Franken, who had a very solid state meet last year and is seeded 10th this year, along with unseeded Rob Eckerle in the first heat. WS/CM counters with its terrific twosome of Noah Potratz (seeded 2nd) and Max Evans-Nolan (4th), who have been amazingly consistent all season long. Arrowhead has three seeded swimmers -- Chris Jenkyns (6th), Jake Prodoehl (7th) and Matt Ahnen (15th), all veterans of this race from a year ago. Bay Port's Andrew Sumnicht is seeded 13th in the race, while teammate Trent Kuffel is unseeded coming out of the first heat.

-- Don't count Arrowhead out of the team race until you count their backstrokers. In the 10th event of the meet, Jenkyns leads a contingent of five HA backstrokers seeded to score 57 points in the event. It's also the one event where chief rival for the title, WS/CM, has no entries.

-- Can Eau Claire freshman Alex DeLakis hold on to his top seed (58.67) in the 100 breaststroke? If so, he'd become the first freshman to win an individual state title in D1 since 2007. DeLakis will be chased by three other swimmers with seed times under a minute, but watch out for WS/CM's Collin Neitzel. He's seeded 5th, but won this event as a sophomore and finished fourth last year.

-- All of this is merely a precursor to the 400 free relay, which looks to be a real doozy and could decide the team title. Besides the aforementioned Sauk Prairie/ WH relay, the meet's final event figures to be a terrific race. Brookfield East/Central leads the way in the final heat with the fastest seed time (3:13.64); all eight relay teams are seeded within about two seconds of each other. Memorial, WS/CM, Arrowhead and Bay Port all have relays in the final heat, and will be joined by solid relay teams from Verona/Mount Horeb, New Berlin West/Eisenhower, and Appleton North/East. And watch for relay DQs in this event -- they have played a major outcome of the final team standings the past two state meets.

D2 state meet -- what to watch for

2010-02-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

The D2 boys state meet is Friday, with diving at 2:30 p.m. and swimming at 6:30 p.m. (Lane assignments, seed times, and diving orders are here:)http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/d2lanes.pdf

Here's a pre-meet rundown of what to expect:

-- McFarland is seeded to win its fourth straight state title:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/02/div-2-state-meet-scored.html
If they accomplish yet another title, the Spartans would match the record of the Sturgeon Bay teams of 2003-06, which won four consecutive titles before McFarland went on its current run (SB won three of those titles as a co-op with Southern Door). One of the things that makes McFarland tough at state is their ability to jump off to an early lead, thus making all other teams chase after them. McFarland has won the medley relay three years in a row, the 200 IM the past two years, and usually scores more points than any other team in the 200 free (and this year returns defending state champ Brian Heiser in the event). With sprinters Andrew Hovel, Peter Grenzow and Colin Morgan seeded to score points in the 50 free, McFarland is set to repeat its formula of the past few years -- grab an early lead before the break and let others play catch-up. Should McFarland win the medley, Grenzow will have accomplished a rare feat (I'm not sure it's ever been done in either division) -- anchoring the same relay to a first-place finish four years in a row.

-- If Whitefish Bay and Madison Edgewood have any hopes of catching McFarland, they will need huge meets from their top swimmers -- the Crusaders' Chase Stephens (200/100 frees) and Drew teDuits (fly and back), and WBay's Chuckie Prestigiacomo (50/100 frees). Both teams qualified all three relays to state, so there is some opportunity to garner additional points by moving up in the relays. But looming in front of both teams will be McFarland -- the Spartans earned the top seed in each of the three relays.

-- Watch out for McFarland's 200 free relay. Three of the members who brought home gold from the relay last year -- Heiser, Grenzow and Morgan -- are back on it, and sophomore Ryan O'Donnell will likely be on it as well and lead off. The state record of 1:26.63 is held by Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door, and after McFarland last year smashed the state record held by SB/SD in the 400 free relay, you've got to think the Spartans are hungry for another record. McFarland is also about a second away with its seed time from the medley relay record.

There are some terrific individual match-ups in the meet as well, among them:

-- The 200 free features defending state champ Heiser, who enters with the second-fastest seed time of 1:46.02, matched up against Stephens, who has the fastest seed time of 1:44.82. Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan -- who had a terrific sectional meet last weekend -- is close behind at 1:46.34.

-- Three swimmers enter the 200 IM with seed times below 2 minutes, with O'Donnell leading the way with a 1:57.04. Milton's Jeff Maxwell and Brookfield Academy's Jonathan Marks are the next two fastest seeds. Maxwell has tried to chase down O'Donnell twice in the past month -- first at the Small School State Invitational, and then last weekend at the Baraboo sectional -- and come up second both times. Both are strong fliers and backstrokers; O'Donnell's underwater turns are the best in D2. If Marks can hang on through the initial fly and back legs, he could contend as well as he's a terrific breaststroker.

-- Berlin/Green Lake's Greg Hameister enters the 50 free with the fastest seed time by nearly three-fourths of a second, a lot in such a short race. This could be a blanket finish at the end; after Hameister, the next five fastest seeded swimmers are separated by a mere .12 seconds.

-- Is there a better potential race in either division than the 100 fly? Donovan, teDuits and O'Donnell own three of the four fastest seed times in the event for both D2 and D1 state meets; they are separated by less than a third of a second.

-- If the seed times hold up (never a sure bet), the 100 free could feature two state titleists -- Stephens (with the fastest 200 free seed) and Hameister (with the fastest 50 free seed) own the two fastest seed times in the 100 free. Heiser, 3rd in this event last year, leads seven other 100 free swimmers who swam in this race a year ago.

-- Maxwell owns the fastest seed time in the 500 free by more than 15 seconds. He's hoping to reclaim the state title he won in this event as a sophomore, but lost last year by a mere .23 seconds.

-- teDuits and Delavan-Darien's Alex Riegert look to defend their state titles from last year -- teDuits in the back and Riegert in the breaststroke. Here's a nice feature on Riegert from the Janesville Gazette:
http://gazettextra.com/news/2010/feb/11/shhhh-riegert-quiets-most-foes/
Here's hoping Chuck Riegert, Alex's dad, returns to the state meet stands sporting his blue-and-yellow (D-D school colors) moustache.

-- Can Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson continue his ascendency up the D2 state diving ladder and finally claim gold? Sisson was 9th at the state meet as a freshman, 4th as a sophomore, and 3rd last year. He's the highest returning finisher from last year's meet, and has been D2's leading diver all season. Cudahy's Ryan Citro, 6th last year, will give chase.

Where have all the freshmen gone?

2010-02-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

One interesting trend this year in boys swimming was the lack of break-out freshmen in both divisions. Sure, there were some -- notably Alex DeLakis of Eau Claire, Alex Swain of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, and Spencer Mattox of Janesville Craig in D1, and Al Nenning of Grafton in D2.

Boys, of course, develop later than girls, who sometimes show up at state meets as freshman and win state titles right off the bat. Still, it's notable how few freshman boys qualified individually for the state meet this year compared to the past few years.

Here's a look at the number of individual freshman qualifiers in the past four years:

D1:

2010 -- 7 individuals, three who qualified in two events.
2009 -- 10 total, eight in two events.
2008 -- 13 total, five in two events.
2007 -- 15 total, six in two events.

D2:

2010 -- 4 individuals, one who qualified in two events.
2009 -- 9 individuals, five in two events.
2008 -- 12 individuals, seven in two events.
2007 -- 10 individuals, four in two events.

Thoughts?

State meet swimmers worth knowing about

2010-02-17T06:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Sectional qualifying by the numbers

2010-02-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

Here's how many swimmers qualified for the boys state meets from each sectional:

D1

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 98
Middleton -- 71
Neenah -- 38
Hudson -- 37
Greenfield/Greendale -- 26
Marquette (Schroeder) -- 19

D2

Baraboo -- 73
Cudahy -- 52
Plymouth -- 39
Stevens Point -- 28

A few observations:

-- The two sectionals thought to be the deepest -- Waukesha South and Baraboo -- proved out, as both led the way in qualifying swimmers/relays to the state meet.

-- Greenfield/Greendale tied Waukesha South for qualifying the highest number of divers -- six from each sectional. Taking out divers, the G/G sectional qualified 20 swimmers/relays, and Marquette 17 (and each was guaranteed 11 swimmers/relays with the automatic qualifier provision). In the Marquette sectional, seven of the 11 swimming events saw only one swimmer/relay from the sectional -- the automatic winner -- qualify for the state meet. G/G had five solo event qualifiers. Given that Waukesha South qualified more than a third of the D1 field, it certainly raises a question about the competitive balance (or imbalance) of the three Milwaukee-area sectionals.

-- The depth of the Waukesha South sectional was exceptional. In four events -- the 200 free, the 50 free, the 100 free, and the 500 free -- the sectional qualified 10 swimmers, reaching well into the next-to-last heat at the sectional meet. The sectional also sent nine 200 free relays to state. The sectional qualified at least six swimmers, relays, or divers in every event.

-- Baraboo was not quite as deep as Waukesha South, but impressive nonetheless. The sectional qualified six or more swimmers and relays in every swimming event save one -- the breaststroke, where it sent five swimmers to state. Nine of the 50 free qualifiers to state came from Baraboo.

-- The Cudahy sectional will be sending nearly half of the D2 dive field -- seven divers total -- to the state meet. It was an event where Nicolet's presence in Division 2 was notable -- the school was moved down to D2 this year from the D1 sectional it used to host. Nicolet qualified three divers to the state meet.

A look at qualifying standards for 2010

2010-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

It was a faster year for qualifying standards in D2, but not so much in D1.

Here's the link to this year's final qualifying times for swimming:

http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/standards.pdf

Here's a link to an earlier post with last year's standards:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/01/2009-boys-qualifying-times.html

Thoughts:

-- Only three qualifying standards in D1 were faster this year -- the 200 free, the 200 IM, and the 200 free relay. The 200 free and 200 IM were notably faster (1:49.10 in the 200 free this year compared to 1:50.72, and 2:02.36 in the IM compared to 2:04.53). The IM in particular has gotten quite fast; between 2006 and 2009, the average qualifying time was 2:05.46, so in essence the time has dropped more than three seconds in two years. Half the 24-swimmer field in the IM qualified under 2 minutes, and some very good swimmers were squeezed out of qualifying for the event this year by the time drop. The 200 free time dropped by more than a second-and-a-half, but it should be noted that last year's qualifying time had been the slowest in four years. It was below 1:50 in both 2006 and 2007.

-- In D2, seven qualifying standards were faster this year. Backstroke was notably faster; after hanging around the low 59-second mark for the past four years, it dropped in 2010 to 57.60, virtually the same as the D1 qualifying mark of 57.56. In addition, it's worth noting the 200 IM qualifying time dropped again, this year by nearly half-a-second. That came on the heels of last year's time drop, which saw a time drop of nearly two-and-a-half seconds. So D2 IMers have to swim nearly three seconds faster than two years ago to qualify. Also, the medley relay qualifying time dropped alot this year. The final time of 1:46.13 was nearly two seconds faster than last year, as well as the previous three-year average of 1:48.17.

-- What explains the recent qualifying time drops in the 200 IM in both divisions? Maybe it's time to credit coaches. I've always thought the IM a tough event to coach (as well as to convince swimmers to swim), because swimmers and coaches can't simply focus on one or two strokes; they have to practice all four. And to compete at the state-meet level, swimmers have to be reasonably competent in all four strokes (there are plenty of swimmers who don't do the IM because they are weak in one of the strokes, often breaststroke). And it's a hard event to swim that takes alot out of swimmers.

-- D2 is clearly getting both faster and deeper. Seven qualifying time standards dropped this year, after all but one of the time standards were faster in 2009 compared to 2008. D2 also has the fastest overall qualifying time this year in both divisions in two events -- the back and fly. While it will never match the depth of times swum at D1, the qualifying times suggest the quality of swimming in D2 is certainly improving.

A reminder on comments

2010-02-15T19:08:00.001-08:00

As comments come into the blog during this hectic and intense week of the boys state meet, just a brief reminder about the tagline that appears on top of this blog: "Comments welcome, but should be in the spirit of good sportsmanship."

I've been moderating comments for the past week or so, and a few are bordering on, or over the edge of, that edict. So I'd simply ask that everyone remind themselves of the intent of the blog, and to avoid anything inflammatory, or accusatory, or not in the spirit of the statement above. Thanks for your consideration.

Is it the pool, the taper, or the competition?

2010-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

With Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial and Hartland Arrowhead earning the top two seeded positions in the D1 state meet this Saturday:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/02/div-1-state-meet-scored.html
it's worth asking the question:

Will the seed times earned by swimmers coming out of the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial sectional (both teams swam there) hold up at the UW Natatorium?

I've explored this question before in some previous posts; see this link about last year's boys state meet:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/02/about-that-waukesha-south-d1-sectional.html

Then there is this analysis about the Waukesh South sectional pool posted before last fall's girls state meet (which generated a lot of comments):
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-waukesha-south-pool-too-fast.html

In both cases (2009 boys state meet, as well as the 2008 girls state meet), several teams coming out of the Waukesha South sectional failed to maintain their seed placements. In addition, four of the six biggest seed placement drops (that is, swimmers not holding their seed placement) at the 2009 girls state meet came from teams that swam at the Waukesha South sectional -- Brookfield Central, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, Muskego and Hartland Arrowhead.

So, what gives? And will the same thing happen this year? Here are a few speculative answers and/or arguments:

-- As one coach told me this past fall, the UW Natatorium is the fastest pool most swimmers will swim in this year. That is, save for those who swim at the Waukesha South pool for sectionals. The WSouth pool is faster than the Nat, and thus swimmers coming from the sectional don't match their times (or, just as importantly for this argument, don't drop as much time as those from other sectionals).

-- The Waukesha South sectional is super-competitive, leaving coaches little choice but to taper or at least semi-taper many swimmers for the meet to give them a chance of making it to state. For the girls last fall, the Middleton sectional was arguably just about as competitive as the Waukesha South sectional. But this year for boys, WSouth was easily the deepest sectional in terms of swimmers qualifying for state.

-- It's easier for some swimmers -- particularly those from the Madison area -- to swim well at the Nat, because it's in effect a home meet, or close to it. In addition, Madison-area swimmers may have swum more often at the Nat, and thus are comfortable there (although it must be said that the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial boys team won the Madison West Invite at the Nat this January.)

-- Other thoughts?

I'd welcome a reasoned debate about this via the comments section; I'd prefer that it not get into speculative discussion about who is or isn't tapered for state vs. sectionals (I've always thought that's hard to tell until swimmers actually swim the races.) I'd also prefer not to get into a discussion about which pools would make for a better state meet pool -- that's a different blog post.

Post away -- I'm moderating posts these days, and will put up any and all that provide some insight and candid observation on this.

Div. 2 state meet scored

2010-02-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Once again, the D2 state meet looks like it's McFarland's to lose. The three-time defending state champs are seeded to score 310 points, nearly 100 points ahead of second-seeded Whitefish Bay.

Here's the top-1o teams seeded:

McFarland -- 310
Whitefish Bay -- 212
Madison Edgewood -- 200
Monona Grove -- 169
Shorewood -- 157
Cedarburg -- 135
Berlin/Green Lake -- 129
Waunakee -- 119
Plymouth -- 115
Fort Atkinson -- 104

Analysis: When you get 17 of 18 individual entries to state, and end up with the top seed in all three relays, you're bound to be the favorites. That's McFarland this year, in a near carbon-copy of last year, when the Spartans also had all three relays top-seeded and qualified 17 entries to state. Say what you will about the Spartans' dominance of recent years -- and there's a clear sense among other teams at wanting to see a changing of the guard on top -- this team knows how to swim extremely well this time of year. I'm not sure I've seen a team in recent years -- D1 or D2 -- that prepares itself better for the stretch run of the swim season than McFarland. Edgewood and Whitefish Bay look to be battling it out for second place, with Monona Grove and Shorewood leading a group of teams looking for a top-five finish. Among the top nine seeded times, all qualified three relays to state, so look for the medleys, 200 and 400 free relays to play a big part in sorting out the final order of teams in D2.

D2 meet scored....
State2010D2Boys

Div. 1 state meet scored

2010-02-14T10:34:00.001-08:00

It what looks to be a very close contest, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial is seeded three points ahead of Hartland Arrowhead going into Saturday's D1 state meet.

Here is the top 10, based strictly on seed times (with the obvious-but-needs-to-be-said caveat -- state meets are won in the water, not on spreadsheets):

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 214 points
Hartland Arrowhead -- 211
Madison Memorial -- 170
Bay Port -- 149
Eau Claire -- 134
Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton -- 132
Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights -- 118
Brookfield Central/East -- 118
Verona/Mount Horeb -- 110
Appleton North/East -- 101

Analysis: Maybe this comes down to WS/CM's great distance swimmers against Arrowhead's amazing collection of backstrokers. WS/CM's three swimmers in the 200 and 500 frees -- Noah Potratz, Max Evans-Nolan, and Ryan Finke in the 200, and Potratz and Evans-Nolan in the 500 -- are seeded to score 60 points. HA's five backstrokers, led by Chris Jenkyns, are seeded to score 57. Of course, relays will play a huge role in sorting out the points between two teams -- both placed all three relays into the meet, with WS/CM holding a slight edge in overall seed points.

Can defending state champs Memorial make up the difference? Maybe. The relatively low seeded winning score (214), along with 10 teams seeded to score more than 100 points, suggests a very dispersed talent pool this year in D1. That could help Memorial, as top swimmers and relays from other top-10 seeded teams could squeeze in amid the WS/CM-Arrowhead battle. Memorial will certainly need another big day from senior Michael Drives -- he's seeded first or second in both of his individual events and the relays (200/400 free) he anchored Saturday. Watch for Memorial's medley relay early in the meet; seeded to score six points (14th seed), it could be a harbinger of good things for the Spartans if it can move up. Bay Port has very good relay strength seeded in the meet, but needs its individual entries to move up if the Pirates want to break into the top three at the meet.

D1 meet seeded here (ignore the heading that says "2009 girls state"; this is D1 boys state 2010)...

State2010D1

Lane assignements up for state meet

2010-02-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

Lane assignments, and diving order, are now posted on the WIAA website; here are the PDFs:

http://wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/d1lanes.pdf

http://wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/d2lanes.pdf

We will score the meet out in due time...

Sectional wrap-up

2010-02-14T05:58:00.000-08:00

With the whirlwind of sectional meets Saturday completed, here's a brief wrap-up of the day's action:

D1

Greenfield/Greendale: The host Greenfield/Greendale squad took top honors, winning 8 of 12 events to easily top Racine Case 347-282. Kenosha Bradford, Badger/Big Foot and Racine Horlick followed. The G/G big three of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers had a hand in all eight of the team's wins. Some Racine-oriented coverage here from the Racine Journal-Times: http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/high-school/article_4ffe006e-192b-11df-89b1-001cc4c002e0.html

Hudson: Eau Claire Memorial/North swam to an easy sectional win, with six first-place finishes to top Chippewa Falls/McDonnell Central. Junior Wes Manz and freshman Alex DeLakis led the way with two wins each for EC, which also got a strong meet from junior Isiah Rozich. Chippewa Falls got wins from sophomore Austin Byrd (back) and senior Andy Davis (100 free), along with wins in the medley and 200 free relays, but unfortunately the team's very good 400 free relay was DQd.

Marquette: Swum at the Schroeder Aquatic Center, the host Marquette team edged a Wauwatosa East/West team that swam very well, 410-395. Sophomore Lucas Kuriga (first-place in the 50 and 100 frees) led the way for the winners. Jake Shackelford of Tosa contributed two sectional wins to his team's runner-up finish. Of the three D1 automatic qualifiers who had slower times than the final qualifying time, all came from this sectional -- suggesting strongly the WIAA needs to address the competitive imbalance of this sectional relative to the others in the Milwaukee area.

Middleton: Defending D1 state champs Madison Memorial, with senior Michael Drives contributing wins in the 200 and 500 frees, took honors with a 354-293.5 win over Verona/Mount Horeb. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' dynamic duo of seniors Tyler Lentz (200 IM, back) and Matt Friede (50,100 frees) each had two wins, and contributed legs on Sauk's winning medley relay. Two of the best races in the entire state sectional competition came here in the 200 and 400 free relays, as Drives twice held off Verona's hard-charging Derek Toomey by inches to give the Spartans both relay wins. Coverage here from the Wisconsin State Journal, with Toomey lamenting his four runner-up finishes at the meet, by a combined .30 seconds: http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_142911fa-190d-11df-ab8a-001cc4c002e0.html

Neenah: Bay Port took honors here with 397 points, with Appleton North/East -- which swam great all day -- edging the host Rockets for the second place (326-323). Ryan Keuler was a double-winner for the Pirates, which also got wins from its medley and 200 free relays. Appleton N/E got strong meets from sophomore Jake Iotte and junior Alex Bryson, who both contributed a win and a 2nd-place finish at the meet, along with a win from Josh Kinney. Coverage here from the Appleton Post-Crescent: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100214/APC020507/2140616/-1/varsity/Appleton-North-East-enjoys-fantastic-finishes

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial: Is it the pool, or the competition? Maybe both; this was by far the fastest D1 sectional -- not so much with the winning times, as the depth of quality of the competition. Hartland Arrowhead, led by its 1st-through-5th-place sweep in the backstroke (that's 82 points!), topped Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial 351-328, with Brookfield East/Central (247), Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (245) and New Berlin West/Eisenhower (245) all closely bunched after the top two. New Berlin's Alex Rodenkirk (200, 100 frees) was the only double-winner in the sectional, which had three teams -- Arrowhead, Menomonee Falls, and Brookfield -- all garner relay wins. Swim of the meet? Menomonee Falls' all-senior 200 free relay, anchored by Sean Kimmitt, which came out of lane 8 to win.

D2

Baraboo: Three-time defending state champs McFarland took first place here in the fastest and deepest of the D2 sectionals. McFarland's 396 points led Madison Edgewood (325), with Monona Grove (284), Waunakee (244) and Fort Atkinson (232) following. The Spartans won all three relays and got individual wins from sophomores Ryan O'Donnell (200 IM), Collin Mortan (50 free), and Jacob Mandli (breaststroke). Edgewood's top duo of senior Chase Stephens (200, 100 frees) and junior Drew teDuits (fly, back) both had two wins for the Crusaders. How fast was the meet? It produced the fastest medley relay time in the state, the four fastest 200 free relays, and the three fastest 400 free relays. Coverage here from the Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_0d62514c-192b-11df-9fca-001cc4c002e0.html

Cudahy: Whitefish Bay won the battle of the two D2 heavyweights, topping Shorewood 377-349. Whitefish took two of three relays from Shorewood (medley, 400), and seniors Chuckie Prestigiacomo (50 free), Tommy Hiller (500) and Chris Fink (back) all contributed wins for the Blue Dukes. Brookfield Academy's terrific twosome of Jack Donovan (200 free, fly) and Jonathan Marks (200 IM, breaststroke) had great days, with three wins and a 2nd between them. So did Delavan-Darien's Alex Riegert -- he grabbed first place in both the 100 free and breaststroke, where he's the defending state champ. Coverage here from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/84320727.html

Plymouth: The closest of the D2 sectionals saw the host team come out on top with 360 points, just edging Cedarburg (352) and Berlin/Green Lake (350). The Plymouth squad got wins from its medley relay along with senior Jesse Gambrell (breaststroke) and junior Brian Linzmeyer (fly), and diver Josh Suchon Friday night. B/GL's Greg Hameister was a double winner in the 50 and 100 frees, along with swimming legs on the team's winning 200 and 400 free relays. Kiel's Halverson brothers, Nic and Tim, had two wins and two 2nd-place finishes between them while Grafton freshman Al Nenning took the IM and was second to Cedarburg's Carl Newenhouse in the back. Coverage here from the Sheboygan Press:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100214/SHE020507/2140491/1882/SHE02/WIAA-swimming-Plymouth-takes-Division-2-sectional-South-4th-in-D1

Stevens Point: Ashwaubenon relied on superior depth to top Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door 396-316. Alex Gajeski (IM) and Andrew Jablonski (breaststroke) led the way for the Jaguars with wins, who also notched wins in the medley and 200 free relays. Lakeland's Andrew Nielsen (200 free, back) was a double-winner.

Sectional results up/qualifying standards up as well

2010-02-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sectional results are up, as most know by now. Thanks to all for sending results tonight.

Here are the qualifying standards for both D1 and D2:

http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/standards.pdf

Dive results now posted on WIAA website

2010-02-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

The dive results from last night's competition in D1 and D2 are now posted on the WIAA website under results for boys swimming. Defending D1 state dive champ Nathan Cox of Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton led all D1 qualifiers with a score of 462.45, while Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson led D2 qualifiers with a score of 401.25.

Eau Claire swept the top three dive spots, giving them a big head start at the Hudson sectional, where they are the favorites. Neenah picked up 2nd and 4th place finishes, giving them a leg up on Bay Port, which had no divers, in the battle for supremacy at the Neenah sectional today.

In D2, the Tschoeke brothers from Ashwaubenon -- Nick and Ben -- went 1-2, with Nick just edging younger brother Ben by just .25 points. That will give the Jaguars a head start in their battle with Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door at the UW-Stevens Point sectional. The Sisson brothers also went 1-2 for Monona Grove at the Baraboo sectional, and it looks like MG diver Austin Anderson grabbed the 16th and last spot in the D2 state meet next week. Plymouth divers, led by sectional winner Josh Suchon, went 1-3-4 at their home pool. Cudahy divers Ryan Citro (397.60) and Jake Daughty went 1-2 for the Packers.

Sectional match-ups worth watching

2010-02-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

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.

Sectional strength -- by the numbers

2010-02-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

Which are the most competitive sectionals this year? Who has the fastest swimmers? Which events are the most competitive and deepest?

One way of assessing sectional strength is to look at how many swimmers in any given sectional, and in any given event, have seed times faster than last year's qualifying times -- the last time to make it to the state meet.

Here's a look at the number of swimmers in each sectional who have, based on seed times, already swum below last year's qualifying times:

D1

Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 58
Middleton -- 40
Neenah -- 23
Hudson -- 21
Greenfield/Greendale -- 10
Marquette -- 7

D2

Baraboo -- 48
Cudahy -- 31
Plymouth -- 26
UW-Stevens Point -- 9

Here's a look at the events in each division, based on the number of swimmers and relays who have swum faster than last year's qualifying times:

D1

200 medley -- 13
200 free -- 18
200 IM -- 21
50 free -- 9
100 fly -- 12
100 free -- 14
500 free -- 15
200 free relay -- 19
100 back -- 16
100 breaststroke -- 7
400 free relay -- 15

D2

200 medley -- 14
200 free -- 8
200 IM -- 10
50 free -- 5
100 fly -- 13
100 free -- 7
500 free -- 12
200 free relay -- 9
100 back -- 18
100 breaststroke -- 11
400 free relay -- 7

Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst

2010-02-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel features Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst, one of several outstanding distance swimmers competing this Saturday in sectional competition:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/84190057.html

Kohnhorst, a senior, will be competing in both the 200 and 500 frees at the Waukesha South sectional. He finished 5th (200) and 3rd (500) last year at the D1 state meet.

Sectional primer

2010-02-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

D1

Hudson: A deep and solid Eau Claire squad (#4 in the latest D1 poll) is the favorite here; they won last year over runner-up Wausau East, which graduated three of its best swimmers. Eau Claire – a newly formed co-op between Memorial and North – has been solid all season, with freshman Alex DeLakis leading a strong group of swimmers. DeLakis has two top sectional seeds, including the fastest seed time in the state in the 100 breaststroke (59.18). Eau Claire also has three divers entered, which should further help their chances to repeat their win from last year. An emerging Chippewa Falls/McDonnell Central team (#9 in the D1 poll), led by outstanding sophomore Austin Byrd, will push Eau Claire. Look for some very competitive relay races between the two teams. Wausau East’s Danny Brebrick chose not to defend his state title in the 100 free; he’s the top seed in the sectional in both the 200 and 500 frees.

Neenah: Look out for Bayport; second last year in this sectional to the host Rockets, the Pirates have put together an outstanding season that puts them among the contenders for the D1 state title. Seniors Ryan Keuler and Andrew Sumnicht lead a host of solid swimmers for a team that has the potential to put three relays through into the final, fastest heat of the state meet. Neenah counters with junior Matt Hollub, top seed in both the 100 free and back. Appleton North/East , led by 500 free swimmer Jake Iotte, will also be a strong presence here; all three top teams should send multiple swimmers to state in this improving sectional. Steve Bothun of Appleton West/Kimberly is one of the top divers in the state.

Middleton: One of the deepest sectionals in the state. Madison Memorial is seeking to defend its state crown from a year ago; they are led by senior Michael Drives, looking to add to his two individual titles he’s won already (200 free last year, 200 IM two years ago). A number of other top-tier swimmers who made it to the podium last year return, including Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights’ dynamic duo of seniors Tyler Lentz (state champ last year in the 200 IM) and Matt Friede (tied for first last year in the 50 free), Verona/Mount Horeb senior sprinter Derek Toomey, and Madison East’s Robert Miner. Memorial, Sauk, Verona, East, Madison West, and Middleton all should qualify one or more relays to state.

Marquette: Moved this year to the Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, the host team should dominate a sectional comprised mostly of Milwaukee teams. Probably the weakest of the six D1 sectionals, it’s quite possible a sectional winner will emerge with a slower time than one of the top-24 qualifying times in one or more events. Marquette’s Lucas Kuriga, one of the top sophomores in the state, has top seeds in the 50 and 100 frees. Marquette’s Mike Donofrio is one the top divers in the state.

Waukesha South: This probably gets the nod over Middleton as the deepest and toughest sectional in the state. As has been the case in recent years, the super-fast Waukesha South pool will likely produce some of the fastest sectional times in the state, as coaches have recognized this is a very competitive sectional to get out of and thus semi-taper swimmers for the sectional. Hartland Arrowhead and the host Blackshirts are the favorites, while New Berlin, Brookfield, Muskego, Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton, Mequon Homestead, Hartford, and Watertown will all send solid swimmers to this sectional with good chances of making it to state. New Berlin’s Alex Rodenkirk is the lone swimmer to earn two top seeds here (200 and 100 frees). The relays at this sectional look to be very competitive and fast. Nathan Cox of the Menomonee Falls co-op, who has been diving extremely well of late, is the defending state champ in diving.

Greenfield: This will mark the debut of the Greenfield pool – just opened last month – for this sectional. Does the host Greenfield/Greendale co-op have enough depth to capture the sectional title at home? They have three of the better swimmers in the state in senior Mike Lucchesi and juniors Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers, and earned eight of the 11 top seeds in swimming. Brothers Joe and John DeVroy lead a Kenosha Bradford squad trying to move up from last year’s second-place finish at this sectional. Racine Case junior Richard Bradley is one of the state’s top divers, and leads a Case squad that also hopes to contend for the sectional title.

D2

UW-Stevens Point: A somewhat depleted sectional, with the move of a rising Berlin/Green Lake squad to the Plymouth sectional, and last year’s sectional champs and third-place finishers at state – Ashwaubenon – hit hard by graduation. Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door looks to be the favorites here, with Ashwaubenon also contending. Junior Andrew Nielsen of Lakeland earned two top sectional seeds (200 free, 100 back).

Baraboo: A brutally tough sectional, starting with the three-time defending state champs in McFarland and four other teams in the top-10 of the state coach’s poll. McFarland last year got 17 of its 18 individual sectional entries to state, plus all three relays (all of which won at state). They are nearly as deep this year; six members of the team have either won state titles or swum on gold-medal relays. Senior Brian Heiser, defending state champ in the 200 free, leads a very good Spartan squad. Edgewood features junior Drew teDuits (defending state champ in the backstroke) and senior Chase Stephens, two of the best D2 swimmers in the state; the pair have four top sectional seeds between them. Milton brings senior Jeff Maxwell, a former state champ in the 500 free who has the top seed time in the state in the 500 by more than 16 seconds. Fort Atkinson, Monona Grove, and Waunakee also bring back state-qualifying swimmers and relays from last year. MG’s Trevor Sisson is the favorite to win the D2 state diving title after finishing 3rd last year.

Plymouth: Cedarburg won this sectional last year by a narrow 25.5 point margin over Plymouth, and both return solid squads. Watch out as well for Berlin/Green Lake – led by sprinter Greg Hameister, the B/GL co-op has had a solid campaign this season and will certainly be in the mix for the sectional title. Junior Carl Newenhouse leads the Cedarburg squad, while senior Jesse Gambrell hopes to lead the host Panthers – which will be helped by its three divers -- to a sectional win. Grafton’s Al Nenning is the top seed in the 200 IM and second behind Newenhouse in the back; he’s been D2’s outstanding freshman all season.

Cudahy: Reminiscent of Ali-Frazier, as heavyweights Whitefish Bay and Shorewood battle it out in a match-up of D2’s #2 and #3-ranked teams. Both these squads are deep and will qualify multiple swimmers and relays to state. Senior sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo leads the Blue Dukes, while senior Stephen Meyer of Shorewood leads the Greyhounds. Not as deep a sectional as in previous years, as teams such as Delavan-Darien, Elkhorn, and Whitnall were hit hard by graduation. Nicolet, a longtime D1 swim power, moves down to D2 and this sectional this year. D-D’s Alex Riegert is the defending state champ in the breaststroke, and also has the sectional’s top seed in the 100 free.

Sectional psych sheets posted; first glance

2010-02-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

The sectional psych sheets are posted on the WIAA website under "boys swimming" -- try this link: http://www.wiaawi.org/index.php?id=438

We'll do some digging into them and post observations later tonight.

UPDATE -- A few observations:

-- Only one defending state champ -- Danny Brebrick of Wausau East -- won't be defending his title in that event this year. Brebrick, who won the 100 free last year swimming out of lane 1 in the final heat, opted instead for the 200 and 500 frees this year. He has the top seed in each event at the Hudson sectional. Six other defending state champs -- Michael Drives of Madison Memorial (D1 200 free), Tyler Lentz of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (D1 200 IM), Matt Friede of Sauk (D1 50 free), Brian Heiser of McFarland (D2 200 free), Drew teDuits of Madison Edgewood (D2 100 backstroke), and Alex Riegert of Delavan-Darien (100 breaststroke) -- are back in those events this year.

-- How fast will swimmers need to be in Division 1 to qualify for the final heat of the 500 free? 4:45? With eight swimmers currently seeded at 4:50.21 or faster -- including five competing at the very fast Waukesha South pool -- going under 4:45 may be what it takes to swim the final heat. Noah Potratz of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial leads the way with a seed time of 4:41.62, with Drives of Memorial -- he of the 4:29.98 second-place effort from last year's state meet -- looming with the second-fastest seed. How fast has the 500 free gotten in D1 this year? Bobby Wolf of Muskego, fourth last year at state, is seeded 6th in his sectional. This is maybe the deepest race in either division this year.

-- Earning a sectional top seed as a freshman doesn't occur all that often, so it's worth noting that Eau Claire's Alex DeLakis earned top seeds in both his events at the Hudson sectional -- the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. His 59.18 in the 100 breaststroke leads all D1 breaststrokers.

-- The Michael Drives/Tyler Lentz dual in the 200 IM won't happen. The two seniors are the last two swimmers to win the IM at the D1 state meet. Both chose to defend their current titles -- Drives in the 200 free, Lentz in the 200 IM.

-- But the Derek Toomey/Matt Friede show will go on, as the two seniors from Verona/Mount Horeb and Sauk continue their season-long duel at the Middleton sectional. They'll match up in both the 50 and 100 frees, with Friede holding the top seed in the 50 free and Toomey the top seed in the 100 free. In a 100 free field at Middleton with three other swimmers seeded under 50 seconds, the pair own the two fastest seed times by more than two seconds.

-- How deep is the Div. 2 sectional at Baraboo? Very. At the Small School State Invitational two weeks ago at Plymouth, there was some speculation among coaches and fans that the Baraboo sectional might produce every single D2 state champ this year. This year, Baraboo sectional divers, swimmers and relays own the top overall seed times in the state save for one -- the 400 free relay, presumably anchored by Wisconsin recruit Chuckie Prestigiacomo, of Whitefish Bay. Five of the top 10 D2 teams in the lastest WISCA coaches poll will be at Baraboo.

-- Maybe it's time for the WIAA to re-think the D1 Marquette (formerly Nicolet) sectional, held this year at the Brown Deer Schroeder Aquatic Center. The sectional includes mostly Milwaukee City Conference co-op teams, plus a few close-in suburban teams. But when a sectional can't even fill one complete heat of events (200 IM, 500 free) and only muster five relays for the meet-ending 400 free relay, something ought to be adjusted. Some solid D1 squads -- notably Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton and Mequon Homestead -- are closer to Schroeder than the incredibly deep Waukesha South sectional they are sent to; why can't the WIAA do some simple geographic adjustments to maintain some competitive balance? It's done so in other sports, notably football come playoff time. UPDATE: It looks like Milwaukee Riverside has now added their entries to the sectional, but with no times.

Last poll before sectionals

2010-02-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

The last state coaches poll (www.wisca.net) before sectional competition is out, with Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial in D1 and three-time defending state champs McFarland in D2 continuing to hold down the top spots.

Observations: Eau Claire has moved up to 4th in the D1, just five points ahead of Bay Port. With those two teams and an emerging Chippewa Falls/McDonnell squad (along with Neenah, Wausau East, and Appleton North/East), central and northern Wisconsin should be well-represented at the D1 state meet next week.

In D2, Edgewood -- after a strong showing at the Badger South Conference swim meet -- has crept up to within five points of 3rd-ranked Shorewood. The Badger South now has four of the top eight ranked teams in D2.

D1
1: Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 470 points
2: Hartland Arrowhead -- 409
3: Madison Memorial -- 383
4: Eau Claire -- 348
5: Bay Port -- 343
6: Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights -- 309
7: New Berlin West/Eisenhower -- 292
8: Verona/Mount Horeb -- 291
9: Brookfield Central/East -- 251
10: Chippewa Falls/McDonell Central -- 234

D2

1: McFarland -- 690 points
2: Whitefish Bay -- 482
3: Shorewood -- 432
4: Madison Edgewood -- 427
5: Berlin-Green Lake -- 301
6: Monona Grove -- 291
7: Fort Atkinson -- 277
8: Milton -- 243
9: Plymouth -- 234
10: Cedarburg -- 229

An Olympian swimmer from Hartford

2010-02-08T17:24:00.001-08:00

One of the best things about high school swimming -- perhaps its best thing -- is that it allows swimmers of all abilities, and all physical conditions, to compete on the same terms as the best and fastest swimmers. Few high school sports are as inclusive -- and thus allowing all high schoolers the chance to compete -- as swimming.

I've seen developmentally disabled swimmers receive the loudest applause at a meet for completing a 50-yard freestyle race. I've seen state champion swimmers cheer on teammates who are legally blind, urging them when to turn so they don't hit the wall.

In that tradition, it's worth noting a story passed along by Hartford coach Pete Meinberg via email:

"We have a little person with dwarfism named Collin O'Connell. He joined as a freshman last year and could barely do 100 yards in a row without getting out and sprawling on his back on the deck. This year, he started to get pretty decent in practice and was doing 50 frees in well over 40 seconds. At the Beaver Dam dual, he got our attention when he got a 37.3 split. Now we started to pay attention to the U.S. Paralympic website. He will classify as a Class S6, which includes little people under 137 cm.

To make a long story medium, today (Saturday) Collin swam fast enough to beat two American Class S6 Paralympic records in the 50 Free (his 35.12 beat the record of 35.31) and the 100 Free (his 1:22.50 beat the record of 1:22.53.) He's travelling to San Antonio, Texas, next month to compete in the American Spring Paralympic Championships in the 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly."

Congratulations to Collin, as well as coach Meinberg, for seeing the potential in all swimmers, not just those competing for state berths this week.

UPDATE: Here's a TV news clip on Collin:
http://www.fox6now.com/sports/witi-100221-collin-oconnell,0,5597049.story

Even more conference results

2010-02-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some more conference results (and once again thanks to all who have emailed with results and tips):

-- Cedarburg won a wild North Shore Conference meet with 434 points, just edging Whitefish Bay (430) and Mequon Homestead (418). The Bulldogs used great depth in the 200 and 500 frees, and a two-win meet from Carl Newenhouse, to edge the Blue Dukes and Homestead. With the entire outcome of the meet on the line with the 400 free relay in the water, Homestead anchor Cody Burkard out-touched WBay anchor Chuckie Prestigiacomo by .16 seconds -- a proverbial eyelash -- to win the event, and hand Cedarburg the conference meet title (as the Bulldogs finished 3rd in the 400 free relay). A WBay win in the relay would've given the Blue Dukes the conference meet win. Full results here...
North Shore Boys Conf 2010

-- Badger/Big Foot took the Southern Lakes Conference meet at Platteville with 507.5 points; Elkhorn just edged Delavan-Darien for 2nd place, 415-411. Platteville coach Tom Caccia reports that, as host team celebrating the 30th year of the program, the awards at the meet were handed out by former Platteville/Lancaster swimmers. The award for the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, was given out by the team's first captain from 30 years ago. Former swimmers, some coming from as far away as California, Georgia and Michigan, presented all the awards at the meet. Said Caccio: "We got together for pizza last (Saturday) night and they had to throw us out of the place after five hours. Some of these guys hadn't seen each other for 25 years! It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my coaching career." A great idea. Full results here...
slc_champs_02_06_10

-- We now have full results from the Badger North Conference swim meet at Baraboo, won by three-time defending state champs McFarland, with Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights. Check out the times and splits by Sauk's powerful twosome of Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede. Full results here...
Badger North2010

-- Racine Case edged Muskego 439-415 to win the Southeast Conference meet. Coverage here from the Racine Journal-Times: http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/high-school/article_c58aed88-139f-11df-acfe-001cc4c002e0.html

UPDATE: Plymouth, without star breaststroker Jesse Gambrell (out sick) holds off a spirited challenge from Kiel and the Halverson brothers to win the Eastern Wisconsin Conference swim meet. Results here: http://ewc.homestead.com/Results_-_EWC_Boys_Meet_02-06-2010.htm and coverage here from the Sheboygan Press:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100207/SHE020507/2070589/-1/varsity

A come-from-behind win in the Woodland

2010-02-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

The Woodland Conference swim meet featured a close contest between two top teams from each division -- a New Berlin team featuring a solid cast of Division 1 swimmers (and ranked #7 in the latest D1 poll), and a very deep Shorewood squad that's been ranked in the top 3 for most of the D2 season.

At their conference swim meet at the new Greenfield HS pool Saturday, Shorewood edged New Berlin 474-451 in a come-from-behind win for the ages.

During the meet, New Berlin and third-place Greenfield/Greendale swapped 1st-place finishes, with NB's Alex Rodenkirk picking up wins in the 200 and 500 frees, along with NB wins in the medley and 200 free relays, while G/G's Jack Lennertz (50 free/100 fly), Matt Jungers (200 IM) and Mike Lucchesi (100 back) picked up wins for the host team. Shorewood, meanwhile, used its superior depth to place multiple individuals in the top 16 in each of the events.

It looked like it might be NB's day after its 200 free relay beat Shorewood, with G/G squeezed in between for 2nd place, with an added 9th-place finish by the NB B relay. But Shorewood began its rally with a clutch win from backstroker Stephen Meyer, who edged out G/G's Jungers 54.62 to 55.13. Then Shorewood turned to its amazing collection of breaststrokers. There may be teams with better breaststrokers than Shorewood, but who has more good ones? Shorewood's breaststrokers, led by Jay Tomasiewicz' 3rd-place showing, went 3-4-5-8-9-11 in the race (with everyone under 1:12), picking up an amazing 74 points to NB's 21 (this despite Jason Johnsen's conference record win of 1:01.78). The breaststroke deluge gave Shorewood a slim five-point lead heading into the final event, and the Greyhounds clinched the conference meet win with 3rd- and 6th-place showings by its A and B 400 free relays.

Full results here...
Woodland Conf Boys 2010

More conference results

2010-02-07T12:54:00.001-08:00

For a variety of reason, and with apologies, I find myself cramped for time today. But here are some results and links to some conference results from yesterday (and thanks to all for sending these along!):

Madison Memorial took the Big 8 conference title, led by double-winner Michael Drives (who swum the backstroke, of all things; don't expect a repeat this Saturday at sectionals from Drives in that event). Memorial picked up the win, even with its very fast 400 free relay DQing at the end. Full results here:

Big 8 Conference 2010

...and coverage from the Wisconsin State Journal here: http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_cca4cfd8-138d-11df-9516-001cc4c03286.html

-- Wausau East won its fourth Wisconsin Valley Conference title in five years, led by defending D1 100 free state champ Danny Brebrick. Coverage from the Wausau Daily Herald here: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20100207/WDH020507/302070033/-1/Varsity/Boys-swimming-East-wins-fourth-title-in-five-years
(Here's link to the conference meet full results with splits from the WVC website:
http://www.wvcstats.org/boysswim/stats/wvcBSWIM2010meetSplits.pdf

-- Bay Port sweeps all 11 swimming events to dominate the Fox River Classic Conference meet. Coverage from the Green Bay Press-Gazette here:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100207/GPG020507/2070646/1238/varsity/Boys-swimming-diving-Bay-Port-wins-FRCC-meet

-- Neenah takes the Fox Valley Association title, setting up a solid contest between the Rockets and Bay Port Pirates this Saturday at the Neenah sectional. Coverage of Neenah's win here from the Appleton Post-Crescent: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100207/APC020507/2070606/-1/Varsity/Neenah-swimming-team-secures-FVA-title

-- McFarland overcame seven wins from Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights to win the Badger North Conference swim meet in Baraboo. Coverage here from the State Journal (with the added note that the story incorrectly has Jacob Mandli winning the back; he won the breaststroke. And that Matt Friede of Sauk won the 100 free in a time about five seconds faster than what's written in the story): http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_dcbaddef-3f6f-5610-bfd1-7e0065a12ebf.html

-- Coverage from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel of Hartland Arrowhead's win over Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, with some interesting observations by head coaches Bob Jenkyns of HA and Blaine Carlson of WS/CM: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/83737302.html

- Aiden Kohnhorst sets two conference records in the 200 and 500 frees to lead Hartford to the Wisconsin Little Ten conference championship over Watertown. Full results here...

wisclittle10conf2010

Arrowhead takes Classic 8/Greater Metro

2010-02-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

Hartland Arrowhead, bringing to the table the kind of depth few Div. 1 teams can match, ran away with the Classic 8/Greater Metro Conference swim meet at the Waukesha South pool Saturday. HA scored 548 points; current #1 Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial took second with 391. Truth be told, the conference meet suits HA, with lots of deep talent, better than WS/CM, which has plenty of top-tier talent but not nearly as much depth. Brookfield finished 3rd (362), with Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton 4th (340) and Marquette 5th (325) in a meet that saw some of the top talent in suburban Milwaukee.

It was a meet with plenty of highlights; here are a few:

-- Arrowhead won the medley and 400 free relays -- the first by nearly a second over WS/CM in a match-up of two of the very best medleys in the state, and the final relay by a mere .25 seconds again over WS/CM that saw all eight swimmers on both relays under 50 seconds. The WS/CM Blackshirts got their lone relay win in the 200 free relay, beating out Brookfield by nearly a second in a fine time of 1:29.64.

-- Marquette's Lucas Kuriga took both the 50 and 100 frees, the latter in a season-best 47.60.

-- The 200 free saw five swimmers go under 1:48, led by Arrowhead's Jake Prodoehl (1:45.07), followed by a trio of Blackshirts. The 200 free demonstrated just what kind of depth teams had to contend with against HA; Arrowhead swimmers also finished 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th in the race (all under 1:55), racking up 54 points in a single event for the team.

-- The 200 IM saw three swimmers go under 2:03, led by Brookfield's Spencer Rose, who continued his solid season with a win in 1:59.74.

-- The Blackshirts' Noah Potratz and Max Evans-Nolan continued to dominate the 500 free, going 1-2 in the event with both swimmers breaking 4:45.

-- In the closest race of the day, Marquette's Joe Bastien out-touched Arrowhead's Chris Jenkyns by .05 seconds to win the 100 back.

-- MF/G/H's Nath Cox looks fully ready to defend his D1 diving crown, as he picked up a meet-record win of 488.35 points, topping the previous record set by his brother Danny in 2006. Cox won by 67+-points over Marquette's Mike Donofrio.

Full results here...
2010 Classic 8 Conference Results

Edgewood takes Badger South title

2010-02-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

Led by its two top swimmers, Madison Edgewood emerged from a three-way logjam and took the Badger Conference South title today at Stoughton HS's pool.

Edgewood, which finished the dual-meet season tied 4-1 with both Fort Atkinson and Milton, took the conference title with 509 points, easily topping defending champs Milton (425 points). Fort (422) and Monona Grove (341) were next at a conference meet that featured four Division 2 teams in the top 10 in the latest state coaches poll.

The Crusaders swam well all day long, and it's nice to have two swimmers the caliber of Chase Stephens and Drew teDuits to lead the way. Stevens won the 50 and 100 frees, the latter in a time (47.60) that would've won last year's D2 100 free title. teDuits took the 100 fly (51.63) and 100 back (52.46), topping Fort's Evan Hill in both races. The pair also teamed up in the medley and 200 free relays to lead Edgewood to first-place finishes in both relays.

But Edgewood's far from just a two-man team; a number of Crusaders stepped up with season-best times. Junior Eric Madsen, affectionately known as "Mad Dog" by his teammates, grabbed two third-place finishes in the 200 and 500 frees, while a host of others -- Mark Vukich, Casey Dahler, Will Hornung, Zach Munns, and Luke Landgraf -- picked up top-6 podium finishes for the team. Conference meets allow scoring by both A and B relays, and Edgewood consistently had the best B relays of the day, a testament to the team's top-quality depth.

Jeff Maxwell of Milton picked up wins in the 200 IM and the 500 free, the latter in a dominating 4:43. Regardless of who else in D2 swims the 500 at state this year, Maxwell will, and he looks like he'll be tough to chase down.

The meet's best race came down to the final event, as Edgewood's 400 free relay (without teDuits and Stephens) battled MG's 400 free relay (without top sprinter Aaron Pomeroy, sidelined as a precautionary move with a hurt shoulder) tooth and nail for all 16 laps. In the end, MG's Jake McDade (yep, he's mine) edged the Crusaders' Will Hornung to touch out in 3:23.52, a school record for the Silver Eagles and fourth-best so far in D2 this year.

Full results here...
Badger Boys Conf 2010

A busy weekend and week ahead

2010-02-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Most swim teams will be taking part in conference swim meets this weekend; I'll post results as we receive them. I've already contacted several folks who will be providing results, and thanks in advance to those who are sending them along. But I'd also welcome any additional results from coaches, meet managers, or parents, plus any additional tidbits about great races or meets. Send tips and info. to: wimcdade@tds.net

Sectional psych sheets will be posted by the WIAA sometime mid-week of next week, and we'll take a look at those as well. Then it's the big Saturday of sectionals, often viewed in the swimming world as the most nerve-wracking day of the season. Good luck to all swimmers (and their parents and coaches, who may need it more!)

Big goals at Bay Port

2010-02-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

Bay Port has been one of the better stories in Division 1 swimming this year, as the Pirates have risen to become one of the real threats to take home hardware from the state meet later this month.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette writes up their surge to to the top, noting it's been helped by senior Andrew Sumnicht's decision to trade club swimming for the high school season. Here's the story:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100202/GPG020507/2020483/Boys-swimming-Bay-Port-believes-time-is-right-for-best-ever-finish

2010 qualifying standards -- what will make it to state?

2010-02-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Within a week, boys swim coaches will be submitting entries for the sectional swim meets (due by noon Tuesday to the WIAA; see page 8 of the latest WIAA Bulletin:
http://www.wiaawi.org/bulletin/2009-10/bulletin11510.pdf )

Sectional entries, of course, represent something of a guessing game -- who will be swimming what events, what events may be deeper than others, and importantly what will be the final qualifying time to get into the state meet.

This year, the question about qualifying times is particularly filled with uncertainty, as these will be the first sectional meets held since the national high school ban on the high-tech bodysuits. Qualifying times (or the "qualifying standard") dropped noticeably last year in both divisions. Nine of the 11 qualifying times in Division 1 dropped last year, a third more than in either of the previous two years. Ten of the 11 qualifying times in Div. 2 dropped last year, double the average of the previous two years. Although there are no firm numbers on how many swimmers used high-tech suits at sectional meets, reports from around the state at the 10 sectional sites suggest they were used by a number of swimmers.

What follows at the end of this post is a link to the qualifying standards from last year (2009 QS). That time is then compared in the spreadsheet format to the average qualifying standard time for the past three years (06-08 QS). The link also provides the qualifying standards for both divisions for each of those three years (2008 QS, 2007 QS, and 2006 QS). Times noted with an asterisk are events in which an automatic qualifier had a slower time than the final qualifying time.

What I found interesting in doing the comparisons:

-- Qualifying times for nearly all relays last year got faster, much more so in some cases, compared to previous years. For instance, the Div. 1 medley relay qualifying time was more than two seconds faster than any of the previous three years. The D2 400 free relay was more than 4.5 seconds faster last year than in any of the previous three years.

-- Two individual events in D1 -- the fly and breaststroke -- got noticeably faster last year compared to previous years. In D2, the 200 IM and 100 free got noticeably faster.

-- On the other hand, some events showed no real significant drop in qualifying times last year. In D1, the 200 free qualifying time was the highest in the past four years, and the 500 free and 100 back times stayed around their recent historic levels. The same held true in D2, where the 200 medley relay and 100 back times were around recent time standards.

Here's the link the qualifying time standards...
boysstatequalifyingstands06-09

Wrapping up last weekend

2010-02-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

A few more results from last weekend's swim meets:

-- Brookfield topped New Berlin and Greenfield/Greendale at the Bob White Invitational in Wauwatosa. Coming off a near-miss to #1 (Div. 1) Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial in a dual meet, Brookfield tallied 558 points to easily top NB (408) and G/G (306). The best race of the day saw Brookfield's Spencer Rose just hold off G/G's Matt Jungers by .01 to win the 200 IM in 2:02.14. G/G's Mike Lucchesi (50/100 frees) and Jack Lennertz (100 fly/back), along with NB's Alex Rodenrkirk (200/500 frees) all recorded double wins at the meet. Brookfield's wins came from sophomore diver William Sass and its 400 free relay. Full results here...

bobwhitgeinvite2010resultspaper

-- Racine Case topped a 10-team field at the Racine County Invitational held at Racine Park HS Saturday with 359 points to 293 for runner-up Lake Geneva Badger. Kenosha Bradford's Joe and John DeVroy and Watertown's Nick Wolhaupter were all double-winners at the meet. Coverage here from the Racine Journal-Times:
http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/high-school/article_fb83b576-0e15-11df-b75b-001cc4c002e0.html

-- The battle of the Wuerger coaches went to Bill of Verona/Mount Horeb, as his Wildcats edged brother Todd's Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights squad 88-82 Saturday at Sauk's pool. Sauk had the better of it in winning races, taking nine of the 11 events. But Verona's superior depth proved the difference. There were some terrific races in this meet, including Sauk's Tyler Lentz just edging out Verona's Derek Toomey in the 200 free, and teammate Matt Friede doing the same to Toomey in the 100 free. Full results here...
Sauk_Verona Results2010

Latest state poll -- Blackshirts, Spartans still #1

2010-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

The state coaches poll (http://www.wisca.net) remains unchaged at the top, with the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial Blackshirts on top in D1 and the three-time defending state champ McFarland Spartans #1 in D2.

Chippewa Falls/McDonell Central was a notable addition to the top-10 in D1; the Hudson sectional should prove to be a good contest between Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls/MC, two emerging statewide powers from northwestern Wisconsin.

D2 had a few changes -- Whitefish Bay moving up to #2 (from #3), Berlin/Green Lake up to #5 (from #6), and Monona Grove up to #7 (from #9), all after solid showings at last weekend's Small School State Inviational. D2 remains extremely close among the teams ranked 5th-10th.

D1

1: Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial -- 473 points
2: Hartland Arrowhead -- 394
3: Madison Memorial -- 379
4: Bay Port -- 362
5: Eau Claire -- 339
T-6: Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights -- 304
T-6: New Berlin West/Eisenhower -- 304
8: Verona/Mount Horeb -- 267
9: Chippewa Falls/McDonell Central -- 236
10: Wausau East -- 225

D2

1: McFarland -- 631 points
2: Whitefish Bay -- 498
3: Shorewood -- 434
4: Madison Edgewood -- 335
5: Berlin/Green Lake -- 288
6: Fort Atkinson -- 287
7: Monona Grove -- 272
8: Plymouth -- 252
T-9: Cedarburg -- 250
T-9: Milton -- 250

Small School State redux -- is D2 getting faster?

2010-02-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

The Small School State Invitational provides a good preview of the Division 2 state meet to be held Feb. 19. The field is deep, with 19 teams, and most of the top D2 teams attend (with the notable exception of Madison Edgewood). Although it doesn't include a number of solid swimmers who will almost certainly end up at the state meet, it includes a broad enough range of swimmers to provide a decent picture of what's to come in D2 in the next few weeks.

So I thought it worthy to compare some of the times from this year's Small School State Invite to those of last year's meet. It's safe to say that this year's meet was faster, both in terms of the winning times and in the depth of faster times swum. Times compared were: 1st-place times, 6th-place times (the place needed to be recognized on the starting blocks at the meet hosted at Plymouth), and 16th-place times (the last place to score points). Based on the comparison:

-- Nine of the 11 winning times this year were faster than last year.

-- Nine of the 11 6th-place times this year were faster than last year.

-- All but one of the 16th-place times this year was faster than last year.

In addition, the small number of slower times this year were slower by the barest of margins. For instance, the 100 breaststroke this year was won by McFarland's Jacob Mandli in 1:01.69; last year's winning time by Delavan-Darien's Nathan Johnson was 1:01.61. The same held true with this year's 6th-place time in the 200 free (.06 seconds slower this year than last year) and the 16th-place 200 free relay (.03 seconds slower this year than last year). Only the 400 free relay -- swum last year by a McFarland foursome that set the state's all-time D2 record at state -- stood out as considerably faster last year.

Events that looked noticeably faster this year included the 100 butterfly and the 500 free. This year, 11 swimmers broke 1 minute in the fly; last year, only five did. In the 500 free, the 6th-place time this year was more than seven seconds faster than last year's 6th-place time (Kiel's Nic Halverson dropped his time by more than 11 seconds in the 500 this year and improved only one place -- from 5th last year to 4th this year). Relays also looked generally faster up and down the board.

Whether this translates into faster qualifying times at sectionals in two weeks, or faster times at the D2 state meet, is hard to tell. There's still an open question about how times will be impacted by the ban on high-tech bodysuits, so much in vogue at last year's state meet (and to some extent at sectionals as well). We'll file a post on qualifying standards sometime in the next week.

Small School State time comparison by event (first time is 2010; second time is from 2009; times from 2009 in italics are faster than 2010):

1st place
200 medley relay: 1:39.46; 1:41.05
200 free: 1:45.75; 1:45.98
200 IM: 1:57.31; 1:59.01
50 free: 22.48; 22.75
100 fly: 52.11; 53.34
100 free: 48.92; 49.79
500 free: 4:45.65; 4:47.04
200 free relay: 1:28.96; 1:32.62
100 back: 53.19; 54.05
100 breaststroke: 1:01.69; 1:01.61
400 free relay: 3:22.28; 3:18.35

6th place

200 medley relay: 1:46.70; 1:47.71
200 free: 1:53.27; 1:53.21
200 IM: 2:05.61; 2:06.71
50 free: 23.38; 23.43
100 fly: 57.79; 1:00.07
100 free: 50.90; 50.61
500 free: 5:04.45; 5:11.85
200 free relay: 1:35.44; 1:36.69
100 back: 56.48; 57.13
100 breaststroke: 1:04.19; 1:05.23
400 free relay: 3:29.58; 3:29.90

16th place

200 medley relay: 1:58.88; 2:00.10
200 free: 1:58.37; 1:59.17
200 IM: 2:12.64; 2:17.48
50 free: 24.57; 25.02
100 fly: 1:01.52; 1:05.05
100 free: 53.52; 53.96
500 free: 5:20.79; 5:26.74
200 free relay: 1:43.56; 1:43.53
100 back: 1:02.24; 1:03.01
100 breaststroke: 1:08.24; 1:09.44
400 free relay: 3:45.03; 3:54.05

True fanatics (and I know you're out there) may want to peruse last year's Small School State results here (see this post for this year's results:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/01/spartan-err-small-school-state_30.html

Boys 09 Small School State Results -01!31!09

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

2010-01-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

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

Two great dual meets

2010-01-29T07:41:00.000-08:00

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.

35th annual Packer Relays -- another tie

2010-01-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

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.

A big week of swimming

2010-01-26T08:10:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-26T08:07:00.001-08:00

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.

A new #1 -- get out your black shirts

2010-01-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

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.

Memorial unbeaten streak runs to 100

2010-01-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

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.

Greenfield's new pool

2010-01-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

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.

A scrambled Badger Conference South

2010-01-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Round-up of weekend meets

2010-01-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-18T08:40:00.001-08:00

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.

2009 boys qualifying times

2010-01-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

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)

Bayport rolls to another title

2010-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

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

Rosenstock makes Sports Illustrated

2010-01-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

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.

New pool and a great meet

2010-01-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

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.

Sorting out the Badger Conference

2010-01-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

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.

Weekend meet round-up

2010-01-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-12T05:48:00.000-08:00

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!

Boys invite at new Sun Prairie pool

2010-01-11T12:54:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

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.

Bulldog Invite: A good week for Shorewood

2010-01-10T17:42:00.001-08:00

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

Another big win for the Blackshirts

2010-01-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Shorewood tops Whitefish Bay

2010-01-07T03:50:00.000-08:00

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

Making waves in Eau Claire

2010-01-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

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.

Now posting results!

2010-01-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-03T06:45:00.001-08:00

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

Arrowhead captures second big win

2009-12-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

Hartland Arrowhead continued to stake a claim on being the top Div. 1 team in the state, coming away with a dominant win at the Metro Swim Officials Invite at Mequon Homestead HS Tuesday.

It's the second big invitational win for HA; earlier this month, they topped defending D1 champs Madison Memorial at the Barracuda Invite at Brookfield East.

Arrowhead captured the holiday-season meet at Homestead with 476 points, easily topping second-place Bayport (347). Lake Forest, a strong Chicago-area swim program which won this meet last year, finished 3rd (301), with D2 power Whitefish Bay (238) and Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown (220) rounding out the top 5.

HA, ranked #1 in the latest state coaches D1 poll, was led by junior breaststroker Brent Schreibel, an emerging force in the event, and backstroker Chris Jenkyns. In a meet that featured a mix of high school and college-level events, Schreibel took both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes, the latter by a mere three-tenths of a second over Homestead's Cody Burkard in one of the best races of the meet. Jenkyns added wins in the 100 back (54.49) and 200 back (2:00.89). Sophomore Jake Prodoehl contributed a win in the 500 free (4:58.75), and Jenkyns, Schreibel, and Prodoehl joined flyer Cody Roller to capture the 200 medley relay (1:41.60).

Arrowhead this year brought a lot of state-meet experience to the table, but needed to show its top swimmers could swim with the best in the state. Led by Schreibel and Jenkyns, HA looks like a top contender for the D1 state title in February.

Other highights of the meet:

-- Despite finishing second by more than 100 points, Bayport's runner-up finish should not be overlooked. The Pirates returned a strong core of swimmers this year that's been augmented by the return of senior Andrew Sumnicht, who skipped his junior year of high school swimming to focus on club swimming. Sumnicht, who qualified for the state meet as a sophomore, had a solid meet with a win in the 200 IM (2:00.74) over Greenfield/Greendale's Matt Jungers (2:00.88) in the best race of the day, along with a 3rd in the 400 IM. Bayport also got a win in the 50 free from junior James Killian (22.32), and a very good meet from senior Ryan Keuler, who had 2nd-place finishes in the 100 free (48.66) and 200 free (1:46.22). The three swimmers also joined senior Mitch King to win the 200 free relay (1:29.83) in a time that's faster than any posted on the WISCA top-30 list so far. Bayport certainly looks to be one of the favorites at the Neenah sectional, and could make some serious noise at the D1 state meet.

-- Greenfield/Greendale junior Jack Lennertz, second last year at the D1 state meet in the 100 fly, won both fly events at the meet -- a dominant, near-7-second win in the 200 fly (1:55.74) and the 100 fly (52.23). Lennertz is looking this year to add another state fly title to the family mantle; sister Jenna was a four-time D2 state champ in the 100 fly.

-- The match-up between D2 powers Whitefish Bay and Shorewood was a bit of a letdown, as both teams were missing top swimmers -- sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo for WB, and Kasmir Bohannon and Stephen Meyer for Shorewood. Without two of its best swimmers, Shorewood finished 8th at the meet with 143.5 points.

-- One of the most impressive wins of the night came from Brookfield Academy's Jack Donovan, who won the 100 free in 48.59. Donovan swam the 200 free last year at the D2 state meet, finishing 6th. With three of the top four finishers in the 200 free returning in D2, might Donovan opt for the 100 free, where three of the top four finishers last year graduated? We'll find out -- Donovan's winning 100 free time is faster than any time posted on the D2 top-30 list for the event so far.

UPDATE: Some very good photos of the meet here:

http://www.mequonnow.com/multimedia/photos/80352897.html

UPDATE 2: Results here...
2009 Metro Swim Officials Results Splits

An update on Garrett Weber-Gale

2009-12-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a good story by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Gary D'Amato on Garrett Weber-Gale, arguably the most notable swimmer to come out of Wisconsin's high schools.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/etc/80120667.html

Weber-Gale swam for Nicolet High School, and still holds state Div. 1 records in the 100 free (43.49) and back (49.73). He went on to swim at the University of Texas following his high school career. He swam a leg on the United States' famous winning 400-meter free relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics that featured Michael Phelps; the photo of Weber-Gale and Phelps celebrating the come-from-behind victory is one of the more famous swimming photos of recent history.

Note to all aspiring swimmers out there -- Weber-Gale swam on "C" relays while a freshman at Nicolet.

Big 8 tilt goes to Mad. Memorial

2009-12-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

In a big early-season test for Madison Memorial, the Spartans easily handled Big 8 rival Verona in a tri-dual at Janesville Craig Friday night.

Memorial used its superior depth to outpoint the Wildcats 106-64. The teams split 10 of the 11 races in the meet, but Memoria's three relay wins, combined with plenty of 2nd-through-5th places, gave it the victory over Verona. Michael Drives was the lone individual winner for the Spartans, taking the 200 free (1:46.91) and the breaststroke (1:01.24). Verona's Derek Toomey continued his strong season with wins in both sprints (22.02 50 free; 48.74 100 free), and was joined as a double-winner for the Wildcats by junior Spencer Ritt (54.84 fly/58.62 back).

In the best race of the night, Verona senior Jacob Olandt just out-touched Memorial sophomore Patrick Franken in the 500 free, 4:55.98 to 4:55.99. If anyone is hankering for a spot in the D1 state meet this year, it's certainly Olandt. Two years ago, he came within three spots of qualifying for state. Last year, his sectional time of 5:00.31 was the 24th-fastest in the state, but he was knocked out of the state meet by a slower automatic sectional winner qualifier. His times so far indicate he's determined to take his place on the starting blocks this year in the 500.

One final note -- keep an eye on Janesville Craig junior Alex Loftus. His win in the 200 IM was the only one by a Craig swimmer at the meet, and his time -- 2:02.88 -- is one of the fastest posted in D1 this season.

Swim polls and top-30 times

2009-12-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

As the boys season heads into the traditional mid-season holiday break from meets, it's worth a mention to encourage boys coaches to submit times to the WISCA coaches website, which compiles top-30 times for both D1 and D2 and uses those times to calculate its poll of the top 10 teams in the state.

The first poll is out (http://www.wisca.net/polls), and although (conflict alert -- my son swims for Monona Grove) I'd like to think Monona Grove has improved enough to rank 2nd in the state for D2, I'm objective enough to think that's not an accurate reflection of the pecking order in D2 this year.

As previously mentioned, the beauty of the WISCA poll -- as opposed to polls in other sports like football and basketball -- is that it's totally merit-driven, based solely on times. But the poll can only be accurate if a full complement of coaches are submitting their team's times. So coaches --if you have a few minutes during the holiday break -- submit those times!

Here's the first WISCA poll of the season:

D1

1 -- Arrowhead
2 -- Madison Memorial
3 -- Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights
4 -- New Berlin West-Eisenhower
5 -- Madison West
6 -- Janesville Craig
7 -- Fond du Lac
8 -- DeForest-Sun Prairie
9 -- Waukesha North-Kettle Moraine

D2
1 -- McFarland
2 -- Monona Grove
3 -- Plymouth
4 -- Grafton
5 -- Medford

Wisconsin Valley Conference results

2009-12-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

Kudos to the Wisconsin Valley Conference, which has an excellent website that posts results from lots of athletic contests, including swimming. Here's the conference website:

http://www.wvcstats.org/index.html

Click on the tab for "Boys Swimming," and then on "Schedule/Results" listed above the conference standings for a rundown on meets in the conference. Click on an individual meet to get results. They even have archived results of conference meets going back several years. Well done.

Barracuda Invite: Arrowhead tops Mad. Memorial

2009-12-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

In one of the first big meets of the boys season, Hartland Arrowhead topped defending Div. 1 state champs Madison Memorial at the Barracuda Invitational at Brookfield East High School Wednesday night.

Arrowhead swam to a 497-444 victory over the Spartans as the two teams dominated the six-team invite. Brookfield finished 3rd with 305.5 points, followed by Middleton (286.5), Marquette (274), and Brookfield Academy (143).

Arrowhead won the meet with a strong display of team depth (in a meet that counted only one relay for points, but allowed 30+ individual entries per team). Arrowhead also picked up 29 points in diving to to 14 for Memorial. Memorial won two relays to one for Arrowhead, and each team won three individual events. Arrowhead, 4th last year at the state meet after having won four state titles this decade, will certainly get a motivational boost from beating the defending state champs.

Leading the way for HA was senior Chris Jenkyns, who took the 500 (4:52.86), was 2nd in the back (54.51), and led off his team's winning medley relay. Also winning for HA: sophomore Jake Prodoehl in the very fast 200 free (1:46.48) and junior Brent Schreibel in the breaststroke (1:02.83 -- a commanding win by 1.4 seconds).

For Memorial, senior Michael Drives took the 200 IM in a state-leading 1:56.53 (his winning margin was more than six seconds) and the 100 free in 48.22. Sophomore Ben Anderson added a win in the 50 free (22.53) by a clear half-second -- a pretty big margin for the shortest race of the meet.

Other meet highlights:

-- As mentioned, the 200 free was a terrific race, with Prodoehl edging a solid field that saw five swimmers go under 1:51. Interestingly, the first three finishers in the race were sophomores -- Prodoehl was followed to the wall by Marquette's Lucas Kuriga (1:47.67) and Memorial's Patrick Franken (1:48.23).

-- The 500 free/200 free relay is always a tough double to pull off, as the events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule and differ so dramatically. But Franken, an emerging star for the Memorial Spartans, pulled it off with aplomb, as he finished second to Jenkyns in the 500 free (4:58.86), then turned around right away to anchor Memorial's winning 200 free relay (1:31.21).
The host Brookfield team squeezed in between Memorial and HA for 2nd-place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:31.73.

-- Brookfield Academy's super twosome of juniors Jack Donovan and Jonathan Marks had solid performances -- Donovan won the fly (53.38) and added a 5th in the 200 free (1:50.87), while Marks garnered a 3rd in the breaststroke (1:05.51) and a 4th in the IM (2:06.18).

-- Marquette senior Michael Donofrio dominated the competition in diving, winning by more than 60 points with a score of 424.70. Donofrio led the state diving competition at one point during last year's meet before falling to 4th; he's one of the favorites to take the D1 state diving crown this year.

-- Watch out for Memorial's 400 free relay; the quartet of Franken, Michael Salerno, Anderson and Drives has the look of a very good relay, and their winning time of 3:17.08 (more than three seconds over runner-up HA) is solid for this time of the season. With a meet on the line and the outcome hanging on the 400 free relay, Drives isn't a bad guy to have anchoring.

(Thanks to Barracuda Invite meet manager Chad Knutson for forwarding results.)

UPDATE: Results here...
Barracuda Invite Meet Results

The Iowa pipeline continues

2009-12-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

The University of Iowa continues to look to Wisconsin high schools for swim recruits. Iowa just announced this year's recruits, and they included four top Wisconsin high school swimmers:

-- Katelyn Baltes of Verona;
-- Abby Tuchscherer of Oshkosh West;
-- Elise Borja of Waukesha South/Mukwonago;
-- Tyler Lentz of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights.

Here's a rundown:

http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2009/dec/15/iowa-women-sign-nine/

In the past two years, the Hawkeyes have lured state champs Tommy Ratdke of Cedarburg and Byron Butler of New Berlin to Iowa City. Look for even more recruiting trips by Iowa into Wisconsin in the coming years; it's hard to imagine this (http://www.recserv.uiowa.edu/geninfo/construction/eastcampus.htm)

won't continue to be a lure for Wisconsin swimmers, especially compared to this:

An emerging 500 swimmer -- Kiel/EL-G's Nic Halverson

2009-12-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, a close miss can serve as a motivation. That appears to be the case with sophomore Nic Halverson of the Divison 2 Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah co-op swim team.

Last year as a freshman, Halverson just missed qualifying for the D2 state meet in the 500 free. His time of 5:12.44 fell less than 1.2 seconds away from making into the state meet -- not much in the longest event swum at the high school level.

Halverson's looking to make amends this year. So far he's swum two of the fastest 500 free times in the state for D2 swimmers -- a 5:05.34 in a tri-dual meet against Plymouth and West Bend, and then a 5:02.61 to capture 1st place at the Oshkosh West Invite. In the latter race, he outdueled Appleton North/East's Jake Iotte (himself one of the best young 500 free swimmers in the state; he was 5th last year at the D1 state meet in the event) by just under a second.

The D2 500 free is fairly deep this season -- 12 of the 16 state qualifiers from last year return this season. But Halverson's early-season times suggest he'll be a factor in the race come Feburary.

UPDATE: Some results from yesterday are posted in the comments section -- thanks!

No mercy -- McFarland romps at Fort Invite

2009-12-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

The British pop singer Duffy raced to the top of the music charts last year with her song "Mercy" that featured the refrain: "I'm begging you for mercy."

High school swimmers may want to add the song to their I-Pods/phones/touches when they go up against McFarland this year. Against a pretty good field of teams, the Spartans romped to victory at the Blackhawk Invite at Fort Atkinson HS Saturday. McFarland easily topped a solid Verona squad 452-380, with Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (last year's D1 state runner-up) in 3rd (247), Madison Edgewood (T-4th last year at D2 state) in 4th (234.5) and the host Blackhawks in 5th (219). Even more impressive -- the Spartans routed the field without top sprinter Peter Grenzow, who took the meet off to take college-prep exams.

Looking sharp for McFarland were senior Brian Heiser and sophomore Ryan O'Donnell. Heiser looked like he's ready to defend his D2 state title in the 200 free with a 1.34-second win in the 200 free (1:46.62) over Edgewood senior Chase Stevens (1:47.96). O'Donnell won the 200 IM over Verona's Spencer Ritt in an impressive early-season time of 2:01.90. Owing in part to Grenzow's absence (a key member of McFarland's relays the past few years), the Spartans didn't win any relays, but (in a meet that allowed both A and B relays for scoring) utilized its great depth to earn top-8 finishes by both relays in each of the three relay events.

One indication of the Spartans' depth -- junior Geof Glover. Last year, McFarland was so deep Glover only swam one event at the sectional qualifying meet -- the 100 back, in which he qualified for state. This year he appears poised to add the 200 IM, as he raced to 3rd place at the meet with an impressive 2:08.08 -- a time that would've qualified for state last year in the event. He added a 4th-place finish in the backstroke.

Other meet highlights:

-- Verona's Derek Toomey won both sprint showdowns with Sauk's Matt Friede, winning the 50 free (21.55 to 21.81) and the 100 free (47.73 to 47.94). As someone said to me after the meet, it's not that the Purdue-bound Friede is swimming slow early in the season; it's that Toomey is razor-sharp early on. These two will see more of each other throughout the season, including the Madison West Invite in January and the Middleton sectionals.

-- Sauk's Iowa-bound Tyler Lentz and Edgewood junior Drew teDuits went up against each other twice, with each winning once. Lentz topped teDuits, one of the best juniors in the state, 52.18 to 53.19 in the fly, but teDuits came back to beat out Lentz in the backstroke, 52.50 to 52.80, with O'Donnell coming in 3rd at 53.90. It will be interesting the see where these two swimmers line up at sectionals; Lentz, who won the 200 IM at D1 state last year, was third at state in the back, and the other top-five finishers in the backstroke all graduated. teDuits, fresh off an appearance at the short-course nationals meet in Washington, will certainly swim the back as the defending D2 state champ. He's a very good flier, but also finished 2nd in the 50 free at D2 state (and last year's state champ graduated).

-- The three top teams battled it out in the meet's final event, and Friede helped Sauk pull out the win in the 400 free relay with a 46.99 anchor leg. Toomey's 46.53 anchor leg was not quite enough, as Sauk ended up winning with a 3:21.87 to Verona's 3:22.49. McFarland back-loaded its 400 free relay, and despite two sub-49-second splits from Heiser and O'Donnell, had to settle for third with a 3:22.97 -- all solid early-season times.

Arrowhead beats W. South/Cath. Memorial in early-season tilt

2009-12-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

In a big early season match-up between two of the better Milwaukee-area D1 squads, Hartland Arrowhead beat Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial 104-79 Thursday night.

Arrowhead utilized its superior depth to capture the win between two squads expected to be among the top D1 teams come state meet time in February. Arrowhead took two of the three relays and went 1-2 in the diving to help capture the win.

It was a terrific meet with some very close races. In the 200 free, state meet veterans Ryan Finke of WS/CM and Jake Prodoehl of HA hooked up in the 200 free, with Finke just edging Prodoehl by a mere two-hundreths of a second (1:47.89 to 1:47.91). WS/CM's Collin Neitzel, a double-threat this year at the state meet in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, just beat out HA's Cody Roller in the 200 IM (2:03.58 to 2:03.95). Prodoehl came back in the 100 free to top WS/CM's Eric Oberst in the 100 free, 49.28 to 49.55. Brent Schreibel of HA pulled off a mild upset in the 100 breaststroke, topping Neitzel 1:03.16 to 1:03.53.

These two teams will cross paths again this season, including the Waukesha South sectional. Both showed Thursday they have a lot of swimmers likely to be making appearances at the UW Natatorium come February. (Thanks to Danni Caldwell for meet results.)

Plymouth tops Sheboygan North

2009-12-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

It's almost always a good meet with D2 Plymouth goes up against its D1 neighbors to the east, Sheboygan North and South. Last night, Plymouth topped North 101-85 in a meet that saw the Panthers win 10 of 12 events, including all three relays. Junior Brian Linzmeyer set a new school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.40. Results here from the Sheboygan Press (a paper others in the state much larger would do well to emulate in terms of covering high school swimming):

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091211/SHE020507/912110571/1089/SHE02

Speaking of Plymouth, here's a nice story on how local swim parents (are there any more dedicated parents in high school athletics?) raised more than $30,000 to buy a new timing and diving system for the high school pool, which annually hosts both girls and boys D2 sectional meets:

http://www.plymouth.k12.wi.us/news/120709pool.htm

SB/S's Savanna Townsend named Green Bay-area swimmer of the year

2009-12-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

After leading her Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol girls team to its first-ever Div. 2 state championship, it should come as no surprise that freshman Savanna Townsend has been named swimmer of the year by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Here's the full story:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091211/GPG020507/912110500/-1/varsity

Few freshman have made as big of an impact at the D2 state meet as Townsend did this past season, but it's always refreshing to hear these kind of "there's no I in team" comments come from someone of her ability: "I wouldn't consider myself the head of the team at all," she told the paper. "The team, the captains, they have a lot of responsibility and they do a great job. It's not just one person that takes the lead."

See this link for the rest of the Press-Gazette's all-area girls swim team:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091211/GPG020507/912110499/0/GPG020507/Girls-swimming-Press-Gazette-all-area-team

Hunting for another title -- Milton's Jeff Maxwell

2009-12-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

At first glance, Milton's Jeff Maxwell doesn't look like a championship swimmer. With a compact frame and sturdy build, he looks like he might fit in as a linebacker on his high school football team.

And although a hard worker in the pool, he's not necessarily a slave to the water; fall mornings in late November are just as likely to find him in out in the fields with his rifle (surely he's one of the few -- if not only -- top-tier high school swimmers in the Wisconsin to have his picture published in the local newspaper with his 14-point buck with a 20-inch spread -- this from 2007):

But Maxwell has been one of Division 2's top swimmers since his freshman year; in six individual swims at the state meet, he's never finished lower than 4th. He's also swum on six Milton relays that have qualified for state, including three that have earned top-six podium finishes.

This year, the senior swimmer has set off with one top goal in mind -- recapture his Division 2 title in the 500 free. Maxwell won the 500 free as a sophomore, edging Cedarburg's Tommy Radtke by less than .30 seconds to win in 4:42.72. He also finished 2nd to Radtke in the 200 free that year. Last year, despite improving his time in each event, he finished lower on the podium -- 4th in the 200 free, and second to McFarland senior Graham Thoresen in the 500 free by a mere .23 seconds in the 500 free. Now he's back for one last try at the 500, as well as working to help his Milton teammates defend the Badger South Conference title the Red Hawks won in their first year in the conference.

Name: Jeff Maxwell
School: Milton High School
Year: Senior
Favorite event to swim: 500 Free
Proudest accomplishment as a swimmer: Earning a college scholarship to UW- Milwaukee.
Favorite swimming memory: Sophomore year state championship in the 500 Free.
Favorite non-swimming activity: Hunting and Fishing
Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo
Music you listen to get psyched up for a meet: Depends on my mood, either rock or rap.
Role model: My parents
Favorite swimmer: Ryan Lochte
Family: Jeff (father), Monica (mother), Katie (sister)
Plans after high school: Attend college at UWM and graduate with a BS from the College of Health Sciences, then apply to a college of pharmacy
Career goal: Pharmacist

More results from last weekend

2009-12-09T03:30:00.000-08:00

More highlights from last weekend:

-- New Berlin won the Comet Invitational at Delavan-Darien, with 435 points to 410 for runner-up Milton (410). Fort Atkinson (380), Lake Geneva Badger/Big Foot (267.5), and the host Comets (242) rounded out the top five finishers. NB won 8 of 11 events at the meet, taking all three relays quite easily. Jasen Johnson contributed two wins each along with two legs on the winning relays, while Alex Rodenkirk (200 IM -- 2:02.99) and Josh Solie (50 free -- 22.84) also contributed wins. Johnson's 1.01.14 in the 100 breaststroke set a meet record. Also setting a meet record was Milton distance ace Jeff Maxwell, who posted a 4:49.81 in the 500 free; Maxwell also took the 200 free (1:48.82). Earlier last week, Rodenkirk broke two NB pool records in a dual meet against Wauwatoa East/West, including a 1:45.36 200 free that broke a record that had stood for 33 years. Rodenkirk also broke the pool 100 free record at the meet with a 47.99, while Johnson topped the pool record in the 100 breaststroke. (Thanks to Faith Rodenkirk of New Berlin for information on the two meets.)

-- Hartford posted a win at its own Hartford Relays, winning 82 to 80 over Sheboygan South in the all-relay meet. In an interesting twist, Hartford and Sheboygan South had a showdown in the 10-by-50 free "Battle Royale" relay to determine the winner of the meet; Hartford won 4:03.84 to South's 4:05.35 to take first place in the meet.

-- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial won the Compass Meet Friday night with 548 points, topping runner-up Watertown with 507 points. Waukesha West finished third with 458, followed by Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine 4th (411) and Appleton West/Kimberly 5th (266). Colin Neitzel was a double-winner for WS/CM in the 200 IM (2:04.55) and 100 breaststroke (1:03.20), as was Noah Potratz (500 free -- 4:47.42; 100 back -- 59.05). Ryan Finke (200 free -- 1:47.52) and Alex Swain (100 free -- 50.48) also contributed wins for the team. Watertown's Nick Wolhaupter was a double winner in the 50 free (22.12) and 100 fly (53.39).

-- Marquette (174 points) won the Cougar Relays at Janesville Craig over Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown (160) in a meet that the MF/H/G co-op might have won save for a DQ on its first-place 400 IM relay that won by more than six seconds. Craig (142), Janesville Parker (122) and Monona Grove (110) rounded out the top five. The host Cougars set a meet record in the 300 breaststroke relay, as Spencer Mattox, Nick Strub and Alex Loftus teamed up to win in 3:16.75. Also setting meet records were the MF/H/G 4-by-100 IM relay and Marquette's backstroke relay. The best race of the day came in the 400 free relay, where two relays that qualified for the state meet last year -- D1 MF/H/G and D2 Monona Grove -- battled it out. In the end, MF/H/G star Sean Kimmitt held off MG's Aaron Pomeroy to give his relay a 3:29.98 to 3:30.11 win; the winning time also set a meet record.

-- Led by sophomore Josh Lefeber, Franklin won the Cudahy Packer Small School Invite with 299 points to 291 for runner-up Oak Creek. The host Packers finished 3rd with 192 points, followed by Beaver Dam Wayland Academy (192) and Fond du Lac (157). LeFeber set two meet records -- a 1:51.24 in the 200 free (beating a record that had been held by former state champ Michael Schultz of Martin Luther) and 1:05.26 in the 100 breaststroke. LeFeber also anchored Franklin's winning 200-yard free relay. (Thanks to Oak Creek's Marvin Vissers for results.)

D2 news -- Milton moved to Baraboo sectional

2009-12-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

On the WIAA website, Milton -- which for most of the decade has swum at the Cudahy sectional with other southeastern Wisconsin D2 teams -- has been moved to the Baraboo sectional. The move was apparently precipitated by the inclusion of Milwaukee's Pius XI High School into the Cudahy sectional (previously a D1 school for swimming). Nicolet HS, whose enrollment dropped it down to D2 this year after being in D1, had already been placed in the Cudahy sectional, and the addition of Pius XI would've put 14 teams into that sectional.

Here's the sectional line-up:

http://www.wiaawi.org/swimmingboys/assignments.pdf

The move makes sense, as Milton's Badger Conference brethren all swim at the Baraboo sectional. But the addition of Milton to the Baraboo sectional will make an already strong sectional that much better, as Milton returns one of the state's best D2 swimmers -- Jeff Maxwell -- along with strong depth displayed at last week's Badger Conference Relays meet. The Baraboo sectional last year qualified 57 swimmers and relays for the state meet (second only to the Cudahy sectional with 62), and features three-time defending champ McFarland and a Madison Edgewood squad that finished tied for 4th last year at state.

A team on the rise -- Berlin/Green Lake

2009-12-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

At last year's D2 boys state meet, one team that caught my eye was Berlin/Green Lake. It wasn't so much that the B/GL co-op did well -- they scored 37 points to finish 17th overall -- but that the team did it with all underclassmen, including two very good freshmen in Greg Hameister and Dylan Young.

This past weekend, the B/GL showed they are ready to make even more noise. The team finished second at the Oshkosh West Invite, trailing only traditional D1 Fox Valley power Neenah and beating out a very good Appleton North/East team for third. Plymouth, a solid D2 team returning most of its state swimmers from last year, finished well back of B/GL in 4th. See partial results here from the Oshkosh Northwestern:

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20091206/OSH020507/91205066/1148/OSH02

Hameister led the way for B/GL, with a 2nd and 4th in his individual events and relay legs that helped produce two 2nd-place finishes in the 200 and 400 free relays. But several other B/GL swimmers garnered top-six finishes, an indication the team is adding depth to the four swimmers who took part in last year's state meet.

There is a strong tradition of solid swimming for Berlin/Green Lake; the co-op won the D2 state title as recently as 2001. Early on this season, they certainly look to be one of the contenders for a sectional title at the Plymouth sectional in February.

Verona sprints to big win at Nicolet Invite

2009-12-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

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.

Submitting results

2009-12-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm keenly interested in seeing results from around the state, submitted by coaches, meet organizers, or anyone else for that matter. A couple of commentators said they were having trouble getting through my email address. Here it is:

wimcdade@tds.net

I hope it works; it's worked for others who have seen the blog and contacted me. And thanks for sending any and all results -- it's really appreciated!

(Original post now corrected; thanks for the help!)

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/boys-season-gets-underway.html

Hojan-Clark swims a sub-4:48 500 free

2009-12-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

I'm normally reluctant to highlight non-high school season activities, as the primary focus of the blog is high school swimming.

But this bears mentioning. At the Short Course National Championships being held in Federal Way, Wash., Elmbrook Swim Club's Kelsey Hojan-Clark (a junior at Brookfield Academy) yesterday swam a 4:47.96 in the 500 free to finish 14th in the event. That's under the all-time 500 free time swum by a Wisconsin high schooler (4:48.60, swum by Madison East's Aja Van Hout last year at the D1 state meet).

Hojan-Clark, who smashed the D2 state record in the 500 free last month with a time of 4:50.19, swam a 4:49.07 in the short-couse meet prelims, then came back to cut more than a second off that time. You can watch the race here; Hojan-Clark is in Lane 8 at the top of the picture:

http://www.swimnetwork.com/videos/v/20091203/women_s_500yd_free_b_final-17427.html

Neenah's Spaay named Fox Valley swimmer of the year

2009-12-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Neenah's Amy Spaay, 3rd this year at the D1 state meet in the breaststroke, has been named all-area swimmer of the year by the Appleton Post-Crescent. See story here:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091128/APC020507/911280641/-1/varsity

The rest of the Post-Crescent all-area girls swim team can be found here:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091128/APC020507/911280629/0/varsity

Congrats to Amy for a well-deserved recognition and a fine high school career.

Spartans look sharp

2009-12-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

The defending D2 champs, McFarland, took to the water for the first time this season at the Badger Conference (North and South combined) Relays Tuesday night at a crowded Waunakee pool, and had no trouble coming away with a win.

The Spartans easily topped the 11-team field with 166 points, 48 more than runner-up (and defending Badger Conference South champs) Milton. It was close for the next few spots, as Fort Atkinson (106), Edgewood (104) and Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (104) all finished within two points of each other.

McFarland won four of the 10 events at the all-relay meet, and never finished lower than 4th in any of the relays. Of all things, the Spartans stacked their 4 X 25-yard free relay, which led to the interesting site of defending state champ Brian Heiser (200 free) doing an in-water start ala an 8-year-old for his 25-yard anchor leg.

Sauk won the opening and closing events -- the 400 medley and the 400 free relay -- with lineups that may look very familiar come sectional and state meet time. In the medley, it was backstroker Stephen Hanko leading off, followed by Paul Ballweg (breaststroke), Tyler Lentz (fly) and Matt Friede (free). The relay won by nearly seven seconds over an Edgewood relay that included stars Drew teDuits and Chase Stephens; don't be surprised to see that same Sauk line-up in the regular 200 medley relay toward season's end. The same four swimmers for Sauk then clocked in a respectable 3:23.94 to win the 400 free relay.

UPDATE: Results here...

2009 Badger Conf Relay Results

In other D2 swim news, Ashwaubenon traveled to the Door County Y and beat Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door 106-75 in a non-conference matchup between two traditionally strong D2 programs. Full story here from the Door County Advocate:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091202/ADV02/912020527/0/adv&theme=ADVSPORTS

Boys season gets underway

2009-12-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time for the boys swim season to move into full swing. A number of conferences around the state have their season-opening swim meets tonight (many of them relay-only meets). There is also a good dual meet tonight "Up North," as Ashwaubenon travels to Sturgeon Bay in a match-up that features two teams that finished in the top 10 last year at the D2 state meet. Both teams lost some solid swimmers to graduation, so it will be a good test to see how these two traditional D2 powers look early in the season.

This weekend will see meets and inviationals at Oshkosh West, Cudahy, Nicolet and Janesville Craig, among others. We'll report on them as we get results.

A note (plea?) to coaches, parents, and other interested parties -- feel free to send results (in any format, but PDFs appreciated) to the email at: wimcdade@tds.net or simply post meet scores in the comments section. Thanks for your help in supporting the blog!

Madison-area girls swimmers of the year

2009-11-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

Madison East's Aja Van Hout and Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell have been named Madison-area swimmers of the year, featured in the Preps Extra edition of the Sunday Wisconsin State Journal (Nov. 29, 2009). Both Van Hout and Powell won two events at this year's girls D1 state meet -- Van Hout setting a record in the 200 IM and winning the 500 free, while Powell defended her title in the 200 free and also won the 100 free. Van Hout added a third gold medal via her lead-off leg on East's first-place 400 free relay. Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock, who won her record fourth consecutive D1 state diving title, was named diver of the year.

I'd post a link to the story, which also lists a number of other swimmers making the Madison-area swim team, but cannot find a link to the story on the madison.com website (which relegates swimming behind gymnastics and bowling as sports its readers might be interested in). I'll keep looking for it; if anyone out there finds a link, feel free to post it in the comments section or send me an email.

Congratulations to Aja, Jackie, and Kylie -- the honor is well-deserved.

D1 sectional at Schroeder

2009-11-27T05:56:00.000-08:00

The Milwaukee-area D1 boys sectional, held for several years at Nicolet High School, has been moved to the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer. Marquette will serve as the host school for the sectional, according to the WIAA website.

The switch to Schroeder was prompted by Nicolet being moved this year for boys swimming from D1 to D2. Swim teams are placed in one of the two divisions for swimming based on enrollment, with the largest 60 percent of schools (or co-ops) placed in D1, and the remaining 40 percent placed in D2.

More recruiting updates

2009-11-26T15:43:00.001-08:00

See the recruiting post for more recruiting updates; several have been posted in the past few days:

http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/11/recruiting-news.html

D1 boys season preview 2009-10

2009-11-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here's what to look for during the upcoming D1 boys swim season:

-- Madison Memorial took home the title last year -- its 10th in school history, and fourth in the last five years -- with a combination of an amazing meet by Michael Drives, a strong showing in diving, and a host of swimmers moving up slightly from their seed placements at the state meet. It was enough to give the Spartans an 18-point victory over Sauk Prairie-Wisconsin Heights. Drives, the best swimmer in the state, broke two state records last year, albiet one that resulted in a second-place finish to Arrowhead's Ryan Hansen in their thrilling duel in the 500 free. Now a senior, the West Point-bound Drives is the kind of versatile swimmer who can enter most any event -- as the current Natatorium pool-record holder in the 200 free, will he feel he's accomplished enough in that race and move back to the 200 IM, which he won at state his sophomore year? Sophomore state qualifiers Patrick Franken (500 IM/500 free) and Ben Anderson (50 free/fly) return, and junior Michael Salerno will take over as a top sprinting threat for the Spartans. But Memorial has to replace several graduated swimmers who contributed points at the state meet, including diver Nate Broadbridge, who's second-place finish at diving help propel the Spartans to the title. Memorial almost always brings in a strong freshman class; they'll need another one if they hope to repeat.

-- Besides Memorial, the state's other dominant D1 program during the decade has been Hartland Arrowhead, with four titles and three runner-up finishes. HA has to replace Hansen and the 37 points he scored at state last year in the 200 and 500 frees, but the team brings a lot of depth to the table this year. Nine swimmers who took part in the state meet last year return for coach Bob Jenkyns, including seniors Cody Roller (6th 200 IM/13th fly) and Chris Jenkyns (9th 500 free/11th back) and sophomore Jake Prodoehl (11th 200 free/8th 500 free). HA may not have the dominant swimmer that Hansen was the past two years at state, but this is one of the deepest squads in D1 this year.

-- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights was the surprise of the D1 state meet last year, earning its first runner-up trophy behind oustanding showings at the meet by three swimmers and two relays. Two of those swimmers -- seniors Tyler Lentz and Matt Friede -- return for coach Todd Wuerger this year, forming perhaps the best one-two punch in D1. The Iowa-bound Lentz won the 200 IM last year and finished 3rd in the back; he also contributed strong legs on Sauk's winning (and record-breaking) 200 free relay, as well as its first-place 400 free relay. The Purdue-bound Friede anchored both of those relays, shared a gold medal with a tie for 1st in the 50 free, and finished 2nd in the 100 free. Junior Paul Ballweg, also a member of the two winning relays, returns, as does junior backstroker Stephen Hanko. Look for Sauk to have two more outstanding relays at the state meet this year, along with Friede and Lentz being threats to win each of their individual events. If Wuerger can find a bit more depth, the Eagles may be in a position to make a run for another trophy this year.

-- If Sauk has the best one-two punch in the state, the Greenfield/Greendale co-op may have the best one-two-three punch. Senior Mike Lucchesi and juniors Jack Lennertz and Matt Jungers comprise a versatile and strong trio; between them, the garnered six top-7 finishes in their individual events at last year's state meet, highlighted by Lennertz' runner-up finish in the fly. A DQ by the team's medley relay at last year's state meet --featuring all three of the swimmers -- cost the co-op a higher spot than their 10th place finish. It will be interesting to see if head coach Dale Schrank combines his fast trio into two relays, or spreads them out among three relays. An added bonus for the team: they will host the sectional meet this year, previously held at Racine Park, at Greenfield High School's brand-new pool.

-- No team suffered a bigger single loss to graduation than the New Berlin West/Eisenhower co-op, which lost three-time state champion Byron Butler (now at Iowa, yet another D1 state champ of recent years who has chosen to go out-of-state to swim collegiately). But New Berlin returns a solid cast of swimmers; they'll likely slug it out with Arrowhead at the Waukesha South sectional this year, and are looking to improve upon their 6th-place showing at last year's state meet. Among the swimmers returning: Pitt-bound senior Alex Rodernkirk (7th in the 200 free/6th in the 100 free) and sophomore Jasen Johnson (11th fly/15th breaststroke).

-- Fox Valley Conference foes Appleton North/East and Neenah both had top-10 finishes at last year's state meet, and return some strong state-qualifying swimmers. For North/East, look for senior Josh Kinney (200 IM/breaststroke) and sophomore Jake Iotte (200 IM/500 free) to lead the way; at Neenah, a strong junior class includes Matt Hollub (100 free/100 back), Aaron Sears (500 free/breaststroke), Connor Christiansen (200/500 frees), and Matt Lagieski (breaststroke).

Other notable teams and swimmers to watch:

-- Wausau East's Danny Brebrick returns to defend his 100 free title; East graduated two state champions in Lucas Koenig and Josh Hall.
-- Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial's Collin Nietzel looks to take back the 100 breaststroke title he won as a sophomore before finishing 4th to Hall last year.
-- Muskego's Bobby Wolf (13th 200 free/4th 500 free) and Hartford's Aiden Kohnhorst (5th 200 free/3rd 500 free) are two of the state's top returning distance swimmers.
-- Verona will build around sprinter Derek Toomey (6th 50 free/5th 100 free), versatile junior Spencer Ritt (12th fly/9th back) and distance swimmer Jacob Olandt.
-- Marquette sophomore Lucas Kuriga hopes to repeat his strong freshman season, when he finished 4th in the 200 free and 15th in the fly.
-- Madison East got podium finishes from UW-Green Bay-bound Robert Miner in both the 200 free and fly; he'll be joined by double-state-qualifier Aaron Lickel (IM/100 free) and relay swimmer Coleman Fraser.
-- Menomonee Falls/Germantown/Hamilton junior diver Nathan Cox returns to defend his title; he'll be pushed by Appleton West/Kimberly senior Stephen Bothun and Marquette senior Michael Donofrio.

Kelsey Hojan-Clark repeats as MJS swimmer of the year

2009-11-25T08:57:00.000-08:00

It's two in a row for Brookfield Academy junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark; just like last year, she's been named the Swimmer of the Year by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. See this:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/73077602.html

Here's the understatement of the year, found near the end of the story:
"Hojan-Clark, who is receiving some interest from Division I schools..."

You think?