The state swim meets are always full of good stories. Sure, the focus is on who's going to win the team competition, and the possible record-breaking performances. But there are a bunch of other competitors at the meet who deserve notice, as well. Here are a few worth a look:
-- Of the four Madison high schools, LaFollette's swim program sits in the heavy shadows cast by Memorial, West, and East, who have won 30 state titles among them and annually send dozens of swimmers to state. LaFollette hadn't sent a swimmer to the state meet since 2003. But that streak was broken this year by Lancer junior Britney Hilgendorf, who qualified in both the 200 IM and the 100 free. In the IM, the diminutive Hilgendorf came from the next-to-last heat at the Middleton sectional to qualify as the 23rd seed at the state meet. In the 100 free, she knocked more than a second off her sectional seed time to finish in 54.07 and grab the 18th seed at the state meet. It was sweet redemption for Hilgendorf, who last year finished .03 seconds away from qualifying for state in the 50 free. Ironically, the last Lancer swimmer to make the state meet, Caitlin Digney, serves as one of Hilgendorf's coaches for her summer swim club.
-- Two years ago, her school didn't even have a swim program. Now Lodi sophomore Sierra Sachtjen will be competing at the state swim meet -- Lodi's first-ever participant in the state meet for the nascent program. Sachtjen will compete in both the 100 free and the 100 back; she cut more than a second off her sectional seed time in the 100 free to qualify as the 9th seeded swimmer for the state meet. Lodi, with an enrollment of about 530 swimmers, is one of the smallest schools in the state to offer a non-co-op swim program.
-- For the first time in four years, the Milwaukee City Conference will have a swimmer at the state meet. Freshman Jaime Kohnke of the Milwaukee Riverside/Bay View co-op qualified in both the 200 and 500 frees. In the 200 free, Kohnke cut more than two-and-a-half seconds off her seed time at the Cedarburg sectional to grab the 23rd spot at the D1 state meet. She cut nearly three seconds off her 500 free time to qualify -- she'll be in fastest lane, 4, in the second heat of the D1 500. Earlier this year, we noted Kohnke's role in helping Riverside/Bay View to the city conference swim title:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/10/milwaukee-riversidebay-view-wins-city.html
-- Madison West senior Kylie Rosenstock enters Saturday's state meet chasing history. She's looking to become the first D1 diver to ever capture four state titles; the D1 scoring record of 502.45 is probably also within the sites of the Stanford-bound Rosenstock. Wisconsin State Journal prep writer Rob Hernandez has a nice take on high school's loneliest sport and Rosenstock here:
http://host.madison.com/sports/columnists/rob_hernandez/article_1953dec4-cd97-11de-acec-001cc4c03286.html
-- Can a program develop into one of the state's best when the pool you practice in is nearly an hour away from your school? River Valley is trying. Surely there are few more dedicated swimmers in the state than those from the Spring Green-based high school. Lacking an indoor pool in Spring Green or at their school, the River Valley swimmers commute up to Baraboo to practice. How good are they? Among D2 schools, only seven qualified all three relays for state, and the list included the usual top-tier D2 teams -- DeForest, Whitefish Bay, Milton, and so on. Oh, and River Valley. The state berths weren't unprecedented; last year, River Valley qualified both its medley and 200 free relays to state. This year, the quintet of Samantha Ring, Karie Liegel, Rachel Puskula, Olivia Bergman, and Jaelin Crook comprised the three relays that made it to state; for good measure, Puskula qualified in the 100 butterfly. The team's fastest relay is its 200 free relay; seeded 8th for the state meet, the River Valley relay has a chance of nudging its way onto the podium. Not bad for a school with no pool (and most of the River Valley swimmers aren't going anywhere, either; only Bergman is a senior). Update: Here's an articile posted on the madison.com website about the traveling Spring Valley swimmers:
http://host.madison.com/sports/columnists/rob_hernandez/article_2b8ba3f8-cfcf-11de-9444-001cc4c03286.html
-- Another D2 school without a pool-- Pewaukee -- also had a very succesful sectional meet. We took notice of Pewaukee earlier this fall:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/09/growing-sport-of-swimming-in-pewaukee.html
At the Cudahy sectional, sophomore Lacey Leist led the way with state-qualifying swims in the 200 free and 100 back; freshman Claire Fernandez cut more than 8 seconds from her seed time to earn a spot in the 500 free. The pair joined senior Carly Paget and junior Catherine Geanon in earning a spot in the state meet in the medley relay, while Leist, Fernandez and Paget joined junior Emily Nelson in earning a bid in the 200 free relay.
-- She's one of the top favorites entering the D1 state meet, but it bears mentioning that the presence of Wisconsin Rapids junior Becca Weiland at this year's state meet was no sure thing a year ago. Last year, Weiland was sidelined by a hurt shoulder, a particularly dangerous injury for swimmers. The constant pounding of yardage required to compete at the sport's highest levels can take a toll on swimmers, especially shoulders. Weiland sat out last year's sectional competition, but burned up the pool this year, earning the state's top seeds in both the 50 and 100 frees. Better yet, she'll be joined on Rapids' very competitive medley and 200 free relays by sophomore sister Racheal. Update: Becca's mom, Linda, writes to inform me it was a knee injury, not a shoulder injury, that sidelined her last year. Initial media reports said it had been a shoulder injury. Here's a nice story from the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune on her comeback:
http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/article/20091112/WRT020507/911120669/-1/Varsity/Prep-swimming-Rapids-Becca-Weiland-makes-full-recovery-from-knee-injury
-- No individual swimmer will travel farther to Madison to compete in the state meet than Rice Lake's Nikki Martinez. Seeded 23rd overall among all D2 swimmers at sectionals in the 200 free,
Martinez cut more than two-and-a-half seconds off her seed time to finish runner-up at the Stevens Point sectional and qualify for the very last spot in the 200 free for the D2 state meet. She just missed qualifying in the 500 free as well, by less than half-a-second.
-- Finally (and with all due -- and sincere -- apologies to the hard-to-pronounce and hard-to-type Sara Brzozowski of Brookfield East, Kayla Dlugopolski of Mequon Homestead, and Emma Szczupakiewicz of Muskego) -- is there a better name in either of the state meets than Greenfield's Esmerelda Perez? I can't find one. I occasionally announce swim meets on the side, and I'm half-tempted to highjack the microphone for Perez' heat of the D1 100 butterfly. She's also a sectional champ, having won the Kenosha Bradford 100 fly title at last week's competition.
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5 comments:
Out of all the posts you have done this is, to me, by far the best. Nicely done. It is a sure sign of respect and knowledge of the sport when one cites the accomplishments of athletes who are far from the spotlight and overcome obstacles to achieve success. Finally, high school swimming is a team sport and the accolades, for many good reasons, go to the stars. However, the success of a team is built on those kids who finish 4 - 12. Theses kids rarely get the press they deserve.
Don't forget Germantown High School, which also borrows pool space from other schools.
Sturgeon Bay does not have a pool in their high school as well
The last time I was in Door County I had the pleasure of swimming in the 8 lane competitive pool the SB team practices and competes in that is located about 3 blocks from the school. No it is not located in the HS but their pool rivals many of the finest in the state and is very accessible to all the HS swimmers. I commend those swimmers(and there are many around the state) that practice in outdated and poorly located pools.
Another group worth mentioning is the senior swimmers who make state for their first (and obviously only) time. Sometimes after years of coming close, or maybe after a long climb from way down the list, its great to see them rewarded for hard work and perseverance. They may or may not contend for a medal, but you know they are grateful for the opportunity and the experience.
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