D2 state meet preview

The D2 state meet is Friday night; here's a preview of what to look for in what figures to be a very close team competition.

-- Can DeForest make it four in a row? The Norskies have won the last three state championships; last year they overwhelmed the field with 15 individual qualifiers and three solid relays. This year figures to be more like 2006, when five teams finished within 33 points of each other and the Norskies pulled it out in the very last event by winning the 400 free relay. DeForest has nine individual qualifiers, along with all three relays, but only sophomore Chelsea Statz earned a top seed for the team (100 free). Still, this is a squad filled with veteran swimmers who know the pressures of the state meet, and DeForest -- which was posting some fair-to-middling times mid-season -- always seems to swim well this time of year. With three teams (Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, DeForest and Whitefish Bay) seeded within six points of each other for the top spot (see: http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/11/d1-and-d2-meets-seeded.html ), this meet is way too close to call. But DeForest will certainly be in the mix, and has its four very best swimmers -- Statz and fellow sophomore Leah Winckler, junior Casey Wolter, and senior Lindsey Verhulst -- slated to swim the meet-ending 400 free relay. Shades of 2006? We'll find out.

-- Can Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol sprint its way to the state championship? The Clippers are loaded in the sprints, with three qualifiers each in the 50 and 100 frees, a 200 free relay that's already under the state-record time in the event, a second-seeded 200 medley relay, and a 400 free relay that earned a #5 seed. Sisters Sierra and Savanna Townsend will lead a squad looking for a bit of redemption after last year, when SB/S came to the Natatorium with high hopes but performed below expectations. Coach Mike McHuhugh is making sure one thing is changed this year; all of the Clippers will be wearing the fastest suits available for the state meet."I just don't think you can compete without them, so we're going to bite the bullet and spend the money to get them," McHugh told the Door County Advocate. "Whoever's going to show up at state without a suit is going to be at a distinct disadvantage. I really think the speed suits make a massive difference. We were primed last year and swam well, but without speed suits it was like going to a gunfight with a knife. We were unable to beat the suit last year. We just can't take that hit again."

-- Can Whitefish Bay senior Maggie Smith finally win an individual state title, and in doing so lead her team to a state title? Whitefish Bay has traditionally been one of the strongest girls programs in the state, but it's never won a state title. The Blue Dukes finished as runner-up in 2006 and 2007. Smith won a gold medal on that 2006 team as a freshman, when she anchored a 200 free relay that won by just .04 seconds. But she's been shut out since, finishing as runner-up the past two years in the 50 free. She's got the top seed in the 50 free this year, and in a true display of taking one for the team, gave up the 100 free (where she's finished T-5th and 3rd the past two state meets) to anchor all three of the Blue Dukes' state-qualifying relays. The move paid off, as Whitefish Bay earned the top seed in both the medley and 400 free relays. The Blue Dukes swam as well or better than any D2 team in the state at last week's sectionals; can they bring it again?

-- Can Milton senior Jennah Haney cap her wonderful high school career with two individual titles? If she does, will it be enough to take her team to the D2 state title? Haney is seeded 1st in the 200 IM, where she'll be up against two-time defending champion Clare Chamberlain of Shorewood, and 2nd in the 100 breaststroke -- the event she won her first two years at state. Haney is the team elder on a squad that depends heavily on freshmen and sophomores; she'll also play a key role on two of Milton's three state-qualifying relays. Milton is seeded to finish 4th at the state meet, but close enough to the top teams that a big night from Haney could mean a move up.

-- Can Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark chase down the state records she just missed last year? The defending champion in both the 200 and 500 free, Hojan-Clark missed state records last year by a third-of-a-second (200 free) and a quarter-of-a-second (500 free). Notable last year was that Hojan-Clark -- although wearing a full-body suit -- eschewed the controversial blue70 suit popular with so many swimmers at last year's state meet that prompted controversy and the eventual restrictions on suits for this season. She'll be chased by some top talent, including McFarland's Chloe Bartuska and Shorewood's Elli Sellinger in the 200, and Chamberlain and Wolter in the 500.

-- Could the race for the 100 butterfly be any closer? The three top seeds -- Elkhorn's Terrin Seaver, Sauk Prairie's Alison Meng, and Monona Grove's Kelsey Millin -- are collectively separated by a mere .07 seconds on their seed times. The field also includes top butterfliers like DeForest's Winckler and Berlin/Green Lake's Siri Smits, as well as last year's runner-up -- Plymouth's Kate Criter -- swimming out of lane 4 in the first heat.

-- One of the night's most intriguing races looks to be the 100 backstroke. Milton freshman Katelyn Holmquist comes in with the top seed, but she'll be bracketed in the final heat by a bevy of state meet veterans, including defending champ Smits, who last year set a D2 state record (55.83) with a time so fast it would've won last year's D1 title. Two other swimmers loom in outside lanes -- Grafton's Sadie Nenning in lane 1, last year's runner-up who won this race at state in 2006 and 2007, and in lane 7 Ashwaubenon's Erika Pliner, who has moved down from D1. At last year's D1 state meet, Pliner cut an amazing 3.13 seconds off her sectional seed time to finish 3rd at state with a time of 58.00.

-- They're baaaack. The best race at last year's state meet was the 100 breaststroke, where five swimmers broke the existing state record. All of them return -- first-place finisher Criter, Haney, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Anna Meinholz, McFarland's Stirling Smith, and Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan. McClellan, who finished 5th last year at state after breaking the state record out of the first heat, comes in as the favorite. She's beaten Haney, who has the #2 seed, three times this season in the event, including at last week's sectional meet. The breaststroke is particularly loaded this year, as 10 swimmers come in seeded under 1:10.00.

-- Finally, how fast will this year's meet be? Some have suggested not as fast as last year, which saw three state records fall and the utilization by numerous swimmers of the now-banned full-body suits. But remember this -- the meet features seven swimmers who have won individual state titles. Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol has already swum a time in the 200 free relay more than half-a-second below the state record in the event. And the remarkable closeness of the meet suggests that no one will be holding back on "safe" relay starts, since all of the top teams competing for the state title will be battling each other in the relays. Expect another very fast meet.