...on the WIAA website; click on girls swimming, then "2009 results."
Notes, highlights, and things I'll be looking for at this Saturday's sectional meets:
-- A quick review of the psych sheets shows two defending state champs opted out of events they won last year -- Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell in D1 and Shorewood's Elli Sellinger in D2. Powell, last year's state champ in both the 200 free and 100 back, dropped the backstroke and will swim the 100 free. Sellinger, who won the 100 fly last year and finished runner-up in the 200 free, will also swim the 100 and 200 frees this year.
-- Will Hartland Arrowhead and/or Madison Memorial qualify all of their swimmers into the state meet? Memorial did it last year, and has most of its swimmers competing in the final heat at the Middleton sectional. Arrowhead's status as the season's top D1 team was certainly endorsed by their seedings for the Waukesha South sectional; they own all three of the top relay seeds, and seven of the top seeds in the eight swimming events. Every one of their 16 swimmers is seeded 4th or higher at the sectional. You know you're deep when swimmers who are a threat to win a sectional title might not end up on any of your relays -- that's Arrowhead this year.
-- How many sub-5 minute 500 frees will we see in sectional competition in D1? It used to be a notable accomplishment when anyone broke 5 minutes in the race at state. Last year, four D1 sectional swimmers broke 5 minutes. This year, with a very deep pool of returning talent in the race, there are 10 swimmers seeded at sectionals with times of 5:10 or faster. Two-time defending state champ Aja Van Hout of Madison East leads the way with a seed time of 4:56.87.
-- The once-sleepy Hudson sectional -- often overshadowed by the Madison- and Milwaukee-are sectionals -- promises some real fireworks this year. Wisconsin Rapids and Wausau East will face off the third time this year in the 200 free relay; the squads own two of the five fastest seed times in the state in the event this year. Sprinters Becca Weiland of Rapids and Lea Koenig of Wausau East will renew their rivalry in the 50 and 100 frees; they are tied for the top time in the sectional in the 100 free (53.06). And Eau Claire Memorial's terrific duo of freshman Leah Pronschinske and senior Tina DeLakis will square off in the 100 breaststroke -- they own two of the four fastest seed times in the event.
-- It's not too often a freshman claims two top seeds in a D1 sectional. But it happened four times this year. Shawano/Bonduel's Mackenzie Buss owns the top seeds in the 100 free and back in the Neenah sectional; her 57.71 in the back is the fastest seed time in the state. Pronschinske got the top seeds in both the breaststroke and IM at the Hudson sectional, while Arrowhead's Julia Mikota owns the top seeds in the freestyle sprints at Waukesha South. Finally, Anna Brooks from the Burlington co-op earned top seeds in the very tough 200 IM/500 free double.
-- Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol is the top-seeded team in D2 heading into sectionals, and coach Mike McHugh is placing the Clippers' high hopes for the coming weeks squarely on the shoulders of his outstanding crew of sprinters. McHugh used 8 of his 18 sectional slots in two events -- the 50 and 100 frees. The team earned three of the top five seeds in the 50 free, led by freshman sensation Savanna Townsend, while Savanna and sister Sierra own two of the top three seeds in the 100 free.
-- D2 sectional showdown #1 I would pay good money to see: the 200 free at the Plymouth sectional, featuring last year's top two finishers at state -- Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark and Shorewood's Elli Sellinger. The pair own seed times nearly four seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
-- D2 sectional showdown #2 I would pay good money to see: the 100 breaststroke at the Cudahay sectional, where a two-time state champion can't even budge her way into one of the two top seeds. The race features Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Anna Meinholz, and Milton's Jennah Haney, all of whom were among the five swimmers to break the D2 state record in the event at last year's state meet. McClellan owns the top seed time (1:05.31) and has twice beaten Haney this year in the event. Meinholz earned the top seed for last year's state meet (and finished 3rd), while Haney -- who won this event at state her first two years in school -- broke the state record by nearly two seconds last year only to finish runner-up to Plymouth's Kate Criter. Maybe THE sectional race of the year, either division.
-- D2 sectional showdown #3 I actually will pay good money to see: the 100 fly at the Baraboo sectional, featuring Sauk Prairie's Alison Meng and Monona Grove's Kelsey Millin, who own the top two seed times in the state in the event. They'll be joined by DeForest's Leah Wickler, third-seeded at the sectional. Both Meng and Millin have had strong and consistent seasons in the butterfly, while Winckler came on strong last year to finish 5th at state (Meng finished 6th at state, Millin 7th). Don't be surprised to see all three of these swimmers high atop the podium at the D2 state meet.
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4 comments:
Not sure why SB/sevastopol decided to load up with the 50 and 100 free. Seems to me they need a couple of their fringe swimmers qualifying for those events if they want to pull of a victory at state and the Townsend duo will move them down the qualifying spots to a spot where they may not qualify. Last year they were seeded 3rd and finished 14th so I guess they don't have much to lose. As is always the case it will come down to a coaches ability to motivate and the coaches ability to hit the taper. D2 should be a dogfight worth watching. The way I see it the 400 free relay could decide it all so how these teams distribute their speed may be the deciding factor.
The other thing about relays is that times for those events aren't quite as reliable as the individual event times. Coaches will often submit the best seasonal time for a relay for the sectional psych sheets, but it may or may not be those same swimmers in the relay at sectionals (or state, for that matter). That's especially true in D2, where teams aren't quite as deep as those in D1. In looking closely at D2 results this year, it seems several teams can put together two solid relays, but it may be a stretch to put together three relays that could finish on the podium. My sense is that the team that best juggles its relay lineups in D2 may have an edge.
As for Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, I only saw a couple of switches that was a bit surprising -- Savanna Townsend swimming the 100 free instead of the 200 free (which she had swum a lot this season), and sister Sierra opting for the 100 free vs. the 200 IM. I can see avoiding the IM this year, which looks really tough at the top end with returning champ Chamberlain, Haney and Nening (both of whom hinted at moving into this race this year), McClellan (who has been having a great year), and Holmquist (who swam great at the Badger South conference meet). In addition, the 100 free looks somewhat wide open, with last year's top three finishers all graduated (and three other swimmers in last year's top 7 gone as well, to graduation or other events). Sierra has the second-fastest seed time in the 100 free, as it turns out, so it looks like a good move. The 200 free is no picnic either, with Hojan-Clark, Sellinger, Wolter, Bartuska and Ashwaubenon's Teske moving down from D1 this year.
SB/S's Hogan was always going to swim the 50/100 free double, and Trelka's been doing the 50 free/100 fly a good share of the season. I did notice they only had Rabas in one individual event (back), presumably to put her in three relays. So I think their coach is thinking about how this is going to play out in the relays. But I agree that they are living a bit on the edge with all of those free entries, because they will likely need all of them to get through.
If I recall, last year Deforest put 4 in the 500, and only three got through. It is a risk where you know your top swimmers will get through, but they will take up spots. The 50 free especially is such a crapshoot.
As of 9:00 Wednesday night, the psych sheets were down. Strange, unless they are revising. There were a couple of obvious errors.
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