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.
Showing posts with label D1 girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D1 girls. Show all posts
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
A different sort of recruit -- Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf and her remarkable comeback from cancer
Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf, one of D1's better sprinters, has decided to extend her swimming career at nearby UW-Green Bay.
That she's able to continue swimming at all is a remarkable story, chronicled in this Sheboygan Press report:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091120/SHE020507/911200406/1089/SHE02
In 2008, Wolf garnered two top-10 finishes at the D1 state meet, including a 4th in the 50 free. But before she began her senior year of swimming, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma, and underwent radiation treatments and chemotherapy. Her return to swimming was uncertain, but Wolf battled all the way back to again qualify for state. In her last individual race, she set a school record in the 100 free. With her cancer in remission, Wolf will continue her swimming career for the Phoenix.
Said her mother, Jean: "I've told Parker, 'You've already won the biggest race of your life; you've beaten cancer.'"
That she's able to continue swimming at all is a remarkable story, chronicled in this Sheboygan Press report:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091120/SHE020507/911200406/1089/SHE02
In 2008, Wolf garnered two top-10 finishes at the D1 state meet, including a 4th in the 50 free. But before she began her senior year of swimming, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma, and underwent radiation treatments and chemotherapy. Her return to swimming was uncertain, but Wolf battled all the way back to again qualify for state. In her last individual race, she set a school record in the 100 free. With her cancer in remission, Wolf will continue her swimming career for the Phoenix.
Said her mother, Jean: "I've told Parker, 'You've already won the biggest race of your life; you've beaten cancer.'"
Sunday, November 15, 2009
D1 state meet recap
In a meet that was both predictable -- and not -- here's what happened that was predictable at the D1 state meet Saturday:
-- Hartland Arrowhead won the title, its seventh in eight years, with a 122-point margin;
-- Madison East's Aja Van Hout won two events, and set another state record;
-- Four swimmers defended their individual titles from a year ago, as did one relay.
-- Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock won her fourth straight state diving title.
Here's what was not:
-- Two swimmers came out of the second heat -- not the last, fast heat -- to claim individual titles. When was the last time that happened?
-- Madison East, competing with all of four swimmers (and thus only two relays), claimed its second consecutive runner-up trophy, to go along with its state championship trophy from 2007.
-- Waukesha South/Mukwonago and Muskego, seeded to finish 2nd and 3rd in the meet (51 and 45 points, respectively, ahead of East), both fell down in the standings, finishing third and fourth.
For Arrowhead, the meet was the conclusion of a dominating season which saw the team win every meet it entered. For right now, Arrowhead boasts a very deep and talented pool of swimmers that the rest of the D1 field simply can't match.
"Nothing's ever easy," Warhawks coach Jennifer Leider told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's hard to kind of approach it that way, but we knew we had a lot more weapons on this year's team coming in."
You could tell it was going to be an Arrowhead night right from the start, as its 200 medley relay won in a terrific battle with the last two teams to win the medley at state -- Madison East and Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay. The Warhawks were trailing after the first two legs on the relay, but then junior Emma Goral jumped in the pool, and all was put right for Arrowhead. The two-time defending champ in the 100 butterfly split a 24.95 fly leg, giving anchor swimmer Haley Pietila a lead she never gave up.
Goral came back later in the meet to claim her third straight title in the fly -- her 55.27 is the 4th-fastest in the event. Out of the water, Goral is a pretty unassuming-looking swimmer, but in the water, she's a superb technician who gets a better push off the wall than any butterfier in the state.
"I made sure to nail my turns, I had a great start and I just concentrated on me - on what I was doing - and I knew I'd come away with the win," Goral told the Milwaukee paper. "I'm really looking forward to next year. I'm going to get back to training hard and hopefully I can get that state record (54.55) next year finally."
As for Van Hout, she electrified the crowd with her win in the 200 IM, her time of 2:00.06 breaking the previous state record of Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke (2:01.39) by well over a second. Van Hout then came back with a win in the 500 free, in a race where she had to hold off a game Brittany Walsh of Muskego. Van Hout never trailed in the race, but she could never shake Walsh, and with 150 yards it was no sure thing that Van Hout would win her third straight 500 (Walsh at one point in the race had four consecutive 50 splits faster than Van Hout). But Van Hout held on, her winning time of 5:51.77 3+ seconds slower than her record time last year, but still second all-time in D1 state history. Walsh was second in 4:52.84 (nearly exactly what she swam a year ago when she also finished second.)
As for the rest of the meet:
Performance of the meet: A tie between Madison Memorial senior Jackie Powell in the 100 free and Madison East's Ivy Martin in the 50 free. Both came out of the slower, second heat to claim a state title -- Powell with a 50.82 in the 100 free that easily won the title over Pietila (51.51). Powell had shown earlier in the meet she would be a force in the 100, as she powered her way past Pietila at the halfway point of the 200 free and finished out in 1:49.90 to win by nearly 2-1/2 seconds. Martin followed up on the success of her sister, Ruby -- who won the 50 free the past two years -- as she won with a 23.55 that Wisconsin Rapids' junior Becca Weiland (23.66) couldn't quite match in the final heat.
Race of the meet: Another tie, this one between the 100 breaststroke and the meet-ending 400 free relay. The highly anticipated 100 breaststroke shoot-out lived up to its advance billing, with two-time defending champion Emily Russart of Badger/Big Foot (1:02.53) holding off Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske (1:02.94). Russart set a state record, breaking her own mark (1:02.70) she set two years ago, while Pronschinske became only the second breaststroker in state history to go under 1:03 in the event. Pronschinske is wonderful-looking breaststroker, with a smooth stroke and a rapid turnover. In truth, she might have been just slightly faster than Russart in the water. But Russart, the taller of the two, got terrific pushes off the wall on all three of her turns, and her powerful underwater pull off her start gave her a lead in the race she never gave up.
As for Madison East's 400 free relay, the team's performance sealed their second straight runner-up trophy. East, Muskego, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago were within 6 points of each other entering the relay, and with all three teams in the final heat, the runner-up trophy was up for grabs. Standing in everyone's way was Arrowhead, which came in with the fastest seed time and featured Goral and three of the team's top sprinters.
Conventional wisdom for relays suggests spreading out your fastest swimmers, going with your second-fastest swimmer on the lead-off leg and saving your fastest swimmer for the anchor leg. But East coach Matt Matteson turned that on its head, putting out Van Hout and Martin on the first two legs. Van Hout's lead-off leg of 49.94 would've won the 100 free, and Martin then helped extend the lead. That left it to the Soderholm sisters -- sophomore Chelsea and senior Becca -- to hold on to the lead. Becca Soderholm entered the pool for the anchor leg with about a one-second lead, and with 50 yards to go, it looked like Arrowhead anchor Julia Mikota was on her way to overtaking her and giving Arrowhead its third relay title of the meet. But Soderholm dug in, and as the crowd rose to its feet, the two swimmers battled for the lead. In the end, Soderholm and East held on -- not by much (four-tenths of a second) -- but enough to elicit a scream and a jig on the pool deck from the East relay, and the runner-up trophy that arrived in their hands a few minutes later. A great ending to a very good meet.
Swimmer of the meet: One more tie, between Arrowhead's Goral and East's Van Hout. Both ended up with three gold medals and a silver medal for their day's work. Maybe Van Hout gets a slight edge for her record-breaking swim in the 200 IM, but Goral is Arrowhead's rock. In a meet that featured some inconsistent swims by the Arrowhead team, Goral proved as reliable as Old Faithful, with a win in the fly and great relay legs. Wisconsin swim fans have the good fortune of getting to watch these two swimmers for one more year.
-- Hartland Arrowhead won the title, its seventh in eight years, with a 122-point margin;
-- Madison East's Aja Van Hout won two events, and set another state record;
-- Four swimmers defended their individual titles from a year ago, as did one relay.
-- Madison West's Kyle Rosenstock won her fourth straight state diving title.
Here's what was not:
-- Two swimmers came out of the second heat -- not the last, fast heat -- to claim individual titles. When was the last time that happened?
-- Madison East, competing with all of four swimmers (and thus only two relays), claimed its second consecutive runner-up trophy, to go along with its state championship trophy from 2007.
-- Waukesha South/Mukwonago and Muskego, seeded to finish 2nd and 3rd in the meet (51 and 45 points, respectively, ahead of East), both fell down in the standings, finishing third and fourth.
For Arrowhead, the meet was the conclusion of a dominating season which saw the team win every meet it entered. For right now, Arrowhead boasts a very deep and talented pool of swimmers that the rest of the D1 field simply can't match.
"Nothing's ever easy," Warhawks coach Jennifer Leider told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's hard to kind of approach it that way, but we knew we had a lot more weapons on this year's team coming in."
You could tell it was going to be an Arrowhead night right from the start, as its 200 medley relay won in a terrific battle with the last two teams to win the medley at state -- Madison East and Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay. The Warhawks were trailing after the first two legs on the relay, but then junior Emma Goral jumped in the pool, and all was put right for Arrowhead. The two-time defending champ in the 100 butterfly split a 24.95 fly leg, giving anchor swimmer Haley Pietila a lead she never gave up.
Goral came back later in the meet to claim her third straight title in the fly -- her 55.27 is the 4th-fastest in the event. Out of the water, Goral is a pretty unassuming-looking swimmer, but in the water, she's a superb technician who gets a better push off the wall than any butterfier in the state.
"I made sure to nail my turns, I had a great start and I just concentrated on me - on what I was doing - and I knew I'd come away with the win," Goral told the Milwaukee paper. "I'm really looking forward to next year. I'm going to get back to training hard and hopefully I can get that state record (54.55) next year finally."
As for Van Hout, she electrified the crowd with her win in the 200 IM, her time of 2:00.06 breaking the previous state record of Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke (2:01.39) by well over a second. Van Hout then came back with a win in the 500 free, in a race where she had to hold off a game Brittany Walsh of Muskego. Van Hout never trailed in the race, but she could never shake Walsh, and with 150 yards it was no sure thing that Van Hout would win her third straight 500 (Walsh at one point in the race had four consecutive 50 splits faster than Van Hout). But Van Hout held on, her winning time of 5:51.77 3+ seconds slower than her record time last year, but still second all-time in D1 state history. Walsh was second in 4:52.84 (nearly exactly what she swam a year ago when she also finished second.)
As for the rest of the meet:
Performance of the meet: A tie between Madison Memorial senior Jackie Powell in the 100 free and Madison East's Ivy Martin in the 50 free. Both came out of the slower, second heat to claim a state title -- Powell with a 50.82 in the 100 free that easily won the title over Pietila (51.51). Powell had shown earlier in the meet she would be a force in the 100, as she powered her way past Pietila at the halfway point of the 200 free and finished out in 1:49.90 to win by nearly 2-1/2 seconds. Martin followed up on the success of her sister, Ruby -- who won the 50 free the past two years -- as she won with a 23.55 that Wisconsin Rapids' junior Becca Weiland (23.66) couldn't quite match in the final heat.
Race of the meet: Another tie, this one between the 100 breaststroke and the meet-ending 400 free relay. The highly anticipated 100 breaststroke shoot-out lived up to its advance billing, with two-time defending champion Emily Russart of Badger/Big Foot (1:02.53) holding off Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske (1:02.94). Russart set a state record, breaking her own mark (1:02.70) she set two years ago, while Pronschinske became only the second breaststroker in state history to go under 1:03 in the event. Pronschinske is wonderful-looking breaststroker, with a smooth stroke and a rapid turnover. In truth, she might have been just slightly faster than Russart in the water. But Russart, the taller of the two, got terrific pushes off the wall on all three of her turns, and her powerful underwater pull off her start gave her a lead in the race she never gave up.
As for Madison East's 400 free relay, the team's performance sealed their second straight runner-up trophy. East, Muskego, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago were within 6 points of each other entering the relay, and with all three teams in the final heat, the runner-up trophy was up for grabs. Standing in everyone's way was Arrowhead, which came in with the fastest seed time and featured Goral and three of the team's top sprinters.
Conventional wisdom for relays suggests spreading out your fastest swimmers, going with your second-fastest swimmer on the lead-off leg and saving your fastest swimmer for the anchor leg. But East coach Matt Matteson turned that on its head, putting out Van Hout and Martin on the first two legs. Van Hout's lead-off leg of 49.94 would've won the 100 free, and Martin then helped extend the lead. That left it to the Soderholm sisters -- sophomore Chelsea and senior Becca -- to hold on to the lead. Becca Soderholm entered the pool for the anchor leg with about a one-second lead, and with 50 yards to go, it looked like Arrowhead anchor Julia Mikota was on her way to overtaking her and giving Arrowhead its third relay title of the meet. But Soderholm dug in, and as the crowd rose to its feet, the two swimmers battled for the lead. In the end, Soderholm and East held on -- not by much (four-tenths of a second) -- but enough to elicit a scream and a jig on the pool deck from the East relay, and the runner-up trophy that arrived in their hands a few minutes later. A great ending to a very good meet.
Swimmer of the meet: One more tie, between Arrowhead's Goral and East's Van Hout. Both ended up with three gold medals and a silver medal for their day's work. Maybe Van Hout gets a slight edge for her record-breaking swim in the 200 IM, but Goral is Arrowhead's rock. In a meet that featured some inconsistent swims by the Arrowhead team, Goral proved as reliable as Old Faithful, with a win in the fly and great relay legs. Wisconsin swim fans have the good fortune of getting to watch these two swimmers for one more year.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Mikrut DQ explained
Lindsey Mikrut, a senior swimmer for Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay, was disqualified from participating at Saturday's sectional swim meet at Kenosha Bradford High School after it was discovered she had shaved at the meet site. Her DQ raised one question from a blog commentator about the rule.
It's contained in the National Federation of State High School Associations' Swimming and Diving and Water Polo rulebook. Rule 3-5, article 7, says: "No team personnel/competitor shall perform any on-site shaving before, during or after the meet. PENALTY: Team personnel/competitors shall be disqualified from further participation for on-site shaving."
A veteran WIAA swim official who I contacted characterized the rule as a "well-understood restriction" that has been on the books for many years.
Mikrut entered the sectional meet as the top-seeded swimmer in the 100 fly and third-seeded in the 200 IM. She finished 4th last year at state in the 100 fly, and was a key member of the team's state-winning medley relay, swimming the fly leg on the relay. She is still eligible to swim on B/B/WB's medley and 200 free relays at the D1 state meet.
It's contained in the National Federation of State High School Associations' Swimming and Diving and Water Polo rulebook. Rule 3-5, article 7, says: "No team personnel/competitor shall perform any on-site shaving before, during or after the meet. PENALTY: Team personnel/competitors shall be disqualified from further participation for on-site shaving."
A veteran WIAA swim official who I contacted characterized the rule as a "well-understood restriction" that has been on the books for many years.
Mikrut entered the sectional meet as the top-seeded swimmer in the 100 fly and third-seeded in the 200 IM. She finished 4th last year at state in the 100 fly, and was a key member of the team's state-winning medley relay, swimming the fly leg on the relay. She is still eligible to swim on B/B/WB's medley and 200 free relays at the D1 state meet.
D1 state meet preview
The D1 state meet is Saturday afternoon; here's hoping swim fans can find a parking space within a mile of the Natatorium to take in what should be a great meet. Here's a few things to look for:
-- Hartland Arrowhead is seeded to win the meet by 135 points; with all 16 of its swimmers qualified for the state meet, and two divers to boot, HA is a pretty sure bet to come away with its 7th title in eight years. This may not be the equal of Arrowhead's great 2003 and 2005 teams, but it is a very good and very deep squad. Last year, HA squeaked out a 16-point win over Madison East; its margin of victory Saturday is likely to be much higher.
-- The race for second looks quite close, with Muskego and Waukesha South/Mukwonago seeded within six points of each other for second place, Madison East seeded in 4th, and teams such as Wausau East, Eau Claire Memorial, Madison Memorial and Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay looking to grab a piece of state hardware. It will be interesting to see if WS/M and Muskego can avoid last year's fate, when both teams dropped down for their seed positions and finished 4th and 5th, respectively. Relays of course will play a big role -- WS/M, Muskego and Madison Memorial qualified all three of their relays among the teams contending for 2nd.
-- Will youth be served? Only one senior -- Muskego's Brittany Walsh -- earned a top seed at the D1 state meet, and that was by the slimmest of margins (.01 seconds) over Madison East junior and defending champion Aja Van Hout. One thing I noticed while going over the heat sheets for the state meet -- this is a meet filled with a bunch of very good juniors.
-- How low can she go? Last year, Van Hout smashed the state record in the 500 free by more than five seconds, swimming a 4:48.60. The year before that, as a freshman, she won the 500 in 4:58.68 -- or 10 seconds slower than her sophomore time. Another prodigious time drop by Van Hout would bring into the conversation the national public high school record in the event -- 4:34.78, set last year by North Dakota native and Auburn recruit Dagny Knutson. Van Hout's winning time last year in the 200 IM (2:01.69) was nearly five seconds faster than her winning time as a freshman and within three-tenths of a second of the state record time set by Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke. Can she break the magical 2-minute barrier in the IM, a feat reserved for very few high school swimmers? Van Hout's never lost an individual race at state; she's halfway toward accomplishing what only two swimmers in the history of the state have done -- win eight individual state titles.
-- Winning four gold medals is a rare accomplishment at a state meet. Can Arrowhead junior Emma Goral pull it off? She's seeded to do so -- Goral will swim on all three of Arrowhead's relays, all of which earned top seeds for the state meet. She's also seeded #1 in the 100 butterfly, an event she's won the past two years.
-- Can Madison Memorial senior Jackie Powell hold off the young guns coming after her in the 200 free? She's the defending champion in the event, having won it last year by a convincing 1.78 seconds. She'll tangle with sophomores Kayla Skenandore of WS/M ( who earned the top seed in the event) and Haley Pietila of Arrowhead (last year's runner-up), as well as rising freshman Natalie Neuwirth of Stevens Point, who has been swimming lights out the past two weeks.
-- Can Wisconsin Rapids junior Becca Weiland complete her comeback with a double win in the freestyle sprints? Weiland made a big splash at the D1 state meet two years ago with 3rd-place finishes in both the 50 and 100 frees. But a bad knee sidelined her last year from competing at sectionals. This year, she's back and has been the state's top sprinter all season long, earning top seeds at the state meet in the 50 and 100 frees. In the 100 free, she'll tangle with Arrowhead's Pietila and freshman Julia Mikota, who will bracket her in lanes 3 and 5. In the 50 free, Weiland will see a bunch of familiar faces -- conference rivals Lea Keonig and Lauren Sichterman from Wausau East earned the #2 and #3 seeds and will swim right next to Weiland.
-- The most highly anticipated race of the night probably comes in the second-to-last event -- the 100-yard breaststroke. Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay senior Emily Russart hopes to capture her third state title in a row. Standing in her way is Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske, who earned the meet's top seed (1:03.22 to Russart's 1:03.78). Pronschinske's debut at the state meet has been highly anticipated; she earned an Olympic Trials cut as an 8th grader. These two tangled in October at the Wisconsin Girls Invitational at the Natatorium; Russart won by .01 seconds. The rematch should be just as good.
-- Can anyone upend Arrowhead's top-seeded relays? Their 400 free relay looks to be the strongest of the three, with three of the top eight seeded swimmers in the 100 free, plus Goral, swimming on it. In the medley, Arrowhead has a seed time nearly two seconds faster than anyone else, but sitting right next to them in lanes 3 and 5 are the last two teams to win this event at state -- defending champs Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay in lane 5, and Madison East in lane 3. East features two of the swimmers who helped the team win the relay in 2007 -- Becca Soderholm on fly and Ivy Martin anchoring -- plus the addition of Van Hout on breaststroke. It will be interesting to see how B/B/WB reacts after last week's sectional meet -- star butterflier Lindsey Mikrut was DQ'd from the meet for shaving on-site; sophomore Amie Zick replaced her on the fly leg and swam a tremendous leg to earn B/B/WB a #2 seed for the event. Mikrut can swim the relay, but won't be swimming any individual events at state. Will it serve as extra motivation to help defend her team's relay title? As for the 200 free relay, Arrowhead again owns a more-than-a-second seed-time advantage on the field. But Wausau East returns the entire line-up for the 200 free that finished a surprising second in this event last year at state. Wisconsin Rapids has the #3 seed in the event, and that means Weiland anchoring. If I was the anchor swimmer on any of the 200 free relays, I'd want to have a big lead before she jumped in the water.
-- Hartland Arrowhead is seeded to win the meet by 135 points; with all 16 of its swimmers qualified for the state meet, and two divers to boot, HA is a pretty sure bet to come away with its 7th title in eight years. This may not be the equal of Arrowhead's great 2003 and 2005 teams, but it is a very good and very deep squad. Last year, HA squeaked out a 16-point win over Madison East; its margin of victory Saturday is likely to be much higher.
-- The race for second looks quite close, with Muskego and Waukesha South/Mukwonago seeded within six points of each other for second place, Madison East seeded in 4th, and teams such as Wausau East, Eau Claire Memorial, Madison Memorial and Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay looking to grab a piece of state hardware. It will be interesting to see if WS/M and Muskego can avoid last year's fate, when both teams dropped down for their seed positions and finished 4th and 5th, respectively. Relays of course will play a big role -- WS/M, Muskego and Madison Memorial qualified all three of their relays among the teams contending for 2nd.
-- Will youth be served? Only one senior -- Muskego's Brittany Walsh -- earned a top seed at the D1 state meet, and that was by the slimmest of margins (.01 seconds) over Madison East junior and defending champion Aja Van Hout. One thing I noticed while going over the heat sheets for the state meet -- this is a meet filled with a bunch of very good juniors.
-- How low can she go? Last year, Van Hout smashed the state record in the 500 free by more than five seconds, swimming a 4:48.60. The year before that, as a freshman, she won the 500 in 4:58.68 -- or 10 seconds slower than her sophomore time. Another prodigious time drop by Van Hout would bring into the conversation the national public high school record in the event -- 4:34.78, set last year by North Dakota native and Auburn recruit Dagny Knutson. Van Hout's winning time last year in the 200 IM (2:01.69) was nearly five seconds faster than her winning time as a freshman and within three-tenths of a second of the state record time set by Arrowhead's Andrea Boritzke. Can she break the magical 2-minute barrier in the IM, a feat reserved for very few high school swimmers? Van Hout's never lost an individual race at state; she's halfway toward accomplishing what only two swimmers in the history of the state have done -- win eight individual state titles.
-- Winning four gold medals is a rare accomplishment at a state meet. Can Arrowhead junior Emma Goral pull it off? She's seeded to do so -- Goral will swim on all three of Arrowhead's relays, all of which earned top seeds for the state meet. She's also seeded #1 in the 100 butterfly, an event she's won the past two years.
-- Can Madison Memorial senior Jackie Powell hold off the young guns coming after her in the 200 free? She's the defending champion in the event, having won it last year by a convincing 1.78 seconds. She'll tangle with sophomores Kayla Skenandore of WS/M ( who earned the top seed in the event) and Haley Pietila of Arrowhead (last year's runner-up), as well as rising freshman Natalie Neuwirth of Stevens Point, who has been swimming lights out the past two weeks.
-- Can Wisconsin Rapids junior Becca Weiland complete her comeback with a double win in the freestyle sprints? Weiland made a big splash at the D1 state meet two years ago with 3rd-place finishes in both the 50 and 100 frees. But a bad knee sidelined her last year from competing at sectionals. This year, she's back and has been the state's top sprinter all season long, earning top seeds at the state meet in the 50 and 100 frees. In the 100 free, she'll tangle with Arrowhead's Pietila and freshman Julia Mikota, who will bracket her in lanes 3 and 5. In the 50 free, Weiland will see a bunch of familiar faces -- conference rivals Lea Keonig and Lauren Sichterman from Wausau East earned the #2 and #3 seeds and will swim right next to Weiland.
-- The most highly anticipated race of the night probably comes in the second-to-last event -- the 100-yard breaststroke. Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay senior Emily Russart hopes to capture her third state title in a row. Standing in her way is Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske, who earned the meet's top seed (1:03.22 to Russart's 1:03.78). Pronschinske's debut at the state meet has been highly anticipated; she earned an Olympic Trials cut as an 8th grader. These two tangled in October at the Wisconsin Girls Invitational at the Natatorium; Russart won by .01 seconds. The rematch should be just as good.
-- Can anyone upend Arrowhead's top-seeded relays? Their 400 free relay looks to be the strongest of the three, with three of the top eight seeded swimmers in the 100 free, plus Goral, swimming on it. In the medley, Arrowhead has a seed time nearly two seconds faster than anyone else, but sitting right next to them in lanes 3 and 5 are the last two teams to win this event at state -- defending champs Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay in lane 5, and Madison East in lane 3. East features two of the swimmers who helped the team win the relay in 2007 -- Becca Soderholm on fly and Ivy Martin anchoring -- plus the addition of Van Hout on breaststroke. It will be interesting to see how B/B/WB reacts after last week's sectional meet -- star butterflier Lindsey Mikrut was DQ'd from the meet for shaving on-site; sophomore Amie Zick replaced her on the fly leg and swam a tremendous leg to earn B/B/WB a #2 seed for the event. Mikrut can swim the relay, but won't be swimming any individual events at state. Will it serve as extra motivation to help defend her team's relay title? As for the 200 free relay, Arrowhead again owns a more-than-a-second seed-time advantage on the field. But Wausau East returns the entire line-up for the 200 free that finished a surprising second in this event last year at state. Wisconsin Rapids has the #3 seed in the event, and that means Weiland anchoring. If I was the anchor swimmer on any of the 200 free relays, I'd want to have a big lead before she jumped in the water.
From club to high school
Commentators to the blog have on occasion debated the pull of club swimming vs. competing for your high school. It's a decision faced by only a handful of high school athletes -- soccer and volleyball come to mind -- as those sports offer high-level club competition at the same time as the high school seasons.
Here's an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that focuses on that very decision by Waukesha South/Mukwonago sophomore Kayla Skenandore, who earned a top seed for this week's D1 state meet in the 200 free (and a #2 seed behind only defending champ Emma Goral of Hartland Arrowhead in the 100 fly). Skenandore skipped her freshman year of high school swimming to compete for Waukesha Express, one of the most competitive clubs in the state, but decided to compete for the Waukesha South/Mukwonago co-op this year.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/69821002.html
Here's an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that focuses on that very decision by Waukesha South/Mukwonago sophomore Kayla Skenandore, who earned a top seed for this week's D1 state meet in the 200 free (and a #2 seed behind only defending champ Emma Goral of Hartland Arrowhead in the 100 fly). Skenandore skipped her freshman year of high school swimming to compete for Waukesha Express, one of the most competitive clubs in the state, but decided to compete for the Waukesha South/Mukwonago co-op this year.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/69821002.html
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
From Thailand to the Natatorium
Here's a nice feature from the Sheboygan Press on Sheboygan North swimmer Suki Suwanparin, an exchange student from Thailand:
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091110/SHE020507/911100434/1089/SHE0205/Prep-profile--Suki-Suwanparin--Sheboygan-North
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091110/SHE020507/911100430/1089/SHE0205
Suwanparin, according to the Press, waited two weeks into the swim season to decide whether she should join the team because she had sat out from swimming for a year. Now she finds herself swimming four events at the D1 state meet this Saturday. She finished second to teammate Parker Wolf in the 50 free at the Cedarburg sectional, and ended up tied for the 21st overall seed in the 50 free for the state meet. She also swam leadoff on the team's 200 free relay, and anchored the medley and 400 free relays -- all of which qualified for state.
One more note -- she's never seen snow. And someone -- presumably including some of her Sheboygan North teammates -- has talked her into participating in the community's annual Polar Bear plunge into Lake Michigan on New Year's Day.
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091110/SHE020507/911100434/1089/SHE0205/Prep-profile--Suki-Suwanparin--Sheboygan-North
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20091110/SHE020507/911100430/1089/SHE0205
Suwanparin, according to the Press, waited two weeks into the swim season to decide whether she should join the team because she had sat out from swimming for a year. Now she finds herself swimming four events at the D1 state meet this Saturday. She finished second to teammate Parker Wolf in the 50 free at the Cedarburg sectional, and ended up tied for the 21st overall seed in the 50 free for the state meet. She also swam leadoff on the team's 200 free relay, and anchored the medley and 400 free relays -- all of which qualified for state.
One more note -- she's never seen snow. And someone -- presumably including some of her Sheboygan North teammates -- has talked her into participating in the community's annual Polar Bear plunge into Lake Michigan on New Year's Day.
Monday, November 9, 2009
That 25th swimmer in the D1 500 free -- and the great race that produced it
As a commentator on the blog noted over the weekend, the D1 500 final at the Neenah sectional this past weekend produced an electrifying race between Shawano/Bonduel's Mackenzie Soper and Oshkosh West's Natalie Bolin.
Both state meet veterans (Soper finished 6th at the D2 state meet last year as a freshman in the 500 free; Bolin was 12th in the 500 free at the D1 meet)), the two went at each other stroke for stroke nearly 15 seconds ahead of the next swimmer and ended, fittingly, tied at the end -- 5:07.66. As such, both qualified for the state meet as a sectional winner.
But the race did something else -- yield another spot in the 500 free at the state meet. D1 normally features three heats of eight swimmers each in every event. But instead of six sectional winners, the 500 free this year has 7 sectional winners, because of the Soper-Bolin tie. According to WIAA rules, that means another swimmer beyond the normal 24 qualify for state in that event. See this from the WIAA's regulations and procedures section for swimming:
"Participating in the State Meet will be:
(a) Swimming
1) Winners of each event at each sectional.
2) Next 18 (Division 1) and 12 (Division 2) fastest individuals/relay teams (not including sectional winners) from all sectionals."
That rule was good news for Germantown's Kelly Theis. The junior had been seeded to qualify for the D1 state meet in the 200 free out of the Cedarburg sectional, but swam more than a second over her seed time and failed to get in. As it turned out, the 200 medley relay she anchored fell short of qualifying for state by .15 seconds. That left the 500 free, where she finished 5th in the sectional with a time of 5:18.72. For Theis, the tie between Soper and Bolin left her as the 25th qualifier for the state meet -- usually the worst place to finish. This year, it got her a berth in the state meet.
Both state meet veterans (Soper finished 6th at the D2 state meet last year as a freshman in the 500 free; Bolin was 12th in the 500 free at the D1 meet)), the two went at each other stroke for stroke nearly 15 seconds ahead of the next swimmer and ended, fittingly, tied at the end -- 5:07.66. As such, both qualified for the state meet as a sectional winner.
But the race did something else -- yield another spot in the 500 free at the state meet. D1 normally features three heats of eight swimmers each in every event. But instead of six sectional winners, the 500 free this year has 7 sectional winners, because of the Soper-Bolin tie. According to WIAA rules, that means another swimmer beyond the normal 24 qualify for state in that event. See this from the WIAA's regulations and procedures section for swimming:
"Participating in the State Meet will be:
(a) Swimming
1) Winners of each event at each sectional.
2) Next 18 (Division 1) and 12 (Division 2) fastest individuals/relay teams (not including sectional winners) from all sectionals."
That rule was good news for Germantown's Kelly Theis. The junior had been seeded to qualify for the D1 state meet in the 200 free out of the Cedarburg sectional, but swam more than a second over her seed time and failed to get in. As it turned out, the 200 medley relay she anchored fell short of qualifying for state by .15 seconds. That left the 500 free, where she finished 5th in the sectional with a time of 5:18.72. For Theis, the tie between Soper and Bolin left her as the 25th qualifier for the state meet -- usually the worst place to finish. This year, it got her a berth in the state meet.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Division 1 sectional round-up
The Hartland Arrowhead express rolled along at Saturday's Div. 1 sectionals; the team easily won the Waukesha South/Mukwonago sectional (424 points), took 7 of the 11 swimming events (including all three relays), and placed all 16 of its swimmers into the state meet this coming Saturday. For good measure, diver Mary Woodson won the sectional title as well, and teammate Lindsey Day qualified in diving.
HA has been the dominant team in D1 all season long, and nothing they did Saturday disproved the notion that the real race at the state meet will be for the runner-up trophy. The medley relay of Kate Jones, Caryn Knight, Emma Goral and Haley Pietila got things off to a fast start for HA, winning in 1:46.28, more than two seconds faster than the best time posted this season by any medley relay in the state. Jones (back), Goral (fly), and Pietila (100 free) all posted individual wins with times that will move them into the inner lanes of the last, fastest heat at state. Freshman star Julia Mikota added the team's 4th individual win in the 50 free. Overall, it was just a dominant day by HA, as none of the team's swimmers finished lower than 5th in an event.
But, as is usually the case at the very fast Waukesha South pool, there were plenty of other fireworks. Waukesha South/Mukwanogo and Muskego ended up tied for second with 334 points, and each got some outstanding swims. For Waukesha South/Mukwonago, sophomore Kayla Skenandore had a terrific meet, winning the 200 free over Pietila by more than a second (1:51.07), and giving two-time defending state champ Emmal Goral a scare in the 100 fly, just getting edged 56.37-56.66 in a fast race that saw five swimmers go under 59 seconds. WS/M teammate Pamela Breitrick won the 200 IM. Muskego's distance aces Brittany Walsh and Jessica Wolf went 1-2 in the 500 and both went under 5 minutes (4:58.70 for Walsh, 4:59.90 for Wolf), while teammate Sami Powchowski won the 100 breaststroke. Both the runner-up teams qualified all three of their relays into the state meet.
Highlights from other sectionals:
Hudson
Wausau East topped Eau Claire Memorial 330-303.5 in a meet that, as expected, saw some very fast free sprint races. Wisconsin Rapids junior Becca Weiland won the 50 free (23.50) over WEast teammates Leo Koenig and Lauren Sichterman in a race that saw all three swimmers go under 24 seconds.Weiland came back with a win in the 100 free (51.53) and stamped herself as a real threat to capture the two sprint races at the D1 state meet. Weiland also anchored her team to a win in the 200 free relay in the race of the meet, as Rapids and WEast battled closely throughout the relay, with Rapids eeking out a win 1:38.35-1:38.49. WEast had earlier edged out Rapids in the 200 medley relay 1:49.64-1:50.08. Stevens Point freshman Natalie Neuwirth had a terrific sectional, winning the 200 free by more than four seconds (1:52.59) and finishing 2nd in the 100 free. Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske was a double winner, in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke; her time of 1:03.22 in the breaststroke will earn her the top seed
at the state meet.
Neenah
Aided by a 1-2 finish by freshman divers Greysen Hertting and Mollie Patzke, the host Rockets easily won a sectional title 355-276.5 over runner-up Oshkosh West. Appleton East enjoyed a solid day in the relays, winning both the 200 and 400 free relays, while the 100 butterfly race was as good as advertised -- five swimmers broke 1 minute in the race, led by Green Bay Southwest/West's Kendra Rottier, who won it in 58.69.
Middleton
Madison Memorial used its usual combination of solid depth and oustanding work by senior Jackie Powell to win the sectional title with 349 points. Madison West, which swam very well all day long, edged Middleton for second place, 289-288. Powell took the 200 and 100 free titles, and anchored Memorial's winning 200 free relay. Madison East won seven of the 11 swimming events, with junior ace Aja Van Hout having a hand in four of them. Van Hout won both the 200 IM (2:03.57) and 500 free (4:58.71), swam lead-off on the winning 400 free relay (3:35.09), and breaststroke on East's winning 200 medley relay (1:48.94). East also got individual wins from Ivy Martin in the 50 free, Becca Soderholm in the 100 fly, and Chelsea Soderholm in the 100 back.
Cedarburg
Mequon Homestead topped Sheboygan North 368-309, with Menomonee Falls/Hamilton in third with 295 points. In the best race of the meet, Homestead's Kayla Dlugopolski captured one of her team's two individual wins in a tight duel with Cedarburg's Molly Piepenburg in the 500 free, winning by less than two-tenths of a second in 5:05.07. Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf won four times, with wins in the 50 and 100 frees, an anchor leg on the team's first-place 200 free relay, and the fly leg on the winning medley relay. Nicolet freshman Calli Head announced her arrival on the state diving scene with a win and a score of 461.15, second overall in the state to three-time defending state champ Kylie Rosenstock (473.20).
Kenosha Bradford
The Burlington swim co-op, which last year didn't send anyone to the state meet, changed that around this year with a sectional win, 372.5-271 over Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay. Freshman Anna Brooks won the 200 IM (2:06.90), took second in the 500 free, and anchored the team's winning 400 free relay (3:38.77). Badger, meanwhile, got wins from both its medley and 200 free relays (they are the defending state champs in the medley), along with wins from Maddie Clark (50/100 frees) and Emily Russart (100 breaststroke -- 1:03.78). Russart's win in the breaststroke sets up the much-anticipated showdown in the event between her and Eau Claire Memorial's Pronschinske. Racine Case senior Paige Welaski had a solid meet with wins in the 200 free (1:55.00) and 500 free (5:03.17).
HA has been the dominant team in D1 all season long, and nothing they did Saturday disproved the notion that the real race at the state meet will be for the runner-up trophy. The medley relay of Kate Jones, Caryn Knight, Emma Goral and Haley Pietila got things off to a fast start for HA, winning in 1:46.28, more than two seconds faster than the best time posted this season by any medley relay in the state. Jones (back), Goral (fly), and Pietila (100 free) all posted individual wins with times that will move them into the inner lanes of the last, fastest heat at state. Freshman star Julia Mikota added the team's 4th individual win in the 50 free. Overall, it was just a dominant day by HA, as none of the team's swimmers finished lower than 5th in an event.
But, as is usually the case at the very fast Waukesha South pool, there were plenty of other fireworks. Waukesha South/Mukwanogo and Muskego ended up tied for second with 334 points, and each got some outstanding swims. For Waukesha South/Mukwonago, sophomore Kayla Skenandore had a terrific meet, winning the 200 free over Pietila by more than a second (1:51.07), and giving two-time defending state champ Emmal Goral a scare in the 100 fly, just getting edged 56.37-56.66 in a fast race that saw five swimmers go under 59 seconds. WS/M teammate Pamela Breitrick won the 200 IM. Muskego's distance aces Brittany Walsh and Jessica Wolf went 1-2 in the 500 and both went under 5 minutes (4:58.70 for Walsh, 4:59.90 for Wolf), while teammate Sami Powchowski won the 100 breaststroke. Both the runner-up teams qualified all three of their relays into the state meet.
Highlights from other sectionals:
Hudson
Wausau East topped Eau Claire Memorial 330-303.5 in a meet that, as expected, saw some very fast free sprint races. Wisconsin Rapids junior Becca Weiland won the 50 free (23.50) over WEast teammates Leo Koenig and Lauren Sichterman in a race that saw all three swimmers go under 24 seconds.Weiland came back with a win in the 100 free (51.53) and stamped herself as a real threat to capture the two sprint races at the D1 state meet. Weiland also anchored her team to a win in the 200 free relay in the race of the meet, as Rapids and WEast battled closely throughout the relay, with Rapids eeking out a win 1:38.35-1:38.49. WEast had earlier edged out Rapids in the 200 medley relay 1:49.64-1:50.08. Stevens Point freshman Natalie Neuwirth had a terrific sectional, winning the 200 free by more than four seconds (1:52.59) and finishing 2nd in the 100 free. Eau Claire Memorial freshman Leah Pronschinske was a double winner, in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke; her time of 1:03.22 in the breaststroke will earn her the top seed
at the state meet.
Neenah
Aided by a 1-2 finish by freshman divers Greysen Hertting and Mollie Patzke, the host Rockets easily won a sectional title 355-276.5 over runner-up Oshkosh West. Appleton East enjoyed a solid day in the relays, winning both the 200 and 400 free relays, while the 100 butterfly race was as good as advertised -- five swimmers broke 1 minute in the race, led by Green Bay Southwest/West's Kendra Rottier, who won it in 58.69.
Middleton
Madison Memorial used its usual combination of solid depth and oustanding work by senior Jackie Powell to win the sectional title with 349 points. Madison West, which swam very well all day long, edged Middleton for second place, 289-288. Powell took the 200 and 100 free titles, and anchored Memorial's winning 200 free relay. Madison East won seven of the 11 swimming events, with junior ace Aja Van Hout having a hand in four of them. Van Hout won both the 200 IM (2:03.57) and 500 free (4:58.71), swam lead-off on the winning 400 free relay (3:35.09), and breaststroke on East's winning 200 medley relay (1:48.94). East also got individual wins from Ivy Martin in the 50 free, Becca Soderholm in the 100 fly, and Chelsea Soderholm in the 100 back.
Cedarburg
Mequon Homestead topped Sheboygan North 368-309, with Menomonee Falls/Hamilton in third with 295 points. In the best race of the meet, Homestead's Kayla Dlugopolski captured one of her team's two individual wins in a tight duel with Cedarburg's Molly Piepenburg in the 500 free, winning by less than two-tenths of a second in 5:05.07. Sheboygan North's Parker Wolf won four times, with wins in the 50 and 100 frees, an anchor leg on the team's first-place 200 free relay, and the fly leg on the winning medley relay. Nicolet freshman Calli Head announced her arrival on the state diving scene with a win and a score of 461.15, second overall in the state to three-time defending state champ Kylie Rosenstock (473.20).
Kenosha Bradford
The Burlington swim co-op, which last year didn't send anyone to the state meet, changed that around this year with a sectional win, 372.5-271 over Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay. Freshman Anna Brooks won the 200 IM (2:06.90), took second in the 500 free, and anchored the team's winning 400 free relay (3:38.77). Badger, meanwhile, got wins from both its medley and 200 free relays (they are the defending state champs in the medley), along with wins from Maddie Clark (50/100 frees) and Emily Russart (100 breaststroke -- 1:03.78). Russart's win in the breaststroke sets up the much-anticipated showdown in the event between her and Eau Claire Memorial's Pronschinske. Racine Case senior Paige Welaski had a solid meet with wins in the 200 free (1:55.00) and 500 free (5:03.17).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Memorial dominates Big 8 conference meet
Madison Memorial affirmed its undefeated duel-meet season with a big win at the Big 8 conference meet at Middleton Saturday, winning 538-389 over the runner-up host team.
Senior Jackie Powell was a double-winner for the Spartans, taking the 100 backstroke (59.01) by 2-1/2 seconds, and setting a meet record in the 100 free (52.09). The Spartans also used their superior depth to rack up lots of points in the relays; when your B relay finishes third in the 200 free relay at a meet as strong as the Big 8 conference, you know you have a lot of depth. Memorial picked up wins in the 200 and 400 free relays, the latter in a thrilling match-up with the defending state champs, Madison East. Memorial edged East 3:36.67 to 3:36.86, with Powell anchoring her relay to victory.
East, not the deepest of teams, still performed quite well at the meet, getting wins from four-time state champ Aja Van Hout in meet-record times of 2:03.65 (200 IM) and 4:56.87 (500 free), and a meet-record time of 24.06 in the 50 free from Ivy Martin. The Purgolders also captured the 200 medley relay, edging Memorial by just over a second as Van Hout swam the breaststroke leg for East.
Madison West's third-place finish (296 points, 14 more than 4th-place Verona) was highlighted by junior Ilsa Feierabend, who continued her strong season with a win in the 200 free (1:55.76) and a runner-up finish in the 500 free (5:05.34.)
A few other observations from the meet:
-- If, as often happens, coaches use the conference meet to set up their lineups for sectional qualifying this coming Saturday, look for Powell in the 100 free and back for Memorial. She's the defending D1 state champion in the back and 200 free, but has been swimming a lot of 100 frees this season. Her conference-record win in the 100 free suggests strongly that's the freestyle event she'll focus on for sectionals.
-- Meanwhile, Van Hout certainly appears set for the two events in which she's captured titles her first two years at D1 state -- the IM and 500 free. The junior had been swimming a lot of 200 frees this year, leading to some speculation she might switch from the IM to the 200 free. But her IM time at conference certainly indicates she'll swim that at sectionals -- only Van Hout herself, last year at state (2:01.69), has swum a faster 200 IM in the past four years in state competition.
-- In what was a very fast meet, with five meet records in the 11 swimming events, Janesville Craig senior Hailey Schneider set the last one of the day in winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.93 -- not that far off from the time she swam last year (1:05.52) to finish 5th at state last year. She added a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:09.64) in a race that featured the top three finishers from last year's D1 state meet -- Van Hout, Schneider, and East's Becca Soderholm (who finished 3rd -- 2:11.38).
-- In the past two years, there has not been been a better match-up in relays than the 400 free relay battles between East and Memorial. Two years ago at state, Memorial topped East by 2-1/2 seconds, but East's second-place finish allowed it to clinch the state team title by a mere 3.5 points over Memorial. Last year, East turned the tables on Memorial at state, winning with a state-record time of 3:24.80. While Memorial can probably count on getting all three of its relays to state, East this year will probably focus on two relays, and the conference results suggest it will be the medley and 400 free relays for the Purgolders. With Memorial edging East by less than two-tenths of a second at the conference meet, it certainly sets up (in all probability) two more match-ups between the two powerful relays.
Senior Jackie Powell was a double-winner for the Spartans, taking the 100 backstroke (59.01) by 2-1/2 seconds, and setting a meet record in the 100 free (52.09). The Spartans also used their superior depth to rack up lots of points in the relays; when your B relay finishes third in the 200 free relay at a meet as strong as the Big 8 conference, you know you have a lot of depth. Memorial picked up wins in the 200 and 400 free relays, the latter in a thrilling match-up with the defending state champs, Madison East. Memorial edged East 3:36.67 to 3:36.86, with Powell anchoring her relay to victory.
East, not the deepest of teams, still performed quite well at the meet, getting wins from four-time state champ Aja Van Hout in meet-record times of 2:03.65 (200 IM) and 4:56.87 (500 free), and a meet-record time of 24.06 in the 50 free from Ivy Martin. The Purgolders also captured the 200 medley relay, edging Memorial by just over a second as Van Hout swam the breaststroke leg for East.
Madison West's third-place finish (296 points, 14 more than 4th-place Verona) was highlighted by junior Ilsa Feierabend, who continued her strong season with a win in the 200 free (1:55.76) and a runner-up finish in the 500 free (5:05.34.)
A few other observations from the meet:
-- If, as often happens, coaches use the conference meet to set up their lineups for sectional qualifying this coming Saturday, look for Powell in the 100 free and back for Memorial. She's the defending D1 state champion in the back and 200 free, but has been swimming a lot of 100 frees this season. Her conference-record win in the 100 free suggests strongly that's the freestyle event she'll focus on for sectionals.
-- Meanwhile, Van Hout certainly appears set for the two events in which she's captured titles her first two years at D1 state -- the IM and 500 free. The junior had been swimming a lot of 200 frees this year, leading to some speculation she might switch from the IM to the 200 free. But her IM time at conference certainly indicates she'll swim that at sectionals -- only Van Hout herself, last year at state (2:01.69), has swum a faster 200 IM in the past four years in state competition.
-- In what was a very fast meet, with five meet records in the 11 swimming events, Janesville Craig senior Hailey Schneider set the last one of the day in winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.93 -- not that far off from the time she swam last year (1:05.52) to finish 5th at state last year. She added a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:09.64) in a race that featured the top three finishers from last year's D1 state meet -- Van Hout, Schneider, and East's Becca Soderholm (who finished 3rd -- 2:11.38).
-- In the past two years, there has not been been a better match-up in relays than the 400 free relay battles between East and Memorial. Two years ago at state, Memorial topped East by 2-1/2 seconds, but East's second-place finish allowed it to clinch the state team title by a mere 3.5 points over Memorial. Last year, East turned the tables on Memorial at state, winning with a state-record time of 3:24.80. While Memorial can probably count on getting all three of its relays to state, East this year will probably focus on two relays, and the conference results suggest it will be the medley and 400 free relays for the Purgolders. With Memorial edging East by less than two-tenths of a second at the conference meet, it certainly sets up (in all probability) two more match-ups between the two powerful relays.
Monday, November 17, 2008
D1 state meet recap
Hartland-Arrowhead apparently likes its hardware. After its run of five straight state titles was snapped last year, HA reclaimed the first-place state trophy at the UW Natotorium Saturday afternooon. It won with a score of 256-240 over defending champs Madison East.
HA's win was similar to DeForest's D2 win the night before. HA won only one event -- Emma Goral in the 100 fly -- but combined terrific depth and top-four showings from all three of its relays for the win. HA's two divers also contributed 14 points to the win. In truth, HA swam well but not great -- the team scored 22 fewer points than its seed times -- but the team had swimmers in the final heat of all but one event, and that usually ensures a fair amount of points.
East came up just short in its bid to repeat, but, golly, it was fun to watch them try. East won six of the 12 events at the meet, set two state records in doing so (200/400 free relays), came close to state records in a few others, and swam better than any other team at the meet. East improved its position by 68 points, more than any other team in either divison of the state meet, but simply didn't have enough swimmers to get past HA. Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout both won two individual events, with Van Hout setting a record in the 500 free (4:48.60) by more than five seconds. East's strong run was also fueled by Ivy Martin and Becca Soderholm, both of whom came from the second-to-last heat to garner top three finishes in individual events. East's medley relay also moved up eight places from its seeding.
In fact, the second-to-last heat of the opening swim event, the medley relay, showed what kind of night it would be for both East and Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. The two relays squared off in a great race, with Memorial winning the heat and improving its seed time by more than five seconds. It was the start of a terrific day of swimming by the Spartans as well, as they nearly equaled East's performance; Memorial improved 65 points over its seeding placement, and moved up from a 6th place based on seeding to finish 3rd overall. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who concluded an outstanding season with wins in the 200 free and 100 back. In the 200 free, she became just the fourth swimmer in state history to break the 1:50 barrier, winning with a time of 1:49.21.
A few other observations:
-- Do Big Eight coaches know something the rest of the state does not? The top four Big Eight teams -- East, Memorial, Middleton and West -- all dramatically improved their performances at the state meet. Middleton ended up in 7th place overall, improving on its seeding by 48 points, while West finished 9th with a 38-point improvement. Coming out of sectionals, the top three teams based on seed times were HA, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego, with East in 4th place and Wausau East in 5th. All but East dropped in points, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago having a particularly tough meet, dropping 69.5 points.
-- How fast were those East relays? For starters, their winning times broke records set by relays from probably the best team in state history, the 2005 Hartland Arrowhead squad (which won all but one swimming event that year, and set state records in all three relays). East also beat the HA records pretty handily -- by 1.53 seconds in the 200 free relay, and 1.14 seconds in the 400 free relay. In fact, East came within less than a second of the national record in the 200 free relay (1:33.63; 1:32.77 national record) and less than two seconds from the national record in the 400 free relay (3:24.80; 3:23.10 national).
-- One of the hardest doubles in swimming is the 500 free/200 free relay combination. One is a marathon, all about sustained pacing, and the other an all-out sprint with only a few breaths taken during the race. The two events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule, and because they are so dissimilar, only a handful of swimmers attempt it. Few do it well. That's what made Van Hout's times at the state meet all the more remarkable. After swimming the 500 free in a record time of 4:48.60, she quickly cooled down in the diving well of the Natatorium, lined up for the 200 free relay with her teammates, then anchored the winning East relay with a split of 22.62 -- the fastest split posted by any 200 free relay or medley anchor swimmer.
HA's win was similar to DeForest's D2 win the night before. HA won only one event -- Emma Goral in the 100 fly -- but combined terrific depth and top-four showings from all three of its relays for the win. HA's two divers also contributed 14 points to the win. In truth, HA swam well but not great -- the team scored 22 fewer points than its seed times -- but the team had swimmers in the final heat of all but one event, and that usually ensures a fair amount of points.
East came up just short in its bid to repeat, but, golly, it was fun to watch them try. East won six of the 12 events at the meet, set two state records in doing so (200/400 free relays), came close to state records in a few others, and swam better than any other team at the meet. East improved its position by 68 points, more than any other team in either divison of the state meet, but simply didn't have enough swimmers to get past HA. Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout both won two individual events, with Van Hout setting a record in the 500 free (4:48.60) by more than five seconds. East's strong run was also fueled by Ivy Martin and Becca Soderholm, both of whom came from the second-to-last heat to garner top three finishes in individual events. East's medley relay also moved up eight places from its seeding.
In fact, the second-to-last heat of the opening swim event, the medley relay, showed what kind of night it would be for both East and Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. The two relays squared off in a great race, with Memorial winning the heat and improving its seed time by more than five seconds. It was the start of a terrific day of swimming by the Spartans as well, as they nearly equaled East's performance; Memorial improved 65 points over its seeding placement, and moved up from a 6th place based on seeding to finish 3rd overall. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who concluded an outstanding season with wins in the 200 free and 100 back. In the 200 free, she became just the fourth swimmer in state history to break the 1:50 barrier, winning with a time of 1:49.21.
A few other observations:
-- Do Big Eight coaches know something the rest of the state does not? The top four Big Eight teams -- East, Memorial, Middleton and West -- all dramatically improved their performances at the state meet. Middleton ended up in 7th place overall, improving on its seeding by 48 points, while West finished 9th with a 38-point improvement. Coming out of sectionals, the top three teams based on seed times were HA, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego, with East in 4th place and Wausau East in 5th. All but East dropped in points, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago having a particularly tough meet, dropping 69.5 points.
-- How fast were those East relays? For starters, their winning times broke records set by relays from probably the best team in state history, the 2005 Hartland Arrowhead squad (which won all but one swimming event that year, and set state records in all three relays). East also beat the HA records pretty handily -- by 1.53 seconds in the 200 free relay, and 1.14 seconds in the 400 free relay. In fact, East came within less than a second of the national record in the 200 free relay (1:33.63; 1:32.77 national record) and less than two seconds from the national record in the 400 free relay (3:24.80; 3:23.10 national).
-- One of the hardest doubles in swimming is the 500 free/200 free relay combination. One is a marathon, all about sustained pacing, and the other an all-out sprint with only a few breaths taken during the race. The two events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule, and because they are so dissimilar, only a handful of swimmers attempt it. Few do it well. That's what made Van Hout's times at the state meet all the more remarkable. After swimming the 500 free in a record time of 4:48.60, she quickly cooled down in the diving well of the Natatorium, lined up for the 200 free relay with her teammates, then anchored the winning East relay with a split of 22.62 -- the fastest split posted by any 200 free relay or medley anchor swimmer.
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