Congratulations to the Madison Memorial Spartans, who this past week wrapped up their fifth consecutive Big 8 title with a win over Madison East 106-64. Memorial becomes the third team in the history of the conference to win five straight titles, following the 10-year run of the Spartans starting in 1970 and Madison West in the 1980s.
See this wrap-up from the Wisconsin State Journal:
http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_4cb3d1fc-bdfc-11de-8edd-001cc4c002e0.html
While Memorial winning a conference title may induce a few yawns -- the program has long been one of the state's elites, and winning state titles is usually THE season goal -- it's still worthy of attention. The Big 8 has gotten much more competitive in recent years, with the emergence of East as a state power and the move of traditionally strong Verona from the Badger over to the Big 8.
And as most coaches will tell you, maintaining excellence in a program is not the piece of cake it may look like to outsiders. As a perennial champ, you're almost always everyone's biggest duel meet of the season. And in a large program like Memorial, freshmen and even sophomores often have to bide their time before making an impact on the varsity squad and swimming on the A relays. At most squads around Wisconsin, solid freshman can come in and start swimming varsity right away; not necessarily so at Memorial. Coach Jason Verhelst has to balance a fine line between maintaining interest among younger swimmers and stoking the competitive fires of a squad that's often three deep in quality swimmers per event.
So hat's off to Verhelst and his Memorial squad, which lost a bunch of solid seniors from last year's team. It's an accomplishment worth noting.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
More results from last weekend
Catching up on results from last weekend -- some of the last big invites before conference and sectionals begin.
In the dog-bites-man category of swim news, Hartland-Arrowhead won another invite, this one at Highlander Invite at Mequon Homestead. In all seriousness, HA deserves credit for swimming very well against some of the top teams in the state, and winning easily. The team scored 417 points, with individual wins from freshman Julia Mikota (50 free), sophomore Kate Jones (100 back),junior Emma Goral (100 fly), and senior Caryn Knight (100 breaststroke). They also got wins from their medley and 200 free relays. The most surprising win came from Jones, who beat defending state champ Jackie Powell of Madison Memorial in the backstroke. Jones swam a 58.73, a tenth-of-a-second faster than she swam last year when she finished 6th in the event at state. She could certainly give Powell a run for the money in this event come state meet time.
And here's the other scary thing about HA -- the strength of this team is its underclassmen. Led by Mikota, HA has added several top freshman to go along with a group of swimmers that doesn't depend on too many seniors besides Knight to score the bulk of its points. In fact, some of the fiercest competition HA will likely face this season will be narrowing its squad down to the 16 or so picks for slots to swim at sectionals (HA had two underclassmen divers score at last year's state meet.)
"We knew we'd be up against really tough competition," Arrowhead coach Jennifer Leider told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel after the meet. "I stressed to the girls that this is the time to show me what you've got because they're going to be vying for spots at sectionals. They really performed well and I'm proud of them. Their times are right there. They know what's at stake. They know that everybody's gunning for them. They've been really focused and really working hard."
Memorial outswam a number of strong teams for second place, with 261.5 points, followed by Waukesha South/Mukwonago (212), Mequon Homestead (200), Burlington (189), Middleton (143), and Muskego (129). Memorial coach Jason Verhelst acknowledged the tough chore facing D1 teams this year going up against HA:
"Arrowhead right now in the state of Wisconsin for girls swimming is the measuring stick," he told the Milwaukee paper. "In the last couple of meets, (teams measure themselves) by how close they are to them in the final tally. For us, we've got to match that intensity and get as close to them as we can. (This meet) is a good indicator for the team, and it's a good indicator for individuals that want to make state. If you finish in the top 16 here, you've got a pretty good shot of making it to state."
Over at Fort Atkinson, defending D2 champ DeForest -- minus top senior swimmer Lindsey Verhulst -- won the Fort Invite pretty handily, with 355 points to 322 for runner-up Oregon. (Fort finished 3rd with 311.5 points, followed by Sauk Prairie -- 283; Badger-Big Foot-Williams Bay -- 282; and Monona Grove -- 273.5).
DeForest won despite its three relays finishing no higher than 3rd (400 free relay; both the medley and 200 free relays finished 5th). But distance ace Casey Wolter continued her strong season with wins in the 200 and 500 frees, and sophomore Leah Winckler added a win in the 200 IM. As usual, DeForest relied on depth not found on other D2 teams in the two longest freestyle races; the Norskies racked up 90 points in the 200 and 500 frees.
One of the best races of the day came in the 100 free, when Sauk Prairie junior Alison Meng (54.50) edged Oregon senior Rachel Walsh (54.57) and BBF's Maddie Clark, 8th in this event last year at D1 state (55.06). Meng has been having a solid season so far; with her win at the Fort Invite in the 100 free, it will be interesting to see whether she switches over to the event instead of the back and fly that she swam last year at sectionals and state.
In the dog-bites-man category of swim news, Hartland-Arrowhead won another invite, this one at Highlander Invite at Mequon Homestead. In all seriousness, HA deserves credit for swimming very well against some of the top teams in the state, and winning easily. The team scored 417 points, with individual wins from freshman Julia Mikota (50 free), sophomore Kate Jones (100 back),junior Emma Goral (100 fly), and senior Caryn Knight (100 breaststroke). They also got wins from their medley and 200 free relays. The most surprising win came from Jones, who beat defending state champ Jackie Powell of Madison Memorial in the backstroke. Jones swam a 58.73, a tenth-of-a-second faster than she swam last year when she finished 6th in the event at state. She could certainly give Powell a run for the money in this event come state meet time.
And here's the other scary thing about HA -- the strength of this team is its underclassmen. Led by Mikota, HA has added several top freshman to go along with a group of swimmers that doesn't depend on too many seniors besides Knight to score the bulk of its points. In fact, some of the fiercest competition HA will likely face this season will be narrowing its squad down to the 16 or so picks for slots to swim at sectionals (HA had two underclassmen divers score at last year's state meet.)
"We knew we'd be up against really tough competition," Arrowhead coach Jennifer Leider told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel after the meet. "I stressed to the girls that this is the time to show me what you've got because they're going to be vying for spots at sectionals. They really performed well and I'm proud of them. Their times are right there. They know what's at stake. They know that everybody's gunning for them. They've been really focused and really working hard."
Memorial outswam a number of strong teams for second place, with 261.5 points, followed by Waukesha South/Mukwonago (212), Mequon Homestead (200), Burlington (189), Middleton (143), and Muskego (129). Memorial coach Jason Verhelst acknowledged the tough chore facing D1 teams this year going up against HA:
"Arrowhead right now in the state of Wisconsin for girls swimming is the measuring stick," he told the Milwaukee paper. "In the last couple of meets, (teams measure themselves) by how close they are to them in the final tally. For us, we've got to match that intensity and get as close to them as we can. (This meet) is a good indicator for the team, and it's a good indicator for individuals that want to make state. If you finish in the top 16 here, you've got a pretty good shot of making it to state."
Over at Fort Atkinson, defending D2 champ DeForest -- minus top senior swimmer Lindsey Verhulst -- won the Fort Invite pretty handily, with 355 points to 322 for runner-up Oregon. (Fort finished 3rd with 311.5 points, followed by Sauk Prairie -- 283; Badger-Big Foot-Williams Bay -- 282; and Monona Grove -- 273.5).
DeForest won despite its three relays finishing no higher than 3rd (400 free relay; both the medley and 200 free relays finished 5th). But distance ace Casey Wolter continued her strong season with wins in the 200 and 500 frees, and sophomore Leah Winckler added a win in the 200 IM. As usual, DeForest relied on depth not found on other D2 teams in the two longest freestyle races; the Norskies racked up 90 points in the 200 and 500 frees.
One of the best races of the day came in the 100 free, when Sauk Prairie junior Alison Meng (54.50) edged Oregon senior Rachel Walsh (54.57) and BBF's Maddie Clark, 8th in this event last year at D1 state (55.06). Meng has been having a solid season so far; with her win at the Fort Invite in the 100 free, it will be interesting to see whether she switches over to the event instead of the back and fly that she swam last year at sectionals and state.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Small School State (Shorewood Invitational) results
In what one observer called a "sprinting clinic," Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol swept to the title at the Shorewood Invitational (otherwise known as Small School State) with a convincing 271-232 over the host team. SB/S's win, combined with its strong showing earlier this season at the Wisconsin Girls Invitational (where it finished ahead of three-time defending state champ DeForest), stamps the Clippers as a legitimate threat to unseat the Norskies from the state D2 throne.
Meet highlights:
-- SB/S won the medley and 200 free relays, the latter in a very quick 1:39.21, and got a win from freshman sensation Savanna Townsend in the 50 free. They also added a host of strong finishes in individual events, with Townsend picking up a 3rd in the 200 free, her sister Sierra a 3rd in the 200 IM and 2nd in the 100 free, and Michaela Rabas a 3rd in the 100 back. This is a well-balanced team -- the kind of team that's likely to qualify individuals in depth for state, and put together solid relays. That's usually the formula for doing well at state.
-- SB/S's Savanna Townsend continues to impress. In the 50 free, she beat Whitefish Bay's Maggie Smith -- the runner-up in this event the past two years at state -- by .64 seconds, a big margin in swimming's shortest event. Her winning time of 24.54 has not been bettered by anyone this year in D2, according to the state coach's top-30 listings. She also broke 2 minutes in the 200 free, and finished only behind state meet veterans Elli Sellinger of Shorewood and Chloe Bartuska of McFarland. Freshman of the year in D2? I'm not sure anyone else is in the running.
-- In a match-up between the top two finishers from last year's state meet in the 500 free, defending champion Kelsey Hojan-Clark (5:00.52) won easily over Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain (5:17.10). For good measure, Hojan-Clark -- a remarkably versatile swimmer who could probably have her pick of any two events for state qualifying and do well -- won the 100 butterfly in 58.74, easily topping Berlin/Green Lake's Siri Smits (1:00.25).
-- Sellinger and Chamberlain did have very solid meets for the host squad, with Sellinger taking both the 200 and 100 frees (1:55.63 and 53.73) and Chamberlain -- two-time state champ in the event -- taking the 200 IM (2:08.63) by nearly three seconds over Grafton senior Sadie Nenning. The pair also swam on Shorewood's winning 400 free relay, which won by more than three seconds over McFarland.
-- In a match-up between the top two finishers last year in the 100 back at D2 state, Smits beat Nenning quite easily, with a time of 57.47 to 58.93. Nenning swam a very good race, but Smits' time at this point of the season is outstanding. There's a reason Smits' winning time at state last year (55.83) would've won the Div. 1 state title last year; she's that good.
-- In perhaps the best race of the meet, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Anna Meinholz beat defending state champ Kate Criter of Plymouth in the 100 breaststroke, with McFarland's Stirling Smith finishing 3rd -- the three swimmers were separated by only about half-a-second. All three swimmers finished in the top 4 last year at state, and all broke the previous state record in the event. All posted solid times, as well, with Meinholz finishing in 1:07.44.
(Note to organizers: If this meet is intended -- as it always has been in the past -- to showcase some of the state's top Div. 2 squads, it would be helpful to invite just Div. 2 squads. Waunakee, which finished 6th overall at the meet and had several top-6 finishes, has been a Div. 1 squad now for two years.)
Meet highlights:
-- SB/S won the medley and 200 free relays, the latter in a very quick 1:39.21, and got a win from freshman sensation Savanna Townsend in the 50 free. They also added a host of strong finishes in individual events, with Townsend picking up a 3rd in the 200 free, her sister Sierra a 3rd in the 200 IM and 2nd in the 100 free, and Michaela Rabas a 3rd in the 100 back. This is a well-balanced team -- the kind of team that's likely to qualify individuals in depth for state, and put together solid relays. That's usually the formula for doing well at state.
-- SB/S's Savanna Townsend continues to impress. In the 50 free, she beat Whitefish Bay's Maggie Smith -- the runner-up in this event the past two years at state -- by .64 seconds, a big margin in swimming's shortest event. Her winning time of 24.54 has not been bettered by anyone this year in D2, according to the state coach's top-30 listings. She also broke 2 minutes in the 200 free, and finished only behind state meet veterans Elli Sellinger of Shorewood and Chloe Bartuska of McFarland. Freshman of the year in D2? I'm not sure anyone else is in the running.
-- In a match-up between the top two finishers from last year's state meet in the 500 free, defending champion Kelsey Hojan-Clark (5:00.52) won easily over Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain (5:17.10). For good measure, Hojan-Clark -- a remarkably versatile swimmer who could probably have her pick of any two events for state qualifying and do well -- won the 100 butterfly in 58.74, easily topping Berlin/Green Lake's Siri Smits (1:00.25).
-- Sellinger and Chamberlain did have very solid meets for the host squad, with Sellinger taking both the 200 and 100 frees (1:55.63 and 53.73) and Chamberlain -- two-time state champ in the event -- taking the 200 IM (2:08.63) by nearly three seconds over Grafton senior Sadie Nenning. The pair also swam on Shorewood's winning 400 free relay, which won by more than three seconds over McFarland.
-- In a match-up between the top two finishers last year in the 100 back at D2 state, Smits beat Nenning quite easily, with a time of 57.47 to 58.93. Nenning swam a very good race, but Smits' time at this point of the season is outstanding. There's a reason Smits' winning time at state last year (55.83) would've won the Div. 1 state title last year; she's that good.
-- In perhaps the best race of the meet, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Anna Meinholz beat defending state champ Kate Criter of Plymouth in the 100 breaststroke, with McFarland's Stirling Smith finishing 3rd -- the three swimmers were separated by only about half-a-second. All three swimmers finished in the top 4 last year at state, and all broke the previous state record in the event. All posted solid times, as well, with Meinholz finishing in 1:07.44.
(Note to organizers: If this meet is intended -- as it always has been in the past -- to showcase some of the state's top Div. 2 squads, it would be helpful to invite just Div. 2 squads. Waunakee, which finished 6th overall at the meet and had several top-6 finishes, has been a Div. 1 squad now for two years.)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Fit to be tied
One of the better D2 sprint match-ups took place this week at the meet between Milwaukee suburban squads Whitnall and New Berlin Eisenhower. The 50 free featured NBE sophomore Alli Bellford against Whitnall senior Kate Schubert.
Bellford was the surprise 3rd-place finisher in the 50 free at last year's D2 state meet; Schubert, meanwhile, was a big reason why Whitnall qualified all three of its relays for the state meet last year, swimming legs on both the 200 and 400 free relays as well as the fly leg on the medley relay. She also finished 10th in the 100 fly at state.
At the dual meet, Bellford and Schubert ended tied for the 1st in the 50 free, with both girls swimming a 25.76. Bellford also took the 100 free (57.34), but Schubert helped her team to a 92-78 win with a win in the fly and swimming legs on the decisive winning medley and 400 free relays for Whitnall.
The two will likely face each other again, as both participate in the Cudahay sectional.
Bellford was the surprise 3rd-place finisher in the 50 free at last year's D2 state meet; Schubert, meanwhile, was a big reason why Whitnall qualified all three of its relays for the state meet last year, swimming legs on both the 200 and 400 free relays as well as the fly leg on the medley relay. She also finished 10th in the 100 fly at state.
At the dual meet, Bellford and Schubert ended tied for the 1st in the 50 free, with both girls swimming a 25.76. Bellford also took the 100 free (57.34), but Schubert helped her team to a 92-78 win with a win in the fly and swimming legs on the decisive winning medley and 400 free relays for Whitnall.
The two will likely face each other again, as both participate in the Cudahay sectional.
Friday, October 16, 2009
D2 state meet preview -- Small State Invite
The Small State Invite is this Saturday at Shorewood. Although several top D2 teams won't be there, it should provide a good preview of a number of D2 contenders and top teams as the season heads toward sectionals and the state meet in November. Among the teams at the meet: Sturgeon Bay/Sevatopol, Edgewood, Whitefish Bay, McFarland and the hosts.
Watch out for Shorewood swimming in comfortable surroundings. The team's terrific tandem of senior Elli Sellinger and junior Clare Chamberlain are having oustanding seasons. The team has also added some much-needed depth, notably freshman Ellen Stello, who has racked up several top-30 times this season, including a very solid 5:21.92 in the 500 free.
As Shorewood heads for sectional qualifying, it will be interesting to see how coach Robby McCabe arranges his relays (and whether the Small State meet gives a hint of how he'll do it). The Greyhounds may have enough depth to get three relays through to state. But stacking both Sellinger and Chamberlain on two relays makes those relays a threat to win; last year, the duo had the two-fastest splits in the D2 state meet 400 free relay (faster than Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl and Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, who won the D2 sprint titles last year and anchored their teams' 400 free relays.)
Watch out for Shorewood swimming in comfortable surroundings. The team's terrific tandem of senior Elli Sellinger and junior Clare Chamberlain are having oustanding seasons. The team has also added some much-needed depth, notably freshman Ellen Stello, who has racked up several top-30 times this season, including a very solid 5:21.92 in the 500 free.
As Shorewood heads for sectional qualifying, it will be interesting to see how coach Robby McCabe arranges his relays (and whether the Small State meet gives a hint of how he'll do it). The Greyhounds may have enough depth to get three relays through to state. But stacking both Sellinger and Chamberlain on two relays makes those relays a threat to win; last year, the duo had the two-fastest splits in the D2 state meet 400 free relay (faster than Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl and Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, who won the D2 sprint titles last year and anchored their teams' 400 free relays.)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bound for Stanford
Madison West's Kylie Rosenstock, one of the best divers in state history, has decided to attend Stanford. Here's the Wisc. State Journal story:
http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_1207a846-b8cd-11de-8534-001cc4c03286.html
Rosenstock will be seeking to become the first diver in Div. 1 state history to win four state diving titles. Rosenstock's winning score of 471.60 last year was the second-best in D1 history.
http://host.madison.com/sports/high-school/swimming/article_1207a846-b8cd-11de-8534-001cc4c03286.html
Rosenstock will be seeking to become the first diver in Div. 1 state history to win four state diving titles. Rosenstock's winning score of 471.60 last year was the second-best in D1 history.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Decisions, decisions
With sectionals about three weeks away, it's nearing decision time for several of the state's top swimmers. The decision -- which two events to swim for sectional qualifying?
One top Div. 2 swimmer -- Grafton senior Sadie Nenning -- has already indicated she may switch from the 100 butterfly to the 200 IM this year. See this from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/63944117.html
Nenning will certainly swim the backstroke; she won state titles in the event as a freshman and sophomore before finishing second last year to Berlin/Green Lake's Siri Smits' record-breaking win. Nenning finished 4th last year at state in the 100 fly, having finished 2nd as a freshman and 6th as a sophomore in the 200 IM.
Here's a look at some swimmers in each division and the decisions they face:
D2
-- Milton senior Jennah Haney, similar to Nenning, is a two-time state champ (100 breaststroke) who finished 2nd in the event last year to record-breaking freshman Kate Criter. She'll certainly swim the breaststroke again. Her second event? Last year, she finished 3rd in the 200 free after finishing 3rd in the 200 IM at state her first two years. Her decision may depend on how a deep but young Milton squad arranges its relays; Haney acknowledged being tired for last year's 200 free after swimming a very fast breaststroke leg on Milton's 200 medley relay. With both D2 state champs in the 50 and 100 free having graduated, Haney could also opt for one of the shorter freestyle sprints.
-- Plymouth sophomore Criter, who besides winning the breaststroke as a freshman also took second in the 100 fly. But Criter's also posted some impressive times in other events this year; she currently has the 3rd-fastest times in the 50 free and the 200 IM.
-- Shorewood's dynamic duo of senior Elli Sellinger and junior Clare Chamberlain. The two scored 74 points between them last year at state, with wins by Sellinger in the fly and Chamberlain in the 200 IM (her second win in a row), and 2nd-place finishes in the 200 free (Sellinger) and 500 free (Chamberlain). The two are so versatile they could probably choose among several events and make it to the final heat of state. But Shorewood may be thinking it has a shot at the D2 state title this year; coach Robby McCabe will likely try to place Sellinger and Chamberlain in the two events that can best maximize their point potential at the state meet.
-- Sauk Prairie junior Kelsey Kohlbeck finished 12th (IM) and 11th (fly) in her state races last year, but with Sauk's top sprinter Abby Diehl having graduated, Kohlbeck has been swimming a lot of freestyle sprints this year. She has the 5th-fastest 50 free time and 4th-fastest 100 free time posted this year so far.
D1
-- It will be a major surprise if either of the two double-event winners from last year -- Madison East's Aja Van Hout (200 IM, 500 free), and Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell (200 free, 100 back) -- switch events. It's a possibility -- both are very versatile swimmers -- but it'd still be a major surprise.
-- What about Hartland Arrowhead's Haley Pietila? She was 2nd last year as a freshman in both the 200 and 100 frees. With last year's state champ in both the 50 and 100 frees (Madison East's Ruby Martin) gone to graduation, Pietila could move down to the two shorter sprints this year. She swam the 50 and 100 frees at the recent Madison Girls Invitational at the Natatorium, perhaps a hint of what she'll swim at sectionals.
-- Wisconsin Rapids' Becca Weiland is almost a sure bet in the 50 free; her 23.38 is the fastest time posted this year in the event by nearly half-a-second. She swam the 50 and 100 frees at state as a freshman, but Weiland also has posted top-five times this year in the 100 fly and backstroke, giving her several options for an event in the second half of the state meet.
-- Hartland-Arrowhead's Emma Goral will be looking for her third straight title in the fly. Will HA repeat what it did last year, and swim Goral in all three of its relays? It's possible, perhaps even probable. Goral doesn't have a natural second event, she's a very good relay swimmer, and HA is a prime candidate to contend for all three relay titles at state this year.
-- What about freshman sensation Ann Brooks? The Burlington co-op swimmer has posted an outstanding 2:07.06 200 IM already this year; only Van Hout has swum faster this season. She also has top-five times posted in the 200 free, 500 free and 100 breaststroke. One dilemma -- she almost certainly won't swim the 200 free and 200 IM back-to-back, and both the 500 free and 100 breaststroke look to be loaded this year with lots of talent.
One top Div. 2 swimmer -- Grafton senior Sadie Nenning -- has already indicated she may switch from the 100 butterfly to the 200 IM this year. See this from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/63944117.html
Nenning will certainly swim the backstroke; she won state titles in the event as a freshman and sophomore before finishing second last year to Berlin/Green Lake's Siri Smits' record-breaking win. Nenning finished 4th last year at state in the 100 fly, having finished 2nd as a freshman and 6th as a sophomore in the 200 IM.
Here's a look at some swimmers in each division and the decisions they face:
D2
-- Milton senior Jennah Haney, similar to Nenning, is a two-time state champ (100 breaststroke) who finished 2nd in the event last year to record-breaking freshman Kate Criter. She'll certainly swim the breaststroke again. Her second event? Last year, she finished 3rd in the 200 free after finishing 3rd in the 200 IM at state her first two years. Her decision may depend on how a deep but young Milton squad arranges its relays; Haney acknowledged being tired for last year's 200 free after swimming a very fast breaststroke leg on Milton's 200 medley relay. With both D2 state champs in the 50 and 100 free having graduated, Haney could also opt for one of the shorter freestyle sprints.
-- Plymouth sophomore Criter, who besides winning the breaststroke as a freshman also took second in the 100 fly. But Criter's also posted some impressive times in other events this year; she currently has the 3rd-fastest times in the 50 free and the 200 IM.
-- Shorewood's dynamic duo of senior Elli Sellinger and junior Clare Chamberlain. The two scored 74 points between them last year at state, with wins by Sellinger in the fly and Chamberlain in the 200 IM (her second win in a row), and 2nd-place finishes in the 200 free (Sellinger) and 500 free (Chamberlain). The two are so versatile they could probably choose among several events and make it to the final heat of state. But Shorewood may be thinking it has a shot at the D2 state title this year; coach Robby McCabe will likely try to place Sellinger and Chamberlain in the two events that can best maximize their point potential at the state meet.
-- Sauk Prairie junior Kelsey Kohlbeck finished 12th (IM) and 11th (fly) in her state races last year, but with Sauk's top sprinter Abby Diehl having graduated, Kohlbeck has been swimming a lot of freestyle sprints this year. She has the 5th-fastest 50 free time and 4th-fastest 100 free time posted this year so far.
D1
-- It will be a major surprise if either of the two double-event winners from last year -- Madison East's Aja Van Hout (200 IM, 500 free), and Madison Memorial's Jackie Powell (200 free, 100 back) -- switch events. It's a possibility -- both are very versatile swimmers -- but it'd still be a major surprise.
-- What about Hartland Arrowhead's Haley Pietila? She was 2nd last year as a freshman in both the 200 and 100 frees. With last year's state champ in both the 50 and 100 frees (Madison East's Ruby Martin) gone to graduation, Pietila could move down to the two shorter sprints this year. She swam the 50 and 100 frees at the recent Madison Girls Invitational at the Natatorium, perhaps a hint of what she'll swim at sectionals.
-- Wisconsin Rapids' Becca Weiland is almost a sure bet in the 50 free; her 23.38 is the fastest time posted this year in the event by nearly half-a-second. She swam the 50 and 100 frees at state as a freshman, but Weiland also has posted top-five times this year in the 100 fly and backstroke, giving her several options for an event in the second half of the state meet.
-- Hartland-Arrowhead's Emma Goral will be looking for her third straight title in the fly. Will HA repeat what it did last year, and swim Goral in all three of its relays? It's possible, perhaps even probable. Goral doesn't have a natural second event, she's a very good relay swimmer, and HA is a prime candidate to contend for all three relay titles at state this year.
-- What about freshman sensation Ann Brooks? The Burlington co-op swimmer has posted an outstanding 2:07.06 200 IM already this year; only Van Hout has swum faster this season. She also has top-five times posted in the 200 free, 500 free and 100 breaststroke. One dilemma -- she almost certainly won't swim the 200 free and 200 IM back-to-back, and both the 500 free and 100 breaststroke look to be loaded this year with lots of talent.
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