Do we have a new favorite for the state Div. 1 title to be settled next month?
Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial put its name into consideration for that discussion Saturday by emerging with a big win at the Marquette Swimming Invitational -- 310.5 to 230.5 over runner-up (and #1 in the latest state coach's poll) Hartland Arrowhead.
Maybe the Blackshirts had something of an advantage; the meet was swum in their home Waukesha South pool. But there's no getting around their performance Saturday afternoon; they were clearly the best team at the highly competitive meet that drew 19 teams, including a few from Illinois. It's the team's second big invite win this month. Earlier this month, they beat out an array of Madison-area D1 squads in winning the Madison West Invite.
The WS/CM co-op came away with its win at the Marquette Invite by relying on a versatile group of swimmers who racked up a bunch of top-10 finishes in the meet, run with a regular schedule of high school events as well as diving. Their relays may or may not win state titles this year, but they are showing they can swim with any relays in the state. At the Marquette meet, they went 1st (200 free relay), 2nd (400 free relay), and 3rd (medley).
Winning individual titles at the meet for WS/CM were 500 free swimmer Noah Potratz (4:42.84) and Collin Neitzel in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.24). What's notable about WS/CM is the team's ability, with limited depth, to place swimmers into high-scoring positions in nearly every event. Potratz, for instance, finished 6th in the 200 free, while teammate Ryan Finke finished 2nd. Neitzel added a 5th in the 200 IM. And freshman sprinter Alex Swain continues to impress, with top-5 finishes in both the 50 and 100 frees at a meet with lots of top-tier sprinters.
Other notable races and performances at the meet:
-- Madison Edgewood's Chase Stephens -- a top contender for D2 state titles in the 200 and 500 frees this year -- had an impressive meet, with a win in the 200 free (1:44.59) and a 2nd in the 500 free with a time (4:45.55) only about two seconds slower than his state-meet last year that garnered him 3rd place in the race.
-- Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Tyler Lentz obliterated the field in the 200 IM with a 1:53.82, about 4-1/2 seconds ahead of runner-up Matt Jungers of Greenfield/Greendale. Let's hope the anticipated state-meet showdown between Lentz and Madison Memorial's Michael Drives in this event comes to fruition next month. Lentz added a win in the back later in the meet.
-- The Matt Friede/Derek Toomey rivalry continued, with Sauk's Friede emerging with two wins over his sprinting rival from Verona (not to make excuses, but Toomey has been under the weather and skipped Friday night's Big 8 meet for Verona).
-- In perhaps the biggest upset of the meet, Mequon Homestead's Eric Larsen topped Menomonee Falls/Hamilton/Germantown's Nathan Cox in diving, 428.70-426.75. Cox, the defending D1 state diving champ, dove very well, but Larsen -- 6th last year at the D1 state meet -- just edged him out. Marquette's Mike Donofrio was 3rd.
-- Best race of the meet? Probably the 200 free relay, where the WS/CM team of Swain, Eric Oberst, Dan Streater, and Ryan Finke won with a 1:29.60 that was just .31 seconds ahead of Verona/Mount Horeb (1:29.91). Greenfield/Greendale -- with its 200 free relay stacked with its big three of Mike Lucchesi, Jack Lennertz and Jungers -- squeezed in between the two teams, but the relay and its 1:29.79 was DQ'd.
Full results here...
Marquette Invite 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Greenfield's pool to open today
Greenfield's new pool, approved by voters in a referendum and the latest high school pool to come on line, will host an open house today to celebrate its debut. Details here:
http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/81018802.html
The pool will be the site of a Division 1 sectional next month, previously held in Racine.
http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/81018802.html
The pool will be the site of a Division 1 sectional next month, previously held in Racine.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Shorewood tops Whitefish Bay
In perhaps the most anticipated dual meet of the season in Div. 2, Shorewood just edged suburban rival Whitefish Bay 89-87 Wednesday night at Shorewood . The two teams currently hold the #2 (Whitefish Bay) and #3 (Shorewood) spots in the latest D2 WISCA state poll, behind three-time defending state champs McFarland, and are probably the only two teams in the state with both the quality and depth of swimmers to give Spartans a run for their money at the D2 state meet next month.
Shorewood was led by seniors Stephen Meyer and R.J Hayes. Meyer, one of the best D2 swimmers in the state, won the 100 fly (55.31) and the 100 back (54.96), while Hayes -- back at Shorewood after a year spent in Europe as a foreign exchange student -- won the 200 (1:52.48) and 100 frees (51.45). Sophomore Jay Tomasiewicz, who has been having a terrific year so far, posted a key win in the 200 individual medley (2:02.85) to give the Greyhounds some early-meet momentum.
Whitefish Bay showed its chops early, winning the 200 medley relay (1:42.20) in a time faster than its season-best and fastest yet this year in D2. McFarland has won the medley relay at state the last three years, but Whitefish Bay has put together a very solid medley this year that could challenge the Spartans dominance in the race. For the Blue Dukes, sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo garnered a win in the 50 free (23.08), while Jason Castillo won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.72). Whitefish Bay also won the 400 free relay in D2-leading 3:22.50, but the meet-ending victory wasn't quite enough to overcome a solid showing of depth at the meet by Shorewood.
These two neighboring schools compete in different conferences -- Shorewood in the Woodland, Whitefish Bay in the North Shore -- but they'll butt heads again later this month at the Small School Invite at Plymouth (with McFarland there as well, for good measure) and will meet up again and fight it out at the Cudahy sectional in February (where WBay is the defending sectional champs).
UPDATE: Full results here...
shorewood-wbay-jan6-2010
Shorewood was led by seniors Stephen Meyer and R.J Hayes. Meyer, one of the best D2 swimmers in the state, won the 100 fly (55.31) and the 100 back (54.96), while Hayes -- back at Shorewood after a year spent in Europe as a foreign exchange student -- won the 200 (1:52.48) and 100 frees (51.45). Sophomore Jay Tomasiewicz, who has been having a terrific year so far, posted a key win in the 200 individual medley (2:02.85) to give the Greyhounds some early-meet momentum.
Whitefish Bay showed its chops early, winning the 200 medley relay (1:42.20) in a time faster than its season-best and fastest yet this year in D2. McFarland has won the medley relay at state the last three years, but Whitefish Bay has put together a very solid medley this year that could challenge the Spartans dominance in the race. For the Blue Dukes, sprinter Chuckie Prestigiacomo garnered a win in the 50 free (23.08), while Jason Castillo won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.72). Whitefish Bay also won the 400 free relay in D2-leading 3:22.50, but the meet-ending victory wasn't quite enough to overcome a solid showing of depth at the meet by Shorewood.
These two neighboring schools compete in different conferences -- Shorewood in the Woodland, Whitefish Bay in the North Shore -- but they'll butt heads again later this month at the Small School Invite at Plymouth (with McFarland there as well, for good measure) and will meet up again and fight it out at the Cudahy sectional in February (where WBay is the defending sectional champs).
UPDATE: Full results here...
shorewood-wbay-jan6-2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Making waves in Eau Claire
For the past several years, Eau Claire Memorial has been a regional swim power with little to show when it comes to state meet time. But maybe this year's trip to Madison for the Eau Claire swimmers will prove more bountiful.
Eau Claire Memorial, now in a co-op swim program with former city rival Eau Claire North, has put together a squad this year capable of a strong showing at the Div. 1 state meet in February. This past weekend, the Memorial/North co-op traveled to Minnesota (and the first-rate University of Minnesota natatorium -- a better pool than anything found in Wisconsin) to take part in the annual Maroon & Gold Invitational. Competing against mainly Twin Cities-based Minnesota schools, Eau Claire came away with a victory in the Maroon division of the meet (the division representing the second-largest of the four divisions of schools taking part in the meet). The squad's 596.5-559 win over Mounds View (MN) confirmed the Eau Claire squad is for real.
As so often the case in high school swimming, the Eau Claire squad's fortunes have improved with the arrival of some top-tier talent. Three freshman played key roles in Eau Claire's win in the Twin Cities, led by Alex DeLakis, an early candidate for freshman of the year in D1. DeLakis won the 100 breaststroke in a school-record time of 59.18, and finished second in the 200 IM with a solid mid-season time of 1:59.18. He also anchored the team's winning 200 free (1:31.77) and 400 free (3:21.69) relays. Freshman Jake Folz and Trevor Manz also contributed top-10 finishes for Eau Claire, while juniors Isiah Rozich and Wes Manz also had strong meets for Eau Claire.
Full results from the meet here:
http://www.south-high-swimming.org/Mens/MG10/Maroon%20and%20Gold-Maroon%20Divison%20Results.pdf
The Twin Cities win certainly stamps Eau Claire as the favorite in the Hudson sectional in February. Eau Claire Memorial won that sectional title three of the last four years, but its best showing at state in the past four years was 15th back in 2006. Look for a move up this year from Eau Claire's swimmers.
Eau Claire Memorial, now in a co-op swim program with former city rival Eau Claire North, has put together a squad this year capable of a strong showing at the Div. 1 state meet in February. This past weekend, the Memorial/North co-op traveled to Minnesota (and the first-rate University of Minnesota natatorium -- a better pool than anything found in Wisconsin) to take part in the annual Maroon & Gold Invitational. Competing against mainly Twin Cities-based Minnesota schools, Eau Claire came away with a victory in the Maroon division of the meet (the division representing the second-largest of the four divisions of schools taking part in the meet). The squad's 596.5-559 win over Mounds View (MN) confirmed the Eau Claire squad is for real.
As so often the case in high school swimming, the Eau Claire squad's fortunes have improved with the arrival of some top-tier talent. Three freshman played key roles in Eau Claire's win in the Twin Cities, led by Alex DeLakis, an early candidate for freshman of the year in D1. DeLakis won the 100 breaststroke in a school-record time of 59.18, and finished second in the 200 IM with a solid mid-season time of 1:59.18. He also anchored the team's winning 200 free (1:31.77) and 400 free (3:21.69) relays. Freshman Jake Folz and Trevor Manz also contributed top-10 finishes for Eau Claire, while juniors Isiah Rozich and Wes Manz also had strong meets for Eau Claire.
Full results from the meet here:
http://www.south-high-swimming.org/Mens/MG10/Maroon%20and%20Gold-Maroon%20Divison%20Results.pdf
The Twin Cities win certainly stamps Eau Claire as the favorite in the Hudson sectional in February. Eau Claire Memorial won that sectional title three of the last four years, but its best showing at state in the past four years was 15th back in 2006. Look for a move up this year from Eau Claire's swimmers.
Moe-toring along in Door County
Here's a nice story from the Door County Advocate on Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door's Moritz "Moe" Alber, an exchange student from Germany who's emerged as one of the Clippers' top swimmers this season.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/ADV02/912300491/0/adv&theme=ADVSPORTS
Of particular note is Alber's views on being part of a high school team (contrasted to his German club team), and his enjoyment of relays.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091230/ADV02/912300491/0/adv&theme=ADVSPORTS
Of particular note is Alber's views on being part of a high school team (contrasted to his German club team), and his enjoyment of relays.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Now posting results!
After, in all honesty, procastinating on this for a while, I've now posted results from several meets in blog links. The following blog posts now have full results posted near the end of the post (either right-click on the results to zoom in to read, or click on the underlined "results" link to see the results).
Here are blog posts with results now posted, including this weekend's Madison Invite:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/01/turning-black-into-gold-waukesha-scm.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/arrowhead-captures-second-big-win.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/barracuda-invite-arrowhead-tops-mad.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/spartans-look-sharp.html
As always, I'm appreciative of those who submit results; we'll keep working to post them. Keep the results coming via the email address on the main page of the blog. Thanks for supporting the high school swim blog!
Here are blog posts with results now posted, including this weekend's Madison Invite:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2010/01/turning-black-into-gold-waukesha-scm.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/arrowhead-captures-second-big-win.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/barracuda-invite-arrowhead-tops-mad.html
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2009/12/spartans-look-sharp.html
As always, I'm appreciative of those who submit results; we'll keep working to post them. Keep the results coming via the email address on the main page of the blog. Thanks for supporting the high school swim blog!
Turning black into gold: Waukesha S/CM wins Madison Invite
They are not the deepest of teams, and they didn't win a single event Saturday afternoon. But the Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial Blackshirts proved that quality counts most, as they came away with a 5-1/2 point victory over defending Div. 1 state champs Madison Memorial at the Madison Invite at the UW Natatorium.
The Blackshirts, one of the few Milwaukee-area teams to take part in the meet, placed all three of their relays in the top four, and had swimmers finish in the top 8 in all but one event to emerge with the close victory. It was a back-and-forth fight for the top spot all afternoon between Waukesha S/CM and Memorial, and with two events to go, the Blackshirts held the slimmest of leads -- a half-point. But breaststrokers Collin Neitzel, Eric Oberst, and Derrick Rendon came away with 32 points in the event, to 18 for Memorial's top three breaststrokers, and the Blackshirts' 4th-place finish in the meet-ending 400 free relay sealed the win, much to the delight of the small but vocal Blackshirt fan contingent.
In the end, Waukesha S/CM scored 297.5 points to 292 for Memorial. Verona/Mount Horeb finished in 3rd with 228.5, with host team Madison West in 4th with 210 and Marquette in 5th with 198. The meet featured 15 teams, down from previous years, when the meet was held later in January. It was moved to Jan. 2 -- with most schools still on holiday break -- because of a UW collegiate swim meet later this month. Still, it was a good test, as most of the Madison-area D1 teams took part.
The Blackshirts don't have a dominant swimmer, just a bunch of very good ones. Neitzel led the way for the team Saturday with a 2nd place in the 200 IM to go with his 3rd in the breastroke; he added solid relays legs on the medley and 400 free relays. But notable for Waukesha S/CM was the performance of freshman sprinter Alex Swain. In a meet featuring lots of good sprinters, Swain finished T-4th in the 50 free and 5th in the 100 free, and led off his team's 3rd-place 200 free relay and 4th-place 400 free relay. The Blackshirts feature a nice cast of versatile swimmers, but Swain's emergence as a top sprinter gives the team a lot of flexibility in putting together three solid relays come sectional and state meet time.
Waukesha S/CM's performance also suggests the Waukesha South sectional this year will be one of the key ones to watch this year. Besides the host school, Hartland Arrowhead and New Berlin West/Eisenhower will make the sectional one of the most competitive in the D1 field this year. Look for some fast sectional qualifying times out of that sectional this year.
Other meet highlights:
-- One of the best -- and most entertaining -- rivalries developing this year is between Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede and Verona/Mount Horeb's Derek Toomey. The two senior sprinters are near-carbon copies -- long and lean swimmers, with tremendous reaches on their freestyle strokes. They've been posting some of the fastest sprint times of the year in D1, and Saturday they had two terrific races. In the 50 free, Toomey got a tremendous jump off the starting gun, and held the lead going into the turn. But Friede closes extremely well, and at the flags with just a few yards to go, pulled slightly ahead. He touched out in 21.40, just ahead of Toomey's 21.49. It looked like a repeat in the 100 free, as Toomey again got the jump off the start and held a slight .15 second lead at the 50-yard mark. As the two headed for the finish after the last turn, it looked like Friede would pull off another come-from-behind win. But Toomey somehow found just enough to hold him off, his winning time of 47.46 just ahead of Friede's 47.48. As the two glanced up at the scoreboard to see the outcome, they each let out a smile and quickly slapped hands. These two will see each other again at the Middleton sectionals and presumably state. (And it's worth noting that the freestyle sprints in D1 are looking like some of the best potential races at the state meet -- besides Friede and Toomey, the 50 and/or 100 sprints will likely feature Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, New Berlin's Alex Rodenkirk, and the Greenfield/Greendale duo of Jack Lennertz and Mike Lucchesi.)
-- Memorial's Michael Drives continues to make the very good look fairly routine, as he swam to two easy victories in the 200 IM and 500 free. With chief rival Tyler Lentz opting to swim the 200 free at the meet, Drives easily won the IM by more than seven-and-a-half seconds (1:56.18) over Neitzel. He then came back to post a 4.43.22 win in the 500 free -- well off his meet-record time from last year of 4:34.22, but a solid mid-season time nonetheless. Look for Drives to swim these two events at sectionals and state this year.
-- Madison Edgewood's Drew teDuits was the meet's other double winner, taking his speciality the backstroke in 52.98, and coming out on top in the fly with a 51.49. In the latter race, he outdueled Madison East's Robert Miner is a rematch of a terrific summer race between the two at the Madison All-City Meet, which Miner won by seven-hundreths of a second. Will teDuits opt for the fly at sectionals this year? With two of the top three D2 finishers in the fly graduated, including last year's state champ, the field is somewhat open in the event. A mid-season time of 51.49 is argument enough to at least consider it -- it's faster by a second-and-a-half than any time posted in the fly this year in D2.
-- Madison West always seems to have good breaststrokers, and the host team displayed its strength once again in the event Saturday, as the team's top breaststrokers -- Peter Faecke, Will Elsas, and Jesse O'Keefe -- finished 2nd, 4th, and 6th.
-- In an early-morning terrific duel in front of, oh, a dozen or so fans, two of the best divers in the state faced off, with Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson edging Marquette's Mike Donofrio 387 to 386.70 (which, in swimming terms, is roughly equivalent to winning a 500 free by a tenth of a second.) With his win, Sisson stamped himself as the favorite for the D2 state diving title; he was third last year. Donofrio, 4th last year at D1 state after leading the competition at one point, certainly didn't hurt his case to be one of the top contenders for the D1 title this year.
UPDATE: Results here...
Mad Invite 2010 Results
The Blackshirts, one of the few Milwaukee-area teams to take part in the meet, placed all three of their relays in the top four, and had swimmers finish in the top 8 in all but one event to emerge with the close victory. It was a back-and-forth fight for the top spot all afternoon between Waukesha S/CM and Memorial, and with two events to go, the Blackshirts held the slimmest of leads -- a half-point. But breaststrokers Collin Neitzel, Eric Oberst, and Derrick Rendon came away with 32 points in the event, to 18 for Memorial's top three breaststrokers, and the Blackshirts' 4th-place finish in the meet-ending 400 free relay sealed the win, much to the delight of the small but vocal Blackshirt fan contingent.
In the end, Waukesha S/CM scored 297.5 points to 292 for Memorial. Verona/Mount Horeb finished in 3rd with 228.5, with host team Madison West in 4th with 210 and Marquette in 5th with 198. The meet featured 15 teams, down from previous years, when the meet was held later in January. It was moved to Jan. 2 -- with most schools still on holiday break -- because of a UW collegiate swim meet later this month. Still, it was a good test, as most of the Madison-area D1 teams took part.
The Blackshirts don't have a dominant swimmer, just a bunch of very good ones. Neitzel led the way for the team Saturday with a 2nd place in the 200 IM to go with his 3rd in the breastroke; he added solid relays legs on the medley and 400 free relays. But notable for Waukesha S/CM was the performance of freshman sprinter Alex Swain. In a meet featuring lots of good sprinters, Swain finished T-4th in the 50 free and 5th in the 100 free, and led off his team's 3rd-place 200 free relay and 4th-place 400 free relay. The Blackshirts feature a nice cast of versatile swimmers, but Swain's emergence as a top sprinter gives the team a lot of flexibility in putting together three solid relays come sectional and state meet time.
Waukesha S/CM's performance also suggests the Waukesha South sectional this year will be one of the key ones to watch this year. Besides the host school, Hartland Arrowhead and New Berlin West/Eisenhower will make the sectional one of the most competitive in the D1 field this year. Look for some fast sectional qualifying times out of that sectional this year.
Other meet highlights:
-- One of the best -- and most entertaining -- rivalries developing this year is between Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede and Verona/Mount Horeb's Derek Toomey. The two senior sprinters are near-carbon copies -- long and lean swimmers, with tremendous reaches on their freestyle strokes. They've been posting some of the fastest sprint times of the year in D1, and Saturday they had two terrific races. In the 50 free, Toomey got a tremendous jump off the starting gun, and held the lead going into the turn. But Friede closes extremely well, and at the flags with just a few yards to go, pulled slightly ahead. He touched out in 21.40, just ahead of Toomey's 21.49. It looked like a repeat in the 100 free, as Toomey again got the jump off the start and held a slight .15 second lead at the 50-yard mark. As the two headed for the finish after the last turn, it looked like Friede would pull off another come-from-behind win. But Toomey somehow found just enough to hold him off, his winning time of 47.46 just ahead of Friede's 47.48. As the two glanced up at the scoreboard to see the outcome, they each let out a smile and quickly slapped hands. These two will see each other again at the Middleton sectionals and presumably state. (And it's worth noting that the freestyle sprints in D1 are looking like some of the best potential races at the state meet -- besides Friede and Toomey, the 50 and/or 100 sprints will likely feature Wausau East's Danny Brebrick, New Berlin's Alex Rodenkirk, and the Greenfield/Greendale duo of Jack Lennertz and Mike Lucchesi.)
-- Memorial's Michael Drives continues to make the very good look fairly routine, as he swam to two easy victories in the 200 IM and 500 free. With chief rival Tyler Lentz opting to swim the 200 free at the meet, Drives easily won the IM by more than seven-and-a-half seconds (1:56.18) over Neitzel. He then came back to post a 4.43.22 win in the 500 free -- well off his meet-record time from last year of 4:34.22, but a solid mid-season time nonetheless. Look for Drives to swim these two events at sectionals and state this year.
-- Madison Edgewood's Drew teDuits was the meet's other double winner, taking his speciality the backstroke in 52.98, and coming out on top in the fly with a 51.49. In the latter race, he outdueled Madison East's Robert Miner is a rematch of a terrific summer race between the two at the Madison All-City Meet, which Miner won by seven-hundreths of a second. Will teDuits opt for the fly at sectionals this year? With two of the top three D2 finishers in the fly graduated, including last year's state champ, the field is somewhat open in the event. A mid-season time of 51.49 is argument enough to at least consider it -- it's faster by a second-and-a-half than any time posted in the fly this year in D2.
-- Madison West always seems to have good breaststrokers, and the host team displayed its strength once again in the event Saturday, as the team's top breaststrokers -- Peter Faecke, Will Elsas, and Jesse O'Keefe -- finished 2nd, 4th, and 6th.
-- In an early-morning terrific duel in front of, oh, a dozen or so fans, two of the best divers in the state faced off, with Monona Grove's Trevor Sisson edging Marquette's Mike Donofrio 387 to 386.70 (which, in swimming terms, is roughly equivalent to winning a 500 free by a tenth of a second.) With his win, Sisson stamped himself as the favorite for the D2 state diving title; he was third last year. Donofrio, 4th last year at D1 state after leading the competition at one point, certainly didn't hurt his case to be one of the top contenders for the D1 title this year.
UPDATE: Results here...
Mad Invite 2010 Results
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