Rhinelander's Ben Lonsdorf is one of the best sprinters in Division 2; as the top returning finisher from last year's state meet in both the 50 and 100 frees, the senior will certainly be one of the favorites in those races come February.
He may also be the last Rhinelander swimmer to compete for a state title. The Rhinelander school district, faced with a $2 million operating deficit after a failed referendum, has put both girls and boys swimming on the chopping block for next season in an attempt to close the deficit. The school distirct runs an indoor swimming pool, the practice and competition site for both teams. Details here:
http://www.hodagsports.com/stories.html?SKU=20081218132338
Lonsdorf, the team's captain who recently signed a letter-of-intent to swim at D1 Wyoming, lamented the possible loss of the swim program at Rhinelander: “This program, Rhinelander boys swimming as a whole, has been amazingly successful throughout the years. It’s kind of a shame (that it could go).”
It's hard to imagine a better representative for the program than Lonsdorf. He's qualified for the state meet each of his first three years in high school, and has three state runner-up finishes to his name. Last year, he entered the state D2 meet as the top seed in both the 50 and 100 frees, and swam best times in each event, but was edged out in both races for first place.
Afterwards, he expressed disappointment in not winning, but didn't make any excuses, and instead dedicated himself to winning a state title this year. He even moved to Madison this past summer to train with the Badger Aquatic Club and top-notch swimmers such as Purdue signee Sam Niesen of Middleton and state champ Michael Drives of Madison Memorial.
“I guess that just means next year in practice, I’m just going to have to kick my butt even harder and really, really work hard to finally come out with some wins," he told HodagSports.com after last year's state meet. "I think it will happen. I really do.”
Here's hoping Lonsdorf isn't the last Rhinelander swimmer to get a chance at a state title.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
News on the swimsuit front
FINA, swimming's international governing body, plans to address the controversy over high-tech swimsuits at a meeting in March. See this from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-12-22-3811161370_x.htm
Any decision or recommendation made by FINA will likely have a big impact on the use of the high-tech suits at the high school level. USA Swimming will likely follow -- or come under intense international pressure to follow -- FINA's recommendations/decisions, and once USA Swimming rules on the issue, expect high school sports associations (under the auspices of the National Federation of State High School Association) to follow in line.
The suits continue to generate controversy, which peaked in Wisconsin during the conclusion of the girls swim season. Several coaches after the girls state high school swim meet noted the fast times swum by both D1 and D2 swimmers at the meet, many of them wearing a version of the high-tech suits. See:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html
Any action by FINA is unlikely to have much impact at this season's boys state swim meet. The USA Today article suggests the earliest that any changes regarding the use of such suits would occur would be at the 2009 world swim championships in Italy this summer.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-12-22-3811161370_x.htm
Any decision or recommendation made by FINA will likely have a big impact on the use of the high-tech suits at the high school level. USA Swimming will likely follow -- or come under intense international pressure to follow -- FINA's recommendations/decisions, and once USA Swimming rules on the issue, expect high school sports associations (under the auspices of the National Federation of State High School Association) to follow in line.
The suits continue to generate controversy, which peaked in Wisconsin during the conclusion of the girls swim season. Several coaches after the girls state high school swim meet noted the fast times swum by both D1 and D2 swimmers at the meet, many of them wearing a version of the high-tech suits. See:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html
Any action by FINA is unlikely to have much impact at this season's boys state swim meet. The USA Today article suggests the earliest that any changes regarding the use of such suits would occur would be at the 2009 world swim championships in Italy this summer.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
New Berlin's time?
The New Berlin boys swim co-op, comprised of students from both West and Eisenhower high schools, has usually played second fiddle to Milwaukee-area swim powers like Hartland Arrowhead, Mequon Homestead, and Marquette. But maybe not this year. Coach Paul Lutzke has assembled a strong squad that could make some noise come state meet time.
The co-op is led by senior Byron Butler, the defending state champ in the butterfly. Butler is off to a very good start already this season, with a 52.14 100 fly already on the books and a 52.68 in the backstroke (more than a second faster than he swam at state last year, when he finished 7th). But New Berlin has shown some additional depth this year, with Alexander Rodenkirk posting some strong times in the freestyle sprints, and freshman Jasen Johnson adding depth in areas such as the breaststroke, where he's already posted a state-qualifying time based on last year's time standards.
The co-op showed off its depth of talent at the Woodland Conference Relays last weekend, where the team won the meet with 344 points over a solid D2 Shorewood squad. Impressively, the New Berlin swimmers won eight of the relay events at the meet, setting meet records in six of them -- pretty impressive, as the Woodland has a strong boys swimming tradition.
With some of the Milwaukee area's traditional D1 powers hit with graduation losses this year, New Berlin could emerge from the always tough Waukesha South sectional with a strong contingent of swimmers for the state meet.
The co-op is led by senior Byron Butler, the defending state champ in the butterfly. Butler is off to a very good start already this season, with a 52.14 100 fly already on the books and a 52.68 in the backstroke (more than a second faster than he swam at state last year, when he finished 7th). But New Berlin has shown some additional depth this year, with Alexander Rodenkirk posting some strong times in the freestyle sprints, and freshman Jasen Johnson adding depth in areas such as the breaststroke, where he's already posted a state-qualifying time based on last year's time standards.
The co-op showed off its depth of talent at the Woodland Conference Relays last weekend, where the team won the meet with 344 points over a solid D2 Shorewood squad. Impressively, the New Berlin swimmers won eight of the relay events at the meet, setting meet records in six of them -- pretty impressive, as the Woodland has a strong boys swimming tradition.
With some of the Milwaukee area's traditional D1 powers hit with graduation losses this year, New Berlin could emerge from the always tough Waukesha South sectional with a strong contingent of swimmers for the state meet.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Whitefish Bay moves up in the North Shore
The always competitive North Shore Conference has often been a battle among D1 powers Mequon Homestead and Glendale Nicolet, and D2 powers Whitefish Bay and Cedarburg. It looks like Whitefish Bay has moved to the head of the class.
The Blue Dukes won the North Shore Relays last week with 92 points, five more than Homestead and 10 more than third-place Nicolet. Cedarburg finished fourth with 68 points.
Of course, some may partly attribute Whitefish Bay's success to the heavy loss dealt via graduation to some of the conference rivals. Perhaps no league in the Milwaukee area lost as many top-flight swimmers as the North Shore, with the likes of Nicolet's Steve Cebertowicz, Homestad's Jonathan Whitcomb, and Cedarburg's Tommy Radtke and Mike Schalla having graduated.
Whitefish Bay lost some key seniors as well -- Peter Brengel chief among them -- but the Blue Dukes returned a slew of swimmers, many of them with state-meet experience, and are emerging early this season as one of D2's top teams. One of the key's to Whitefish Bay's success is their versatility; they have a bunch of swimmers who can swim several different events, and swim them well, which gives coach Jim Davis a lot of room to maneuver in setting up lineups. To wit, the Blue Dukes won both the 400 medley relay (four swimmers x 100 in each stroke) and the 400 IM relay (four swimmers x 100 IM) at the North Shore meet. They also won the breaststroke and backstroke relays at the meet, plus the closing 400 free relay. Leading the way for the team were juniors Jason Castillo, Chris Fink, and Chuck Prestigiacomo, and sophomore D.J. Freisch, all of who swam on three winning relays.
The Blue Dukes won the North Shore Relays last week with 92 points, five more than Homestead and 10 more than third-place Nicolet. Cedarburg finished fourth with 68 points.
Of course, some may partly attribute Whitefish Bay's success to the heavy loss dealt via graduation to some of the conference rivals. Perhaps no league in the Milwaukee area lost as many top-flight swimmers as the North Shore, with the likes of Nicolet's Steve Cebertowicz, Homestad's Jonathan Whitcomb, and Cedarburg's Tommy Radtke and Mike Schalla having graduated.
Whitefish Bay lost some key seniors as well -- Peter Brengel chief among them -- but the Blue Dukes returned a slew of swimmers, many of them with state-meet experience, and are emerging early this season as one of D2's top teams. One of the key's to Whitefish Bay's success is their versatility; they have a bunch of swimmers who can swim several different events, and swim them well, which gives coach Jim Davis a lot of room to maneuver in setting up lineups. To wit, the Blue Dukes won both the 400 medley relay (four swimmers x 100 in each stroke) and the 400 IM relay (four swimmers x 100 IM) at the North Shore meet. They also won the breaststroke and backstroke relays at the meet, plus the closing 400 free relay. Leading the way for the team were juniors Jason Castillo, Chris Fink, and Chuck Prestigiacomo, and sophomore D.J. Freisch, all of who swam on three winning relays.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
McFarland on a roll
The McFarland steamroller keeps moving along, as the Spartans romped to an easy win Saturday at the Blackhawk Invite hosted by Ft. Atkinson.
McFarland, the defending D2 state champs, won the meet with 490 points, topping a very good Verona squad that scored 437 points. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights finished third with 324 points. For a comparison, a very good McFarland squad last year scored 319 points against most of the same teams, so Saturday's meet represented a remarkable 171-point improvement.
The meet got off to a rousing start, with McFarland, Verona and Sauk battling it out in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Sauk emerged with the win (1:41.86) with a terrific come-from-behind anchor leg (21.53 split in the free) by Matt Friede. Verona (1:42.19) and McFarland (1:42.31) followed closely.
But losing the opening race was about the only thing that didn't go to form for the Spartans. As expected, the tandem of Brian Heiser and Graham Thoresen dominated the distance events, going 1-2 in each, with Heiser winning the 200 in a terrific early-season time of 1:47.42 and Thoresen setting a pool record in winning the 500 in 4:50.15 (he broke the pool record of former D2 500 free state champ Rion Epping of Delavan-Darien, who watched his record fall while at the meet coaching his alma mater). Freshman Ryan O'Donnell won the 100 back in 54.29, while his senior brother Brandon won the 100 fly (54.22) by more than a second, and finished 2nd in the 200 IM. In maybe the most impressive swim of the meet, the O'Donnells teamed with Heiser and Thoresen to win the 400 free relay in 3:17.15, a time that was faster than McFarland's winning time in the event last year at state.
(Mind-numbing stat of the week -- McFarland's splits on the 400 free relay. They were: Brandon O'Donnell -- 49.06; Heiser -- 49.18; Ryan O'Donnell -- 49.47; Thoresen -- 49.44. There are only a handful of D1 teams that can put together four sub-50 freestylers; the number of D2 teams capable of doing so, it's safe to say, is quite small.)
Also impressing for McFarland was its depth; the Spartans in the past few years have been a squad reliant on several top-flight swimmers. With the addition of several top-shelf freshmen, the team has depth that it has lacked in the past. That should serve the Spartans well down the road this season.
McFarland, the defending D2 state champs, won the meet with 490 points, topping a very good Verona squad that scored 437 points. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights finished third with 324 points. For a comparison, a very good McFarland squad last year scored 319 points against most of the same teams, so Saturday's meet represented a remarkable 171-point improvement.
The meet got off to a rousing start, with McFarland, Verona and Sauk battling it out in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Sauk emerged with the win (1:41.86) with a terrific come-from-behind anchor leg (21.53 split in the free) by Matt Friede. Verona (1:42.19) and McFarland (1:42.31) followed closely.
But losing the opening race was about the only thing that didn't go to form for the Spartans. As expected, the tandem of Brian Heiser and Graham Thoresen dominated the distance events, going 1-2 in each, with Heiser winning the 200 in a terrific early-season time of 1:47.42 and Thoresen setting a pool record in winning the 500 in 4:50.15 (he broke the pool record of former D2 500 free state champ Rion Epping of Delavan-Darien, who watched his record fall while at the meet coaching his alma mater). Freshman Ryan O'Donnell won the 100 back in 54.29, while his senior brother Brandon won the 100 fly (54.22) by more than a second, and finished 2nd in the 200 IM. In maybe the most impressive swim of the meet, the O'Donnells teamed with Heiser and Thoresen to win the 400 free relay in 3:17.15, a time that was faster than McFarland's winning time in the event last year at state.
(Mind-numbing stat of the week -- McFarland's splits on the 400 free relay. They were: Brandon O'Donnell -- 49.06; Heiser -- 49.18; Ryan O'Donnell -- 49.47; Thoresen -- 49.44. There are only a handful of D1 teams that can put together four sub-50 freestylers; the number of D2 teams capable of doing so, it's safe to say, is quite small.)
Also impressing for McFarland was its depth; the Spartans in the past few years have been a squad reliant on several top-flight swimmers. With the addition of several top-shelf freshmen, the team has depth that it has lacked in the past. That should serve the Spartans well down the road this season.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Early big dual meet goes to Whitefish Bay
Two of the state's top D2 teams squared off Tuesday night in a North Shore Conference dual meet, with Whitefish Bay just edging out Cedarburg 82-74. The two squads figure to contend at the D2 state meet, with Cedarburg the defending state runners-up, while WB aims to improve on last year's fourth-place finish.
WB got wins in all three relays and individual event wins from Chris Fink (200 free -- 1:56.42), Chucky Prestigiacomo (100 free -- 52.07), and DJ Freisch (100 breaststroke -- 1:05.93). Cedarburg's Carl Newenhouse was a double winner in the 200 IM (2:05.74) and 100 back (55.16).
WB got wins in all three relays and individual event wins from Chris Fink (200 free -- 1:56.42), Chucky Prestigiacomo (100 free -- 52.07), and DJ Freisch (100 breaststroke -- 1:05.93). Cedarburg's Carl Newenhouse was a double winner in the 200 IM (2:05.74) and 100 back (55.16).
Switching seasons
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on the possible switch of the boys and girls swim seasons, with mostly negative reactions from some of the Milwaukee area's high-profile boys programs such as Hartland Arrowhead.
See: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/35842309.html
It's worth noting, again, the rather imprecise language of WIAA officials when discussing this issue. Note the following from the article (re. the Michigan court case cited by WIAA officials for considering making the switch):
"The court ruling with the (MHSAA) led to not only Wisconsin, but it has required all state associations to look carefully at what's called 'preferred seasons' for seasonal placement," said Tom Shafranski, assistant director of the WIAA. "Courts determined that, for swimming and diving, the preferred girls season is the winter period."
Questions and observations:
-- Did the Michigan court case really "require" Wisconsin and other states to "look carefully" at the issue of preferred seasons? Courts in one state rarely require other states to do anything, as a legal matter. Or did WIAA officials simply infer from the Michigan decision that they might be pressed in a similar manner, via a lawsuit, to switch some seasons around, and thus decided to talk about the switch in order to fend off any potential lawsuits?
-- The Michigan court case said exactly the opposite of what the WIAA says in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article:
"The Court finds that the fall season for swimming has advantages that outweigh advantages to
swimming in winter." (See section III, part E, starting on page 46, here:
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/sports/coemhsaa121401opn.pdf
The Michigan High School Athletic Association switched several seasons as a result of the litigation there, but not swimming. In Michigan (outside of the low-population Upper Peninsula) girls swimming is a fall sport, while boys swimming remains a winter sport. (Interestingly, MHSAA officials, in assembling which sports to switch seasons in response to the lawsuit, received the most vocal opposition from its member high schools to the idea of switching girls swimming to winter and boys swimming to fall.)
There are already rumblings among some boys swim coaches that they expect the switch to be made. But it's still unclear where the WIAA derives its (apparent) belief that girls and boys swim seasons in Wisconsin should be switched.
See: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/35842309.html
It's worth noting, again, the rather imprecise language of WIAA officials when discussing this issue. Note the following from the article (re. the Michigan court case cited by WIAA officials for considering making the switch):
"The court ruling with the (MHSAA) led to not only Wisconsin, but it has required all state associations to look carefully at what's called 'preferred seasons' for seasonal placement," said Tom Shafranski, assistant director of the WIAA. "Courts determined that, for swimming and diving, the preferred girls season is the winter period."
Questions and observations:
-- Did the Michigan court case really "require" Wisconsin and other states to "look carefully" at the issue of preferred seasons? Courts in one state rarely require other states to do anything, as a legal matter. Or did WIAA officials simply infer from the Michigan decision that they might be pressed in a similar manner, via a lawsuit, to switch some seasons around, and thus decided to talk about the switch in order to fend off any potential lawsuits?
-- The Michigan court case said exactly the opposite of what the WIAA says in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article:
"The Court finds that the fall season for swimming has advantages that outweigh advantages to
swimming in winter." (See section III, part E, starting on page 46, here:
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/sports/coemhsaa121401opn.pdf
The Michigan High School Athletic Association switched several seasons as a result of the litigation there, but not swimming. In Michigan (outside of the low-population Upper Peninsula) girls swimming is a fall sport, while boys swimming remains a winter sport. (Interestingly, MHSAA officials, in assembling which sports to switch seasons in response to the lawsuit, received the most vocal opposition from its member high schools to the idea of switching girls swimming to winter and boys swimming to fall.)
There are already rumblings among some boys swim coaches that they expect the switch to be made. But it's still unclear where the WIAA derives its (apparent) belief that girls and boys swim seasons in Wisconsin should be switched.
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