DeForest swims past Eagles

Sauk Prairie girls swimming coach Melani Guentherman knew that visiting DeForest would provide a tough early-season test for her squad. The Norskies did exactly that. Sauk Prairie recorded seven second-place finishes, including all three relays, but fell to visiting DeForest, 110-60, in a Badger North Conference dual on Sept. 9. Sophomore Kassandra Miller led the way for the Eagles, finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, 6.02 seconds and in the 500-yard freestyle (5:38.16). Miller also swam on the runner-up 200-yard freestyle relay team that included junior Lauryn Drager, sophomore Ashley Pape and freshman Riley Talmage (1:50.49) and the 400 freestyle relay team that included Talmage, sophomore Amelia Hunter and senior Alexa Judd (4:06.54). “I was thrilled with the way the girls swam tonight,” Guentherman said. “They swam in a lot of different races and were swimming really hard. There was a lot of personal improvement. What more do you need than that? “DeForest is a top-notch program. To compete with them even for second-place in these races is outstanding.” Also finishing second was the Eagles’ 200 medley relay of Judd, Hunter, junior Grace Orr and Pape, which touched the wall in 2:00.13. But those weren’t the only relays to cause Guentherman to smile. “One of our huge successes tonight was our JV medley relay,” Guentherman said. “All of those girls are brand new swimmers. We swam it successfully without any disqualifications. There was so much personal growth that we’re seeing in those spots. That was fun.” Other runner-up performances for Sauk Prairie included Hunter in the 200 individual medley (2:32.23) and Judd in the 100 backstroke in 1:06.81. Guentherman said while the Eagles were unable to record a first-place finish, they turned in a solid meet. “Riley Talmage, Ashley Pape, Alexa Judd, all just have consistently solid performances,” Guentherman said. “Laura Drager, Amelia Hunter, that core of girls where ever I put them are getting the seconds and the thirds. They score points. “It was another chance to have some fun with the girls. They have such a great attitude. They’re a fun team to coach, making my job easy.” • Baraboo Relays: Sauk Prairie ended the week with a solid showing at the annual Baraboo Relays Invitational, placing third of five teams last Saturday. The Eagles won the 400-yard medley relay and the 300-yard butterfly relay and recorded three runner-up finishes to score 240 points. Monona Grove won the meet with 314 points, while Baraboo Monona Grove was second with 300. “I was happy with it,” Guentherman said. “In these relays, the ‘A’ and ‘B’ relays score so there is a reward for depth. All of our ‘A’ relays made the top three, and Giulia Brickl had really nice swims. Her breaststroke was spot on. “Alexa Judd was another one, who had a solid day. Our two senior captains, Giulia and Alexa, across the board were on and had some nice swims. But overall, we had a lot of season-bests.” Judd, Drager, Hunter and Miller topped the podium in the 400 medley relay for Sauk Prairie in a time of 4:28.86. Leading the charge for the Eagles on the winning 300 butterfly relay were freshman Carly Coy, Orr, Talmage and Miller in 3:12.03. • On deck: After hosting a Badger North Conference dual with Lodi on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie is off until Sept. 24 when it competes in a league dual at Portage beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 DeForest 110, Sauk Prairie 60 200 medley relay – 1, DeForest (Oosterhof, J. Willis, H. Willis, Boehning), 1:57.20; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Alexa Judd, Amelia Hunter, Grace Orr, Ashley Pape), 2:00.13; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Summer Acker, Giulia Brickl, Lauryn Drager, Emily Vande Hey), 2:06.81;56, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Allyson Saladis, Jade Babcock, Carly Coy, Kailey Baker), 2:24.61. 200 freestyle – 1, H. Willis, D, 2:03.78; 2, Kassandra Miller, SP, 2:06.02; 4, Riley Talmage, SP, 2:14.32; 6, Abbey McCumber, SP, 2:17.59. 200 individual medley – 1, J. Willis, D, 2:22.03; 2, Hunter, SP, 2:32.23; 3, Drager, SP, 2:33.25; 5, Orr, SP, 2:34.22. 50 freestyle – 1, Boehning, D, :26.44; 3, Judd, SP, :27.36; 4, Pape, SP, :27.61; 6, Vande Hey, SP, :28.97. 100 butterfly – 1, Tyler, D, 1:08.56; 3, Orr, SP, 1:10.97; 4 Vande Hey, SP, 1:14.33; 5, Coy, SP, 1:18.47. 100 freestyle – 1, Boehning, D, :57.40; 3, Pape, SP, 1:01.77; 4, Hunter, SP, 1:02.07; 6, Brickl, SP, 1:05.64. 500 freestyle – 1, Oosterhof, D, 5:37.27; 2, Miller, SP, 5:38.16; 4, Talmage, SP, 6:02.76; 6, Acker, SP, 6:13.46. 200 freestyle relay – 1, DeForest (Purcell, Camarato, J. Willis, Miller), 1:49.43; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Drager, Pape, Talmage, Miller), 1:50.49; 4, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Brickl, McCumber, Acker, Babcock), 2:01.38; 5, Sauk Prairie ‘C’ (Baker, Patricia Silva, Audrie Nurkala, Isabel Menendez Ontanon), 2:18.94. 100 backstroke – 1, H. Willis, D, 1:03.69; 2, Judd, SP, 1:06.81; 5, Coy, SP, 1:15.54; 6, McCumber, SP, 1:18.01. 100 breaststroke – 1, J. Willis, D, 1:11.94; 3, Brickl, SP, 1:16.84; 4, Drager, SP, 1:18.92; 6, Babcock, SP, 1:30.78. 400 freestyle – 1, DeForest (Boehning, Miller, H. Willis, Oosterhof), 3:57.37; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Talmage, Hunter, Judd, Miller) 4:06.54; 4, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Acker, Orr, McCumber, VandeHey) 4:20.26. Sept. 14 Baraboo Relays Team scores: Monona Grove, 314; Baraboo, 282; Sauk Prairie, 240; Oha/Get Onalaska/Holmen/Aquinas co-op, 200; Black River Falls co-op, 118. 200-yard medley relay – 1, Baraboo (Gneiser, Lohr, Letendre, Pelland), 1:55.11; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Riley Talmage, Lauryn Drager, Grace Orr, Ashley Pape), 2:03.44; 9, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Allyson Saladis, Jade Babcock, Isabel Menendez Ontanon, Patricia Silva), 2:33.70. 500-yard freestyle relay -- 1, Onalaska/Holmen/Aquinas co-op (Rupple, Kleiner, Kay-Tsumagari, Lettner), 5:29.22; 2, Sauk Prairie (Giulia Brickl, Emily VandeHey, Summer Acker, Carly Coy), 5:31.07. 400-yard medley relay – 1, Sauk Prairie (Alexa Judd, Drager, Amelia Hunter, Kassandra Miller), 4:28.86. 200-yard freestyle relay -- 1, Monona Grove ‘A’ (Heilman, Pysher, O’Malley, Back), 1:45.68; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Talmage, Orr, Coy, Vande Hey), 1:53.45; 9, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Saladis, Menendez Ontanon, Babcock, Klaire Baier), 2:20.51. 200-yard medley broken relay -- 1 Baraboo (Lohr, Laux, Gneiser, Hennessy), 1:58.03; 2, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Miller, Brickl, Judd, Hunter), 1:59.20; 8, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Silva, Menendez Ontanon, Baier, Saladis), 2:48.87. 300-yard butterfly relay – 1, Sauk Prairie (Coy, Orr, Talmage, Miller), 3:12.03. 200-yard medley IMO relay -- 1, Monona Grove (Russell, Holler, Smith, Lippiatt), 1:54.56; 2, Sauk Prairie (Judd, Acker, Hunter, Brickl), 1:55.19. 300-yard backstroke relay – 1, Baraboo (Reuter, Stuczynski, Pelland, Gneiser), 3:11.36; 3, Sauk Prairie (Orr, Pape, Coy, Acker), 3:28.31. 300-yard breaststroke relay – 1, Baraboo (Laux, Beal, Hennessy, Lohr), 3:38.12; 3, Sauk Prairie (Judd, Drager, Hunter, Brickl), 3:39.69. 400-yard freestyle relay – 1, Monona Grove (Heilman, O’Malley, Seymour, Back), 3:49.62; 3, Sauk Prairie ‘A’ (Talmage, Vande Hey, Pape, Acker), 4:08.63; 9, Sauk Prairie ‘B’ (Saladis, Baier, Silva, Babcock), 5:24.18.