Swimmers aiming high again

Melani Guentherman and Todd Wuerger just put the cap on a successful girls’ swimming season before switching roles a mere two days later. Wuerger, who assists Guentherman with the Sauk Prairie girls’ squad in the fall, said there is no time for rest with a highly-anticipated boys season on deck. “I really love our team this year,” said Wuerger, who is head coach of the boys squad. “They’re fun. It’s like herding cats. But they’re a great group. “We have a lot of young kids and newbies to the team. We have 18 returning members from last year and will have 12 new guys, including a foreign exchange student from Germany when he joins us after Thanksgiving.” With the graduation of multiple state qualifier Desmon Sachtjen of Lodi, who is now at the University of Minnesota, the co-op returns to its original dual combination of Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Heights high schools. The Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights swimming team will field the largest squad in the history of the co-op, which started in 2000, and has high expectations of a fourth consecutive Badger North Conference championship. “Two years ago we had 25 guys on the team, and that was the largest ever,” Wuerger said. “Now we’re going to have 30 guys on the team, historically the most we’ve ever had. These practices are unbelievable. You’re shoe horning them all into the pool, an average of five a lane. “This is unprecedented. Not too long ago, we only had 10 guys on a team and we weren’t large enough by school district standards to have a bus, so we had two vans and I drove one and Melani drove the other and we had five guys in each van and that’s how we got to meets.” Sachtjen won two individual championships and anchored the winning 400-yard freestyle relay to help lead the Eagles to their third consecutive Badger North Conference meet championship last year with 503 points, 100 more than runner-up Baraboo, which finished with 403 points. The Eagles recorded 21 top-six finishes, including two each in 10 of the 11 events. Both the Sauk Prairie ‘A’ and ‘B’ relays made the podium in all three relays. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights is also the defending conference dual-meet champion after finishing 4-0 to make it an Eagles’ sweep. Senior Casey Vande Hey, who is in his fourth season on the team, said last year’s captains, Sachtjen and Karsten Flogel, left quite a legacy for the Eagles to follow. “We’re hoping to win conference again this year and hoping to take their dedication to heart,” said Vande Hey, who along with senior Daniel Bakhchevnikov will serve as a co-captain this season for a squad that will include seven seniors, 10 juniors, six sophomores and seven freshmen. “The depth on our team will be very important for our success. A lot of the freshmen and sophomores from last year have become really invested in the program and really enjoy the sport.” Wuerger said the school record for consecutive conference titles is four, dating back to 1976-1979. The seniors have a chance to tie that mark and are very proud of their three titles in a row. But they will have their work cut out for them and it will take a different approach to keep the Eagles’ title streak alive. “We lose Desmon (Sachtjen), who provided a lot of points for us,” Wuerger said. “But we didn’t lose our depth. We have some young talent, so it will be all about depth. We don’t have a race horse at the moment, somebody you can put in any race and get a guaranteed win like we could with Desmon. “This year we may not win a race, but I think we have enough depth to go two, three, four, which outscores their first-place finish. That’s just the way we’re going to have to operate this year.” Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights also has high expectations in the postseason. The Eagles will compete in Division 2 this season after finishing in 22nd place with 31 points at the Division 1 meet a year ago. “These guys are setting their goals high,” Wuerger said. “Not only do they want to win a conference title, but they want to have a big showing at state. So there is a ton of motivation this year.” Wuerger expects changes to take place at state in the near future. “We don’t know how long this will last because next year when the new Natatorium opens up on the UW campus, I’ve heard chatter about going to a third division,” he said. “If that would happen, we would still stay in Division 2 but now you’re going to have some smaller Division 1 schools drop down and make it even more competitive. So I view it as a one-year opportunity to finish real high in state.” The Eagles return three swimmers with state meet experience in juniors Adam Stecker and Sam Beattie, and sophomore Matthew Loy, who swam with Sachtjen on the 400-yard freestyle relay that had secured the 24th and final state berth with a time of 3:21.65 at the Middleton Sectional. The relay then moved up four spots, taking 20th at state in 3:20.32. That is a good place to start, Wuerger said. “It’s a young team, and they’re going to have to grow up very, very fast,” Wuerger said. “We have our first conference dual meet on Tuesday. Normally you have the Badger Conference relay meet that’s first and doesn’t count in the standings. “So you kind of have an exhibition meet at the front end of the season that allows you to scout all the other teams and try different things out before it really counts.” That’s not the case, though, this season. “Our first meet of the year is against McFarland, and those guys are hungry and really want to win conference this year,” Wuerger said. “They all do. So we’re going to have to get out younger kids up to speed fast because we will be leaning on them heavily for points in that meet.” Wuerger admits that the meet lineup will be a work in progress led off by the 200-yard medley relay. “Most years you approach the season and kind of know what your medley relay is going to be,” he said. “Maybe you have one spot up for grabs. But this year, I have no idea. I don’t even know what the medley relay is going to be against McFarland. “There are so many guys that can do multiple things. There are a lot of interchangeable parts. It hasn’t solidified itself yet. But I have a feeling once the season kicks in that some of these guys will start taking ownership in those relay spots and it becomes more clear.” A talented freshmen class is expected to make an impact, including Sam King of Wisconsin Heights who Wuerger said has broken every Mazomanie Barracuda summer swimming record. “He’s a talented athlete who is also a very good basketball player,” Wuerger said. “We’re happy he chose swimming.” Wuerger said the expectations remain the same — winning conference and making an impact at the state meet. “We’ve got a few veterans, guys who have been on the big stage, who are back,” Wuerger said of the Eagles’ three returning state qualifiers. “You always kind of build your team a little bit around the guys that are back from state from the year before because once you’ve experienced that, that helps when it comes time for state tournament time. “I just love that they’re all embracing the young guys because they know the faster they are and the more they compete, the better they are all going to get.”