Eagles’ swimmers shine at state

WAUKESHA — Todd Wuerger wasn’t surprised. Expectations are always high inside the Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights boys swimming program, and this year was no different. Still, when the Eagles went to the WIAA Division 2 state meet last Friday at Waukesha South High School and notched a ninth place finish, Wuerger was extremely happy. McFarland captured the team title with 283 points, while Rhinelander (235), Whitefish Bay (223), Nicolet (165) and Ashwaubenon (160) rounded out the top five. The Eagles finished ninth with 113.0 points. “I wasn’t surprised with the ninth place team finish,” Wuerger said. “I kind of expected that we would be in the top-10 after finishing 10th last year.  “But it’s never easy and still takes a lot of work to get into the top-10 team race, so we will never take that finish for granted and will use that as a springboard for next year.” Sophomore Ethan Goodman had a tremendous meet, finishing fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle. Goodman earned a place on the podium in both events. Goodman finished the 100-freestyle in 48.02 seconds, behind only Shane TeBeest of McFarland (45.16), Daniel Carns of River Falls (46.77) and Mathias Fugle of Rhinelander (47.43). Goodman also blazed his way to a sixth place finish in the 50-free, finishing that race in 21.60 seconds. McFarland’s TeBeest also won that race in 20.52. “Getting an individual event or a relay onto the podium is a big deal, a really big deal,” Wuerger said of Goodman’s two races. “I’m super happy for Ethan Goodman and how he made the podium in both of his individual races. “His grandfather had passed away in December and I know he was swimming inspired for him. Very fitting that he put it all together and represented Sauk-Heights on the podium.” Sophomore Levi Shadewald narrowly missed a podium finish in the 500-yard freestyle, where he finished seventh. Shadewald finished that grueling event in 4:55.31 after swimming a 4:57.39 at sectionals. Shadewald also finished eighth in the 200-yard IM after knocking nearly 3 seconds off his seed time. Shadewald swam a sizzling 2:04.30 at state after posting a 2:07.19 at sectionals. “Levi Shadewald was on fire, dropping mega time in his 200 IM and 500 free,” Wuerger said. Sophomore Caleb Gregg also qualified in the 500-yard freestyle, where he finished 12th. Gregg swam a 5:06.13 at state, more than 6 seconds faster than his mark at sectionals (5:12.25). “Caleb Gregg also had a huge time drop in his 500 free,” Wuerger said. Senior Adam Kaukl notched a seventh place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (53.11), while junior Jacob Klein added a 15th-place finish in that race (56.14). McFarland’s TeBeest won the 100-butterfly in 48.44. The Eagles also qualified three relay teams that all shined. The quartet of Shadewald, Klein, Kaukl and senior Connor McQueen was ninth in the 200-yard medley relay. That foursome finished the race in 1:43.88. The Eagles’ 200-yard freestyle relay team of Goodman, McQueen, Kaukl and Gregg was 11th in 1:31.45, nearly a full second faster than their qualifying time from sectionals (1:32.32). And in the 400-yard freestyle relay, Sauk-Heights’ foursome of Kaukl, Goodman, sophomore Cy Welch and McQueen was 12th in 3:24.44. That was more than a full second faster than sectionals (3:25.64). “Overall I’m very happy with how our guys competed,” Wuerger said. “Qualifying for state is always a challenge and we need to be at our best, just to advance to the state meet. “They had a lot to race inspired for. For their community, for their school, and for one another.” Amazingly, of the Eagles’ 20 swims at state, 12 were personal-bests. “That’s a great stat,” Wuerger said. “That means despite being at their best just to qualify for the meet, they found ways in their pre-meet preparations to be faster. “Given how it’s difficult to drop more time at state since we pulled out all of the stops just to get there, I was very impressed with how all seven guys dropped time in at least one of their races. “This was Cy’s first state meet and he did great. Fun to watch him swim in fear in a close, tight race. But he held up just fine, despite the pressure and crowd noise and improved his time from sectionals.” Wuerger was also thrilled how senior captains Kaukl and McQueen finished their careers in style with terrific swims. “I’m not only proud of how they competed tonight, but also how they led the team this year,” Wuerger said. And while it will be tough for Wuerger to replace his two senior captains, he will have five of the seven swimmers back that competed at state.  “That’s a great nucleus to build around,” Wuerger said. “We will miss Adam and Connor as they move on to college, but it’s comforting knowing we’ll have five guys with state meet experience.”