Sauk-Heights swimmers top McFarland

With hopes of securing a fourth consecutive Badger North Conference title as its primary goal, the Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights boys swimming team didn’t have any margin for error when it hit the water on opening night Dec. 3. An unusual quirk of scheduling had the Eagles open with a league dual meet against visiting McFarland instead of an appearance at a relay meet or invitational. Pressure or no pressure, it didn’t make a difference as Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights used its superior depth to secure a 92-78 victory to get its season off to a solid start. The Eagles closed out the week at the annual Sun Prairie Invitational last Saturday, finishing eighth out of 10 teams at the predominantly large school meet. “It was a real good week,” Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights’ coach Todd Wuerger said. “We usually don’t have a conference dual meet to start the season. Usually it’s the (conference) relay meet or the Sun Prairie meet. “By having the relay meet first, which doesn’t count towards the conference standings, it’s a great opportunity to experiment a little bit, do a little scrimmaging and plan out a lineup. You don’t want to give other teams scouting material either.” But with the first step towards another title on the line, the Eagles did what they had to do. Sophomore Matthew Loy led the way, winning two individual events and also anchoring the winning 200-yard freestyle relay. “They don’t have quite as much depth as we do, but they have some real horses,” Wuerger said of the Spartans. “Those guys swim a lot. “Going into the meet we were like, ‘well, if we want to defend the conference title, it starts now.’ We’ve got 12 new guys on the team so for them it was like welcome to the Badger North and welcome to high school swimming.” Loy finished first in the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 52.81 seconds and also won the 100 freestyle in 50.82. Juniors Jordan Chao, Adam Stecker and Sam Beattie and Loy then won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.10. “Matthew’s kind of grown up in a hurry,” Wuerger said of Loy. “A year ago, he could swim, but he was very, very raw. He just hadn’t had a lot of experience. But in the offseason, he swam for the McFarland Sharks program over the summer months.  “He has kind of become a leader this season because you can really insert him in every race. We’re still working on his breaststroke, but he’s kind of like that go-to guy. You need one of those on your team that can fill a hole when you need a win. He’s kind of emerged as that person for us.” Junior Zach Guentherman recorded the Eagles’ remaining first-place finish, winning the 100 backstroke in 59.36. “For Zach to break a minute the first meet of the season and get down to where he finished last season already, that is something you notice,” Wuerger said. “While you can win a meet with depth, you’ve still got to have someone who can win a race.” Although McFarland took first in the remaining five individual events and the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights recorded six second-place and nine third-place finishes. Wuerger said it was an impressive way to start the defense of the Eagles’ conference championship. “I said, ‘you guys know, you have a big, old target on your back all season long,’ ” he said. “When you win three straight conference titles, you have to accept that responsibility. No pressure, but here we go. “Our guys swam really, really well. I thought everybody swam with a lot of heart, a lot of intensity. We swam smart races. We didn’t have any disqualifications, and for our first meet that is pretty good with 12 guys that are new. I was really excited with the outcome of Tuesday’s win, but I think I was more impressed with how they ended up doing it.” • Sun Prairie Invitational: The host Cardinals swept six of 11 events to win their invitational with 524.5 points and easily out-distance runner-up Madison Memorial, which finished with 367 points. Junior Ben Wiegand won the 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and swam in the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays to pace Sun Prairie.  Eau Claire Memorial/North (322), LinnMar of Iowa (286) and Hudson (276) rounded out the top five. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights finished with 55.5 points. Matthew Loy was the top finisher for the Eagles, tying for seventh in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.45 seconds. • On deck: Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights opened the week at the Badger Conference Relays on Tuesday and will end the week at the Fort Atkinson Invitational on Saturday at 10 a.m.   Dec. 3 Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights 92, McFarland 78 200-yard medley relay — 1, McFarland (Slane, Mandli, Kreft, Landolt) 1:46.37; 2, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Zach Guentherman, Sam King, Adam Stecker, Ryan Goodwin), 1:48.66; 3, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘B’ (Alec Buss, Casey Vande Hey, Brayton Fandrich, Evan Leece), 1:54.15; 5, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘C’ (Carter Buss, Jack Boerger, Gage Ranzenberger, Austin Kaukl), 2:07.02.   200-yard freestyle — 1, Matthew Loy, SP/WH, 1:52.81; 3, Sam Beattie, SP/WH, 1:59.67; 4, Daniel Bakhchevnikov, SP/WH, 2:01.91. 200-yard individual medley — 1, Landolt, M, 2:11.11; 2, Guentherman, SP/WH, 2:11.23; 3, Godwin, SP/WH, 2:21.8; 4, Jackson Shavlik, SP/WH, 2:25.02.  50-yard freestyle — 1, Schulz, M, :24.15; 2, Jordan Chao, SP/WH,:24.57; 3, King, SP/WH, :24.69; 4, Stecker, SP/WH, :24.71. 100-yard butterfly — 1, Kreft, M, :56.47; 2, A. Buss, SP/WH, 1:02.36; 3, Stecker, SP/WH, 1:02.41; 4, Fandrich, SP/WH, 1:06.11. 100-yard freestyle — 1, Loy, SP/WH, :50.82; 2, Chao, SP/WH, :55.29; 3, Leece, SP/WH, :55.64. 500-yard freestyle — 1, Slane, M, 5:14.26; 2, Beattie, SP/WH, 5:23.34; 2, Godwin, SP/WH, 5:35.96; 4, Boerger, SP/WH, 6:08.37.  200-yard freestyle relay — 1, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Chao, Stecker, Beattie, Loy), 1:37.10; 3, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘B’ (Bakhchevnikov, Shavlik, Fandrich, Leece), 1:41.05; 4, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (Sam Juckett, Mason Gassman, Boerger, David Heck),1:48.17 100-yard backstroke — 1, Guentherman, SP/WH, :59.36; 3, A. Buss, SP/WH, 1:02.10; 5, Jackson, SP/WH, 1:07.12.  100-yard breaststroke — 1, Schulz, M, 1:05.32; 3, King, SP/WH, 1:08.72; 4, Bakhchevnikov, SP/WH, 1:11.15; 5, Vande Hey, SP/WH, 1:12.36.  400-yard freestyle relay — 1, McFarland ‘A’ (Slane, Thompson, Schulz, Landolt), 3:34.49; 2, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Beattie, Chao, Guentherman, Loy), 3:35.58; 3, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘B’ (Shavlik, Godwin, King, Bakhchevnikov) 3:50.70; 5, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘C’ (Juckett, Heck, Gassman,, Vande Hey), 4:05.35.   Dec. 7 Sun Prairie Invitational Team scores: 1, Sun Prairie, 524.5; 2, Madison Memorial, 367; 3, Eau Claire Memorial/North,  322; 4, LinnMar (Iowa), 286;  5, Hudson, 276; 6, Monona Grove, 144.5; 7, Waunakee, 134.5; 8, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 55.5; 9, Dubuque Hempstead (Iowa), 32; 10, Oregon, 28. 200-yard medley relay — 1, Sun Prairie (Schluesche, Wiegand, Anhalt, Braatz), 1:36.44; 13, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Zach Guentherman, Sam King, Matthew Loy, Jordan Chao), 1:48.93; 17, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘B’ (Alec Buss, Casey Vande Hey, Brayton Fandrich, Daniel Bakhchevnikov), 1:54.13. 200-yard freestyle — 1, Callahan, LMAR-IA, 1:45.49; 22, Adam Stecker, SP/WH, 2:02.79; 24, Jackson Shavlik, SP/WH, 2:03.09; 33, Jack Boerger, SP/WH, 2:17.00; 36, Fandrich, 2:20.56. 200-yard individual medley — 1, Carstensen, LMAR-IA, 1:59.07; 22, Chao, SP/WH 2:16.43; 24, Bakhchevnikov, SP/WH, 2:18.98; 26, Sam Beattie, SP/WH, 2:19.89; 27, Buss, SP/WH, 2:24.33; 29, King, SP/WH, 2:27.30; 30, Vande Hey, SP/WH, 2:27.34; 34, Mason Gassman, SP/WH, 2:35.61. 50-yard freestyle — 1, Wiegand, SP, :20.55; 7, tie, Loy, SP/WH, :23.45. 100-yard butterfly — 1, Cavanah, LMAR-IA, :53.16; 18, Guentherman, SP/WH, 1:00.95. 100-yard freestyle – 1, Roggenbauer, SP, :48.31; 15, Stecker, SP/WH, :53.92; 19, Bakhchevnikov, SP/WH, :54.85; 24, King, SP/WH, :56.60. 500-yard freestyle — 1, Callahan, LMAR-IA, 4:50.40; 10, Loy, SP/WH, 5:15.89; 19, Shavlik, SP/WH, 5:39.93; 23, Boerger, SP/WH, 5:59.22; 25, Evan Leece, SP/WH, 6:02.69; 30, Sam Juckett, SP/WH, 6:14.07. 200-yard freestyle relay — 1, Sn Prairie (Roggenbauer, Anhalt, Braatz, Wiegand), 1:25.41 11, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Stecker, Guentherman, Beattie, Matthew), 1:38.09;  15, tie, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heigts ‘B’ (Fandrich, Ryan Godwin, Shavlik, King), 1:40.34;  24, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘C’ (Alex Dunning, Phillip Geiselman, Kurtis Price, Coleman Frost), 1:52.65. 100-yard backstroke — 1, Tejeda, MG, :54.05; 21, Chao, SP/WH, 1:03.30; 23, Godwin, SP/WH, 1:03.68; 31, Fandrich, SP/WH, 1:07.86; 33, Vande Hey, SP/WH, 1:09.20. 100-yard breaststroke — 1, Wiegand, SP, :58.55; 18, Guentherman, SP/WH, 1:11.98. 400-yard freestyle relay — 1, Sun Prairie (Schluesche, Gunnink, Werwie, Roggenbauer), 3:17.96; 12, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘A’ (Godwin, Stecker, Chao, Beattie), 3:37.66; 16, Sun Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘B’ (David Heck, Bakhchevnikov, Leece, Gassman), 3:47.33; 22, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights ‘C’ (Juckett, Gage Ranzenberger, Boerger, Buss), 4:04.21.