Eagles swimmers shine at state

Senior co-captains Alexa Judd and Giulia Brickl capped a memorable season the best way possible — by swimming the final races of their prep careers at the WIAA Division 2 state meet at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium last Friday night. Sauk Prairie’s 200 freestyle relay of sophomores Kassandra Miller and Ashley Pape, junior Cora Dunnum and Judd recorded the team’s best performance of the competition when they reached the podium with a third-place finish in a time of 1 minute, 40.22 seconds. What made the feat more impressive was that the Eagles had no individual state qualifiers in the sprint races. “Usually, to get that high on the podium you have to have a couple of horses who placed pretty decent at state,” Sauk Prairie coach Melani Guentherman said. “But they really showed up.” The Eagles, who were seeded ninth and swam in the first heat, were going after their school record time of 1:40.07, but came up just short. Madison Edgewood won the 200 freestyle relay in a state-meet record 1:34.76, followed by DeForest (1:39.62), both coming out of the fast heat. “They put up a heck of a time,” Guentherman said of the Eagles’ quartet. “So, I’m sure they were slightly disappointed that they didn’t get the school record. But then you’re sitting and watching and thinking, let’s see what happens in the next heat. “Then to see that got them up to third, I know I was thrilled. The girls were ecstatic at that point.” It was also a shining moment for Judd, who said she began swimming in eighth grade and is contemplating swimming in college. “I knew if we would have broken the (school) record, we should have gotten second,” Judd said. “We didn’t break the record by 15/100ths of a second, which was a little disappointing. But then, I knew we had a good enough time to make the podium. To get third was really exciting.” Madison Edgewood won its fifth consecutive team state championship, running away with the meet with 290 points. The Crusaders tied the all-division record for consecutive team titles. Hartland Arrowhead earned five straight Division 1 titles from 2002-06. McFarland (163.5), Ashwaubenon (141.5), Shorewood (125) and Rhinelander (118) rounded out the top five. Sauk Prairie, which competed in three relays and one individual event, finished 16th with 67 points. Judd and Brickl, who served as team co-captains this season, opened the swim portion of the state meet, going out in style in the 200-yard medley relay. They joined freshman Riley Talmage and Dunnum to place 14th in a time of 1:52.69, improving on their seed time of 1:53.23. Brickl, who also qualified for state as an individual in the 100 breaststroke as a junior, finished off her prep career as a four-time state qualifier in the 200 medley relay. “It was amazing, it was such an experience,” Brickl said of her final swim at state. “That was one of my goals as a freshman, to make it every year in something. I just wanted to go again (to state) senior year. It was a pretty cool experience to go for a final time. “To be a captain as a senior and to end my swimming career totally at state is a huge accomplishment. For my 10-plus years of swimming, I’m happy how I wrapped it up.” Guentherman said she was pleased that Giulia was able to accomplish her goal. “She’s had a tough year with injuries,” Guentherman said. “It was nice to see her end up on such a successful and positive note. She’s given so much to the program. “She has been an excellent leader and mentor to the girls. It was nice to see her have the personal success and be able to be at state for the fourth year in a row.” Miller then made her state debut in an individual event, finishing 10th in the 200 freestyle in 1:58.27. Miller, who was seeded 13th, improved on her seed time of 2:00.51. “Kas just knocked it out of the park,” Guentherman said. “She felt good and swam a great race. That was a (personal record) by a full two seconds. It was the first time she had broken 2 minutes. “It’s always tough to be stuck at two, you want to get under the two. But then to just blow it away, she just looked solid. She swims year-round and to see her achieve a goal like that was really fun.” Brickl admitted that while it was a long wait for the 200 freestyle relay after Miller’s individual event, it certainly was worth it. “That was awesome,” Brickl said of the third-place finish. “I was so happy for my co-captain Alexa (Judd). She deserves that 110 percent. All the girls did. “Everyone’s hearts were beating fast. We were waiting for the next heat to go. They were starting to count times to see where they landed and we were like, are we really third? It was like, ‘wow’.” Guentherman said what made it even better was that the remainder of the Eagles’ team was on the deck serving as timers for the meet. “All of the girls made it. Our entire team was there,” Guentherman said. “We had all 20 girls there. Amelia (Hunter) acted as our manager because our manager Zach (Guentherman) was one of the escorts for the awards. So we had 13 girls timing and all 20 girls on deck. That was amazing.” Sauk Prairie wrapped up its day at state with an eighth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. Miller, Pape, Talmage and Judd finished in 3:41.19. The Eagles were seeded ninth in 3:42.62. “They dropped 14 seconds last weekend on that relay,” Guentherman said. “Then to drop more time, I was really hoping we’d just get back to our seed time. But again we had a nice race and it brought out the best in them. “Our two sophomores (Miller and Pape) swam well and with Riley (Talmage), a freshman, it’s kind of exciting looking at the future to see how those girls stepped up as underclassmen already.” Guentherman said she was happy to see Judd finish strong as the Eagles’ anchor in the event. “Alexa was a true leader in all three relays, and she was ready to go,” Guentherman said. “She was going to enjoy her last state meet and boy did she ever.” Nov. 15 WIAA STATE MEET Division 2 Team scores — Madison Edgewood 290, McFarland 163.5, Ashwaubenon 141.5; Shorewood 125; Rhinelander 118; Greendale 117; DeForest 114; Whitewater 106; Baraboo 90.5; Grafton 87; Edgerton 83.5; River Falls 83; Monroe/New Glarus 82; Hales Corners Whitnall 81.5; Whitefish Bay 77; Sauk Prairie 67; Wausau East 60.5; Rice Lake 55; Stoughton 53; Merrill 52; New Berlin Eisenhower 44; Minocqua Lakeland 38; Tomahawk 37; Black River Falls/Blair-Taylor 21; Jefferson/Cambridge 20; Plymouth 18; Menomonie 17; Portage 17; Medford 15; Marinette/Peshtigo 13; Platteville/Lancaster 11; Lodi/Wisconsin Heights 7; Kohler co-op 7; Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah 5; Wittenberg-Birnamwood 4; Elklhorn 2; New London 1; River Valley/Richland Center 1. Diving — 1, Smith, Whitnall, 440.60 points; 2, Held, Whitnall, 427.85; 3, Berg, River Falls, 401.15; 4, Bokerman, New Berlin Eisenhower, 396.65; 5, Scolman, Grafton, 387.30; 6, Uttke, Grafton, 387.30; 7, Hillner, Grafton, 371.95; 8, Seyffer, River Falls, 362.20. 200-yard medley relay — 1, Edgewood (teDuits, Reid, Enz, O’Driscoll), 1:44.51 (state-meet record); McFarland (Freeman, Weaver, Landwehr, Schoenbrodt), 1:47.20; 3, Baraboo (Gneiser, Lohr, Letendre, Balfanz), 1:48.59; 4, Ashwaubenon, 1:48.67; 5, Rhinelander, 1:49.08; 6, Whitewater, 1:51.47; 7, Whitnall, 1:51.59; 8, Monroe (Erstad, Michels, Hammer, Schiro), 1:51.60; 14, Sauk Prairie (Alexa Judd, Giulia Brickl, Riley Talmage, Cora Dunnum), 1:52.69. 200 freestyle — 1, Ottem, River Falls, 1:49.54; 2, Enz, Edgewood, 1:52.55; 3, Theiler, Tomahawk, 1:52.98; 4, Bormett, Stoughton, 1:54.56; 5, Kuennen, Shorewood, 1:55.13; 6, Blennert, Merrill, 1:55.13; 7, Zgola, Greendale, 1:56.42; 8, Miller, Portage, 1:57.84; 10, Kassandra Miller, Sauk Prairie, 1:58.27. 200 individual medley — 1, teDuits, Edgewood, 2:06.28; 2, Houwers, Whitewater, 2:06.99; 3, Barrow, Shorewood, 2:09.35; 4, Oleniczak, New Berlin Eisenhower, 2:09.66; 5, Hammer, Monroe, 2:11.61; 6, Gneiser, Baraboo, 2:11.69; 7, H. Willis, DeForest, 2:12.70; 8, Schmitt, Edgerton, 2:12.83. 50 freestyle — 1, O’Driscoll, Edgewood, :23.30; 2, Reid, Edgewood, :23.49; 3, Bellile, Ashwaubenon, :23.55; 4, Kujawa, Greendale, :24.04; 5, Forsberg, Rice Lake, :24.52; 6, Boehning, DeForest, :24.65; 7, Carriveau, Marinette, :24.94; 8, Peterson, Jefferson, :25.00. 100 butterfly — 1, Francis, Rhinelander, :56.23; 2, Domnick, Ashwaubenon, :57.61; 3 (tie), Enz, Edgewood and Landwehr, McFarland, :58.09; 5, Harris, Whitefish Bay, :58.12;6, Lohr, Baraboo, :58.52; 7, Clifford, Wausau East, :58.54; 8, Albert-Nelson, Platteville, :58.80. 100 freestyle — 1, Ottem, River Falls, :50.70; 2, Reid, Edgewood, :51.59; 3 (tie), Bellile, Ashwaubenon and O’Driscoll, Edgewood, :51.70; 5, Theiler, Tomahawk, :52.02; 6, Freeman, McFarland, :52.31; 7, Bormett, Stoughton, :52.85; 8, Blennert, Merrill, :53.50. 500 freestyle — 1, Domnick, Ashwaubenon, 5:04.85; 2, Zgola, Greendale, 5:11.47; 3, Erstad, Monre, 5:14.47; 4, Winnicki, Rhinelander, 5:15.55; 5, Zimdars, Whitewater, 5:18.20; 6, Stephens, Whitefish Bay, 5:19.52; 7, Schieldt, Edgerton, 5:19.56; 8, Turner, Greendale, 5:20.81. 200 freestyle relay — 1, Madison Edgewood (O’Driscoll, Walker, Reed, Reid), 1:34.76 (state-meet record); 2, DeForest (Oosterhof, Miller, H. Willis, Boehning), 1:39.62; 3, Sauk Prairie (Kassandra Miller, Ashley Pape, Cora Dunum, Alexa Judd), 1:40.22; 4, Rice Lake, 1:40.27; 5, Greendale, 1:40.32; 6, Lakeland Union, 1:40.50; 7, Whitewater, 1:40.72; 8, Rhinelander, 1:40.912. 100 backstroke — 1, Francis, Rhinelander, :54.72; 2, Freeman, McFarland, :55.68; 3, teDuits, Edgewood, :55.97; 4, Harris, Whitefish Bay, :58.09; 5, Oleniczak, New Berlin Eisenhower, :58.83; 6, Bergman, Medford, :59.00; 7, Erstad, Monroe, :59.79; 8, Clifford, Wausau East, :59.82. 100 breaststroke — 1, Houwers, Whitewater, 1:05.07; 2, Landwehr, McFarland, 1:05.89; 3, Weaver, McFarland, 1:06.64; 4, Lohr, Baraboo, 1:06.69; 5, Barrow, Shorewood, 1:06.94; 6, J. Willis, DeForest, 1:07.04; 7, Steien, Black River Falls, 1:08.57; 8, Billmann, McFarland, 1:08.71. 400 freestyle relay — 1, Edgewood (Enz, teDuits, Reed, Walker), 3:29.54; 2, Ashwaubenon, 3:36.75; 3, Greendale, 3:37.32; 4, Shorewood, 3:38.10; 5, McFarland (Nickels, Alf, Landwehr, Freeman), 3:38.22; 6, DeForest (Boehning, H. Willis, Miller, Oosterhof), 3:40.16; 7, Edgerton (de Moya-Cotter, Gorski, Schmitt, Schieldt), 3:40.40; 8, Sauk Prairie (Kassandra Miller, Ashley Pape, Riley Talmage, Alexa Judd), 3:41.19.