Swimmers 9th at state

Two trips to the podium highlighted another successful season for the Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights boys swimming team that came to an end last weekend. The Eagles’ 200-yard freestyle relay and freshman Sam King recorded top-six finishes to help power the Eagles to a ninth-place finish at the WIAA Division 2 Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium last Friday evening, Top-ranked Madison Edgewood defended its title, finishing with 293 points. Cedarburg was second with 265 points. Rounding out the top five were Elkhorn (169), Whitefish Bay (164) and Baraboo (135).  Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, which had competed in Division 1 for the past four years, finished with 100 points. That was a finish two places higher than the Eagles were seeded entering the meet. “Overall, I’m impressed with how the team did,” Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights coach Todd Wuerger said. “I think 15 of the 19 swims, including all of the relay legs, were season-best times even though they were completely tapered down for sectionals just to get into the state meet. “A lot of years you just plateau, and you don’t see a lot of downward movement in your times. But yet these guys still had room to come down. That really speaks to that they wanted to make a big statement and earn some respect, not just winning a conference title but doing it at a state level.” King recorded the best individual performance for Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights when he placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:00.17. He also led off the Eagles’ fourth-place 200 freestyle relay that included juniors Jordan Chao and Adam Stecker and sophomore Matthew Loy and finished in 1:29.61.  “I know he’s a talented kid, but if you would have told me before the season that he would be down to a double 00 in that race (1:00.17), I wouldn’t have imagined that,” Wuerger said. “On the second day (of practice), he was thinking of quitting because it was hard. But he stuck with it.  “His parents told him to stick with it and there he was on the podium. Three of those other kids were seniors, so he’ll come back next year in Division 2 as the second-ranked 100 breaststroker. That’s pretty amazing for a freshman.” Wuerger was also pleased with the performance of the Eagles’ 200 freestyle relay.  The relay entered the meet seeded 10th, but a switch in the lineup gave Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights the spark it needed to earn a place on the podium. “We put Jordan Chao on it after Sam Beattie helped us qualify at sectionals in it,” Wuerger said. “Jordan’s time was about a half second faster, and we felt we had a shot at the podium by making that change.” Wuerger also switched the order, moving King to lead-off and Loy to the anchor position. “Their time came down about 2 seconds from sectionals, which explains why we made the switch,” he said. The Eagles’ other finish of note was Loy tying for eighth in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:48.23 after entering as the ninth seed.  Loy, who led Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights with four swims at state, was also 11th in the 100 freestyle and anchored the 400 freestyle relay that also included Chao, Beattie and sophomore Ryan Godwin and placed 12th after being seeded 14th. Junior Zach Guentherman, who qualified for state in three swims, swam on the Eagles’ 200 medley that included King, Stecker and Chao and finished 10th. Guentherman also placed 13th in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke events. Other finishes for Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights included Beattie placing 14th in the 500 freestyle and 16th in the 200 freestyle. “Just coming down two spots in the team standings was great and cracking the top 10,” Wuerger said. “All of these guys are going to be back (next season) except for Jordan (Chao) who will be spending his senior year in Germany, studying abroad.” Also returning will be two swimmers who didn’t compete at state, but will be in the running next season in sophomore Evan Leece and junior Jackson Shavlik. “I feel confident that going into next season, we could have eight guys that we could be starting the season with who would be state caliber guys,” Wuerger said. “That’s a great nucleus to start.”   Feb. 21 WIAA Division 2 State Meet Team scores: Madison Edgewood 293; Cedarburg 265; Elkhorn 169; Whitefish Bay 164; Baraboo 135; McFarland 127; Monona Grove 118; Shorewood 116; Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights 100; Minocqua Lakeland 91; Plymouth 87; Sturgeon Bay co-op 83; DeForest 67; Rhinelander 57; Ashwaubenon 56; Stoughton 53;l Tomahawk 52; Chilton co-op 46; Port Washington 38; Grafton 36; Menomonie 36; Rice Lake 32; Whitewater 26; Brookfield Academy 21; Antigo 13; Glendale Nicolet 12; River Falls 10; Berlin/Green Lake 8; Kiel/Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah 7; Hales Corners Whitnall 3; Cudahy 2; Brown Deer/University School of Milwaukee 1; Wausau East 1.   One-meter diving — 1, Stitgen, Edgewood, 483.70 points; 2, Kasdorf, Port Washington, 436.45; 3, Niswonger, Grafton, 403.75; 4, Theis, Port Washington, 392.55; 5, Blew, Monona Grove, 379.45; 6, Garber, Whitefish Bay, 364.85. 200-yard medley relay — 1, Edgewood (Moen, teDuits, Senke, Korb), 1 minute, 33.77 seconds (state meet record); 2, Baraboo (Lohr, Laux, Hamm, Klingenmeyer), 1:35.90; 3, McFarland (Slane, Schulz, Kreft, Landolt), 1:39.97; 4, Cedarburg, 1:39.99; 5, Monona Grove (Tejeda, McAllister, Elfers, Scott), 1:40.20; 6, Whitefish Bay, 1:40.55. 9, Sauk Prairie/Wis. Heights (Zach Guentherman, Sam King, Adam Stecker, Jordan Chao), 1:41.62. 200 freestyle — 1, Frucht, Edgewood, 1:41.30; 2, Johnson, Elkhorn, 1:43.54; 3, Pinnow, Elkhorn, 1:44.07; 4, Strath, Shorewood, 1:45.24; 5, Schmidt, Stoughton, 1:47.49; 6, Hodek, Ashwaubenon, 1:48.03; 8 (tie), Matthew Loy, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 1:48.23; 16, Sam Beattie, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 1:54.80. 200 individual medley — 1, teDuits, Edgewood, 1:50.03; 2, Fleig, Cedarburg, 1:54.76; 3, Sonnabend, Chilton, 1:54.89; 4, Senke, Edgewood, 1:58.45; 5, Sweet, Shorewood, 2:01.54; 6, Griswold, Shorewood, 2:01.68. 13, Guentherman, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 2:05.50. 50 freestyle — 1, Phillips, Tomahawk, :21:35; 2, Koepke, Elkhorn, :21.51; 3, Dedering, Cedarburg, :21.63; 4, Hogan, Lakeland, :21.65; 5, Mayer, Whitewater, :22.15; 6, Aune, Sturgeon Bay co-op, :22.17. 100 butterfly — 1, teDuits, Edgewood, :49.52 (ties state meet record); 2, Ramminger, DeForest, :50.43; 3, Phillips, Tomahawk, :50.81; 4, Keller, Cedarburg, :52.17; 5, Tejeda, Monona Grove, :52.34; 6, Johnson, Elkhorn, :52.67. 100 freestyle — 1, Lohr, Baraboo, :45.67; 2, Dedering, Cedarburg, :46.55; 3, Koepke, Elkhorn, :47.52; 4, Hogan, Lakeland, :47.98; 5, Kroeger, Rice Lake, :48.03; 6, Steinhardt, Plymouth, :48.15. 11, Loy, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, :49.13. 500 freestyle — 1, Fleig, Cedarburg, 4:39.24; 2, Frucht, Edgewood, 4:42.00; 3, Pinnow, Elkhorn, 4:43.62; 4, Schmidt, Stoughton, 4:48.16; 5, Sweet, Shorewood, 4:49.41; 6, Hodek, Ashwaubenon, 4:50.21. 14, Beattie, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 5:03.40. 200 freestyle relay — 1, Elkhorn (Koepke, Bush, Johnson, Pinnow), 1:26.16; 2, Edgewood (Moen, Petersen, Korb, Frucht), 1:27.06; 3, Whitefish Bay, 1:27.76; 4, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (King, Chao, Stecker, Loy), 1:29.61; 5, Cedarburg, 1:29.72; 6, Plymouth, 1:30.07. 100 backstroke — 1, Lohr, Bar, :48.05 (state meet record); 2, Senke, Edgewood, :50.82; 3, Moen, Edgewood, :51.60; 4, Kroeger, Rice Lake, :53.16; 5, Tejeda, Monona Grove, :53.20; 6, Henderson, Cedarburg, :54.61. 13, Guentherman, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, :56.65. 100 breaststroke — 1, Ramminger, DeForest, :56.55; 2, Sonnabend, Chilton, :57.20; 3, Aune, Sturgeon Bay co-op, :57.86; 4, Laux, Baraboo, :59.67; 5, King, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, 1:00.17; 6, Schulz, McFarland, 1:00.67. 400 freestyle relay — 1, Edgewood (teDuits, Frucht, Senke, Moen), 3:08.79; 2, Elkhorn, 3:10.88; 3, Whitefish Bay, 3:13.61; 4, Cedarburg, 3:16.00; 5, Baraboo (Lemke, Hittman, Hamm, Lohr), 3:18.42; 6, McFarland (Slane, Kreft, Smith, Landolt), 3:19.06. 12, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (Chao, Beattie, Ryan Godwin, Loy), 3:22.10.