Swimmers second at sectionals

What a difference a year has made for the Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights boys swimming program. After competing in Division 1 the past four years, the co-op program dropped Lodi, which moved the team from Division 1 to Division 2 for postseason competition. Following a runner-up finish at the Baraboo Sectional last Saturday, the Eagles qualified all three relays and seven individual swims for the WIAA Division 2 swimming and diving state meet at the UW Natatorium on Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m. “We had a great day, I’m very happy,” Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights coach Todd Wuerger said. “What a difference from a year ago when we were Division 1 and we had Desmond (Sachtjen) in his two races, and we had one relay.” Sachtjen, now at the University of Minnesota, placed third in the 200-yard individual medley and fourth in the 100 backstroke last season. He also anchored the 400 freestyle which included Adam Stecker, Sam Beattie and Matthew Loy, who are the only members of the Eagles’ current team with state tournament experience. “You think about the size of our community, and we’re really a Division 2 school,” Wuerger said. “We couldn’t help ourselves, but put our times up against Division 2. Had we been Division 2 last year, we would have had eight (individual swims) and three (relays). So there is a very big difference in qualifying in Division 1 and Division 2.” Defending Division 2 state champion Madison Edgewood won seven events and added five runner-up finishes to finish with 391 points and win the championship at the 11-team field held at Jack Young Middle School in Baraboo. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights was second with 286.5 points. Rounding out the top five were McFarland (265.5), Baraboo (241) and Monona Grove (236). The winner of each event automatically qualifies for state. Also qualifying are the non-winners with the best 12 non-winning performances among all sectionals in the division. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights qualified seven individual swimmers, including juniors Beattie, Jordan Chao, Zach Guentherman and Stecker, sophomores Ryan Godwin and Loy and freshman Sam King. Loy led the way at the Baraboo Sectional, qualifying in the 200 freestyle as a ninth seed and the 100 freestyle (10th seed). He will also swim on the 10th-seeded 200 freestyle relay, along with King, Stecker and Chao, and the 14th-seeded 400 freestyle relay, which will include Beattie, Godwin and Chao. Beattie will compete in three events, including the 500 freestyle (11th seed) and 200 freestyle (14th). Guentherman will also swim in three events, the 10th-seeded 200 medley relay (along with King, Stecker and Chao), the 200 individual medley (10th seed) and 100 backstroke (11th seed). “We will be taking seven to the big pool on Friday night, and to be second in our sectional was a surprise,” Wuerger said. “We got a plaque for that. It felt really cool to finish second at a real tough sectional. “At this time of year, it’s less about depth and more about quality. We had a little bit of both. We had some quality, and we had some depth. That allowed us to be second in the sectional.” King, who broke two Sauk Prairie freshman records during the meet, also qualified in the 100 breaststroke and is seeded a team-best seventh. “His split on the medley relay was a 27.45,” Wuerger said of King, who also just missed out qualifying for state in the 50 freestyle. “He went over two seconds faster than his season-best time. That’s a great time for any class, but as a freshman, wow. The fact that he’s going to be in three races as a freshman is pretty outstanding.” Wuerger said it was the Eagles’ first-ever runner-up finish at sectionals. “Finishing runner-up as a team is a pretty big deal,” Wuerger added. “I’m super happy that the guys stayed healthy and were making good choices. I’m hoping it lasts one more week.”  The remainder of the Eagles’ squad, which didn’t qualify for state, will have an opportunity to serve as timers at the Division 2 state meet. “They’ll all be down on the deck, watching the meet, and I hope it inspires them for next year,” Wuerger said. “Hopefully it gets them inspired to want to be down there next year as a swimmer and not a timer. “It’s pretty special to have the whole team down there. The WIAA is always looking for timers, so we help them out.”   Feb. 15 WIAA DIVISION 2 Baraboo Sectional Team scores: Madison Edgewood 391; Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights 286.50; McFarland 265.50; Baraboo 241; Monona Grove 236; DeForest 199; Stoughton 157; Whitewater 125; Jefferson/Cambridge 89; Platteville/Lancaster 80; Fort Atkinson 72.   State qualifiers Diving — 1, Stitgen, ME, 471.15; 2, Blew, MG, 366; 3, Arneson, ME, 320.6; 4, Larson, MG, 294.35. 200 medley relay — 1, Madison Edgewood (Moen, teDuits, Senke, Korb), 1:36.88; 2, Baraboo, 1:37.14; 3, McFarland, 1:41.44; 4, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (Zach Guentherman, Sam King, Adam Stecker, Jordan Chao), 1:42.38; 5, DeForest, 1:42.66; 6, Monona Grove, 1:43.10. 200 freestyle — 1, Frucht, ME, 1:43.56; 2, Petersen, ME, 1:47.62; 3, Schmidt, St, 1:48.02; 4, Matthew Loy, SP/WH, 1:48.69; 5, Slane, McF, 1:52.11; 6, Sam Beattie, SP/WH, 1:53.28. 200 individual medley — 1, teDuits, ME, 1:51.30; 2, Senke, ME, 2:00.70; 3, Clark, St, 2:03.83; 4, Guentherman, SP/WH, 2:03.9. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 7, Ryan Godwin, 2:10.82. 50 freestyle — 1, Mayer, WW, :22.23; 2, Korb, ME, :22.49; 3, Wolf, D, :22.79; 4, Klingenmeyer, B, :22.87. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 5, tie, King, :22.97; 13, Stecker, :23.86. 100 butterfly — 1, teDuits, ME, :49.86; 2, Ramminger, D, :51.44; 3, Clark, St, :53.67; 4, Laux, B, :54.52; 5, Kreft, McF, :54.68. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 8, Stecker, :57.83; 15, Alec Buss, :59.72. 100 freestyle — 1, Lohr, B, :46.67; 2, Mayer, WW, :48.73; 3, Loy, SP/WH, :49.52. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 8, Chao, :50.91; 11, Daniel Bakhchevnikov, :52.25. 500 freestyle — 1, Schmidt, St, 4:48.43; 2, Frucht, ME, 4:52.53; 3, Beattie, SP/WH, 5:03.81; 4, Slane, McF, 5:04.12; 5, Jondle, MG, 5:05.20; 6, Landolt, McF, 5:12.72. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 7, Godwin, 5:13.64. 200 freestyle relay — 1, Madison Edgewood (Petersen, Weber, Korb, Frucht), 1:30.07; 2, Baraboo, 1:31.76; 3, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (Loy, King, Stecker, Beattie), 1:31.86; 4, McFarland, 1:32.19. 100 backstroke — 1, Lohr, B, :49.74; 2, Senke, ME, :51.46; 3, Moen, ME, :54.46; 4, Tejeda, MG, :55.49; 5, Petersen, ME, :55.60; 6, Elfers, MG, :56.49; 7, Guentherman, SP, :56.57. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 10, A. Buss, :59.46. 100 breaststroke — 1, Ramminger, D, :57.76; 2, Laux, B, 1:00.54; 3, Schulz, McF, 1:00.84; 4, King, SP/WH, 1:01.21; 5, Smith, McF, 1:01.94.32. Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights – 8, Bakhchevnikov, 1:05.77; 10, Chao, 1:06.49. 400 freestyle relay — 1, Madison Edgewood (teDuits, Frucht, Senke, Moen), 3:14.83; 2, Baraboo, 3:21.17; 3, DeForest, 3:22.82; 4, Monona Grove, 3:23.20; 5, McFarland, 3:24.63; 6, Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights (Loy, Beattie, Godwin, Chao), 3:25.06.