Goals of even better times met at state

WIAA DIV. 2 STATE GIRLS SWIMMING

SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST

The goal for Medford’s Aiden Denzer and Sydney Sperl was to set personalbest times and that’s what they did at Friday’s WIAA Division 2 girls swimming state championships, held at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium.

Both Raiders swam in the 200-yard individual medley. Sperl, a sophomore, recorded a second straight sizable time drop in the post-season and placed 13th out of 16 swimmers, while Denzer finished 15th.

Denzer, a senior, got her big drop in the 100-yard backstroke, where she finished her Medford swim career with a 13th-place finish.

Those finishes combined to give Medford 10 team points in the meet, good for 28th place out of 37 teams that were represented in the meet. Seven of those schools came from the Great Northern Conference. The girls were cheered on by several teammates who made the long trip as well.

“Going into the meet on Friday, we told the girls to swim hard and have fun,” Medford head coach Morgan Wilson said. “We were super excited to see both girls drop time in their events. They really took to heart to go out on a good note and gave it their all, which was all we could ask for. The girls who came with seemed to really enjoy the experience as well so hopefully that gives them some motivation for next year. Overall, it was an awesome way to end a successful season.”

In the individual medley, Sperl came into the race seeded 14th based on her sectional time of 2:22.36, which was 3.47 seconds faster than her previous best. She knocked that time down by 3.2 more seconds on Friday to 2:19.16, 0.9 seconds ahead of Anna Zentner, a freshman from Monroe-New Glarus. Denzer, who was seeded 13th, was next, finishing in 2:20.98, a drop of 0.53 seconds from her sectional time of 2:21.51, which had beaten her previous best by 3.09 seconds. Denzer finished well ahead of Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Annika Resch, who was 16th in 2:26.7.

Grafton senior Libby Michel won the state championship in 2:04, beating Madison Edgewood sophomore Izzy Bloom by 1.52 seconds. Elise Jacobs of Shorewood was third in 2:07.62 and Sam Vega of Edgewood, who swam in the first heat with Sperl and Denzer, easily won the heat and finished fourth overall in 2:08.41.

Lakeland freshman Olivia Mickle was 11th in 2:16.44 and Merrill’s Amber Winter, the sectional champion, placed seventh in 2:12.43.

Denzer was seeded 16th in the backstroke with her sectional time of 1:04.15, but she blew by that in Friday’s state race, finishing in 1:02.56 to go out in style. She finished ahead of South Milwaukee’s Julia Plevak (1:02.65) and Cecilia Nicholson (1:02.84) as well as sectional champion and GNC rival Madisyn Schraufnagel of Colby-Abbotsford (1:04.15).

Baraboo senior Anna Balfanz won the state title in 56.23 seconds, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Sauk Prairie junior Savannah Acker. Jacobs was third in 56.4 seconds and Whitefish Bay freshman Anne Dickinson was fourth in 56.74 seconds.

Madison Edgewood easily won its seventh straight state championship by piling up 350 points. Whitefish Bay was a distant second with 167, one more than Ashwaubenon. Baraboo scored 154 points to just sneak by GNC and Merrill sectional champion Rhinelander (152) for fourth place.

Tomahawk’s Paige Dekiep placed second in the 100yard butterfly (58.0) and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.5) to score 28 points for the Hatchets and give them 23rd place. Mickle’s finish in the individual medley gave Lakeland six points and a tie for 29th. Schraufnagel got a point and a 34th-place place tie for Colby-Abbotsford. Antigo’s Chloe Tainter got one point by taking 16th in the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.61) and the Ladysmith Coop’s Madleline Bunton was 16th in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:33.27.

Rhinelander got fourth-place finishes in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays and two fourth-place finishes individually from Abi Winnicki in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.14) and 100-yard freestyle (51.2).

WIAA Div. 2 girls swimming state results

Team: 1. Madison Edgewood, 350; 2. Whitefish Bay, 167; 3. Ashwaubenon, 166; 4. Baraboo, 154; 5. Rhinelander, 152; 6. Greendale, 129; 23. Tomahawk, 28; 28. Medford, 10; T29. Lakeland, 6; T34. Colby-Abbbotsford, Ladysmith Co-op, Antigo, 1.

200-yard individual medley 1. Libby Michel, Sr., Grafton, 2:04; 2. Izzy Bloom, So., Edgewood, 2:05.52; 3. Elise Jacobs, Sr., Shorewood, 2:07.62; 4. Sam Vega, Sr., Edgewood, 2:08.41; 5. Zoey Rank, Jr., Jefferson-Cambridge, 2:09.62; 6. Katherine Turner, Sr., Greendale, 2:10.1; 7. Amber Winter, Sr., Merrill, 2:12.43; 8. McKenzie Stute, Jr., Baraboo, 2:12.53; 9. Riley Talmage, Sr., Sauk Prairie, 2:13.82; 10. Nadia Blackmore, So., South Milwaukee, 2:15.73; 11. Olivia Mickle, Fr., Lakeland, 2:16.44; 12. Alissa Novalija, Jr., Wauwatosa East, 2:17.93; 13. Sydney Sperl, So., Medford, 2:19.16; 14. Anna Zentner, Fr., Monroe-New Glarus, 2:20.06; 15. Aiden Denzer, Sr., Medford, 2:20.98; 16. Annika Resch, Sr., Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 2:26.7.

100-yard backstroke 1. Anna Balfanz, Sr., Baraboo, 56.23; 2. Savannah Acker, Jr., Sauk Prairie, 56.29; 3. Elise Jacobs, Sr., Shorewood, 56.4; 4. Anne Dickinson, Fr., Whitefish Bay, 56.74; 5. Izzy Bloom, So., Edgewood, 57.04; 6. Jordyn Davis, Jr., Jefferson-Cambridge, 57.4; 7. Meghan Cady, So., Wauwatosa East, 57.85; 8. Halle Grimm, Sr., Grafton, 58.22; 9. Madeline Cleverly, Sr., Whitefish Bay, 59.26; 10. Emma Reed, So., Edgewood, 59.47; 11. Caroline Green, Jr., McFarland, 1:00.13; 12. Grace Foucault, Sr., Whitewater, 1:00.37; 13. Aiden Denzer, Sr., Medford, 1:02.56; 14. Julia Plevak, So., South Milwaukee, 1:02.65; 15. Cecilia Nichols0n, So., South Milwaukee, 1:02.84; 16. Madisyn Schraufnagel, Fr., Colby-Abbotsford, 1:04.15.