Eagles' swim team shows depth at DeForest Invitational
By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle
The competition was tough, to say the least.
But that's to be expected when the host of the invitational happens to be DeForest — the two-time defending WIAA Divison 2 state swimming and diving champions.
And while the Sauk Prairie girls' swimming team didn't do anything at the DeForest Invitational — its first meet of the season — on Aug. 23 to indicate it's closed much ground on the the four-time defending Badger North champion Norskies, the Eagles did show they have the depth to build on last year's success at the state swimming and diving meet, where the Eagles finished 11th.
Sauk Prairie finished fourth in the blue division of the uniquely formatted, three division invitational with 56 points, just two behind third-place Elkhorn (58) and seven behind runner-up McFarland (63). DeForest won the divison with 74 points.
But what the Eagles may have lacked in the blue division — each team is represented by its fastest swimmer in each event in that division — it more than made up for in the red and white divisons.
Sauk Prairie finished second in the red divison — the second fastest division — with 59 points and third in the white division — the third fastest division — with 61 points. DeForest won both with scores of 87 and 70, respectively, and Elkhorn finished second in the white (69).
Eagles' coach Melani Guentherman knows its early in the season and she was pleased with the results.
"Overall I was really happy with how the girls did," she said, adding that being within seven points of McFarland, who finished eighth at the state meet last year, in the blue divison is encouraging.
"All of the girls had nice swims, especially considering we're two weeks into the season."
She also indicated finishing ahead of McFarland in the red and white divisions provides a nice measuring stick for how the Eagles stack up against the Spartans, who are in their first year in the Badger North.
"It would have been nice to finish a little bit higher, but we were right in there with McFarland as far as team points go and I think that's a real promising thing for the season," she said.
Senior Abby Diehl paced the Eagles in the blue divison, winning the 50-yard freestyle (25.26 seconds) and finishing second in the 200 freestyle (two minutes, 0.23 seconds), just one-half of a second behind Elkhorn's Rachel Johnson (1:59.73). Sophomore Alison Meng finished second in the 100 freestyle (:56.95).
Lauren Ballweg, a sophomore, led the Eagles individual performers in the red division with a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle (6:10.30), and freshman Carly Reinke won the 100 breaststroke (1:20.30) in the white division.
The 200 medley relay team of Kelsey Sauer, Reinke, Kassie Hasheider and Emma Wills (2:12.16) also won in the white division.