Medley relay, Meng take sectional titles

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

BARABOO - With each stroke Jenna Lovell took during the 200-yard medley relay Saturday, the Sauk Prairie junior became more and more confident Mattea Grumke wasn't going away.

"When I looked, I thought she was right there. So I thought I was going to get beat," Lovell said of Monona Grove's Grumke, who turned a half-second deficit for the Silver Eagles entering the final leg into a virtual tie nearing the finish.

It didn't last, though. Lovell edged Grumke, and Sauk Prairie finished in one minute, 53.39 seconds - just three-one hundredths of a second ahead of Monona Grove - to win the opening event of the WIAA Division 2 Baraboo sectional.

And Lovell demonstrated just how dramatic the finish was moments after, sporting a big smile as she dipped her head backward into the water in relief.

"I couldn't believe how it actually worked out. … It was very exciting," she said.

Even better, the win earned the relay a berth in the state swimming and diving meet Nov. 13. Winners in each event at all eight sectionals automatically do so, while the rest of the field will be filled Sunday with the best eight remaining times in each event across all sectionals.

"We knew that we had a pretty good chance of getting to state," said junior Kelsey Kohlbeck, who swam the third leg of the relay following Carly Reinke and Alison Meng, who led off. "… We were all just really, really excited."

As it turned out, it would be an exciting afternoon all around for Sauk Prairie.

The Eagles were in fourth for much of the meet, but closed strong and got a runner-up finish from the 400 freestyle relay (3:39.51) in the final event to finish second with 276 points - seven points clear of third-place Madison Edgewood. Three-time defending state champion DeForest won with 331 points.

 "Our team did awesome today," said Meng, who also led off the free relay before giving way to Lindsey Lentz, Megan Cahill and Kohlbeck. "Every single person just went out and dropped time, and it was just incredible."

Meng also won the 100 butterfly (:58.88) and 100 backstroke (:58.47), which she said was the highlight of the two.

"I didn't know I was going to get (a :58.47)," she said. "I just went out and did my best, and was really surprised and shocked and happy, all at the same time."

Meng finished third in the backstroke and sixth in the butterfly at state last season.

Meanwhile, Kohlbeck turned in runner-up finishes in both the 50 free (:25.16) and 100 free (:53.95). Eagles' coach Melani Guentherman said both figure to be good enough to qualify Kohlbeck for state once the full field is released.

 "I was just really excited to see that I could go (that time)," Kohlbeck said of swimming the 100 free under 54 seconds for the first time in her prep career.

Also turning in times that figure to contend for a state berth was Lentz, a freshman who finished third in the 500 free (5:22.93) and fifth in the 200 free (2:00.67).

Her time in the 500 was decidedly better than her previous best of 5:28.63.

"When I first got under 5:30, I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" said Lentz, who has shown considerable improvement in the event throughout the season. "And I just dropped six more seconds today. It's really exciting."

Reinke's sixth-place breaststroke time (1:12.36) and the 200 free relay's fifth-place time (1:44.32), turned in by Cahill, Molly McGuine, Lentz and Lovell, also have an outside chance of being good enough for state.

The 200 medley relay's time certainly was, and Guentherman didn't overlook the impact the Eagles' exciting start to the meet had on how they finished it.

"It really, I think, gave everybody the spark we needed," she said. "It kind of lit the fire, and it just went from there."

For an updated list of which Sauk Prairie swimmers qualified for state, check the Eagle's Web site tomorrow afternoon. And for a preview of the state meet, pick up a copy of the Nov. 11 edition of the Eagle, or check the Eagle's Web site that day.

Team scores: DeForest 331, Sauk Prairie 276, Madison Edgewood 269, McFarland 246, Baraboo 216, Monona Grove 209, Monroe 184, River Valley 167, Platteville-Lancaster 74, La Crosse Logan 65, Lodi 61, Edgerton-Cambridge 41, Portage 24.

200-yard medley relay: 1, Sauk Prairie (Alison Meng, Carly Reinke, Kelsey Kohlbeck, Jenna Lovell), 1:52.39; 2, Monona Grove, 1:52.42; 3, McFarland, 1:53.27; 3, Baraboo, 1:53.57; 5, River Valley, 1:54.89; 6, Monroe, 1:55.81. 200 freestyle: 1, Bartuska, Monona Grove, 1:55.88; 2, Wolter, DeForest, 1:56.45; 3, Statz, DeForest, 1:57.09; 4, Weeden, Monroe, 1:58.75; 5, Lindsey Lentz, 2:00.67; 6, Bush, Madison Edgewood, 2:02.02; 7, Megan Cahill, Sauk Prairie, 2:02.11. 200 individual medley: 1, Winckler, DeForest, 2:13.79; 2, Smith, McFarland, 2:14.51; 3, Root, Monroe, 2:17.89; 4, Schwartzlow, Monroe, 2:17.89; 5, Green, Madison Edgewood, 2:17.97; 6, Puskula, River Valley, 2:22.87; 8, Natalie Price, Sauk Prairie, 2:23.33. 50 freestyle: 1, Verhulst, DeForest, :25.12; 2, Kohlbeck, Sauk Prairie, :25.16; 3, Richards, Madison Edgewood, :25.37; 4, Thompson, Baraboo, :25.49; 5, Bergman, River Valley, :25.58; 6, Liegel, River Valley, :25.65; 15, Lovell, Sauk Prairie, :26.70; 18, Lauren Ballweg, Sauk Prairie, :26.90. 100 butterfly: 1, Meng, Sauk Prairie, :58.88; 2, Millin, Monona Grove, :58.92; 3, Winckler, DeForest, :59.35; 4, Weeden, Monroe, 1:01.96; 5, Puskula, River Valley, 1:02.13; 6, Healy, Madison Edgewood, 1:02.15; 9, Price, Sauk Prairie, 1:03.75. 100 freestyle: 1, Statz, DeForest, :53.65; 2, Kohlbeck, Sauk Prairie, :53.95; 3, Richards, Madison Edgewood, :55.14; 4, Sachtjen, Lodi, :55.18; 5, Thompson, Baraboo, :55.25; 6, Bush, Madison Edgewood, :55.42; 8, Cahill, Sauk Prairie, :56.45; 12, Molly McGuine, Sauk Prairie, :57.88; 18, Ballweg, Sauk Prairie, :58.77; 21, Lovell, Sauk Prairie, :59.05. 500 freestyle: 1, Wolter, DeForest, 5:09.96; 2, Bartuska, McFarland, 5:18.8; 3, Lentz, Sauk Prairie, 5:22.93; 4, Healy, Madison Edgewood, 5:30.02; 5, Engen, DeForest, 5:31.43; 6, Zellmer, Madison Edgewood, 5:31.55. 200 freestyle relay: 1, DeForest, 1:39.91; 2, Madison Edgewood, 1:40.80; 3, River Valley, 1:41.90; 4, Monona Grove, 1:42.63; 5, Sauk Prairie (Cahill, McGuine, Lentz, Lovell), 1:44.32; 6, Monroe, 1:44.68. 100 backstroke: 1, Meng, Sauk Prairie, :58.47; 2, O'Rourke, Baraboo, :59.03; 3, Root, Monroe, :59.99; 4, Sachtjen, Lodi, 1:02.43; 5, Millin, Monona Grove, 1:02.70; 6, Engelhardt, DeForest, 1:03.05; 17, McGuine, Sauk Prairie, 1:09.53. 100 breaststroke: 1, Smith, McFarland, 1:06.05; 2, Emmerich, Monona Grove, 1:09.58; 3, Verhulst, DeForest, 1:10.22; 4, Beck, DeForest, 1:10.98; 5, Schwartzlow, Monroe, 1:11.75; 6, Reinke, Sauk Prairie, 1:12.36; 10, Taylor Wixom, Sauk Prairie, 1:15.15. 400 freestyle relay: 1, DeForest, 3:37.43; 2, Sauk Prairie (Meng, Cahill, Lentz, Kohlbeck), 3:39.51; 3, Baraboo, 3:42.22; 4, McFarland, 3:42.85; 5, Madison Edgewood, 3:44.67; 6, Monona Grove, 3:44.79.