Last weekend Wisconsin girls competed in their conference championships in preparation for their Sectionals meets, set to be held this weekend. Here we have some of the highlights and top swims from across the state.
Conference Meets and Champions
- Great Northern Conference: Rhinelander
- Southern Lakes Conference: Lake Geneva-Badger Co-op
- River Falls Conference: Chippewa Falls
- Wisconsin Valley Conference: D.C. Everest
- Greater Metro Conference: Brookfield East
- Eastern Wisconsin Conference: Kohler Co-op
- Woodland Conference: Greendale
- North Shore Conference: Cedarburg
- Classic 8 Conference: Arrowhead
In the Greater Metro Conference, last year’s Division 1 state champions Brookfield East easily took the top spot while winning nine of the twelve events. Their 607.5 total points easily topped the 468 scored by the meets host, Germantown High School.
Brookfield was led by junior Abby Wanazek, who took first in two events. Wanazek, who is committed to swim for the University of Wisconsin, won, and set the conference record in, both the 50 free (23.79) and 100 free (51.91).
Joining Wanazek as a multiple event winner for Brookfield was senior Virginia commit Reilly Tiltmann. Tiltmann took the top spot in both the 200 free, where she set the conference record, and the 100 back. She was the Division 1 state champion in the 100 fly and took 2nd in the 100 back at last year’s state championships.
Meanwhile, at the North Shore Conference, Cedarburg topped the West Bend Co-op team by a score of 482.5 to 424. Cedarburg was led by a trio of two event winners, juniors Grace Drabot and Makenna Monday, and senior Brigid Gwidt.
Drabot took first in the 200 (1:56.05) and 500 (5:07.73) freestyles, winning both by narrow margins. Last year Drabot finished 17th in the 500 free at the state championships meet, touching in 5:10.58. Monday was the top performer in the 100 fly (1:00.34) and 100 back (1:01.32).
Joining the pair of juniors in winning multiple events was senior Brigid Gwidt. Gwidt took the top spot in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. She’s committed to join the University of Kansas’s team next year after her graduation.
Due to COVID restrictions, the Great Northern Conference was forced to hold their conference meet as a series of dual meets. The conference champion was announced as Rhinelander, based on their 7-0 dual meet record. Last year Rhinelander finished 5th at the D2 State Championship meet. They are led this year by defending 100 fly state champion and Liberty University commit Malia Francis.
Other Notable Conference Results
- Sophomore Callie Ceshker won two events (50 and 100 free) while helping Lake Geneva top the Southern Lakes Conference.
- Chippewa Falls co-op pulled off a narrow win in the Big River’s Conference championships, edging out Rice Lake by only 4 points following a 400 free relay win.
- Claudia Herold took wins in the 50 and 100 free to help Kholer High School grab the Eastern Wisconsin Conference title.
Following their conference championships, teams are now gearing up for their Sectionals meets this weekend. The state has rearranged their sectional assignments over the last week, putting out the updated list of sectional meets on October 27th. Currently, sectional meets are scheduled for November 6th and 7th, while state meets will take place on November 13th and 14th.
Division 1 will host four different sectionals sites, while Division 2 will feature seven different meets.
Due to the reduced number of teams competing this season due to COVID, only the sixteen swimmers will qualify to compete at the state meet in each event. Selections will be made by selecting the top finisher from each conference, as well as the next seven top times.
