WAUKESHA, Wis. –Cedarburg won the team championship, and Ben Stitgen of Edgewood won his fourth championship in diving to highlight the 2021 State Division 2 Boys Swimming & Diving Championships at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium Friday.
The Bulldogs won their first State title in program history by seizing the crown with 309 points. Whitefish Bay was second with 231 points, and last year’s champion Edgewood was third with 191 points.
Stitgen, a senior from Edgewood, compiled a final score of 493.10 to become the third diver in the history of the State championships to win four titles in the event, and it’s the eighth time an individual has won four times in any event.
Cedarburg won six events en route the team title. Sophomore Isaac Fleig won four events. He first swam to the title in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:52.63 after a runner-up finish in the event last season. He then teamed with Louis Henderson, Charlie Gwidt and Henry Cain to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:36.29. He acquired his third title of the meet to defend the 500 freestyle title he won last year. He completed the distance in a time of 4:34.69. Fleig capped his evening with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay. He joined Henderson, Cain and Matt Dedering to claim the crown in a time of 3:11.15.
Dedering, a sophomore, won three events for the Bulldogs. In addition to the 400 freestyle relay, he won the 50-yard freestyle after placing third a year ago. Dedering finished with a time of 20.80, which is the fifth-fastest Division 2 time recorded in the event at State. He also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.82 after a runner-up finish in 2020. His time in 100 freestyle also ranks fifth fastest at State in Division 2.
Junior Colin Senke of Edgewood won a pair of events for the Crusaders. He captured the title in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.19, and he won the 100 backstroke in 49.28 after a runner-up finish last season and a fifth-place finish in 2019. His time in the backstroke is the third-fastest in Division 2 State meet history.
Freshmen Jack Sullivan of Nicolet came into the championships with the fastest seed time in the 200 freestyle, which held true in the finals. He won the event in a time of 1:40.94, which was three seconds faster than the second-place finisher and was the sixth-quickest Division 2 time in the event at State.
Senior Jacob Laux of Baraboo won the 100 breaststroke by a mere .17 seconds with a time of 57.31 after placing fourth last year. The Whitefish Bay quartet of Phillip Swietlik, Nick Enea, Peter Youel and Peter McMahon outpaced the field to win the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.48 after placing third in the relay last season.
The 2021 State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships continue Saturday with the Division 1 competition. The preliminary round in diving begins at 10 a.m. with swimming events to begin at 3 p.m.
Complete Results