MADISON, Wis. – Middleton won the Division 1 title at the 96th Annual State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships at the UW Natatorium Saturday.
The Cardinals’ depth propelled them to the program’s first title, compiling 228 points without winning an event. They held off Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, which finished second with 222 points. Sun Prairie was third with 197 points.
Ben Wiegand of Sun Prairie shattered the State Meet record in winning the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.16, eclipsing the former record of 20.44 by Matt Freide of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights in 2010. Wiegand placed sixth in the event last season. He also won gold as a member of the 200 freestyle relay. He teamed with Cade Roggenbauer, JP Anhalt and Ethan Braatz to record a time of 1:23.22.
In the other individual freestyle events, Isaac Casey-Hrenak of Madison West, the top returning qualifier in the 100 freestyle after placing third a year ago, won the event this year with a time of 44.97. Caleb Blischke of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial won the gold medal in the 200 freestyle with a time 1:41.30, improving on last year’s third-place finish. In addition, Drew Harris of Stevens Point won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:31.55 after his runner-up finish in 2019 and fifth-place standing in 2018.
Blischke won his second title of the meet by anchoring the Crusader’s 400 freestyle relay. He joined Jacob Carlson, Nolan Scanlan and Joe Esterle to post a time of 3:05.14.
Kaiser Neverman of the Green Bay Southwest/East/Preble/West also won two events. He completed his illustrious career in the 100 butterfly by winning the event in a time of 47.74. He has finished in the top four at State in each of his four seasons, placing fourth last year, second in 2018 and third in 2017. Neverman also earned the championship in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:47.79. He finished fourth in the event two years ago.
Charlie Feller of Madison West swam to the crown in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 56.10 after finishing runner-up in 2019 and eighth in 2018, and Ziyad Saleem of Milwaukee King/Languages/North/Washington earned the championship in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.30 after placing eighth last season and 12th in 2018,
Mike Konle of Marquette won the diving competition with a score of 538.90 after placing runner-up last season and fourth in 2018.
The Greenfield/Greendale/Pius XI Catholic co-op swam the championship in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Emilio Perez, Vincent Patti, Jackson Lustig and Leo Gandaria finished in a time of 1:33.53.
2020 Division 1 Results