The 45th Annual State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships may go down historically as the golden era of girls high school swimming and diving with nine State Meet records established.
Arrowhead captured the Division 1 team championship for the 10th time with 337 points. Cedarburg placed second with 224 points, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago was third at 222 points.
Beata Nelson of Verona/Mount Horeb was involved in three record-setting performances, including what is believed to be a national record. She set records to win back-to-back gold medals in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. She shattered the butterfly record she set last season with a time of 51.70. The national record was 51.78 set earlier this year by Katherine McLaughlin of Rancho Santa Margarita Catholic High School in California.
Nelson also broke the State Meet mark she set last year in the backstroke with a time of 53.15. Nelson won her third title of the meet to help Verona/Mount Horeb win its second straight 200 freestyle relay title. She joined Maizie Seidl, Kristi Larsen and Shelby Rozeboom to set State record in the event with time of 1:33.51. The old mark was held by Madison East, which set the former mark in 2008.
Katie Drabot of Cedarburg eclipsed the record she set last season in the 200 freestyle to win her second consecutive crown in the event, establishing a new mark with a time of 1:45.40. She also broke the record to win the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.09, erasing the old mark of 4:48.60 held by Aja Van Hout of Madison East in 2008.
Kelly Jacob of Arrowhead was also the winner of two individual events. She improved on her third-place finish of a year ago with a victory in the 50 freestyle, finishing with a time of 23.13. In addition, she won the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.73 after placing runner-up in the event last season.
Hazel Hertting of Neenah set the Division 1 record with her second straight championship in the diving competition. She scored a 576.45, breaking the former mark of 502.45 held by Lauren Leroy of Oshkosh North since 2003.
Kierston Farley-Sepe of Waukesha South/Mukwonago made her fastest seed time in the 200 individual medley stand up to win the title with a time of 2:00.91. Gwen Worlton of Nicolet improved on her third-place finish last season to win the 100 breaststroke and edge two-time defending champion Lindsay Adamski of Arrowhead with a time of 1:02.73, which was .03 swifter that Adamski.
In the relays, Arrowhead won its sixth consecutive 200 medley relay. The team of Alyssa Lewandowski, Lindsay Adamski, Megan Doty and Maddie Barta finished in a time of 1:43.96. The Sun Prairie 400 freestyle relay team of Rachel Powers, Beth Aughey, Bryce White and Kynzie Huonker combined to win the event in 3:36.08.
DIVISION 2
Grafton won its second consecutive Division 2 championship at the State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships at the UW Natatorium in Madison, Wis. Friday.
The Black Hawks won the meet with 290 points, led by a pair of individual titles for Samantha Senczyszyn and Autumn Haebig. Senczyszyn captured the crowns in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles for the second straight season, completing the events with times of 23.58 and 50.95, respectively. Haebig set the Division 2 State Meet record in winning her second consecutive 100 butterfly title with a time of 55.63, eclipsing the mark she set last season. She also repeated as champion in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:57.77.
Senczyszyn and Haebig added a third title to their collection, joining Mallory Fox and Natalie Keshemberg to win the 400 freestyle relay with a record time of 3:28.12, beating the previous record of 3:29.26 set by Milton in 2012.
Rachel Munson of Shorewood also successfully defended the two titles she won in 2013 with a win in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke with times of 2:03.02 and 1:01.70, respectively. Other two-time winners include the DeForest trio of Mikaela Barger, Erin Fons, and Gabby Loeck, who were members of the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams. They teamed with Emma Blackdeer to win the medley relay in a time of 1:47.69, and they added Katie Burgerner to win the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:39.71.
Madison Tew of New Berlin West regained the crown in 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.67 after finishing runner-up the past two seasons. She won the title as a freshman in 2011.
Ginger Lingard of Edgewood had a record-setting performance in winning the diving championship for the second consecutive season. Her score of 530.00 shattered the record of 451.10 she set in the State Meet last year.
Katie Coughlin of Baraboo improved on her runner-up finish a year ago to win the gold in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.56.
Grafton’s title is its fourth in program history. Edgewood finished runner-up with 254 points, and DeForest was third with 203 points.