THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 54th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 10-11, at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium.
ADMISSION TICKETS: The WIAA uses GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $9 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. To purchase tickets, visit the WIAA website at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets.
MEET INFORMATION: The Division 2 championships will be held Friday, with the Division 1 championships to follow on Saturday. The Division 2 diving competition begins at 1:30 p.m., and the swimming finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. The Division 1 diving competition is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the swimming events to begin at 2:30 p.m. The swimming events will run consecutively following the first event's starting time on the respective days. Here is the order of events (all events in yards):
Order of Events:
1. Diving
2. 200 Medley Relay
3. 200 Freestyle
4. 200 Individual Medley
5. 50 Freestyle
6. 100 Butterfly
7. 100 Freestyle
8. 500 Freestyle
9. 200 Freestyle Relay
10. 100 Backstroke
11. 100 Breaststroke
12. 400 Freestyle Relay
MEET LIVE ON WIAA.TV: Every event of the WIAA State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a consumer subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for $11.99 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv and click on the subscription link. Archived streams of the events will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: In Division 1, each event winner from six sectionals and the next 18 fastest times or scores in the events from all sectionals combined will be added to the heats in each event. In Division 2, each event winner and the next 12 fastest times or scores from all of the four sectionals combined qualified.
BY THE NUMBERS: There were 138 teams sponsoring girls swimming and diving this fall, including 83 in Division 1 and 55 in Division 2.
LAST YEAR: Arrowhead captured the Division 1 team championship by compiling 338.5 points. Runner-up Brookfield East finished with 285.5 points. Edgewood won the Division 2 team championship for essentially the eighth year in a row including the alternate season in 2020-21. The Crusaders scored 350 points, which was 183 points more than runner-up Whitefish Bay with 167 points.
MEET HISTORY: The WIAA began girls swimming and diving championships in 1970 and moved to a two-division format in 1992. Madison area schools have dominated the championships through the years. Either Madison West or Madison Memorial won all the championships through 1983 and all but one of the Division 1 titles since the inception of the two-division format in 1992 up until 2002. Overall, Madison West has won 15 titles, and Madison Memorial has won 14. Arrowhead has captured 12 titles, while Edgewood has eight championships and Shorewood has seven.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: Three individual events and all three relays feature former champions returning to the State Meet. Among the returning champions is sophomore Ella Antoniewski of Waukesha South/Mukwonago, who is the defending champion in a pair of events. She is seeking her second consecutive title in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. She should be considered the favorite to win both those events again based on her qualifying times. Her seed time of 1:49.08 in the 200 freestyle and her 4:50.33 in the 500 freestyle are the best in those events entering the State Meet. Senior Audrey Olen of Brookfield East finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and should again compete for a medal with the second swiftest time to Antoniewski at 1:51.85. There are a number of challengers to Antoniewski in the 500 freestyle, including senior Kennedy Rainwater of Brookfield Central, who is a four-time qualifier. She placed fourth last season, fifth in 2021 and ninth in 2020. Senior Tait Haag of Middleton and sophomore Bridget Corro of Muskego are also in position to medal after placing fifth and sixth a year ago, respectively. The other individual returning champion is senior Maggie Wanezak of Brookfield East, who is back to defend the crowns she won the past two years in the 100 backstroke after finishing runner-up in 2020. Her seed time of 52.21 is more than three seconds faster than the next best qualifying performance. Other experienced swimmers are that placed in the top 10 last season are seeking to contend for a medal in the event. Among those are senior Elizabeth Beam of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial, who was runner-up last year, fourth in 2021 and ninth in 2020; sophomore Emmy Meyer of Muskego, who was third in 2022; senior Karlee Marusik of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial, who was fourth last year, 16th in 2021 and seventh in 2020; senior Isabelle Barger of Germantown who was fifth last year and 12th in 2021; and sophomore Klare Pilger of Stevens Point, who was sixth. Wanezak is also the fastest qualifier in the 200 individual medley with a seed time of 2:01.33, which is nearly two seconds quicker than the next-fastest qualifier. Others challenging for medal finishes are a number of competitors placing in the top 10 in 2022. Among them are sophomore Haley Johnson of Arrowhead, who finished third; senior Allison Greeneway of Appleton North, who was fourth; and senior Gabi Augustyn of Eau Claire Memorial, who placed sixth. The 50 freestyle should be hotly contested with five swimmers returning from top-seven finishes in last year’s meet. Senior Olivia Wanner of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial is the top returner after placing third last year, fourth in 2021 and ninth in 2020. Senior MacKenzie Thomas of the Badger/Big Foot/Westosha Central/Williams Bay/Wilmot co-op is another four-time qualifier in the event, placing seventh last year and in 2021, and third in 2020. Other experienced swimmers competing for a title are sophomore Alyse Block of Oregon, who placed fourth last year; senior Averi Larsen of the Burlington co-op, who was fifth; and junior Jillian Holler of Madison Memorial, who was sixth the past two seasons. Wanner also possesses the quickest sectional time in the 100 freestyle at 49.82. She was third the past two seasons and sixth in 2020. To win the gold, she will need to fend off four returning swimmers that placed in the top 10, including Olen, who was sixth in the event the past two seasons. In the 100 butterfly, junior Sophia Brueggeman of Brookfield Central is the top returning qualifier after a runner-up finish last season after placing 10th in 2021. Junior Carley Larson of De Pere/West De Pere has the fastest qualifying time at 54.96 after she placed ninth two years ago. Three other returning competitors in the event looking to return to the awards stand this week are senior Isabella Gnewuch of Verona, who placed fourth in 2022; junior Julia Saxman of Germantown, who was fifth; and senior Dani Stemper of Arrowhead, who was sixth. It’s a crowded field of medal and title contenders in the 100 breaststroke as seven participants who finished in the top 10 last year have qualified again this season. Augustyn enters the meet with the fastest qualifying time of 1:03.76. Sophomore Haley Johnson of Arrowhead is the highest finisher returning after placing third last year. Among the other experienced contenders are Thomas, who placed fourth the past three seasons, and sophomore Annika Curran of Verona, who was sixth last year. In the diving competition, senior Wylde Chupich of the Badger/Big Foot/Westosha Central/Williams Bay/Wilmot co-op has finished runner-up the past two years. She enters competition with the best sectional qualifying score of 555.30. Junior Fynn Langley of Germantown is another strong contender for the championship, entering the meet with the second-best qualifying performance of 536.20 after placing third last year. Senior Clara Newman of Brookfield East also has her sights on another medal after placing fourth last season. Brookfield East is the returning champion in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. The Spartans have won the past four titles in the 200 medley relay and the past three championships in the 400 freestyle relay. They have the top qualifying time in the 200 medley relay at 1:44.27 and the third-fastest 400 freestyle relay time at 3:30.10. The Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial co-op has the fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay, turning in a sectional time of 3:28.35. Arrowhead is the returning champion in the 200 freestyle relay, but it is the Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial relay that owns the best seed time at 1:35.44.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 2: There is only one individual event to go with three relays that feature returning champions seeking additional gold medals. Senior Jordyn Davis of Jefferson/Cambridge is the returning champion in the 100 butterfly after placing 12th in 2021. She has the fifth-best qualifying time this season at 58:05. The best seed time belongs to senior Savannah Acker of Sauk Prairie at 56.54. Along with Davis, other experienced swimmers who earned medals last year seeking the gold medal in the event this season are senior Paige Dekiep of Tomahawk, who was runner-up a year ago; junior Annie Devine of the Kohler co-op, who placed 3rd; and junior Makayla Bazeley of Whitewater, who was fifth. Acker has also posted the division’s best qualifying time of 56.44 in the 100 backstroke after a runner-up finish in 2022 and placing 10th in 2021. Davis, a four-year qualifier in the event, is the only other returning medal winner from a year ago, placing sixth after finishing 11th in 2021 and 12th in the 2020-21 alternate season. Sophomore Anne Dickinson of Whitefish Bay has posted the fastest qualifying times in both the 50 and 200 freestyles. She enters action with a 50 freestyle time of 24.08 after a runner-up finish last season. Among the other returning participants back for a shot at a State title are junior Faith Resch of Wittenberg-Birnamwood, who finished ninth last season; as well as sophomores Cheyenne Borroughs of Stoughton and Reese Dickman of Wittenberg-Birnamwood, who tied for 10th place. Dickenson will also contend for the title in the 200 freestyle with her event-best time of 1:52.17. Among the returning challengers for the gold are senior Sienna Nitke of Ashwaubenon, who finished third last season; senior Abi Winnicki of Rhinelander, who was fourth; junior Sylvia Thompson of Edgewood, who placed sixth; and Bazeley, who was seventh. Both Winnicki and Nitke are among the top contenders in the100 freestyle as well. Winnicki is the swiftest qualifier with a time of 51.67 after she placed fourth in the event last year, sixth in 2021 and third in 2020. Nitke was the top finisher last season returning to the field this year after placing second to go with a third-place finish in 2021 and a fourth-place in the 2020-21 alternate season. Senior Zoey Rank of Jefferson/Cambridge is among the top contenders in a pair of events. She has the fastest qualifying time in the 200 individual medley at 2:09.68 after placing fifth a year ago and seventh in 2021. Senior Kenzie Stute of Baraboo finished eighth in the event last year and 12th in 2021. She should be among the medalists with the second-fastest qualifying time of 2:12.20. Rank attempts to improve on her runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke last year after her fourth-place standing in 2021. However, she’ll need to contend with sophomore Christine Borroughs of Stoughton, who has recorded the best sectional time of 1:04.64 after placing right behind Rank in third place last season. The event features eight of the top nine finishers. Among them are three other medal-winners, including Stute, who placed fourth; senior Amber Hess of the Kohler/Sheboygan Falls/Sheboygan Lutheran co-op, who was fifth last season and 12th in 2021; and junior Nadia Blackmore of South Milwaukee, who finished sixth last year. Junior Erin Schuch of Ashwaubenon is not only the top returning swimmer in the 500 freestyle with her fourth-place finish in 2022, she is also the fastest qualifier in the distance event with a time of 5:07.65. Among the other contenders are three top-10 finishers from last year’s meet, including junior Sylvia Thompson of Edgewood, who medaled with her fifth-place finish to go with a fourth-place finish in 2021. A number of experienced divers return to the event in pursuit of a championship. Junior Rianna Dobbie of Whitnall is the top returner following last year’s fourth-place performance, which came on the heels of a seventh-place standing in 2021. She also possesses the top qualifying performance from the sectionals last week with a score of 449.50. Her Whitnall teammate, junior Chelsea McDowell, placed fifth a year ago and 12th in 2021, and senior Maya Forcier of Edgewood medaled with a sixth-place performance last year. Two others that could be in contention for the title are senior Amber Hess of the Kohler/Sheboygan Falls/Sheboygan Lutheran, who was seventh last year, eighth in 2021 and 15th in 2020; and junior Emily Wagner of New Berlin Eisenhower, who was ninth in 2022 and 10th in 2021. The Edgewood 200 freestyle relay seeks its ninth consecutive championship, including the alternate season. The Crusaders have the fourth-fastest seed time in the event at 1:41.61. Rhinelander has the top qualifying time in the event at 1:38.84. The Crusaders’ 400 freestyle relay is attempting to win its seventh straight title, including the alternate season. The Crusaders are seeking their third consecutive gold performance in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. They enter the State Meet with the third-best qualifying time in the medley relay at 1:50.63, and the fifth-fastest time in the 400 freestyle at 3:44.68. Rhinelander possesses the fastest qualifying times in both those events at 1:46.91 and 3:35.33, respectively.
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NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All rosters and qualifiers are available on the girls swimming and diving Tournament Information pages on the WIAA website. Additional information about the State Girls Swimming & Diving Championships can be downloaded or reviewed on the WIAA website and on the WIAA Media Center.
NEED RESULTS?: Results of the State Tournament are available on the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org by accessing the girls swimming and diving tournament information page.
STATE MEET APPAREL: WIAA-licensed apparel is available online for the 2023 State Girls Swimming & Diving Championships. The deadline to pre-order and customize apparel for pick-up at the State Meet is Nov. 6. Visit the WIAA store at https://tier1sports.com/product/2023-wiaa-girls-swimming-and-diving-state-apparel/. Apparel will also be available for purchase and customization onsite as well as online after the event.
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