THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 48th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 10-11, at the Natatorium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices for the meet are $6 and $1 for children 6-years old and under.
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 Friday at 2:30 p.m. The swimming finals are scheduled to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Division 1 diving competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the swimming events to begin at 3 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 7. 100 Freestyle
2. 200 Medley Relay 8. 500 Freestyle
3. 200 Freestyle 9. 200 Freestyle Relay
4. 200 Individual Medley 10. 100 Backstroke
5. 50 Freestyle 11. 100 Breaststroke
6. 100 Butterfly 12. 400 Freestyle Relay
MEET LIVE ON NFHS NETWORK: 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 only $9.95 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription image in the middle of the page. Archived streams of the events will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament without requirement of a subscription.
LAST YEAR: Middleton won the title in Division 1 by scoring 265 points, Verona/Mount Horeb was second with 215.5 points. In Division 2, Edgewood captured the crown for the second straight season by scoring 337 points. McFarland finished second for the second year in a row, compiling 224 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 11 titles, and Shorewood has seven championships.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: Seven individual events and all three relays feature their 2016 champion returning to defend titles. Senior Lillie Hosack of Cedarburg returns to the qualifying field after winning the title in the 200-yard individual medley the last two seasons and placing fifth in 2014. She set the State record in the event last season. Her qualifying time of 2:05.82 ranks third among this year’s competitors. Sophomore Emma Lasecki of Bay Port possesses the top seed time in the IM at 2:05.24. Junior Grace Bennin of Verona/Mount Horeb won the 100 breaststroke last season after a runner-up finish in 2015. She’s back in the event with the top qualifying time of 1:04.03. Junior Katrina Marty of Madison West is the defending champion in the 100 backstroke after placing ninth in 2015. She makes her return this year with the top qualifying time in the event at 54.56. Hosack has also qualified in the backstroke after placing second last season and third in 2015. Sophomore Gabriela Pierobon Mays of Middleton swam to the championship in the 100 butterfly last season as a freshman. She qualifies in the event this season with a time of 56.46, which ranks fourth. Marty, who placed runner-up last year and fourth in 2015, is clocked with the swiftest qualifying time this year at 55.55. Senior Gwen Gustafson of Brookfield Central is the returning champion in the 50 freestyle. Her qualifying time of 24.24 ranks her seventh among this season’s qualifiers. Bennin has the top 50 freestyle qualifying time at 23.52 following a runner-up finish last year and a fourth-place result in 2015. Senior Abby Cabush of Arrowhead seeks to recapture gold in the 200 freestyle after winning the event last season to go with a runner-up finish in 2014. She has turned in the sixth-fastest qualifying time this season with a time of 1:50.30. Senior Julia Stupar of Stevens Point owns the best time in the event with a 1:52.87 at sectionals after placing seventh in 2016. Stupar also possesses the best qualifying time in the 100 freestyle at 51.11 following an eighth-place finish a season ago. Junior Cora Mack of Middleton is the highest placing competitor returning to the 100 freestyle this year with her runner-up finish last season. She qualifies this year with a time of 52.94. Sophomore Alyssa Graves of Arrowhead finished second in the 500 freestyle last year. She has the second-best qualifying time this season at 5:02.59. That time is a couple of seconds behind senior Sophie Henshue of Verona/Mount Horeb, who has the best seed time at 5:00.41. Sophomore Av Osero of Neenah returns in an attempt to defend the title she won last year in the diving competition. Her qualifying performance of 495.90 ranks second among the qualifiers. Senior Adriana Avila of Cedarburg possess the best qualifying mark with a score of 509.35. The Middleton 200 and 400 freestyle relays return in pursuit of defending the crowns they earned last season. They come into this weekend’s action with the swiftest qualifying times at 1:36.54 and 3:29.89, respectively. Middleton also has the fastest time entering the State meet in the 200 medley relay at 1:44.40. They will need to outrace defending champion Cedarburg for the title, which has a qualifying time of 1:44.98.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 2: Four individual events and two relays feature last year’s returning champions. One event, the 100 freestyle, has its 2015 champion returning to regain the title. Junior Alexandra Moderski of McFarland won the championship in the 100 freestyle and set a State record two seasons ago and finished runner-up last year. She’s back in the event this season possessing the fastest qualifying time at 52:06. Moderski also owns the Division 2 record in the 50 freestyle, an event she seeks a third straight title in with the fastest seed time of 23.47. Senior Kelly Rodriguez of Edgewood is the two-time champion in the 200 freestyle. She appears to be in position to win her third straight title with the event’s fastest qualifying time of 1:52.97. She also placed fourth in the event in 2014. Senior Bella Passamani of New Berlin Eisenhower seeks to earn her second straight gold medal in the 100 butterfly. Her qualifying time ranks second among the competitors at 57.27. Junior Katie Hayes of Brown Deer/University School, who was runner-up last season, possesses the top qualifying time in the butterfly at 57.05. Passamani is the fastest qualifier in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.24. Her second-place finish in the event last year makes her the top returning swimmer. Senior Jenna Silvestri of Edgewood is the reigning champion in the 100 breaststroke. In addition to her title last season, she placed fourth in 2016 and sixth in 2015. She possesses the quickest qualifying time in the event this year at 1:06.17. She also owns the best qualifying time in the 200 individual medley at 2:06.10 after placing runner-up last year, which makes her the highest finisher returning in the event. Likewise, junior Maddie Guman of New Berlin Eisenhower is the top returning finisher in the 100 backstroke, having placed third last season. She has the second-fastest qualifying time this year at 58.90. Freshman Mekenzie Hammer of Monroe/New Glarus is the top qualifier in the backstroke with a time of 57.80. The competition for the diving title appears to be between a pair of experienced contenders. Senior Nikki Benedict of Monona Grove is the top qualifier with a sectional performance of 445.65. She was runner-up last season after a third-place finish in 2015 and a seventh-place finish in 2014. Senior Dailey Albino of New Berlin West enters the State meet with the second-best qualifying performance at 434.65. She was third last year, fourth in 2015 and sixth in 2014. The Edgewood 200 freestyle relay attempts to win for the third straight time with the event’s fastest sectional performance of 1:37.46. The Crusaders’ 400 freestyle relay seeks its second straight crown after setting the Division 2 record last season. They enter the meet with the field’s second-best qualifying time of 3:35.18. New Berlin Eisenhower possesses the swiftest time at 3:35.06. Furthermore, Edgewood has the best seed time in the 200 medley relay with a 1:46.09 after placing third a season ago.
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NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All qualifiers, lane assignments and qualifying standards are available on the girls swimming and diving page on the WIAA website.
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 at www.wiaawi.org/Sports/GirlsSwimmingDiving.aspx.