Amy Marty
One to watch in the 100-yard butterfly: Madison West’s Katrina Marty (in yellow cap).
When the best high school swimmers jump into the pool at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium on Nov. 11, for the girls’ Division 1 state swim meet, teams from seven of the Big Eight Conference’s 10 schools will be among the 51 represented.
They include defending state champion Middleton, plus Madison Memorial, Madison West, Sun Prairie, Verona Area/Mount Horeb, Beloit Memorial and Janesville Craig. Five of those teams placed in the top 10 last year.
In fact, at least three of the top eight schools at every Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state meet dating back to at least 1999 have come from the Big Eight. No other conference in the state has demonstrated that kind of dominance for that long.
And it will continue this year.
“Nobody is going to beat Middleton,” says Nancy Harms, girls’ swimming head coach at Sun Prairie High School, which nabbed second place in the Big Eight Conference meet a couple weeks ago and is hoping to improve on its sixth-place finish at the 2016 state meet. “That team is a force to be reckoned with.”
Middleton boasts so much depth that it’s difficult to single out individual swimmers. That said, Cardinals receiving high seeds at state include senior Caroline Hippen, sophomore Gabriela Pierobon Mays and freshman Ally Silvestri. The reigning champs, however, will face fast competition from Arrowhead, Cedarburg and Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial.
Other area swimmers to keep an eye on include Madison West junior Katrina Marty in the 100-yard butterfly, Verona Area/Mount Horeb senior Sophie Henshue in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle and junior Grace Bennin in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Sun Prairie freshman Sophie Fiske in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle — the state’s highest-seeded freshman in both events.
Madison-area teams are making a big splash at the Division 2 level, too, as Madison Edgewood seeks a state three-peat at the Nat on Nov. 10. The Crusaders are led by seniors Kelly Rodriguez in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle and Jenna Silvestri in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.
McFarland has finished runner-up at state the past two years and — led by junior Alex Moderski, the top seed in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle — seeks to finally unseat Edgewood.
“Madison is one of the pockets of the state where swimmers are faster,” Harms says, also pointing to the Milwaukee suburbs. “Times for qualifying have gotten faster, and with the increase in girls doing more strength training, swimming has become more competitive.”
