Posted: Nov. 10, 2009 |(0) Comments

Whitefish Bay girls swim coach Jim Davis likes laying it right on the line with his athletes.

So, when he discovered that his squad was down by a very narrow margin going into the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, in what was a highly entertaining and competitive WIAA Division 2 sectional meet at Plymouth on Saturday, he looked at the members of his relay and simply said: "We win this race, we win the meet."

"He's always doing calculations like that," said Maggie Smith, one of three seniors on the team and the anchor of the relay. "… At that moment, all of our heart rates soared. The pressure was really on. Even some of the parents said they could see the color draining out of our faces.

"But I tell you, it certainly got our adrenaline going!"

In the right way, as the Blue Dukes crew of Smith, Lauren Van Loon, and Annie and Elissa Maercklein turned in a school record of 3:36.74 in winning the race, placing themselves as the top seed in this Friday's WIAA State Division 2 state meet and giving Bay the team title in the sectional, 326-317 over Shorewood.

Senior saves best for last

For Smith, the race was a revelation. A powerful 50-yard freestyler, she had struggled badly in the 100 free all fall, clocking pedestrian times of no better than 57 seconds or so, but on the anchor leg of the relay, she turned in a blazing 52.01 clocking.

"I just looked up at the clock and said 'Where did that come from?'" she said.

From inside, from the gut, said Davis.

"All year long, with all our ups and downs, I was just telling them to stay together, stay together," he said, "and here we were in this meet. We were fourth, we were second, we were first, then back to fourth again. I tell you, it was such an outstanding day. We knew how good Sturgeon Bay and Shorewood were.

"I just told the kids to go out there and do what they were capable of … and it turned out to be a total team effort, with everybody hitting their times."

Coach of the year?

Davis' friend and Brown Deer/University School co-coach Bob Van Lieshout, couldn't help but laugh at the stunning turn of events. His team was sixth in the 14-school meet.

"If there's a coach of the year in Wisconsin, it's got to be Jim Davis," he said. "Look at what his kids did in the 400 free relay alone. That's sick! Just amazing! (laughs)."

Even Shorewood coach Rob McCabe was impressed.

"I thought we gave our best effort Saturday but I'm willing to admit it was a little heartbreaking to finish second after leading after the 100 breaststroke event," he said. "I give a lot of credit and merit to the Whitefish Bay girls. I mean these girls were on fire particularly their 400 freestyle relay. After seeing that and their final time it took away much of the sting involved."

And so did the number of state meet qualifiers the three teams will be sending to UW-Madison's Natatorium on Friday for the Division 2 state meet. The winning Blue Dukes qualified eight individuals and three relay teams, while Shorewood advanced six and three, and Brown Deer/USM will send three individuals and one relay.

Diving will be held at 2:30 p.m. and swimming finals at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

In addition to the top-seeded 400 free relay, Smith will also hold down the top spot in the 50 free as will the Blue Dukes 200 medley relay team of Maercklein, Maercklein, Annelise Sprau and Smith. Smith has finished second in the 50 in each of the last two seasons.

For the Greyhounds, Clare Chamberlain is the second seed in both the 200 individual medley and the 500 free, and Elli Sellinger is the third seed in the 200 free. Chamberlain is a two-time champ in the 200 IM, but Milton senior Jennah Haney has the fastest qualifying time.

Other qualifiers for the Blue Dukes include Van Loon in the 200 and 500 freestyles, Annie Maercklein in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Elissa Maercklein in the 100 free and the 100 backstroke and Sprau in the 100 butterfly. The 200 free relay team of Claire Riordan, Sprau, Van Loon and Smith also earned a spot in the field.

For the Greyhounds also qualifying is Sellinger in the 100 free, Lauren Lanphere in the 200 IM and Ellen Stello in the 100 butterfly. The Greyhounds 200 medley relay team includes Molly Hayes, Stello, Chamberlain and Hallie Sanders; while the 200 free crew is made up of Sellinger, Lanphere, Sanders and Chamberlain; and the 400 free unit includes Stello, Lanphere, Hayes and Sellinger.

Meanwhile, for the Falcons, both Lauren Isnard and Emily Melvin overcame injury and illness (Isnard had a bad landing at the Woodland Conference meet the previous week) to advance in diving, while Caroline Roos earned a spot in the 100 butterfly and the 200 free relay team of Caroline Bridges, Nicole Hornslein, Roos and Dani Gross also made it home.

The Falcons had one major disappointment, as that same relay quartet missed out on a spot in the 400 free race by just .05 of a second despite a program record 3:47.67 clocking.

"Everybody held together so well," Van Lieshout said. "I was so proud of these girls."

Division 2 sectional

Blue Dukes outlast Greyhounds for title at Plymouth

TEAM SCORES (top eight): Whitefish Bay 326, Shorewood 317, Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol 312, Plymouth 268, Grafton 230, Brown Deer/USM 174, Port Washington 156 and Wauwatosa West 138.

STATE SYNOPSIS: Bay has five seniors, including Maggie Smith, Annie Maercklein, Lauren Van Loon, Hannah Tiedt and Lisa Nikolau, who have been part of three WIAA sectional championships and two state runner-up slots (2006 and 2007).

Quotes:

"Everyone was really hitting their times and dropping so much last week that we're going to have to find a way to hold on next week." - Jim Davis, Whitefish Bay head coach

"We are looking to be in the mix this coming Friday. I think we'll be in the conversation at least for taking home a trophy. It is always interesting to see just how much teams had to risk just to qualify for the state meet." - Rob McCabe, Shorewood head coach