100th WIAA boys swim and dive meet concludes with historic area finishes

WAUKESHA - In a recent WIAA social media post celebrating the leadup to the 100th annual WIAA State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships this weekend, a results sheet from the very first WIAA state meet on May 23, 1925, was shared. In that image, the eye is certainly drawn to low team scores of the seven-event meet in which six teams competed, or even some interesting precursors for modern event names such as "Fancy Diving" or the "100 yd. Crawl Stroke."

What stood out more than that though to casual and diehard fans of the sport alike were three Milwaukee City schools in the top five placements: Milwaukee West Division winning the meet with 29 points, Milwaukee Riverside in fourth with two points and Milwaukee Lincoln tied for fifth with one point.

In recent years, Milwaukee City Conference schools that compete at the state level of swim and dive have been fewer and further between. However, one Milwaukee Reagan athlete made history on Saturday as the first swim and dive team member in the program's eight-year history to qualify for state. Junior Mark Vanderbilt finished 22nd at state in the 100-yard backstroke in 55.54 seconds, and in doing so made a pioneering step for a program looking to build a legacy in the next 100 years of WIAA state swim and dive.

"I’m really happy because I worked really hard to get here. I owe my coach everything. He’s the reason I’m here right now," Vanderbilt said.

That fourth-year coach, Brandt Champion, credited Vanderbilt for showing his teammates what is possible in the years to come.

"We are not underdogs, we belong here, we have this opportunity. The conversations that I’ve had in the last week with them are like, 'OK, what can we do in the future to maintain this?' And I’m super pumped for that," Champion said.

Vanderbilt joined Milwaukee King Co-op state qualifiers Ben Wozniak (ninth in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle) and Mosley Patzke (19th in the 100 backstroke) in representing the City Conference at state this weekend, but Champion hopes a few standouts lead to greater program momentum.

"Long term I’d like to bring two relays and a few individuals, and I think just starting to think of the City as a place that is competitive once again, I know that sounds like a little negative to say, but I think it’s one of those things where historically people have written off the City schools, and I think vision-wise, I’d like to start changing that narrative," Champion said.

Vanderbilt hopes to bring teammates along as well in his senior year by sharing the wisdom of state experience and the drive that got him there.

"He gets other people to do it because he’s so enthusiastic about working hard. In practice I will put a hard set in front of him, and he’s like ‘Let’s do this.’ And there’s never a complaint and that’s what he does as a leader," Champion said.

Huettl, Arneson overcome health struggles to finish 1-2 in dive

Despite entering the state meet with the top qualifying seed score of 501.90, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial junior Brady Huettl felt like he had something to prove after laboring through sectionals. Shin splints in both legs that had plagued him throughout the season required both tape to sturdy, and a renewed mental focus on his execution through the pain.

"I just had to think about me and the board, and just doing my work, getting my stuff done and just going as hard as I can until I’m done," Huettl said.

Huettl was also no longer flying below the radar as the emerging freshman that finished 11th at state or even the breakout sophomore that took third last year. As the highest returning finisher and top seed, he was now the target others were striving to beat. Ultimately Huettl was up to the task, defending the top seed with a 481.35 finals score to earn a state title.

"It’s been fun to work through all of this and coming up from freshman and sophomore year, it’s definitely cool to take the next step up there and just be a leader now," Huettl said.

The junior added that a title defense for next year begins with rest and recovery before he returns to the hard work that he says got him this far.

"I’ve just got to keep working hard, get new dives, just keep doing everything I’m doing now, just go harder," Huettl said.

Following Huettl in second with a finals score of 429.05 to narrowly edge past Oshkosh North Co-op sophomore River Reeves (427.50) was Kenosha Tremper's Evan Arneson. The senior spent three months out of the pool in the leadup to this season after a cardiac issue he first noticed toward the end of his junior year of school.

"I noticed something during gym class, just a weird heart rhythm and it started happening every few months," Arneson said. "I stopped doing a lot of athletic activities because that’s what would spark up this condition."

That break continued into September of this past fall, when one day Arneson's heart rate rose to over 237 beats per minute in an incident that sent him to the hospital for temporary medical intervention. He was diagnosed with supraventicular tachycardia (SVT), a rapid heartbeat that occurs when the normal electrical impulses of the heart are disrupted. After a procedure to rectify the condition at the end of October, Arneson still faced mental barriers to trusting his body to react regularly to athletics.

"There was a lot of left over anxiety from it, because you’d worry a lot when something like that happens for many hours," Arneson said. "I was really unsure at the start of the season."

Arneson steadily regained his strength and confidence after three months away from diving, which culminated in a second-place medal at state on Saturday.

"I couldn’t have asked for any better," Arneson said. "I took a lot of time at this, many hours every day, and I’m just happy, really happy with how it went. Give all thanks to Jesus, all glory to God."

The two friends, Huettl and Arneson, had grown closer over the past year and were also thankful to share the spotlight with one another as well.

"He’s super happy about it, it’s just great to have one of my friends right next to me just through all of this, through everything, good dives, bad dives, it’s just amazing," Huettl said.

Also reaching the podium in the dive was Franklin sophomore Cole Waldron (364.55) in sixth, while Marquette freshman Brij Chadha narrowly missed the podium in seventh (362.75).

Muskego's Jewell wins gold in first year of racing 500 freestyle

Muskego junior Carter Jewell said after winning the 500 freestyle Saturday that if someone had told him he was even going to race the event a couple years ago, he would have told them they were crazy. Leading up to junior year, Jewell fancied himself more of a sprint swimmer. That preference for shorter races did not show in the final few splits of his 500 freestyle win (4:25.75) Saturday. Identical 27.08 second splits followed by a 26.63, a 26.70 and a 26.43 over the final five laps seemed to only indicate strength as the race wore on for Jewell. The newcomer to the event earned the top seed based on his qualifying time of 4:31.88, but was nonetheless anxious to face the reigning state record holder in Hudson senior Andrew Hanson.

"I just kind of tried to hold my own out there. I’m pretty proud of that," Jewell said. "I've just got to thank my coach, Dan (Wohl) is aweseome, I don't know where I'd be without that guy."

The 500 was not at all on Jewell's radar prior to an experience with club swimming last offseason.

"I wasn’t really like I wanted to try it, I mean I like the event, but coach threw me in it in a club meet, and I pretty much did the same thing, did really well and I was like ‘Hey maybe I can do this?' " Jewell said.

That momentum carried into state for Jewell, who also finished second (1:37.86) in the 200 freestyle to Hanson, who Jewell referred to in the respectful parlance of our times as a 'dog.'

"That was a fast slip, and I’m happy to be 1:37 and I’m happy to race against people that are awesome and I just can’t wait for what’s next," Jewell said.

Joining Jewell on the podium from the area were Arrowhead senior Anakin Fischer (4:31.73) in third and Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial junior Kyle Johnson (4:41.27) in sixth.

Arrowhead comes one point shy of runner-up in team standings

While first place was well at hand for Middleton entering the final few events, the race for second came down to the final 400 freestyle relay. Arrowhead and Madison Memorial were within such a close margin that more than a single place difference between them in the final relay held the weight of the runner-up trophy. The Warhawks relay team of junior Matthew Baumann, Fischer, sophomore Dean Amble and senior Mateo Haeuser finished second (3:07.32) to Middleton (3:04.50), but Memorial (3:07.61) stayed close enough in third to hang on to second place in the team standings by a 178-177 margin.

The result was a disappointing conclusion for a Warhawks squad with several notable individual and relay finishes. Fischer also took fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:39.39), in addition to his third in the 500 freestyle. Junior Tanner Hansen finished sixth in the 200 IM (1:54.42) and eighth in the 100 breaststroke. The 200 medley relay team of Baumann, Hansen, junior Alan Steinlage and Haeuser took sixth (1:35.16), and the 200 freestyle relay team of Amble, sophomore Klein Jacobsen, Hansen and Fischer took fifth (1:26.48).

Other area podium highlights

• Franklin's 200 medley relay team including: senior Mason Bruhn, junior Jack Paull, sophomore Enzo Velasco and sophomore Gabriel Cheng finished third (1:34.30). Bruhn also won the 100 backstroke (49.08), and finished third in the 100 butterfly (49.81). Paull also took second in the 200 IM (1:51.32), and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (56.23).

• West Bend West/East's 200 medley relay team consisting of: sophomore Andrew Gundrum, junior Weston Keppert, sophomore Dawson Walters and sophomore Wesley Aleithe finished fifth (1:34.85). Walters also took fifth in the 100 butterfly (50.31) and Gundrum was sixth in the 100 backstroke (51.40).

• Hartford/Slinger sophomore Finn Nelson took sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:41.59).

• Waukesha West/Mukwonago freshman Ryan Wanner finished third in the 200 IM (1:51.36) while narrowly missing the podium in the 100 breaststroke (seventh, 56.99).

• Brookfield Central/East's 200 freestyle relay team including: senior Tom Bergin, junior Caleb Smith, sophomore Luke Thomas and freshman Logan Loppnow won the event (1:25.32) by less than a quarter of a second over Middleton (1:25.44). A 400 freestyle relay team of Bergin, Smith, freshman Eric Hou and Loppnow also made the podium in sixth (3:09.17). Bergin also finished third individually in the 50 freestyle (20.89). Loppnow (46.53) and Bergin (46.57) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 100 freestyle as well.

• Racine Case Co-op junior Brady Moore finished fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.00) and 100 freestyle (46.25).

• Homestead junior Noah Van Zuidam finished fourth (49.82) in the 100 butterfly.

• Burlington Co-op junior Trey Smith took fifth in the 100 backstroke (51.18).

Team results

1, Middleton, 273; 2, Madison Memorial, 178; 3, Arrowhead, 177; 4, Brookfield Central/East, 138; 5, D.C. Everest, 136.5; 6, Sun Prairie East, 132; 7, Hudson, 126; 8, Franklin, 120; 9, Madison West, 119; 10, West Bend West/East, 99; 11, Verona Area, 90; 12, Muskego, 81; 12, Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, 81; 14, Neenah, 62; 15, Sun Prairie West, 51; 16, Menomonee Falls/Hamilton, 45; 17, Badger Co-op, 37; 18, Oregon, 33; 19, Waunakee, 31; 20, Waukesha West/Mukwonago, 30; 20, Racine Case Co-op, 30; 22, Hartford Union/Slinger, 29; 23, Beloit Memorial, 28; 23, Homestead, 28; 25, Kenosha Tremper, 22; Sheboygan North/Kohler, 19; 27, Oshkosh North Co-op, 16; 27, Milwaukee King Co-op, 16; 29, Burlington Co-op, 14; 29, Chippewa Falls/McDonell Catholic, 14; 29, Appleton West Co-op, 14; 32, Eau Claire Memorial/North, 13; 33, Marquette University, 13; 34, Kenosha Indian Trail, 8; 35, Marshfield, 6; 36, Sheboygan South/Falls, 4; 36, Wauwatosa West/East, 4; 38, New Berlin West/Eisenhower, 3; 39, Stevens Point, 2.5; 40, La Crosse Logan Co-op, 1.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 100th WIAA swim and dive meet concludes with historic area finishes