Rolling in the Deep: South/Mukwonago wins title

Posted: Nov. 15, 2011

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Russ Pulvermacher

Waukesha South/Mukwonago's Abby Jagdfeld swims to second place in the 200-yard freestyle at the state meet.

Russ Pulvermacher

Waukesha South/Mukwonago's Abby Jagdfeld swims to second place in the 200-yard freestyle at the state meet.

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Abby Jagdfeld went first.

"I got up on the block, and I was so pumped," the Mukwonago sophomore said, reflecting on the moments before the 400-yard freestyle relay race to close the WIAA Division 1 swimming and diving meet at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium on Saturday. "I made sure it was a really good start, and I was racing Kate Jones of Arrowhead. I really wanted to beat her by a little bit. When the next person dove in, we were all just screaming."

On the pool's perimeter, Lizzy Baertlein, another Mukwonago sophomore whose backstroke performance earlier in the meet was a key moment for the Waukesha South/Mukwonago co-op, watched intensely.

"All of us were just standing along the side of the pool, all holding hands," she said. "We were all crying because we knew how close it was and how everything came down to that. From the beginning of the meet, every race led up to that perfectly. It was nerve-racking."

Sara Zemanovic went last.

"It was hard to remember what was even going through my mind," the Mukwonago senior said. "When I dove in, I knew the girls that went ahead of me gave me a good enough lead that it would be OK for us. I was just hoping Muskego could take second."

History made

The situation was a rarity for a team that has enjoyed so many lopsided victories this year, save for the meets when conference rival Arrowhead is involved: a meet that was coming down to the final race. The top seed in the 400-yard freestyle relay, South/Mukwonago knew if it won the race, the school would at least earn a share of its first ever WIAA Division 1 state meet.

But if another high-powered squad, Muskego, could edge out Arrowhead for second place, the Blackshirts would win the title outright by a narrow two-point margin.

"We knew that Muskego had four really good freestylers on the relay, and Arrowhead had Kate Jones and (multi-event champion) Haley Pietila," South coach Blaine Carlson said. "We felt pretty comfortable that Abby and Molly (Manchon) could match up with (Arrowhead's) two best girls, and then it would come down to who had the most in the end. You want to make sure your starts are safe but not so safe that you're giving up extra ground. Fortunately, it ended up working out in our favor."

Jagdfeld, Manchon, Natalie Clausen and Zemanovic turned in a time of 3:28.61, and Muskego touched out the Warhawks, 3:29.67 to 3:30.27. The razor-thin margin was enough for the Blackshirts, which scored 293 points to Arrowhead's 291.

The Warhawks, three-time defending state champions, had beaten South/Mukwonago in every meet this season prior to the sectional, when South/Mukwonago took first place and qualified 21 entries for the state meet.

"The boys at South have historically won a bunch of times, but the girls have never won," Carlson said. "South won in a trial meet when they first started girls swimming in the WIAA, but the next year was the first official meet and they haven't won. It was good for them to hear about the historical perspective and the opportunity in front of them to make history."

Solo standouts

South/Mukwonago was the top seed in the medley and 200-yard freestyle relays as well. Arrowhead won them both, but the Blackshirts made up for it with a series of strong performances everywhere else.

Kayla Skenandore repeated as butterfly champion, completing the race in 55.14 seconds. She was shy of her seed time of 54.92 and the goal of a state record (54.55), but she nonetheless came away with a huge accomplishment.

"She wanted to go faster, but the sectional meet is very fast," Carlson said. "There's a sense of calm when it's at home (in the South pool), and there's not as much pressure in the sectional. I thought she handled herself great."

Jagdfeld and Manchon went second and third in the 200-yard freestyle, and the pair went 3-4 in the 100 free. Skenandore added a third in the 50 free just ahead of the butterfly, and then Baertlein delivered a monster showing in the backstroke, taking third place in 56.65 and edging out Jones (56.98).

"I just tried to calm myself down and not let the other girls get inside my head because I know they're older than me and have more experience," Baertlein said. "Every point mattered; it came down to two points. When someone had an off race or wasn't where we wanted to be, we didn't get down and kept going."

Baertlein's time was her personal best by almost a full second.

With only minimal entries in the backstroke and breaststroke leading into the final race, Jagdfeld said she had a feeling it was going to come down to the wire.

"We went into the meet believing we could beat them," Jagdfeld said of Arrowhead. "They definitely believed they could beat us. They were the heavy favorite, but we went into the meet positive and knew we could do it."

Jagdfeld watched as Zemanovic came home with the state title in the 400 relay, and her focus quickly shifted.

"Once it was clear we were probably going to win, we were all screaming for Muskego because we needed them to get a second place finish," Jagdfeld said. "Muskego out-touched Haley Pietila, and it was one of the best moments of my life. The people on my relay were all screaming and hugging each other. We were all screaming. It was so much fun."

Indians input

Megan Andersen, one of five swimmers entered in the 500-yard freestyle from South/Mukwonago, took 17th place and rounded out the contributions from Mukwonago's foursome.

"The numbers have come up on the Mukwonago side, and the quality has come up, so it's been a good complement," Carlson said. "The kids get along really well, and those four girls did a great job all year. Abby's 200 freestyle was at 1:49, and there's only a handful of kids under 1:50. For her to do that as a sophomore is real impressive."

Jagdfeld's time of 1:49.89 makes her only the sixth swimmer under the 1:50 mark in state history. Muskego's Sami Pochowski (1:48.41) was close to the state record of 1:48.09, set last year.

"She's been thrown in the fire leading off these relays," Carlson said. "Sara struggled early in the meet with her two individual events and came up big on that relay at the end; she used her experience to stay calm under pressure. The first time around, kids kind of struggle with the enormity of it, especially in a team race where there's even more pressure."

Zemanovic had been itching to get back to the Natatorium after taking second to Arrowhead last year.

"We're always in a battle every year ... you know what to expect so you can prepare yourself," she said. "We've been waiting for so long to get this chance. It feels great."

State results

*Baertlein, Skogman, Skenandore, Meitz

**Jagdfeld, Manchon, Meitz, Skenandore

***Jagdfeld, Manchon, Clausen, Zemanovic