By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys swimming team did not win a single event Feb. 6 at the Southern Lakes Conference swimming meet at Whitewater High School.
But on the strength of their depth and several strong performances the Elks finished second in the seven-team field.
Elkhorn swims Saturday in a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet at Whitefish Bay High School.
The winner of each event at each sectional plus the next 12 fastest times from all sectionals advance to the WIAA Division 2 State Meet Feb. 19 at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium in Madison.
“Going in, we had only lost to Badger,” Elks coach Jamie Richardson said of the SLC meet. “You’re always hoping you can take off the No. 1 team. I think we swam well. We saw some good times and dropped more time, and that’s always the right direction to go.”
Badger Co-op beat Elkhorn 97-73 Dec. 15 in a SLC dual meet at Badger. Badger Co-op finished the SLC undefeated in dual meets (6-0) and the Elks finished 5-1.
Badger won the SLC meet with a team total of 519 points. The Elks scored 396. It must be noted that Elkhorn is a WIAA Division 2 comprised solely of swimmers from Elkhorn Area High School and Badger Co-op is a WIAA Division 1 cooperative team of swimmers from Badger, Westosha Central, Wilmot, Big Foot and Williams Bay high schools.
Brett Schmieden and Brevin Kruse each finished third in an individual event for the Elks’ best finishes.
Schmieden finished third in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.49 seconds, which Richardson said is a personal-best time. Kruse finished third in the 100 backstroke (1:01.86).
Individuals earned medals for placing better than sixth. Relays earned medals for placing better than third.
Kalib Gorecki finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.38) and posted a personal-best time. William Pyle finished fourth in the 50 freestyle (24.80) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (54.42).
Kruse, Gorecki, Schmieden and Pyle finished fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:50.41) and Pyle, Jacob Truesdale, Connor LaFavor and Radlein finished fourth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:42.77).
Logan Radlein finished fifth in the 200 individual medley (2:19.21) and sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.62).
Truesdale finished sixth in the 500 freestyle (5:39.44).
In the remaining team standings, Burlington Co-op finished third (352), Plattevile/Lancaster finished fourth (263) and Whitewater finished fifth (22). Delavan-Darien finished sixth (200) and Jefferson/Cambridge finished seventh (193).
“It’s our depth,” Richardson said of the Elks’ second-place finish. “Our number two and three people are swimming well. They beat other team’s number two and three people. That’s a huge swing of points.”
Dakota Biefeld dropped 3.44 seconds, one of the Elks’ more significant improvements on the day, in the 200 individual medley and finished ninth (2:24.03).
