“We could have done better but we are happy with how we raced. We had our best times and broke team records.”
~Badger Senior Anna Brooks
Badgers won SLC Meet and championship and won the Sectional for the first time in school history
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Lake Geneva Badger swim team finished ninth at the Division 1 State Swim Meet at UW-Madison Saturday. Badger received 94 points. Waukesha South/Mukwonago won the team title with 279 points. Burlington took 19th.
Badger highest finish was turned in by senior Anna Brooks who took second and won 17 points in the 200 Yard IM (2:04.94). Brooks also finished 8th and earned 11 points in the 100 Yard Breaststroke (1:06.05).
“Anna did well,” Coach Glen Biller said. “Her swim carried over from last week (at the Sectional Meet).”
“It wasn’t my best time,” Brooks said. “Not as good as I had hoped but I felt good and had a good swim.”
Kaarin Quaerna took 10th and won seven points in the 50 Yard Freestyle (24.27) and 12th for five points in the 100 Yard Freestyle (53.00). Carly O’Brien took 13th and won four points in the 200 Yard IM (2:09.86) and 15th for two points in the 100 Yard Butterfly (59.02).
The 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Brooks, Quaerna, O’Brien, and Evelyn Edge took 6th for 26 points (1:37.64). The 400 Yard Freestyle relay team (same swimmers) took eighth for 22 points (3:34.83).
Biller said the team was a bit disappointed the relay teams did not place higher. He said they may have run out of gas a bit.
“They seemed a little tired,” he said.
Brooks agreed the team hoped to place higher but pointed out they still improved on last year’s time.
“We could have done better but we are happy with how we raced,” she said. “We had our best times and broke team records.”
Brooks said the team was extremely close all season without much of the drama many girls’ teams endure.
“We worked well together, practiced well, and had good communication,” she said.
Brooks, a senior, said she would have like to have finished first in at least one event at State during her career but she isn’t upset with how things turned out. She said she enjoyed starting her high school career at Burlington as a freshman and then meeting new teammates when she moved over to Badger’s team as a sophomore. Brooks plans to apply for either the Air Force or Navy and continue to swim.
Biller said the team had a great overall year going undefeated in dual meets, winning the Southern Lakes Conference Meet and championship, and winning the Sectional for the first time in school history.
“We achieved a lot,” he said.
Biller said the team will miss Brooks and fellow senior State qualifier Evelyn Edge.
“You can’t replace a swimmer like Anna,” he said. “She is special and holds most of the school records.”
Biller said both Brooks and Edge were good team leaders.
“Evelyn was the heart of the team,” he said. “She was a vital part of the relays.”
Biller said the team’s returning core will be very string and he knows some new experienced swimmers will join the team next year.
