PREP SWIM: Purple Tide's 200 freestyle relay places ninth at state

WAUKESHA, Wis.—The Beloit Memorial boys swim team ended a stellar season by advancing its 200-yard freestyle relay into the top 10 at the WIAA Division 1 State Championships on Saturday.

The 200 free team of Aidan Donovan, Sean Goodspeed, Aidan Greenlee and Charlie Ziemba, which came into the meet ranked fourth in Wisconsin, finished in 1:27.69 to finish in ninth. Brookfield Central/East won the event as their relay squad finished in 1:25.32.

The Purple Tide finished in a tie for 23rd with Homestead as each squad earned 28 points at Waukesha South High School. Middleton won its second-straight state title and its third overall after placing first with 273 points. Madison Memorial was second with 178 and Arrowhead finished third with 177.

Beloit’s 200 medley relay of Greenlee, Duke Allen, Donovan and Ziemba ended 20th with a time of 1:40.90 while its 400 free relay of Donovan, Aiden VanLandingham, Greenlee and Ziemba placed 12th (3:13.70).

Ziemba, a junior, finished 17th in the 100 free after swimming a time of 48.45 seconds. Donovan, a senior making his second-straight individual appearance at state, placed 22nd in the 200 free after finishing in 1:47.63.

• IHSA BYRON SECTIONAL: Hononegah had a strong showing as it finished second with 247 points, but it just couldn’t keep pace with DeKalb, which won with 279.5 points and sent two relays and two individuals through to the IHSA State Championships.

The Indians are sending senior Owen West to the FMC Natatorium in Westmont after he won the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.76 seconds.

Hononegah had several events just miss out on qualifying for state with seven second-place finishes and a pair of thirds.

The 200 medley relay of West, Vito Skominas, Cale Miles and Reeve Franklin finished in 1:39.50 but was edged by DeKalb while the 400 free of West, Bryson Beck, Miles and Franklin took second (3:17.32) behind Rockford Boylan (3:16.78).

Other second-place finishes included: Beck in the 200 free (1:50.10) and 500 free (5:05.43), West in the 50 free (22.11), Miles in the 100 butterfly (53.61) and Skominas in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.30).

West will swim in the state finals on Saturday.