Season recap: East and West boys swim

The Wolves of West and Cardinals of East treated the Sun Prairie community to some stellar boys swimming in the 2023-24 season. Both programs were state-caliber, best shown by their heavy representation at the 2024 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state meet.

Before a thrilling run through the state tournament, the two programs met often in the regular season. While the programs remain closely tied following the split of Sun Prairie High School, it was impossible to ignore the fierce competition in the pool. The two traded who finished higher in their myriad meetings in 2023-24.

Fittingly, their first matchup came in the first meet of the season. East hosted a 12-team invite on Saturday, Dec. 2. Of course, West got an invite. This inaugural meeting set the stage for a long season of fierce competition between the two. The visiting Wolves of West stole early bragging rights by finishing third overall with a team score of 275. The host Cardinals were right behind in fourth place with 216.

West’s depth shined bright as it finished in the top 10 in nine individual events. Junior Jude Carlton led the pack with a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 individual medley. Senior Trevor Nicodemus stole the show for East as he finished second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 200 freestyle.

It took awhile for the two squads to get another shot at competing against one another. East and West didn’t clash again until Saturday, Jan. 6 in an 26-team invitational hosted by Marquette University High School. East showed improvement, finishing seventh overall with a team score of 141. This outpaced rival West in 11th with a score of 88.5.

East’s advantage came in the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle. In the 100 backstroke, the Cardinals had a pair of top-10 finishers in senior Bennett Braatz and junior Coby Zander. Braatz raced to a time of 54.82 seconds for eighth while Zander was right behind him in ninth with his time of 54.86. In the 200 freestyle, Nicodemus set the team pace with a time of 1:47.18 for fifth place. Junior Eli Krystowiak followed that up with a time of 1:50.33 for 15th. Nicodemus would also add a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke while Braatz punched a sixth place finish in the 100 butterfly.

West’s day was highlighted in the relays. The Wolves’ best effort came in the 200 freestyle relay. There, juniors Chase Rimrodt, Gavin LaBeau, and Charlie Reeder as well as senior Gustave Schasker turned in a time of 1:32.63 for sixth place. LaBeau and Rimrodt were back in the pool for West’s 200 medley relay team. They were joined by junior Jude Carlton and sophomore Cameron Spredemann. Their combined time of 1:40.10 earned them ninth place.

Soon after, the Cardinals and Wolves faced off head-to-head. East hosted West in a Big Eight conference duel on Tuesday, Jan. 16. West bounced back from its finish behind East less than two weeks prior and outscored the host Cardinals 93-77.

The meet was a testament to West’s depth and East’s high-end talent. The Cardinals finished in first place in all but two events. This still wasn’t enough to claim the win, though, as Wolves took second and third place behind them in all of those wins. While it was the first true head-to-head matchup between the Sun Prairie schools, results felt inconclusive as to who the superior program was. Thankfully, there were plenty more matchups left on the schedule.

Next up, East and West met at the Middleton High School Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 27. The Cardinals retook some bragging rights by placing sixth of the 16 teams in attendance with a total score of 139. Of course, West was right on their tails in seventh with a score of 133.

Nicodemus and Braatz did it all for East at that invitational. Nicodemus had the highest individual finish of the day, third overall in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.29 seconds. He also crushed the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.45 for fourth place. Braatz was best in the 200 individual medley, where he placed fifth with a time of 2:03.40. He also added a sixth place finish in the 100 butterfly with his time of 54.40 seconds.

It didn’t take long for West to retake the lead in the rivalry. The following weekend, both East and West returned to Middleton for the 2024 Big Eight conference meet, hosted on Saturday, Feb. 3. West finished higher of the two in fifth place with a team score of 233.5. East was right behind in sixth with 202.

West’s day could only be described as a total team effort. The Wolves placed in the top 15 on 16 separate occasions on Saturday, thanks to the hard work of 10 talented swimmers. It was an emergent day for sophomore Cameron Spredemann, who placed third overall in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.53 and added a sixth place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.93 seconds.

The conference meet was another stellar day for East’s dynamic senior duo of Nicodemus and Braatz. Nicodemus was conference runner-up in the 100 breaststroke, finishing second with a time of 59.36 seconds. Braatz did the same in the 100 butterfly with his time of 52.87 seconds. As if that wasn’t enough, Nicodemus also finished fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.65 and Braatz nabbed third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.06 seconds.

East and West were both back in the pool together the next week for WIAA sectionals, hosted at Madison West High School on Saturday, Feb. 10. While neither one qualified as a team, the Wolves and Cardinals combined to send 18 individual representatives to state.

The 2024 WIAA state meet, hosted at Waukesha South High School on Saturday, Feb. 17, was a fitting sendoff for East’s senior duo of Nicodemus and Braatz. Nicodemus finished as state runner-up in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.48 seconds. He also placed seventh in the 200 freestyle. Braatz placed 11th in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 100 butterfly.

This duo also teamed up with the future of the program, juniors Coby Zander and Eli Krystowiak, to swim some impressive relays. This group finished fourth in the 400 freestyle relay and were state runners-up in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:30.61. This high-end production earned East a sixth place finish as a team in the final state standings.

As for West, all three relays and five individuals made the cut for state. In total, the Wolves scored 51 team points to finish 15th. The Wolves got their best effort in the 100 breaststroke, courtesy of junior Jude Carlton. He blazed a time of 56.35 seconds for fifth place overall, West’s best finish of the day. The most inspiring portion of the state meet for West was the youth involved in the effort. The future remains bright for the program as every Wolf that participated in the 2024 state meet will return next season.