Swimmers exit in style

Sauk Prairie’s girls swimming and diving team went out with a bang. And Eagles’ head coach Melani Guentherman couldn’t have been more pleased. Sauk Prairie concluded its season with a second place finish at the Baraboo Quadrangular last Thursday. Host Baraboo won the meet with 581 points, while Sauk Prairie was a close second (570), followed by River Valley/Richland Center (347) and Portage (188). Sauk Prairie opted out of the WIAA sectional and state swim meets this year due to concerns regarding the format of the meets and coronavirus. So the Eagles went out in style last week. “While we came up just short of the meet win, I am thrilled with how the girls performed,” Eagles coach Melani Guentherman said. “Baraboo was a top-10 team at state last year and to come this close to them in a championship meet is a statement about how far we have come as a team this year.” The Eagles had a number of stellar performances. Sauk Prairie’s 200-yard medley relay team of freshman Savannah Acker, junior Amelia Hunter, sophomore Riley Talmage and senior Cora Dunnum finished first. The Eagles’ quartet of sophomore Carly Coy, junior Trinity Doerre, senior Grace Orr and senior Lauryn Drager was third in the same event. Sauk Prairie’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Hunter, Acker, junior Ashley Pape and Dunnum finished first, while the foursome of junior Camilla Sotero-Garcia, Doerre, junior Emily VandeHey and junior Kassandra Miller was fourth. And the Eagles’ 400-yard freestyle relay team of Miller, Drager, Talmage and Pape was second, while the quartet of VandeHey, Coy, sophomore Kailey Baker and Orr was third. Dunnum won the 100-yard freestyle, while Pape was third, Drager was fifth and sophomore Allyson Saladis was seventh. Talmage and Miller were first and second, respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle, while VandeHey was sixth. Acker won the 100-yard backstroke and Coy was sixth.  In the 200-yard freestyle, Hunter was second, Miller was third, Coy was fifth and VandeHey was seventh. Acker was second in the 200-yard IM, while Talmage was fourth and Drager was fifth. Dunnum was second in the 50-yard freestyle, while Pape was fourth. Hunter and Orr were second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard butterfly. Doerre was third in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Orr was fifth and junior Jade Babcock was sixth. “Every girl on our team swam season-best times and most swam at least one lifetime best time,” Guentherman said. “Four of the swims would have been top-10 finishes at Division 2 state last year and another would have been 13th, for a total of five state swims. It is hard to find one standout swimmer, as they all did great.   “Savannah Acker capped off a fantastic freshmen year with her races. Cora Dunnum ended her career with four outstanding swims as well. Riley Talmage had a spectacular swim in the 500 freestyle. Ashley Pape and Amelia Hunter also had fantastic meets with large time drops in their races.”