ASHWAUBENON — River Falls’ swimmers and divers took care of business over the weekend in Ashwaubenon, with two divers, a swimmer and a relay team all qualifying for State.

Divers Tristan Patz and Gus Schmitt-Mischke finished second and fourth at Sectionals to advance to State. After fifth and seventh place finishes at Regionals, the two really stepped up despite the competition only getting tougher by the meet.

“We kept it simple and focused on the fundamentals—clean entries, strong hurdles, and solid takeoffs,” Diving Coach Brady Sievers stated. “Rather than trying to do too much, we emphasized consistency and execution, which paid off in their performances.”

Daniel Carns broke his own school record in the 100-yard freestyle at Regionals a week ago and also won the 50-yard freestyle to get to Sectionals. He broke the record all over again, going on to win both races.
“Daniel had a great Sectional meet. He did exactly what he expected to do, win his individual races to qualify for State,” Head Coach Caitlin Brudzinski stated. “He also lowered the 100 freestyle school record from a week ago.”

The final State qualifier was the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ty Wise, Jake Weiss, Joe Hoffman and Carns. They too did what they needed to find a spot at the State meet.

“The 200 freestyle relay has been strong all year. Even before this week, we knew it had a chance to go to State,” Brudzinski stated. “We got great swims from all four swimmers, but especially from Jake Weiss and Joe Hoffman, both going low 24s in their splits to drop another second from last week.”

Having to cross the entirety of the state to arrive at Sectionals can be too tall of a task to overcome for many, mentally and physically taxing competitors before the event even starts. Thankfully for the Wildcats, they have been in this situation before.

“This is the second year in a row that we've had to travel across the state for Sectionals, so our returning athletes had an idea of how to handle it, but it's still a challenge and we had four new swimmers this year too,” Brudzinski stated. “They've been learning and dealing with various adversity throughout the season, whether it was tough practices, the illnesses that inevitably work their way through the team or stretches of three meets in six days. I knew they would step up and be ready to go and they were.”

The divers specifically focused on the mental aspect of the sport to navigate the extended travel.

“I told the guys to stay in a competition mindset, visualize their dives during the long car ride, and stay mentally ready,” Sievers stated. “They handled the challenge well, staying focused and prepared despite the travel.”

State takes place Friday and Saturday at Waukesha South where River Falls’ individuals will look to etch their names into the history books.

With the season coming to a close after the weekend, Brudzinski took time to reflect on the year the team had.

“Our team this year was a bit on the small side, but they accomplished a lot and did an amazing job,” Brudzinski stated. “They welcomed the new members of the team and made them feel a part of the program. We built on successes throughout the season to finish strong. It's great to have the ability to continue sending members of the team to State each year, and to build that pedigree of success, but it's even better to see the team grow and mature each year. Becoming a team that supports each other both in and out of the pool and remembers that sports are meant to be fun as well as challenging. I'm very proud of what they have accomplished this season, and look forward to State next week, and then getting ready for another year.”