PLATTEVILLE — The Platteville/Lancaster girls swim team is gearing up for the upcoming WIAA postseason.
The Hillmen set a number of personal records in their home pool and swam to a seventh-place out of eight teams at Saturday’s 33rd annual Hillmen Invitational.
Sophomore Madison Albert-Nelson broke her own sophomore record in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing second in the event with a tiem of 1:01.86. She also finished fourth in the 500 freestyle (5:45.27) and teamed with freshman Brooklyn Van Natta, junior Allison Brehm and sophomore Erin Walker to take fifth in the 200 medley relay (2:02.47).
Lancaster freshman Brooklyn Van Natta finished third in the 50 freestyle (26.58) and sixth in the 100 freestyle (59.35).
Junior Allison Brehm swam to a sixth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.03).
“It was a really fast meet with a lot of competition from teams outside of our conference who we don’t typically see,” said Hillmen head coach Liz Peters. “The lady Hillmen came ready to compete and were hitting PRs all over the place. We saw this is Chicago too, where the ladies swam extraordinarily well when placed in heats near other swimmers their speed. Their drive to succeed is infectious and it was a really fun meet to watch.”
Each year, the Platteville/Lancaster girls’ swimmers sell T-shirts and meet programs at their invite and donate the proceeds to a cause close to their hearts. This year the ladies chose Ben’s Hope, a local organization that provides outreach opportunities about suicide awareness and prevention, as well as support to those suffering a loss from suicide.
“The ladies thought that although it’s a tough and heavy topic with which to begin a swim meet, it’s a topic that needs to be discussed,” added Peters.
Platteville/Lancaster traveled to Delavan–Darien Tuesday night for a make-up dual meet that was postponed last Tuesday. The Hillmen will then travel to Whitewater on Saturday for this year’s Southern Lakes Conference meet.
“It’s the time of the season where we are less than one week out from the conference championships and trying to make sectional cuts,” said Peters. “The girls are not holding anything back.”
33rd Annual Hillmen Invitational
(from Saturday, Oct. 21 @ UW–Platteville)
Team scores — 1.Baraboo 487.5, 2.Sauk Prairie 446, 3.Monroe/New Glarus 337.5, 4.La Crosse 253, 5.Wausau West 238, 6.Whitewater 223.5, 7.Platteville/Lancaster 170.5, 8.River Valley/Richland Center 143.
Platteville/Lancaster top finishers (top 3)
200 medley relay — 5.Pla/Lan (Madison Albert-Nelson, Allison Brehm, Erin Walker, Brooklyn Van Natta) 2:02.47. 50 freestyle — 3.Brooklyn Van Natta 26.58. 100 butterfly — 2.Albert-Nelson 1:01.86. 100 freestyle — 6.VanNatta 59.35. 500 freestyle — 4.Albert-Nelson 5:45.27. 100 breaststroke — 6.Brehm 1:16.03.
