BARABOO — Over the course of her young swimming career, that began in grade school, Platteville’s Melanie Schaefer has compiled an impressive resume as individual standout, a key relay swimmer and a record breaker.
     This past weekend the Platteville junior added to that already lengthy resume.
     Schaefer broke one of her own school records and qualified for state — in a pair of individual events — for a third consecutive season at Saturday’s WIAA Division 2 Baraboo Sectional.
     Schaefer set a new Hillmen record in the 200-yard freestyle of 1:59.81, breaking her own mark or 2:01.01 set at the Southern Lakes Conference Championships just a week early, to place fourth in the event and earn one of the 12 extra qualifier spots for Friday’s WIAA D2 State Championships that will be held at the UW–Natatorium in Madison beginning at 6 p.m.
     She also qualified for state in the 100-yard freestyle with a second-place finish in 54.75 seconds.
     “Melanie swam out of her mind on Saturday,” said first-year Platteville/Lancaster head coach Liz Peters. “She had set her goals high at the beginning of the season and it was very fulfilling to watch her accomplish them.”
     Schaefer swam the ninth fastest sectional time out of the 16 state qualifiers in each event.
     A year ago she qualified for state as a part of Platteville/Lancaster’s 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. Both relays placed eighth.
     As a freshman Schaefer earned all-state honors as a part of Platteville/Lancaster’s fifth-place state 200-yard freestyle relay. She also swam on 400-yard free relay that placed 15th at state in 2011.
     Platteville/Lancaster placed ninth out of 13 teams Saturday scoring 84 team points in the 11-event sectional meet.
DeForest won the team title with 354 points.
     The Hillmen 400-yard freestyle relay team of Megan Graney, Melissa Wood, Elissa Bahr and Schaefer finished ninth with a time of 3:54.49.
     Senior Rachael Demaree swam a lifetime best split of 26.91 seconds to lead the 200 freestyle relay team, which also included Graney, Schaefer and fellow senior Maddie Kieler, to a 10th-place finish (1:45.83).
     Bahr, Melissa Wood, senior Haley Wood and Graney placed 11th in the 200 medley relay (2:00.75).
     Kieler swam a personal-best 2:29.96 to finish 11th in the 200 individual medley. 
     Haley Wood swam a personal-best 1:06.01 to place 14th in the 100 butterfly.

WIAA D2 Baraboo Sectional
(from Saturday, Nov. 9  @ Baraboo)
Team scores: 1.DeForest 354, 2.McFarland 291, 3.Edgewood 272, 4.Monona Grove 243, 5.Milton 212, 6.Baraboo 204, 7.River Valley 191, 8.Sauk Prairie 123, 9.Platteville/Lancaster 84, 10.Jefferson/Cambridge 78, 11.Portage 77, 12.Lodi 30, 13.Monroe 28.
Platteville/Lancaster state qualifiers
200 freestyle — 4.Melanie Schaefer (P/L) 1:59.81. 100 freestyle — 2.Schaefer (P/L) 54.75.
Platteville/Lancaster sectional results
200 medley relay — 11.Pla/Lan (Melissa Wood, Elissa Bahr, Haley Wood, Megan Graney) 2:00.75. 200 individual medley — 11.Maddie Kieler (P/L) 2:29.96, 19.H. Wood (P/L) 2:39.06. 50 freestyle — 18.M. Wood (P/L) 26.64, 21.Bahr (P/L) 26.83, 30.Lauren Smith (P/L) 28.01, 33.Rachael Demaree (P/L) 28.31. 100 butterfly — 13.M. Wood (P/L) 1:05.45, 14.H. Wood (P/L) 1:06.01. 100 freestyle — 21.Kieler (P/L) 1:00.36, 23.Graney (P/L) 1:00.81, 29.Demaree (P/L) 1:02.74. 200 freestyle relay — 10.Pla/Lan (Kieler, Graney, Demaree, Schaefer) 1:45.83. 100 breaststroke — 16.Bahr (P/L) 1:14.54, 27.Haley Gotto (P/L) 1:22.98. 400 freestyle relay — 9.Pla/Lan (Graney, M. Wood, Bahr, Schaefer) 3:54.49.