Rodenkirk places third in two state swims
Senior caps career on podium in 100 and 200 frees
New Berlin — senior Alex Rodenkirk wanted to win a state title in the final prep swim meet of his career.
He settled for the third-highest spot on the podium.
Rodenkirk closed out the season by taking third in both of his individual events at the WIAA Division 1 State Meet at the University of Wisconsin's Natatorium on Saturday.
In his first event, Rodenkirk swam a personal best of 1 minute, 42.10 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing behind only Madison Memorial's Michael Drives (1:39.66) and conference rival Mike Lucchesi of Greenfield/Greendale, who swam a 1:41.71.
Rodenkirk then lowered his own school record to post a 46.46 in the 100 free, a time that placed him behind Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights' Matt Friede (45.01) and Verona Area's Derek Toomey (45.19).
"We were really happy with how he did," New Berlin coach Paul Lutzke said. "He was swimming against seriously tough competition. Michael Drives is the state record-holder (in the 200 free). Coming in third to him is pretty good. Alex had his best high school time in the 200 free; I don't know how much more you can ask. He put forth a lot of effort.
"The 100 free, the kid that won that (Friede) had just set a state record in the 50 free. That's how tough the competition was, swimming against state record-holders."
Lutzke said Rodenkirk will be missed in a lot of ways.
"The talent goes without saying, but the leadership, the quiet dedication and inspiration to the other kids," Lutzke said. "Just the way he carries himself, displays himself. The other kids look at him and say, 'Here's a successful athlete, and if I want to get to that level, perhaps this is how I should be.'"
Rodenkirk also anchored both the 200 free relay team of Josh Solie, Jared Moranski and Chris Kaminski, which took 16th in 1:30.93, and the 400 free relay of Solie, Matt Schumacher and Jasen Johnson, which placed 10th in 3:15.85.
Johnson, a sophomore, was eighth in the 100 butterfly (52.62) and 13th in the 100 breast (1:01.32). Schumacher, another senior, came in 15th in the 100 back (55.28) and tied for 21st in the 100 free (50.06).
Solie, a junior, was 21st in the 50 free (22.81).
The 200 medley relay was disqualified.
New Berlin finished its successful season by placing 15th with 65 points.
"We had a record-breaking season with a lot of individual swims for school records and pool records all over the place," Lutzke said. "Conference records, we set five for the Woodland this year … We've done some pretty amazing things, when you consider the history of a school and you're breaking school records that are 15 years old or more or conference records as old as the conference. Stuff like that is pretty monumental."
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