Craig & Parker Alumni Meet

Craig and Parker alums met at the Parker High School pool on the day after Christmas for the annual Alumni Meet. Host Eric Rhodes explained the proceedings, 'High school swimmers, you know the rules. Alums have no rules.' It was great to see a number of former swimmers and be reminded of their athletic talents and their great personalities. The event was topped off by a visit from two very special swim fans, none other than Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Happy Holidays!

Craig @ Elkhorn Invitational

The team was highly motivated at the 2010 Elkhorn Invitational. Swimming in meters (rather than yards), the team was prepared to swim fast, both as individuals and as a team. Craig's highest place winners were: Jacob Canik (5th in the 200m Free), Alex Loftus (2nd in the 200m IM and winner of the 100m Breaststroke), Tyler Meinders (4th in the 50m Free and 4th in the 100m Free), Troy Thornton (7th in the 100m Butterfly), Jimmy Loftus (5th in the 400m Free), Nick Krueger (7th in the 100m Backstroke), the 2nd place 200 Medley Relay team (Nick Krueger, Alex Loftus, Troy Thornton and Tyler Meinders) and the 2nd place 200 Free Relay team (Tyler Meinders, Jacob Canik, Tad Martin, and Alex Loftus.) The Cougars placed 3rd out of 11 teams overall. Congrats on another great meet!!!

Craig @ Sun Prairie

The Cougars got their very first look at the brand new Sun Prairie High School pool and found it to their liking! The team beat Sun Prairie for the first time ever, 109-61. Highlights included: 1st place finishes by Alex Loftus in the 200 IM (2:02.31) and 100 Breaststroke (1:01.85), Tyler Meinders in the 50 Free (23.73) and 100 Free (53.12) , Brian Paulos in the 100 Butterfly (1:03.83) and Nick Krueger in the 100 Back (1:03.38). Also, Zach Saltzman lettered for the first time (in the 100 Butterfly- 1:06.53!!! Congrats Zach!). The facility was amazing, the times were fast and the team left with a win!

Parker Invitational

The Cougars were at it again, competing in the Janesville Parker Relays. The team placed a very respectable 4th out of 11 teams. Craig medaled in 7 events including: 3rd place finishes in the 200 Free Relay (1:40.57) and the 500 Crescendo Relay (4:36.70) and a 2nd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay (1:47.49).

Craig @ LaFollette & Madison East

Swimming in their first triple-dual meet of the season, the Cougars came out on top- twice!

They beat Madison East 122-48 and Madison La Follette 128-42. Craig won 10 out of 11 events.

Event winners included: Jacob Canik (200 Free), Alex Loftus (200 IM and 100 Breast), Tyler Meinders (50 Free and 100 Free), Troy Thornton (100 Fly) and Jimmy Loftus (500 Free). The team also won all three relays.

Congratulations on your first triple-dual win!

Cougar Relays

In the 12^th Annual Cougar Relays, the host Cougars squad turned in one of its best performances EVER! The team placed second behind Division 2 powerhouse Monona Grove, placing runner-up by only a 24-point margin. The team was paced by wins and meet records by the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:35.00) and the 500 Crescendo Relay (4:38.50). Craig also had three second place relays and three third place relays. Nice job boys!

Craig vs Verona/Mt Horub

Swimming against a tough Verona/Mt. Horeb team, the Cougars held strong and turned in a great performance. The Cougars were led by great times in the 200 Medley Relay (1:45.51), the 400 Free Relay (3:40.60) and with wins by Alex Loftus in the 200 IM (2:01.55) and the 100 Breaststroke (1:01.29).

Scrimmage @ Parker

The 2010-2011 swim season got underway with a scrimmage against Milton and Janesville Parker. The meet was a great indicator of who worked hard during the off-season. It was an exciting meet and it gave us an early preview of our rival, Janesville Parker.

2010-2011 Swim Schedule

For 'away meets' you can click on the highlighted school name for a map.

Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010
Scrimmage 4:30PM
Away @ Janesville Parker High School

Friday, Dec 3, 2010
Meet 5:00PM
Home vs Verona Area High School

Saturday, Dec 4, 2010
Home Craig Relays - Invitational 10:00AM
Parker, Elkhorn, Menomonee Falls, Monona Grove, Brookfield Academy, Marquette University

Friday, Dec 10, 2010
Meet 5:00PM
Away vs. Madison East, Madison La Follette
@ Madison La Follette High School

Saturday, Dec 11, 2010
Parker Invitational 11:00AM
Away vs. Beloit Memorial, Janesville Parker, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison West, Middleton, Sun Prairie
@ Janesville Parker High School

Friday, Dec 17, 2010
Meet 5:00PM
Away vs. Sun Prairie High School

Saturday, Dec 18, 2010
Invitational 10:00AM
Away vs. Elkhorn High School

Thursday, Jan 6, 2011
Invitational 5:30PM
Away vs. Milton High School

Friday, Jan 7, 2011
Meet 5:00PM
Home vs. Beloit Memorial, Middleton

Friday, Jan 14, 2011
Meet 5:00PM
Away vs. Madison West High School

Saturday, Jan 15, 2011
Invitational 11:00AM
Away vs. Middleton High School

Friday, Jan 21, 2011
Triangular 5:00PM
Home vs. Janesville Parker, Madison Memorial

Saturday, Jan 22, 2011
Invitational 1:00PM
Away vs. Menomonee Falls High School

Saturday, Feb 5, 2011
Conference Meet 8:00AM
Away vs. Beloit Memorial, Janesville Parker, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Madison West, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Verona Area High School @ Middleton High School

Saturday, Feb 12, 2011
Sectionals 8:00AM
Away vs. Beloit Memorial, Janesville Parker, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Madison West, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Verona Area High School @ Middleton High School

Saturday, Feb 19, 2011
State 3:00PM
Away vs. Beloit Memorial, Janesville Parker, Madison East, Madison La Follette, Madison Memorial, Madison West, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Verona Area High School @ U.W. Natorium

Craig @ State

Capping off the season in style, the Cougars performed well at the 2010 State Meet. The meet started off with the 200 IM, where Alex Loftus finished 11^th and broke a 5-year old school record with a time of 1:59.19. Spencer Mattox finished 17^th with a time of 2:01.68. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Tyler Meinders, Spencer Mattox, Nick Strub, and Alex Loftus finished in 20^th place with a time of 1:31.63. IN the 100 Breaststroke, Alex Loftus finished 8^th with a time of 1:00.47 and Spencer Mattox finished 14^th with a time of 1:01.38. The boys finished up the day with the 400 Freestyle Relay where they finished 22^nd with a time of 3:24.02. It was a successful meet and a great way to end the 2009-2010 swim season.

End of Season Banquet

The end of the season swim banquet will be held in the Craig cafeteria @ 6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 2nd. This dinner will be for athletes and their immediate families. All athletes who have competed Boys Swim will be honored. The format will be potluck. In order to have enough food for everyone, each family is asked to provide a hot dish AND a salad OR dessert. Please bring your own table service and cups (labeled).
Swimmers should have received a flier/form to fill out & return to Coach Kitzman by Wednesday, Feb 24th. The form asks how many family members will be attending and whether you will be bringing a salad or a dessert.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Craig @ Sectionals

The 2010 WIAA Sectional meet was a big success for the Craig Boys Swim Team. Heading into the biggest meet of the season for most of our swimmers, the guys were relaxed and focused on swimming fast. Feeling the effects of tapering, most of the swimmers swam PR's.

Alex Loftus and Spencer Mattox both qualified for state in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke. In addition, the 200 Freestyle Relay and the 400 Freestyle Relay (Strub, Meinders, Mattox & Loftus) both qualified for State next Saturday at UW-Madison. Also heading to State as alternates are Alex Dyble and Tad Martin.

Congratulations to those who have finished their season and good luck to those swimming at State!!

See article 'Craig's Loftus Has Janesville's Top Performance in Sectional Swim' in the left column.

Senior John Maginot swimming the 500 Freestyle at Sectionals in his last meet as a Cougar.

Craig's 200 Free Relay Team takes 6th and qualifies for State.

Spencer Mattox and Alex Loftus swimming the 100 Breaststroke.

Alex (2nd) and Spencer (4th) earn medals in the Breaststroke at Sectionals. Both swimmers are headed for the WIAA State Championship to compete in four events.

Craig's 400 Free Relay Team earns 7th and qualifies for State

GO GET 'EM COUGARS!

Craig @ Big 8 Conference Meet

The much anticipated Big Eight Conference meet did not disappoint! It was tough to keep track of all the PRs earned at the meet. Swimmers stepped up to perform their very best.

Alex Loftus was on the podium earning silver in the 200 Individual Medley with a personal best 2:00.28. Alex climbed to the top of the podium in the 100 Breaststroke with a personal best, 1:02.10. Teammate, Spencer Mattox, joined Alex on the podium in fourth place. Congratulations to the swimmers who ended their 2009-2010 season with great performances at the Conference meet. To the swimmers competing at Sectionals next Saturday, ROCK ON!

Also, see the article 'Loftus Captures Big 8 Title for Craig' in the left column.

Alex's signature breaststroke

Janesville Craig's Alex Loftus joins Madison Memorial's Michael Drives on the podium earning silver in the 200 Individual Medley.

Alex earns a gold medal in the 100 Breaststroke, teammate, Spencer Mattox takes fourth.

Craig JV Invite

Despite losing two of the teams who were supposed to compete in the meet, Craig and Parker battled it out for JV bragging rights. After a beginning the meet with a couple disappointing disqualifications, the Cougars gave their best and emerged victorious! Almost everyone earned a medal in the meet including individual high finishes for: Ryan Prestil, Ryan Teuscher, Nick Krueger, John Casper, Lucas Canik and Erik Davis. Many swimmers had PR's and finished out their high school season in style.

Lucas Canik won the 500 Freestyle with a personal best 6:32.62.

Nick Krueger won both the 100 Free and the 100 Backstroke with personal best times.

Ryan Prestil won the 100 Breaststroke with a 1:15.62.

Other exciting first place medals were earned by the 200 Free Relay team of Ryan Teuscher, Nick Krueger, John Casper, and Logan Lindau and the 400 Free Relay team of Erik Davis, John Casper, Travis Condon, and Logan Lindau.

Congratulations on a great season to the JV guys!

Craig @ Madison East

The team started their meet against Madison East with "warm ups," which were anything but warm. BRRR!

Junior, Alex Loftus earned victories in both the 200 individual medley (2:06.10) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.22).

Freshman, Spencer Mattox won the 500 freestyle (5:09.42).

(See article 'Madison Schools Defeat Janesville Swimmers' at the left column.)

Craig @ Spartan JV Invite

The JV swimmers traveled to Madison Memorial to compete in their first of two end-of-season taper meets. Entering the meet with the largest Cougar contigent in recent memory, the boys hoped to be competitive against the rugged Big Eight competition. While almost all of the swimmers had a PR's, highlights were: the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay medaling; Nick Krueger finishing 4th in the 100 Free and 3rd in the 100 Back. These were the highest finishes by a Cougar JV swimmer in at least the last 10 years!

Craig @ Menomonee Falls Invite

After swimming slow times at Beloit's pool the night before, the boys were raring to go at on Saturday, January 23. Ten teams competed in the Indian Invitational at Menomonee Falls. The Cougars earned 5th place. Alex Loftus took first in the 100 breaststroke with 1:02.33 and second in the 200 IM with a 2:02.68. A number of PR's and great swims gave the swimmers confidence going into their taper. After the meet the guys headed to the New York Cheesecake Factory to celebrate the day's success.

(See Gazette article 'Craig Swimmers 5th @ Menomonee Falls' at left column)

Craig @ Beloit Memorial

The boys faced adversity traveling to compete against the Purple Tide. With no starting blocks due to a shallow pool, the guys did their best despite the big disadvantage of not have a diving start. It was good to get back to our winning ways as we easily defeated Beloit.

See article in the Gazette online (in the left column).

Craig @ Cardinal Invite

Despite finishing down in the team standings, the team did quite well. Many swimmers posted their best relay splits of the season. The 300 Breast Relay finished 4th for our best finish of the meet.

See Gazette article at left column.

Craig @ Middleton & West

The Middleton/West triple dual went very well. After not having a meet for 3 weeks, the boys could not wait to swim. Alex Loftus set two career-best times in his wins in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. Many PR's were set by the team. We hope the effort continues at practice and the times continue to drop. See Gazette article 'Cougar's Loftus wins two events' in left column.

Craig @ Elkhorn Invite

The Elkhorn Invite was a meet the team set it's sights on winning from the beginning of the season. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

For more on this meet, click on the Gazette article in the left column.

Craig vs Memorial & Verona

In our first dual-triple meet with Madison Memorial and Verona, junior, Alex Loftus' win in the 200 IM (2:02.88) was one of the highlights of the meet. Freshman, Spencer Mattox took third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.80. Alex and Spencer placed 2nd and 3rd in the 100 Breaststroke (behind Memorial's Michael Drives, '09 state champion in the 200 free) with times of 1:03.29 and 1:04.24 respectively. The competition was tough and a number of personal bests were achieved.

For more on this meet, click on the Gazette article 'Craig's Loftus cruises to victory' on the left column.