Brookfield East swimmer wins two titles
MADISON – Reilly Tiltmann was stronger, more confident and more technically sound.
That’s the short answer to how the Brookfield East sophomore not only won two events at the WIAA Division 1 state swimming and diving meet Saturday at the UW Natatorium but leaped over a handful of athletes who finished ahead of her last year.
She crushed her school record in the 100-yard backstroke by almost sixtenths of a second with a time of 54.62 seconds. And earlier in the 100 butterfly, she won in 54.56 to fall one-hundredth of a second off the school record set by former Spartans star Sarah Wanezek.
Nonetheless, both times ranked among the all-time best at the state meet. The 100 fly time ranks seventh, right behind the time Wanezek swam at the 1999 meet. The backstroke time ranks ninth.
“Riley is tougher than nails,” Brookfield East coach Mike Rose said. “She trains really hard. Very smart, very thoughtful about what she’s doing.”
Tiltmann was one of three individual double winners Saturday. Sun Prairie sophomore Sophie Fiske won the 50 and 100 freestyles. Verona/Mount Horeb senior Grace Bennin was the champion in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.
Middleton won its third straight title. The lone record of the day was set by Bennin, who won the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.65 to beat the 2011 record of 1:01.72 set by Muskego’s Sami Pochowski.
Cedarburg also repeated. The Bulldogs finished second for the second straight year, though this year they did it without a standout the caliber of 2018 graduate Lillie Hosack.
The Bulldogs earned five medals: senior Erika Remington took second in the 50 free and teamed up with junior Maya Novack and sophomores Brigid Gwidt and Alden Von Bargen to finish second in the 400 free relay. Novack also took third in the 50 and 100 free and Gwidt was also third in the 100 breaststroke.
“There are always things you can do better, but I thought this group of girls, after losing Lillie and Adrianna (Avila), one year (later), are stronger mentally and did better today (than last year)," Cedarburg coach Amit Kaul said. "They’re still young.”
Menomonee Fallls/Sussex Hamilton junior Cassie Stegner was the area’s other winner. She defended her title in the 200 free in 1:49.21 and took second to Fiske in the 100 free with a time of 50.35.
Both finishes were faster than last season, when Stegner won both races.
“Even though I didn’t win the 100 free, I'm really happy being second," she said. "I dropped a little bit of time in both my races and I think all in all it was a pretty good meet."
Stegner and Tiltmann were followed by a handful area athletes who took second: Racine Case senior diver McKenzie Sanchez (493.45), Remington in the 50 free (23.30), Waukesha South/Mukwonago sophomore Abby Carlson in the 500 free (4:58.63) and Cedarburg’s 400 free relay (3:26.98).
Tiltmann’s day also included thirdplace finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:44.81) and 400 free relay (3:28.27).
Her road from good to great started during the off-season with her focus on long-course training. That allowed her to enter the season with more confidence as did simply being another year older. She admitted to feeling intimidated by some of the older swimmers last year.
She also cleaned up some aspects of her race.
“Last year at state my turns weren’t so good, so this year a major focus was make sure you nail your turns,” she said. “That actually went really, really well.”
That was especially true in the 100 fly, when Tiltmann came from behind to just beat to the wall one of her rivals from last season, Madison West senior Katrina Marty.
The training paid off.
“I’m very happy with how my swims went because I got (personal) best times in both,” she said. “I still think I can go faster in the fly, definitely and maybe a little faster in the backstroke, too, but overall I’m very happy with how it went.”