Posted: Nov. 18, 2009

Shorewood senior Elli Sellinger can do the 100-yard freestyle almost in her sleep - like most swimmers of an elite caliber, no matter what their specialty is.

It was just that prior to this season, Sellinger had other priorities.

"I hadn't really swum it a lot before this year because my coach (Robby McCabe) wanted me to be a distance freestyler," she said, "but being on the relay (the 400 free relay) I decided that I could do this. I like it."

Like it enough to edge Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol freshman Savanna Townsend by 0.04 of a second to claim the WIAA State Division 2 championship in the event Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Natatorium.

"I couldn't see her all that well," Sellinger said of Townsend, "but I knew she was there. People said we were dead even at the 50 and that I pulled ahead by just a little bit in the last half of the race. . . . I pretty much didn't breathe that last 50 and pretended someone else was ahead of me (to make myself go faster).

"I hit the wall, heard the cheering and I was hoping that it was for me."

McCabe knew it was for her.

"Elli proved that she knows how to win close in close races," he said. "What a great way to go out as a senior by winning your last individual race."

Sellinger's championship paced a stellar Greyhound effort at the meet, as they took fourth with 167 points. Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol won with 201.

Her Shorewood Swim Club teammate Maggie Smith of Whitefish Bay (who anchored two winning relay teams at the same meet) couldn't have been happier for Sellinger.

"I'm so excited for her," Smith said. "I know she struggled a little bit with it at times (the 100) but then to pull it out it like she did was amazing."

Sellinger was clocked at 52.69 seconds while Townsend came across in 52.73. Earlier in the meet, Sellinger was second in the 200 free in 1:55.0, as Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark set a new meet record of 1:49.13.

Greyhound Clare Chamberlain also had a brilliant meet, but couldn't quite make it three 200 individual medley titles in a row, falling to Milton senior Jennah Haney 2:04.83-2:04.98. Later in the meet, Chamberlain was third in the underclassmen-dominated 500 free (5:06.21) as teammate Ellen Stello took fourth (5:11.46).

Hojan-Clark rewrote the record books in this race too with a 4:50.16 clocking. In both the 200 and 500 races, Hojan-Clark erased 13-year-old records set by all-time Shorewood great Jamie Belfor.

Other medal-winning efforts for the Greyhounds included a fifth by the school-record setting 200 medley relay team of Molly Hayes, Chamberlain, Stello and Sellinger (1:50.59); a sixth by Stello in the 100 butterfly (58.89) and a third by the 400 free relay team of Stello, Sellinger, Lauren Lanphere and Chamberlain (3:36.18). Sellinger turned in a scorching 51.93 leg, while Chamberlain anchored with an excellent 52.79.

McCabe was impressed with the initial state meet appearance by the freshman Stello, as she earned medals in all four of her races. "It's exceptional," McCabe said.

The 200 free relay team of Sonya Tomasiewicz, Hayes, Lanphere and Hallie Sanders was 15th (1:45.39).

"I thought we had a really good meet with 100 percent season-best times and well-performed races," McCabe said. "It was surprising to me how incredibly fast the times were to first qualify and then medal at the state meet."

Seniors on the four-time Woodland Conference championship team included Sellinger, Tomasiewicz, Lanphere and Sanders.

"It was a very nice season," Sellinger said. "Everyone was so motivated and enthusiastic. There were a lot of positive attitudes all the way through. We had fun."