NEENAH — Neenah won the sectional title but Appleton East came away with the most automatic qualifiers for the WIAA Division 1 state meet from Saturday's Division 1 girls' sectional swim meet at the Neenah High School Natatorium.

The Rockets finished with 355 points, while Oshkosh West and Appleton East finished second and third with 276½ and 251½ points, respectively.

Appleton East qualified swimmers in two individual events and two relay events. Neenah qualified athletes in two individual events and one relay event, while Appleton North qualified one individual for this Saturday's WIAA Division 1 state swimming and diving meet at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium in Madison.

Neenah, Appleton East and Appleton North could each pick up additional qualifiers when the WIAA fills out the field today. Additional qualifiers will be added to the state meet based on the 18 best non-winning times or scores in each event from the six Division 1 sectionals.

Flashing a big smile on the awards stand after assuring herself of competing in at least three events at the WIAA state meet, Appleton East's Erica Halley looked at the win by her and her 400-yard freestyle relay teammates as redemption.

"We were just so excited because we came from the last meet where we weren't happy with our time and we just all dropped time in everything," Halley said. "It was just like an amazing meet for all of us."

Halley also qualified for the state meet by winning the 50-yard freestyle and as part of the Patriots' 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Halley will have plenty of teammates accompanying her to the state meet.

"That's always exciting," she said. "The more we can get, the better, and we keep getting more each year. I don't think it can get better than this. We're all really excited right now."

Halley's teammate Danielle Klunk pulled off an upset in the 100-yard freestyle.

Seeded fifth and swimming in Lane 2, Klunk turned in a strong second 50 yards to edge the top two seeds (Mackenzie Buss of Shawano/Bonduel and Halley) with a time of :53.35.

"I just tried to stay relaxed and focus on my race and not focus on other people," Klunk said. "I guess it turned out well.

"My original time that I was seeded with wasn't my best time but I wasn't expecting to win so I was surprised."

Appleton North's Hannah Fitton extended her season by winning the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.76, knocking about 4½ seconds off her time at the Fox Valley Association meet.

"I wanted to take it out strong because I knew I had a good chance of making state," Fitton said. "I took out the first 100 strong and tried to hold on to the last 25 and then made sure I had a good time. It felt really good."

And most important for the Lightning senior, her swim season goes for another week.

"It's a great way to end my senior year," Fitton said. "I always wanted to be a sectional champion and I'm glad it's finally come true."

Neenah coach Carrie Raeth said winning the sectional title is part of an emotional day.

"You have to make it to state here," Raeth said. "You hope they're ready to compete."

Raeth feels that when the additional qualifiers are named, the Rockets will be well represented.

"We should have a good chance to get the relays and some individual swims and two divers," she said. "So we're very excited. We're looking to be one of the top 10 teams in the state."

Greysen Hertting of Neenah won the diving competition on Friday.

In the two most stunning races on Saturday, Neenah's Amy Spaay turned in a winning time of 1:04.98 in the breaststroke to give her the third-fastest time in the state, according to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Web site, setting a pool and sectional record and earning All-American status.

Emily Russart of Badger-Big Foot-Williams Bay holds the fastest time this season with a time 1:04.15.

The second fantastic finish was in the 500-yard freestyle, where Oshkosh West's Natalie Bolin and Shawano/Bonduel's Mackenzie Soper matched each other stroke for stroke to finish in a first-place tie with a time of 5:07.66.

NEENAH 355, OSHKOSH WEST 276½, APPLETON EAST 251½, SHAWANO/BONDUEL 174½, OSHKOSH NORTH/LOURDES 171, BAY PORT 169½, GREEN BAY EAST/PREBLE 159, DE PERE 154, PULASKI 139, APPLETON NORTH 136, FOND DU LAC 111, APPLETON WEST/KIMBERLY 72, GREEN BAY SOUTHWEST/WEST 61, MANITOWOC 53

Diving: 1, Greysen Hertting NEE 429.55; 2, Mollie Patzke NEE 374.15; 3, Tara Seidel AE 364.85; 4, Kelsey Shadick PUL 364.80; 5, Kristin Tesch NEE 337.45; 6, Halie Marohl NEE 329.20. 200 Medley R: 1, Neenah (Brooke Muggenthaler, Amy Spaay, Ally Crum, Hilary Shandonay) 1:49.93; 2, Shawano/ Bonduel (Mackenzie Buss, Andie Villez, Madaline Martell, Mackenzie Soper) 1:53.14; 3, Appleton North (CoCo McGee, Brianna Huth, Hannah Fitton, Mikaela Schwantz) 1:53.89; 4, Green Bay East/ Preble (Julia Hale, Brooke Seeholzer, Jasmine Lee, Jordan Jacobs) 1:57.50; 5, Bay Port (Carly Johnson, Danielle Marcusen, Erika Jensen, Kelsi Wallander) 1:57.69; 6, Fond du Lac (Elise Drewsen, Kelly Faber, Brianna Hartwig, Maggie Nett) 1:59.39. 200 Free: 1, Hannah Fitton AN 1:55.76; 2, Kendra Rottier GBSW/W 1:55.98; 3, Hilary Woldt OW 1:56.24; 4, Natalie Bolin OW 1:56.35; 5, Mackenzie Soper S/B 1:56.81; 6, Emily Bourguignon DP 1:59.20. 200 IM: 1, Rachel Revolinski ON/L 2:09.09; 2, Jasmine Lee GBE/P 2:09.38; 3, Danielle Klunk AE 2:12.15; 4, Abbey Tuchscherer OW 2:13.29; 5 Jennifer McFarland NEE 2:13.49; 6, Kristin Zablocki DP 2:17.02. 50 Free: 1, Erica Halley AE :24.44; 2, Elise Drewsen FDL :25.08; 3, McKenzie Goudreau AE :25.36; 4, Hilary Shandonay NEE :25.38; 5, Alex Eiler ON/L :25.46; 6, Ally Crum NEE :25.60. 100 Fly: 1, Kendra Rottier GBSW/W :58.69; 2, Ally Crum NEE :59.28; 3, Abbey Tuchscherer OW :59.48; 4, Jennifer McFarland NEE :59.61; 5, Jasmine Lee GBE/P :59.76; 6, Meghann Kerstell ON/L 1:01.52. 100 Free: 1, Danielle Klunk AE :53.35; 2, Mackenzie Buss S/B :53.65; 3, Erica Halley AE :54.19; 4, McKenzie Goudreau AE :54.87; 5, Elise Drewsen FDL :55.08; 6, Emily Bourguignon DP :55.10. 500 Free: 1 (tie), Natalie Bolin OW and Mackenzie Soper SB/B 5:07.66; 3, Hannah Fitton AN 5:21.93; 4, Jennifer Rothe OW 5:22.86; 5, Kaitlyn Mayer AE 5:22.96; 6, Jessica Muhlenbeck BP 5:34.08. 200 Free R: 1, Appleton East (Erica Halley, McKenzie Goudreau, Katie Mumford, Danielle Klunk) 1:39.40; 2, Oshkosh West (Abbey Tuchscherer, Heidi Klein, Hilary Woldt, Natalie Bolin) 1:40.90; 3, Neenah (Ally Crum, Jennifer McFarland, Amy Spaay, Amy Formella) 1:40.98; 4, Appleton North (Brianna Huth, Ali Hernandez, Mikaela Schwantz, Hannah Fitton) 1:45.70; 5, Bay Port (Kelsi Wallander, Erin Laughlin, Megan Hakes, Aleshia Garland) 1:45.77; 6, Pulaski (Stephanie Paape, Katelyn DeStarkey, Emily Feivor, Leigh Danner) 1:46.50. 100 Back: 1, Mackenzie Buss S/B :58.02; 2, Hilary Woldt OW :59.18; 3, Alex Eiler ON/L 1:01.14; 4, Megahann Kerstell ON/L 1:02.70; 5, Brooke Muggenthaler NEE 1:03.23; 6, Brittany Jochman NEE 1:04.05. 100 Breast: 1, Amy Spaay NEE 1:04.98; 2, Rachel Revolinski ON/L 1:06.37; 3, Stephanie Paape PUL 1:08.76; 4, Brianna Huth AN 1:09.64; 5, Andie Villez S/B 1:10.26; 6, Amy Formella NEE 1:10.74. 400 Free R: 1, Appleton East (Erica Halley, McKenzie Goudreau, Kaitlyn Mayer, Danielle Klunk) 3:37.58; 2, Oshkosh West (Abbey Tuchscherer, Jennifer Rothe, Natalie Bolin, Hilary Woldt) 3:38.94; 3, Neenah (Jennifer McFarland, Jennifer Kehler, Hilary Shandonay, Amy Spaay) 3:44.22; 4, Oshkosh North/Lourdes (Alex Eiler, Meghann Kerstell, Kendall Van Sistine, Rachel Revolinski) 3:44.72; 5, De Pere (Kristin Zablocki, Katie Bourguignon, Mary Mohr, Emily Bourguignon) 3:45.95; 6, Shawano/Bonduel (Mackenzie Soper, Natalie Colon, Andie Villez, Mackenzie Buss) 3:48.21.

Jim Oskola: 920-993-1000, ext. 1230, or joskola@postcrescent.com