Barrington wins another MSL crown

In some ways, it was a typical Mid-Suburban League girls swimming meet: Fast times in Barrington's sleek pool, some great surprises, a few disappointments.

In a few important ways, it surely wasn't the typical MSL meet on Saturday.

By meet's end, Barrington coach Jim Bart was hanging on to a handful of sympathy cards. His mother passed away Sunday, and coaches and other members of the aquatic community had seen fit to recognize his loss.

The competition seemed to be a relief of sorts for Barrington, which practiced much of the week under the direction of assistant coach Rob DeFano.

And a solid performance by the Fillies seemed to help get things back to normal for Barrington.

“We had some tears,” said Bart. “And also some tears of joy.”

Barrington rolled to the team championship its 19th straight MSL crown with 303 points. Palatine and Fremd tied for second place at 165, followed by Hersey (157), Prospect (124), Rolling Meadows (111), Buffalo Grove (106), Schaumburg (100), Conant (63), Elk Grove (57), Wheeling (32) and Hoffman Estates (12).

The Fillies got double event wins from senior Anne Jacobsen (50 free, 100 backstroke) and junior Erika Elliott (100 free, 200 free), and they won all three relays. Sophomore Danielle Elliott won the 500 free and placed fourth in the 200 free. Freshmen Mekenna Scheitlin and Olivia Hoffman finished 1-2 in the 200 IM, both added top-six finishes in other events, and Justine Kaszynski was top-six in the 500 free and 100 fly.

Seniors Kate Valentine and Jacqueline were both on winning relays and added top-six individual finishes.

“Our seniors have been very important this year,” Bart said. “We have 15 this year, and that's a lot. Our three seniors that will be in the sectional lineup (Jacobsen, Holdsberg and Valentine) have been great leaders all year. They're terrific about letting everybody know where they're doing a great job and maybe where they can be better.”

Another atypical moment occurred in the 100 fly, where Rolling Meadows junior Vicky Vockeroth surprised by winning in an outside lane. Her coach, Monika Chiappetta, says it's the first time in her 13-year stint as Mustangs coach that an individual has won an MSL event.

Vockeroth's time, 1:00.88, broke a team record set in 1984 and set off quite a celebration in Lane 2.

“I was just euphoric,” said Vockeroth. “I was a little worried because I'd really been sick all week. But at the point in the race where I usually get tired, I just felt really strong. It felt incredible.”

Sophomore Neeka Szacilo took third in the 500 free, Maddie Conlin placed sixth in the 100 free and the Mustangs' 200 free relay of Conlin, Jessica Dykstra, Szacilo and Vockeroth placed third.

Incredible might also describe Palatine's progress this season. Though they struggled in the dual-meet format, the midseason addition of freshman Laura Mayer solidified the Pirates' relays. Palatine finished second in the meet's last race, the 400 free relay, one spot ahead of Fremd, to force a tied for second in the team standings.

Also key for Palatine were senior Monica Dorszewski's victory in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.45), her third-place effort in the 200 free, top-six finishes by Nicole Huffman (100 fly, 100 back), Mayer (200 IM), Amy Zahn (500 free) and a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

Fremd's lineup simply didn't have a weak spot. Breanna Anderson finished third in the 50 free and fifth in the 100 breaststroke, Megan Kennedy was third in the 100 free, Kayleen Samuels placed fourth in the 200 IM and both Vikings freestyle relays finished in the top three.

Hersey's medley relay of Erin Horne, Christine Rovani, Kelsey O'Donnell and Amanda Petro was second to Barrington by a one-hundredth of a second. Petro was second in the 100 and 200 freestyles, Rovani claimed second place in the breaststroke and Erin Horne placed fifth in the 100 backstroke.

Prospect's best individual finish came from Jessica Cavaiani in the breastroke (third, 1:09.87), but coach Alfonso Lopez had nothing but positive thoughts after the meet.

“Top to bottom, a very good day for us,” he said. “Our medley relay (fourth, 1:54.27) is right on track. And Jessica slipped on her third turn in the breastroke, so to still have a solid time there is a good sign.”

Buffalo Grove sophomore Veronika Jedryka placed second in the 500 free and took sixth in the 100 backstroke.

Schaumburg senior Sammy Schuckles was second on the 100 back and fifth in the 100 freestyle.

Elk Grove freshman Simona Kurta finished fifth in the 100 fly, and Conant sophomore Barbara Rose placed in the top six in both the 500 free (fourth, 5:22.68) and 200 free (2:01.31).