Naperville North repeats as DVC champion
Host Naperville North ruled the day Saturday in winning its second straight DuPage Valley Conference swimming and diving championship Saturday.
The Huskies won all three relays convincingly and won three individual events as Amy Novak won the 50-yard freestyle, Jen Law finished first in the 100 butterfly and Caitlin Pilgrim won the conference championship in the 100 breaststroke.
The Huskies finished the meet with 322 points to second-place Naperville Central’s 265. Wheaton co-op was third with 211, followed by Glenbard co-op 161, West Chicago 152 and West Aurora 107.
There were also some outstanding performances from non-Huskies athletes as well.
West Chicago’s Kelly Dunn set a meet record with a 52.57 in the 100 freestyle, and her teammate Maya Skorupski was first in the 100 backstroke. Glenbard’s Sarah Taege won both the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle and Wheaton co-op’s Meghan Bagley took the gold in the 200 freestyle. Naperville Central’s Molly Schatz won the diving competition on Friday night.
For Dunn, a senior, who finished seventh in both the 200 and 100 freestyle races at state last year, setting the record in the 100 free was something of a quest.
“I was nervous before the race,” she said. “Last year, I missed the record by 1/100th. While I thought it was possible to break do it, my times haven’t been exactly what I wanted them to be all season. It felt really good to finally get in the water and swim well.”
“Kelly had some unfinished business in the 100 free,” said West Chicago coach Nick Parry. “She really went out and smoked it. It was her best in-season time in the event. The way she raced today validated all the hard work she’s been doing and it should re-energize her.”
In the 100 backstroke Dunn finished about a half-second behind Skorupski, who will be one of the Wildcats team leaders next year.
For Taege, the two conference wins were especially significant because the Glenbard co-op team, which is made up of swimmers from Glenbard East and Glenbard North, was formed this year and participated in the DVC meet for the first time.
“This year we have the opportunity to represent our teams at conference,” said Taege, a Glenbard East senior, who finished 10th at state in the 200 IM swimming as an independent last year. “I want to make top six at state in both the 200 IM and the 500 free. And we hope to get at least one relay and maybe two to state.”
Bagley, who won the 200 free and finished third in the 500 free at the DVC meet, has been a consistent scorer for Wheaton co-op in all four years of high school.
“Meghan has been a team-leader since her freshman year,” said Wheaton co-op coach Jacob Ayers. “Even then, she was doing hard intervals when no one else was doing them. She’s never one to back down from a challenge. She’ll be in contention for the top 12 in the 500 free at state.”
The Naperville North 200 freestyle relay team of Lexi Nash, Rebecca Bogle, Law and Novak set a meet record at 1:38.89.
In addition to winning the 50 freestyle, Novak anchored all three relays.
Naperville North coach Kristy Holben believes that the Huskies performance in Saturday’s meet is a good sign for the team’s chances at sectional and state.
“Our whole team swam today with a lot of heart and courage,” Holben said. “This meet is a reflection of how our girls worked and it tells me how much they want to do well at sectionals and state. For them to race the way they did without a taper, makes us all excited about the rest of the season.”