Girls swimming / Scouting Northwest
Barrington — The Fillies lost talented seniors Anne Jacobsen, Jacqueline Holdsberg and Kate Valentine to graduation. That’s the bad news for coach Jim Bart, but there’s plenty of good news, too. Senior Erika Elliott is back, as is her junior sister Danielle. Both qualified for the state meet in two individual events; Erika scored points in the consolation finals of the 100 free and Danielle was a near miss in point-scoring in the 500 free. Sophomore Mekenna Scheitlin was also a state qualifier and is back in the mix, as is senior Justine Kaszynski, a state qualifier in the 100 fly. Junior Kayla Widdowson provides breaststroke strength, and the Fillies have added varsity-ready freshmen in the versatile Emma Barnett, Kelsey Holmes (back/sprints) and Kael Ragnini (distance). Divers Francesca Krohn and Tiffany Soto make Barrington a complete team, and certainly one hoping to maintain its dominance in the Mid-Suburban League and send another large contingent to the state meet.
Buffalo Grove — The Bison are a little lighter than normal in numbers, but they return a solid complement of proven varsity swimmers. Veronika Jedryka (distance freestyle) has qualified for the state meet that last two years and figures to find another individual event as a junior. Senior Sara Fasching was close to state last season in the 200 free and 100 back, and junior Margaret Lotzer is close this year in the 100 fly. Combine those three with junior Callie Fasching, and coach Tom Mroz has a couple of freestyle relays with a legitimate chance to swim at state. The Bison expect immediate varsity contributions from freshman Sara Morosan.
Conant — Caitlin Sullivan takes over coaching the Cougars, and she likes what she sees. Conant is exceptionally strong across the freestyles, with distance standouts Allison Cicero (5:12 in the 500) and Barbara Rose (5:18) leading the way. Paulina Wolska provides sprinting power, and Casey Troccoli (breaststroke) and Kristi Burke (fly) provide top-notch varsity contributions. “I’m extremely pleased by what I’ve seen so far in practice and the outlook for this season,” Sullivan said. “In summer leagues, my girls improved on last fall’s best times and are looking better than ever in the pool.”
Elk Grove — Flooding in late July temporarily disabled Elk Grove’s pool, so the Grens trained outdoors at a park district facility until Aug. 31. “Since then, the girls have really stepped up the practice intensity,” said Elk Grove coach Dave Toler. His top competitors figure to be soph Simona Kurta (sprints, fly, back), juniors Anjelica Ford (IM, back, middle distance) and Jackie Hirschauer (IM, back) and senior diver Natalie Przybylski. Toler also expects better second- and third-swimmer support at the varsity level as the program continues to develop.
Fremd — Coach Andrew Kittrell is excited about this year’s group, and who could blame him? The Vikings have a double state qualifier back in junior Breanna Anderson, and he reports she’s still making steady progress. Emily McCarthy, Amy McEllen and Sam Matuszewski were all key relay swimmers last year, and they’ve also taken a step up in the sprints. Erica Wickstrom (IM), Sam Delprado (distance) and Laura Plager (200 free) help round out the picture in duals, and the Vikings return two state-meet qualifying divers, Stephanie and Elizabeth Uhrich. And then there are the freshmen. Kittrell reports that Loretta Stelnicki, Julia Portmann and Erica King will have an immediate varsity impact, with the kind of talent to qualify for the state meet and perhaps even score points as individuals. It promises to be one interesting year for Fremd.
Hersey — Coach Dick Mortensen’s team will pursue its fifth straight MSL East crown, but the Huskies know it won’t be easy without graduated standouts Christine Rovani and diver Katie Dewar. The Huskies do return on the of the league’s elite performers in Amanda Petro, whose all-around skill will be helpful in lineup flexibility in duals. Other key people back in their places include Erin Horne (backstroke), Kelsey O’Donnell (fly, sprints) and Bethany Figiel, though her participation may be limited due to shoulder concerns. Stephanie Kintzle and Maddy Leisz will vie for the breaststroke spot on the medley relay, and Karoline Szysmaszek is the top distance swimmer. Two key new arrivals for the Huskies: Sprinter Kayla Dale, who last year competed for Wheeling — and Declan James Mortensen, born Aug. 28 to the head coach.
Hoffman Estates — Coach Chris Fetterman has some new names this fall and some new ability. Vera Damaris and Meran Liu placed 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke against BG on Thursday, Natalie Clarke won diving with a score of 142.95 and the medley relay of Kristyn Furst, Alex Vick, Nicole Otero and Sharon Sturnfield won in 2:08.54. Jessica Sullivan was able to grab second place in the 50 free. The test for this team will be developing enough depth to be competitive in duals, and seeing how the younger swimmers develop into varsity-ready help.
Maine West — The Warriors had a pair of seniors who finished with a flourish, scoring points at the state meet last fall. Ailish O’Connell (50 free, 100 free) and Jen Rey were absolute standouts in the program, and coach Ryan Claus won’t quickly replace them. He’s hoping, however, that over time a promising group can reach a similar destination. Maine West’s top returns are Bailey Guenther, Amy Nakano, Jana Pundurs and Claudia Grabowski. Holly Wasicak (breaststroke) and Melissa Goetter (backstroke) showed well in an early dual against Hersey, as did divers Lauren Delgado and Katie Pack. “It’s going to be a season of growth for us,” Claus said. “Our focus is going to be more on time drops and solid practices than wins.”
Palatine — Coach Brittany Berleman has some familiar faces back, and that’s a good thing. Sure, she’d like to have a few more, but the Pirates have plenty to be excited about. Senior Nicole Huffman qualified for state last season in the 100 back, and sophomore Laura Mayer was a near-miss in the 100 fly. Also back are senior Nicole Theis and sophomore Amy Zahn, who joined Huffman and Mayer in relay action at state. They’re a diverse enough group that they’ll be able to cause problems for some teams in duals, but this is a group that figures to shine at the end of the season. As Berleman put it: “We are again small at the varsity level — but we are fast.”
Prospect — The Knights lost 16 seniors to graduation, including several key competitors and a pair of state-qualifying divers in Christina and Sarah Pekar. But coach Alfonso Lopez looks at the season as a reloading, not rebuilding, project. Junior Jessica Cavaiani was one of the MSL’s top breaststrokers last season and continues to make progress. Other key returners include Amanda Drucker (100, 200 free), Megan Tuttle (distance) and Emily Gabriel and Kallie Shields (sprints), Jenna Gartz (breaststroke), Molly Gilbertson (fly) and Emily Rigopolous (IM). A talented freshman class will help ease the graduation losses; key frosh include Dana Liva and Lauren Drucker (diving), Macey Berkley (distance) along with Nikki Neumann, Ellie McGough and Monica Mazurek. Sophs contributing figure to include Amanda Fulk, Mary Schiavone, along with juniors Taylor Arndt and Hannah Ohrstrom. “I think we’re going to be a pretty fast team, especially in the breaststroke and freestyle events,” Lopez said. “Our one strength may be that in terms of lineups we can be pretty flexible because many of our swimmers that have come up from JV or our incoming freshmen are IM’ers and swim a variety of individual events.”
Rolling Meadows — It’s been a rocky start for the Mustangs, as the facility they share with Elk Grove was closed due to mechanical problems. But they’ve made the best of it, for a while training outdoors in the evenings at a park district pool before returning to normal training at Elk Grove. Senior Vicky Vockeroth is primed for a big finish after a rock-solid junior season. She spent the summer training mostly on her own in preparation for the season; junior Jessica Dyckstra made huge strides last season and excels in the middle distance and distance freestyles. Coach Monika Chiappetta is excited to see how junior Meaghan O’Brien and senior Carly Lawrence will fare after strong early efforts this fall.
Schaumburg — The Saxons have an interesting mix that will be decisively strong in the breaststroke, where sophomore sophomore Sydney Skibinsky, senior Kristy Bessler and junior Ashley Johnson provide a first-rate trio. It will be tough to replace backstroker/sprinter Sammy Schuckles, who graduated after making the state meet four straight times and scoring points in the 100 backstroke as a senior. Other key losses from last season include Emily Langlotz, Angie Fee and Arielle Halatek, but coach Tim Kasper expects to be strong in the freestyles with junior Ema Cigerova, senior Corinne Trujillo, senior Casey Houts and sophomores Abby and Maddy Langlotz.
St. Viator — The Lions graduated a group of talented seniors in Megan Shover, Stephanie Nolan, Melanie Battaglia and Margaret Stefanowski. Good swims in the early going have been recorded by Carson Soch (sprints), Eileen Mallof, Laura Foss, Megan Schreuder, Lilly Miossi and Nina Byskosh for coach Adam Clementi.
Wheeling — Coach Lisa Hanrahan’s team is encouraged by a recent dual victory against Hoffman Estates and is looking forward to better results this fall. The top returners for the Wildcats are senior Leah Malsom (IM, free), and sophs Emily Zieger (distance) and Michaela Rozmus (sprints). Two frosh are expected to have an immediate varsity impact: Theresa Godlewski (fly, back, free) and Shannon Richards (back, free). And diver Aly Pink brings a strong gymnastics background in diving. “I’m hoping to break some school records,” said Hanrahan, “and get some kids downstate this year.”