Stellar finish from Smith; Rosary takes third
Watching Emma Smith's superb high school career at St. Charles East, her breaststroke capabilities sometimes got lost.
But Smith used a blazing breaststroke leg in the 200-yard individual medley to pull ahead of the field at New Trier High School on Saturday, claiming her school's first individual state title since Laura Lipskis won the 500 freestyle in 2000.
“I was really, really happy with the way I swam,” Smith said. “I was really pleased.”
And that breaststroke ability?
“I was actually just a breaststroke swimmer when I was 8-and-under,” Smith said. “I swam the breaststroke and that was about it.”
Smith swam in Lane 2 and therefore couldn't see her competition much in the race, especially on that key breaststroke leg.
“I couldn't see anybody on the breaststroke and and I just said to myself ‘this is the key 50, you've got to go!'” Smith said.
Smith swam a solid freestyle leg, then checked the scoreboard, and knew she finished first. She was runner-up in the event in 2010.
“I was really excited,” Smith said. “It's a really great start.”
Smith came back later in the day and finished third in the 500 freestyle. Her two swims earned the Saints a 13th-place finish in the meet.
“Our program has only gotten stronger and stronger since I came here as a freshman,” Smith said. “We have a great sense of team spirit.”
Smith's said the atmosphere on deck is something she will remember as she heads to college to swim.
“There's a sense of emotion that fills the pool deck,” Smith said. “As a freshman, it was so overwhelming. We didn't sit on deck because we didn't have enough space, but when you came on deck, there was this wall of noise and it was just crazy. And it's still crazy now.”
Every year, there are a few constants to Illinois state swim meets such as the girls meet that took place at New Trier this weekend – and Rosary was front-and-center for many of those emotions, right through the end of the meet.
“It's one of a kind,” Rosary senior Sarah Sykstus said. “Whenever I talk to anyone from any other state, they're like ‘Oh, the Illinois state meet—I've heard about that.' ”
Sykstus and her teammates finished third in the meet, edging Loyola for a trophy behind state champions New Trier and second-placed Fenwick. The trophy battle came down to the final race of the afternoon, the 400 freestyle relay. Rosary was seeded 11th after Friday's preliminaries and needed to move up to shut out Loyola from a shot at overtaking the Beads.
Rosary swam more than two seconds faster than on Friday, winning the consolation heat. That seventh-place finish was enough to clinch third place.
“That was one of the toughest races I've ever seen a Rosary team do,” Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. “I'll tell you, that is cooler than you know. It was awesome.”
Schalz needed a moment to wipe his eyes at that point, and he wasn't alone in his post-meet emotions. Rosary senior Rachel Burke had red eyes while waiting to accept her medal in the event with teammates Emily Launer, Molly Coonce and Erin Hart.
“You get so close to these girls over the season,” Burke said. “The fact that we've done something like this together makes me sad.”
Rest assured, Burke's tears weren't from disappointment. Rosary entered Friday seeded in fourth place, though points are only scored on Saturday. But based on the places it put its swimmers, New Trier was all but assured of winning the title and Fenwick was solidly in second place. Neither of those positions changed on Saturday and New Trier claimed its 11th state title. What was up for grabs was the third trophy, and Loyola and Rosary battled throughout the afternoon for the position.
“We only had six girls swimming today, including on our relays, which isn't as much as some of the other teams,” Burke said. “We had to fight for every point and I think we did really well.”
Rosary's seniors complete a cycle in which they gained a trophy in each of their four state meets. In their first two years, the Beads were state champions while in 2010, Rosary was third.
“We wanted to come in and try to win, but I felt we did a really good job,” Burke said.
So many little things combined. If there were moments where the Beads dropped a placing from their Friday seeding, there were other moments, such as Burke moving from a 12th seed to seventh place in the 200 freestyle. Launer was 10th in that race. Molly Coonce and Sykstus were seeded fifth and 10th in the 100 butterfly and finished 4th and 7th, respectively.
“We had an unbelievable day,” Schalz said. “I am so, so proud of these girls.”
Sykstus was a busy Bead through the meet. She finished second to Smith in the 200 IM, took 10th in the 100 butterfly, swam a leg on Rosary's 200 freestyle relay and held the counting board for Launer, who was fifth in the 500 freestyle.
“It's been a good four years and it's crazy that it's already been four years,” Sykstus said. “It's gone by in a flash. There is so much great competition here.”
Every placing helped the Beads finish third. Coonce finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 100 butterfly. She exited the pool for the breaststroke, recovered briefly, then swam a leg in the pivotal 400 freestyle relay.
Other swimming placings included the Beads' 200 medley relay, which was fourth and the 200 freestyle relay, which placed fifth. Katherine Hare was 11th in the 50 freestyle, Kate Canfield was 100 backstroke and diver Grace Miller finished 10th and became Rosary's first diver to score at the state meet.
St. Charles North had three swims on the final day of the girls season.
Freshman Meagan Popp placed fourth in the 200 IM in her first state meet. Popp was the only freshman swimming in an individual race in Saturday's finals.
“It's been really hectic,” Popp said. “There were so many new things and new experiences that I've never experienced before. But I really enjoyed it. I'm really happy about it.”
Popp represents the future of the North Stars program with seniors such as Lauren Reynolds and Lauren Zima graduating. Junior Emily Ponte teamed with Popp, Reynolds and Zima to finish ninth in the 200 medley relay.
“It's been exciting coming to this meet and cheering on my teammates,” Popp said. “It was a really good experience.”
Zima closed her career by finishing 11th in the 100 butterfly.
“It seems weird that it's over,” Zima said. “It's been such a big part of my life. Now that it's over with, it's kind of a weird feeling but it's exciting too.”
Taken together, St. Charles North's swims earned the North Stars a 15th-place finish.
“I think we had some awesome swims,” Zima said. “We had some 13th- and 14th-place finishes that would have been nice to final in. But (Popp) swam great today and our medley did great today as well. There are a lot of girls who came out this year and had the experience and will be ready to swim great next year.”