Neuqua Valley wins with numbers
Neuqua Valley's depth made all the difference Saturday.
The Wildcats hosted their annual swimming and diving invite that included several powerful guests, and they took the championship for the second year in a row despite the absence of several key operatives, due to injury, the ACT and a college visit.
With state qualifiers such as Natalie McGovern and Amanda Brockmeier and others missing, Wildcats coach Jason Niferatos had the luxury of switching his lineup around in order to come up with the combination that went out and won this major meet.
Senior stalwart Mackenzie Hornstra pulled duty on all three relays, anchoring the winning 200 medley relay team that also included Bhavya Kumeran, Isabel French and Wyli Erlechman. The Wildcats' 200 free relay finished second to St. Charles North, and the 400 freestyle relay team was third behind the victorious Downers Grove North and St. Charles North.
"I like the team aspect of relays," said Hornstra, who also finished second in the 100 backstroke. "I like the idea of having a little extra pressure."
Niferatos said the team's depth has been enhanced by the maturing of last year's strong freshman class.
"Last year if someone went down we were very thin," Niferatos said. "But the experience the younger kids got is paying off this year because we now have veteran depth. We're starting to believe in ourselves as a team. We're starting to see everything we do in practice translate into better and more effective racing."
Niferatos has a lot of faith in Neuqua's medley relay and 200 free relay teams.
"We still have some work to do on our 400 freestyle relay," he said.
"We may have been rebuilding last year, but we're finished rebuilding," Hornstra said. "We've developed and we know what we're doing. I think we're going to shock people at state."
The Wildcats finished the day with 463.50 points, ahead of St. Charles North, which scored 415 points for second place.
The North Stars were led by the sisters Guyett, with Monica, a junior, taking the 500 free and freshman Audrey winning both the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke. Junior Samantha Sauer finished first in the 50 freestyle.
"We had a lot of good things today," said St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney. "Our strong junior class has grown up and they're helping the others realize that they have a great opportunity this year."
Grace Samuelson, Monica Guyett, Jillian Waslawski and Hannah Olsen made up the winning 200 free relay team.
"We're definitely concentrating on relays," said Monica Guyett, who finished eighth at state last year in the 500 free. "And I think our strong relays can help us finish top 10 at state."
Monica said that, despite being a relatively small group of 35 swimmers, the North Stars are "extremely hard workers" and they're a close-knit team.
Waubonsie Valley filled out the top three at the invite with 328 points as Hannah Hunt won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.52.
Peoria Notre Dame was fourth with 300 points sparked by Rachael Kelch's victory in the butterfly.
And Downers Grove North was fifth with 298.50 as winning performances were turned in by diver Emily Aument, who scored a 455.70, Lindsay Mathys, who won the 200 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay team that featured Emily Albrecht, Ellie Benge, Gabriele Serniute and Mathys.