AT/Willowbrook's McNamara ready to fly when state comes around

With the girls high school swimming postseason almost upon us, three DuPage County swimmers have posted the fastest times in their events, thus far, and they are recognized as first seeds in the state at this point of the season.

Kelly McNamara of Addison/Willowbrook co-op has the fastest time in the 100 butterfly, 56.52.

Amanda Brockmeier of Neuqua Valley leads everyone in Illinois with a time of 1:05.64 in the 100 breaststroke.

Gabriele Serniute of Downers Grove North is the current state leader in the 200 IM with a 2:06.03.

McNamara, who finished second in state in the fly last year, is swimming healthy for the first time in high school and that, combined with her incredible work ethic, makes her a top candidate for top honors this year.

She was hampered by a hip injury as a sophomore, and last year she got second place despite a stress fracture in her foot that she suffered early in the season.

Last Saturday McNamara swam a 56.52 to win the event at the St. Charles North Invite.

"Kelly is in incredible shape this year," said Addison Trail/Willowbrook coach Paul Anderson. "She was always fast, but now because she's been able to take her weight training to the next level, she's combining power with that speed."

Anderson said the key to McNamara's success is that she treats every race with the utmost importance. She always goes out and does her best.

"She never takes a race off," he said. "She attacks with the same ferocity, whether it's a close race or a runaway. Every race is a chance to work on a piece of her game. She's that way in practice as well. And she's competitive. In practice you can give her an unreasonable time in any event and she'll go out and do it. And she's more confident. Last year she was intimidated a little when she faced the big-name swimmers, but now she take on the challenges and she relishes the opportunity to race against the best."

Neuqua Valley building depth:

Amanda Brockmeier, a Neuqua Valley sophomore, finished first in the 100 breaststroke at last week's St. Charles North Invite, which was won by Neuqua Valley, a team that is building to a possible top 10 finish at state.

The Wildcats have a powerful nucleus that features Brockmeier, Natalie McGovern, who finished third in the backstroke last year, diver Lauren Beyer and stalwarts Mackenize Hornstra, Bhavya Kumaran, Ryan Dulaney and Wyli Erlechman, and there's a lot of quality depth developing behind them.

Erlechman, a sophomore who was plucked from the JV ranks last year and swam on the 200 medley relay at state, could be one of the area's breakout performers this year.

"At this time we're planning on her swimming all three relays and the fly at state," coach Jason Niferatos said. "But she has been able to step up wherever we have a need, especially in the sprint freestyle races, and she can go in the breaststroke or the 500 free. She does a great job of acclimating and executing in any event. But she's such a weapon. It will be hard not to use her on all the relays."

Erlechman is especially strong in her underwater swimming.

"Her underwater is incredible," Niferatos said. "Not only is she the best on our team, but I haven't seen anyone this year who can match her."

Still perfect:

Defending state diving champion Sydney Dusel of Napervillle Central kept her unblemished 2014 record going with a come-from behind victory last Saturday at the Evanston Diving Invitational. She has taken first place at three invites and six dual meets.

After the first five dives she stood fifth in the standings at Evanston, which is regarded as a "mini-state meet" with many of the best divers in Illinois competing.

She clinched the victory by nailing her 11th and final dive, a back 2½ twister.

According to Naperville Central diving coach David Likar, Dusel saves her strongest and highest degree of difficulty dives for the end of her program.

"Most divers put their good dives up front and get a high score early to put themselves in a strong position to advance to the finals," Likar said. "Sydney feels more relaxed with her more routine dives up front. We know that she can turn it on and move up at the end. I've seen her dive better than she did at Evanston, but she was consistent throughout."

Dusel's teammate, senior Sophia Heiter, who scored at state the past two years, was third in the competition.

The return of Heiser to the lineup after missing several weekends on recruiting visits gave the Redhawks the team victory at Evanston by a wide margin.

Heiser has decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

"Sydney, Sophia and senior Bernadette Villa, who was ninth last Saturday, motivate each other and push each other in practice, and they all cheer for each other," Likar said. "When you practice with people at such a high level, it benefits everyone."