Rosary does its thing at sectional
The Rosary girls swimming team did just about everything it wanted to do in winning Saturday's Metea Valley sectional.
The Beads qualified all three relays for next week's state meet. They also won a pair of individual races and had at least one qualifier in every racing event and in five events they had a pair of qualifiers.
"Our goal today was to get people qualified," said Rosary coach Bill Schalz. "Next week our goal is to get a trophy, and to do that we'll have to get big time drops with everyone fully rested."
"We have a lot of hope for a trophy," said junior Katie Rentz, who won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.88 seconds from the next to last heat. "We've been training for that for the last year. And our team's winning this sectional made every one of us more confident than we were before this meet."
"Winning from the fourth heat was big. Katie missed three weeks early in the season with a concussion, but she looks very good right now," Schalz said. "She also finished third in the 500 freestyle."
The coach also praised Alexis Yager, who won the 200 IM in 2:07.68.
"Alexis got the job done," Schalz said. "She qualified in four events. She should be big this year at state. Last year she just missed making the finals. This year she could challenge to win the IM and the 100 breaststroke."
Rosary's three relays finished in fourth place or lower, but they were fast enough to qualify. Other Beads who will be on deck at state next week will be Georgia Young, Camryn Streid, Erin Hart, Emily Ryan, Samantha Laurich and Annie Gosselin, who made the cut in individual events as well as relay standouts Elaina Ricci and Jill Bottarini. Streid, Ryan and Laurich are all freshmen.
Rosary amassed 214.50 points to win the sectional, while Waubonsie Valley edged Naperville Central for second 176.5 to 172. Naperville North was just outside the top three with 166, followed by Metea Valley with 142, Neuqua Valley (136) and West Chicago/Batavia co-op (114).
It was a big day for the Warriors, who won both the 200 medley and then the 200 free relay in a pool record 1:35.90.
And it was an especially big day for Waubonsie's Avery Mathew, who anchored both of those relays, set a pool record with a 23.69 in the 50 free and also qualified in the 100 freestyle.
Mathew's achievements came after a slow start this season because of pain and fatigue she suffered after trying vegetarianism. In October she went back to her regular diet and has been improving ever since.
"Over the summer I wanted to try something new," Mathew said. "It worked for a while, but then I started to get sore and sick from the lack of protein. Switching back was the right decision."
"Avery is such a great athlete," said Waubonsie Valley coach Katie Peterson. "And she's a tough competitor."
Mathew is excited about the wins in the two relays and the position it puts the Warriors in as the state meet approaches.
"I have to make it back next Saturday in the 50," Mathew said. "And I think those two relays can score. We're all sprinters and we always push each other in practice."
Waubonsie Valley's Hannah Hunt won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.97.
Defending state champion Sydney Dusel of Naperville Central won the diving competition with a score of 518.55, a meet record, and teammate Sophia Heiser finished second.
Redhawks freshman distance swimmer Audrey Coffey was atop the 500 freestyle field with a 5:02.61.
Metea Valley two-sport star Madeline Sandberg won the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.29. She also plays soccer.
The Mustangs also won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:31.83.
Myanna Cook of West Chicago/Batavia co-op won the 100 backstroke in 57.98, and Oswego's Macie McCallum was the sectional champion in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:54.17.