Tri-Cities girls swimming season preview
By Darryl Mellema
Daily Herald Correspondent
Rosary
Coach: Bill Schalz
Key losses to graduation: Erin Hart, Elaina Ricci.
Top returning swimmers and divers: Katie Rentz, senior; Emily Ryan, sophomore; Camryn Streid, senior; Alexis Yager, junior; Georgia Young, senior; Samantha Laurich, sophomore.
Key newcomers: Julie Bottarini, Linda Licari, Kathryn Mueller, Abby Partridge Samantha Rankin, Sydney Vanovermeiren, Athena Ye and Abigail Solano (diver).
Outlook:The straight forward way to look at Rosary's girls swim team is to see the talent they have returning, which is enormous, and anoint them as one of the top teams in the state. The thing is, the Beads, runners-up in 2014, have a group of swimmers who have never competed for the school that could be the real driving force to whatever success the squad has this fall. "We have five freshmen whose best times are under the state cut in various events," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "We have a swimmer in Sydney Vanovermeirer who is .15 of a second off the Olympic Trials qualifyin time in the 200-yard breaststroke." Now take those incoming stars and add six returning qualifiers, five of whom swam a year ago in finals, and Rosary's season could be very special. "You take what we have coming in and what we have coming back, and we feel we are serious contenders to win our fifth state title," Schalz said. For a returning leader, the Beads have Alexis Yager, who turned a strong high school season in which she won the 200 IM into an incredibly solid club season and earned a pair of Olympic Trials cuts herself. "She's a hard worker and a good friend to a lot of the girls on the team," Schalz said. "She's such a great racer. Put her in a racing situation, and she wants to win. But if you met her and didn't know she was a swimmer, you'd think she was this nice high school girl." As talented as the beads may be, Schalz is mindful that every top team in the state will improve greatly through the high school season in preparation for the Nov. 20-21 IHSA finals at New Trier. "We've got a very good team, but I've had very good teams that haven't gotten into the Top 10. Some of our championship teams weren't the best team on-deck, but we swam well in the state meet. It's a long season and there is a lot of hard work to be done."
St. Charles East
Coach: Joe Cabel
Key losses to graduation: None.
Top returning swimmers and divers: Jordan Morling, senior; Isabel Herb, senior; Anna O'Malley, junior; Amy Pearson, junior; Kayla Jones, sophomore; Rachel Nagler, junior; Sayre Milo, sophomore; Dominque Carravetta, junior; Jenni Orzolek, senior; and Diver Courtney Green.
Key newcomers: Gabbi Pompillio, Kaitlin Cramer, Linda Hoppe, Jessica Astrup (diver).
Outlook: High school swim meets favor teams with sprint freestyle swimmers. The 50 free, 100 free, 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay are four events where fast freestylers can thrive, and they comprise four of the 12 events, and a fifth is diving. St. Charles East is a tremendously strong team, but its strengths lie in those other events. Take the Saints' top returning swimmers: Jordan Morling is strongest in the 200 IM, in which she placed fourth a year ago and the 100 butterfly, in which she finished second last year; Isabel Herb is a strong backstroke and breastroker swimmer; Anna O'Malley's best events are 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly while Kayla Jones was a state qualifier a year ago in the breaststroke. "We're more of a stroke team than a team of freestylers," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "We need to work on sprint freestyle, and it's easier to develop a sprint freestyler than a 500-yard distance swimmer." The Saints have a massive 57-swimmer turnout this fall, and some of the newcomers are very talented. "We have a very large team with an incredible work ethic," Cabel said. "They will work hard to do well. Those four girls (Morling, Herb, O'Malley and Jones) all had great summers. And they work to make things fun for us. If you're having fun, it's easier to work hard, and our seniors and our leaders know that, if you're having fun, going 7,700 yards a night in August is a lot easier." Cabel said the goal is for his team to reach 600,000 training yards before the state meet this year. "We've set goals, but none of them are about times," Cabel said. "It's been about where we're going as a group, and we'll keep it that way. We'll focus on the kind of people we want to be, and the times will come for us."
St. Charles North
Coach: Rob Rooney
Key losses to graduation: Hannah Olsen, Abby Ponte (diver).
Top returning swimmers and divers: Monica Guyett, senior; Audrey Guyett, junior; Samantha Sauer , senior; Grace Samuelson, senior; Katie Schutz, senior; Madison Carroll, senior; Autumn Horlbeck, sophomore; Jillian Waslawski , sophomore.
Key newcomers: Katie Cantrell, Jullianna Engesser, Mallory Jump, Kayiegh Lewis, Allison Wessel, Rachel Ponte.
Outlook: Come at it from any angle you want, and it's impossible to avoid the talent St. Charles North's girls swim team possesses this year. Youth? North Stars coach Rob Rooney says this could be the best freshman class in school history. Experience? The North Stars finished fifth last year, and everyone who scored in that meet returns. Potential? This one's harder to pinpoint, but the school has a history of turning in strong performances on the heels of all the hard work of a regular season. "Some years, you definitely have to start all over again building a team and other years, you try to continue to build off where you were before, and this year, we're definitely building off last year," Rooney said. "We're blessed to have what we have in the water. There's a lot of great things going on, and it's exciting." Among those talented returnees are the Guyett sisters. Monica Guyett is a senior this year and Audrey Guyett is a sophomore. A year ago, Audrey was second in the 500 freestyle while Monica finished third. "I think in terms of competing and versatility, we're ready to make the next step. We've got the makings of a great team and we think it will be a fun year for St. Charles North," Rooney said. Both St. Charles East and St. Charles Northj have to adjust to a new lineup in the Upstate Eight Conference meet this year. In recent seasons, the UEC meet, with the St. Charles schools in addition to Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley, has been the strongest in the state. The "Valleys" have now joined the DuPage Valley Conference, where they will combine with Naperville North, Naperville Central and the Wheaton coop to be the strongest in the state. The UEC has solid programs, but is in some transition. "Obviously we see St. Charles East and they've been a great team in recent years," Rooney said. "Bartlett's got some quick kids. It's gone from the best in the state to not being the best, and that's a shame. But we'll work with what we have."
West Aurora
Coach: Chris Ranallo
Losses to graduation: Melissa Hill, Natalie Soriano, Lily Ochsenschlager.
Top returning swimmers and divers: Rachel Heiss, junior; Erin Iglesias, sophomore; Tina Lirot, senior; Jordan Majersky, sophomore; Marin Munos, junior; Annika Ness, senior.
Key newcomers: Rhiannon Gustafson, Gina Jenkins, Alexis Newendyke, Jacey Emory, Mary Emory
Outlook: In his fourth season as West Aurora's girls swim coach, there's no dip in enthusiasm from Chris Ranallo. The Blackhawks have grown every year, both in talent level and in size of the school's roster. This year, the team has 36 members, and has both talented returnees and newcomers. "The numbers for us have always been a big thing," Ranallo said. "We continue to have growth there, which is great to see. Seeing that we are getting more talented with what was coming into the program was phenomenal this year." West Aurora's top returning swimmer is Annika Ness, who is a senior who will be trying one final time to qualify for the state meet and become the school's first swimming qualifier since Jackie Iglesias in 2010. "She really wants to make it her senior year," Ranallo said. "She will be a big loss to us after this year." There are other strong returnees, including Rachel Heiss and Ann Iglesias. A name to watch among the freshmen is Gina Jenkins. "She's coming in 6-7 seconds off the cut in the 500 freestyle," Ranallo said. "Our depth overall is a lot better this year, and we're going try to move up in the conference." West Aurora has talent beyond just swimming. There are seven divers on the team, and the diving contingent last had a state qualifier in 2013, when Shannon Sullivan dived in the IHSA prelims. Ranallo said the growth figures to continue beyond just this year. "Next year, we're hoping to gain seven club kids to the program," Ranallo said. "This will be a strong group this year, but it only grows next year, and we want it to finally hit that stride that, if you go to West Aurora and you're a swimmer, you're swimming for your high school."