Young Neuqua Valley second at Rosary

From the start of Saturday's supersized Rosary Invitational, Neuqua Valley's girls swimming team showed its strength with a series of strong performances.

The Wildcats couldn't prevent the Beads from taking a comfortable victory in the meet, but they were solidly in second place in a meet that featured a strong eight-team field that was strengthened this year with the addition of Lyons Township and Peoria Notre Dame.

"This is a very tough meet," Neuqua Valley coach Jason Niferatos said. "There are a lot of tough schools here, and to finish second to Rosary, overall, is good for us, and it'll be good for the girls."

Neuqua Valley is loaded with young swimmers this year. One of those, freshman Ryan Dulaney, earned the Wildcats a victory in the 200-yard freestyle. Dulaney was also second in the 500 freestyle.

"She was 1:55 on Thursday against Waubonsie Valley and she went 1:55 again today," Niforatos said. "To throw down that time again and swim a little bit of a better race, that was great."

The Wildcats only return one swimming state qualifier from 2014, and senior Amanda Brockmeier was second in the 100 breaststroke.

"She's starting to get back into her form from last year," Niforatos said. "She kind of paid the price on her second 50, but she's getting after it."

Overall, the Wildcats have established themselves well through the opening month of the season.

"I love the leadership on the team," Niforatos said. "You could hear during the meet, the comments of the girls, trying to keep everybody involved. That elevates our team. We're young, but the talent that's coming back is budding nicely. The freshmen are doing well, but they're on a different level with dealing with the soreness of the season."

Naperville Central entered Saturday's meet on the heels of a strong week both in training and in competition, and the Redhawks continued that trend with a third-place performance.

"We raced really well," Naperville Central coach Mike Adams said. "We've got eight really good teams, and it's like a mini-state meet. I thought, for midseason, our girls really got after it. I'm pleased for them and for where we're at right now."

Naperville Central gained an event winner when sophomore Audrey Coffey swam to victory by almost eight seconds in the 500 freestyle. Coffey was also second in the 200 freestyle. Sammie Schmits was fourth in the 100 backstroke and Angie Benton placed fourth in the 50 free.

"We're working hard and getting rid of how badly we're feeling," Adams said. "We're racing regardless of how badly we're feeling, and that's a good sign. If the girls can race well while they're tired, when you feel well, it's easy to race at that point."

Naperville North finished sixth and had its best performances from Connie Zhang, who was third in the 100 freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle.

"We had a pretty strong meet today," Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter said. "The girls are a little tired and there were a lot of races today, but they did step up and get some good times."

McWhirter said Zhang's in-season 53-second time in the 100 free was solid.

"Getting 53s now, when we get to the end of the season, she's going to be fantastic," McWhirter said.

Overall, as the Huskies prepare for October, McWhirter said he appreciates his team's work ethic.

"They have the ability now to push themselves to get those faster times," he said. "Emily Chuang did a nice job on her fly and her back and our other standout today was Hannah Wessel, dropping to 1:09 in the breaststroke. She's still off of the cut, but dropping down."