Girls swimming and diving: State meet scouting, Lake County
Girls swimming and diving state finals
Where: New Trier High School, Winnetka
Friday: Diving prelims at 9 a.m., swimming prelims at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday: Swimming and diving finals at noon
Team picture: Rosary, Lake Forest and St. Charles North have the top three spots in the most recent state rankings, but New Trier, Loyola and Oak Park-River Forest will definitely be in the trophy hunt. Barrington has been ranked in the top 10 all year.
Senior moments: Barrington's Kirsten Jacobsen is seeded No. 2 in the 200 and 500 freestyles and will have a great matchup with Lake Forest senior Reilly Lanigan in both races. Jacobsen's senior teammate, Sarah Kate Capel, will race in the 50 free and on the medley and 200 free relays.
Libertyville's Macey Neubauer is among the top qualifiers in the 200 IM (sixth) and 100 breaststroke (11th), and the Cats have Staci Herchenbach in the 100 fly ... Stevenson's Irune Andres qualified eighth in the 200 IM and 14th in the 500 free, and Casey Kirby is the fourth seed in the 100 back and will also race the 100 free ... Mundelein's Tara Lawson will represent the Mustangs in the 100 backstroke.
Junior achievement: Warren's Courtney Barker, a state point-scorer last year in the 50 free, has the No. 3 seed in the 100 back this year and will again race in the 50. Stevenson's Rachel Song qualified 13th in the 100 fly and will have key relay legs for the Pats ... Jessie Lenhart harmonizes alongside Song in the 100 fly ... Libertyville's Emma Richart will race the 200 free, and the Wildcats have Meredith Robbins in the 50 free.
Super sophs: Stevenson's Iza (pronunciation: EE-zah) Pelka earned spots in the 100 and 200 freestyles ... Vernon Hills' Nicole Pinter is in the 200 free.
Relays: Libertyville's medley relay qualified eighth, and the Wildcats also made it in the 400 free relay ... Stevenson will compete in all three, with the 400 free relay qualifying best at eighth ... Warren will be represented in the medley relay.
Record watching: Waubonsie Valley junior Hannah Hunt is the top qualifier in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.36. The state record is 1:01.83, by Stevenson's Ashley Wanland (2007). The 200 free record of 1:46.98 (Jacobsen, Barrington) and 500 free record of 4:46.66 (Adrienne Bicek, Downers Grove North) are threatened by both Jacobsen and Lake Forest's Reilly Lanigan.
Think fast: Lake Forest junior Daria Pyshnenko is the top seed in the 50 free (22.69) and the second seed in the 100 free (50.91)
Diving right in: St. Viator's Elizabeth Drab is giving new meaning to the term multi-sport athlete. Already a high school state track and field qualifier in the 400 dash and the high jump, and experienced in both gymnastics and soccer, this year she won the Barrington sectional in diving. She'll represent the Lions in diving for the first time in program history. "Elizabeth's an incredibly talented athlete who's exceeding even her own expectations," said St. Viator athletic director Marty Jennings. "She's breaking ground for us in so many ways." Essentially a one-person team with St. Viator, Drab upped her commitment to diving in the high school off-season and it's paid huge dividends. She's hopeful that her highest-scoring dives - among them, a front 2½ tuck - help her find further success this weekend. "If I just focus on one dive at a time, it doesn't seem so intimidating," she says. "I just have to keep my concentration on myself, and not on the other divers or the judges. If I do that and put all my best dives out there, I have a chance to do well."
The top three qualifiers are freshman Jessie Creed of New Trier, freshman Lucy Hogan of Evanston and junior Emma Ruchala of Andrew. Libertyville junior Morgan Paul qualified with the 13th-best score. Mundelein sophomore Maggie Franz and Libertyville sophomore Claire Neuberger also take the plunge.
- Aaron Gabriel