Girls swimming: Rosary in position to win state title
It's possible to find some fault with Rosary's performance at Friday girls swimming preliminaries. But if you're digging that deep to find negatives, you've really missed the larger picture - which is that the Beads were hands down the best team on-deck at New Trier, and they put themselves in position to prove it when the trophies get handed out Saturday afternoon in the state finals.
Rosary was 30 points better than Lake Forest in the unofficial scoring of the prelims. While that scoring counts for nothing, it is an indication of relative strengths. Rosary showed its dominance on Friday and positioned itself to win its fifth state title this century and its first since 2008.
"Our goal was to come in here and give ourselves an opportunity to win," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "I told them that if we swam well enough on Friday, we could relax a bit on Saturday and not have that pressure on every single race."
Rosary has entries in eight of 11 swimming events in Saturday's finals, which begin at noon. In addition to all three relays, which are seeded in the top six and will swim for the state championship, the Beads have both entries in the finals in five individual races.
"After the sectional meet, I told the kids they deserved an A-plus because they did everything they had to do," Schalz said. "I'd say today that we were probably an A-minus team. There were some swims we thought had a chance to get in. But if you take the whole day, how long it is and how hard it is, I'm really proud of our girls for stepping up and swimming hard all day."
Those relays were powerful on Friday. The 200-yard medley relay had the fastest time in prelims, as did the 200 freestyle relay. The 400 freestyle relay is seeded second.
"We really had a great day up and down the board," Schalz said. "I'm very happy for our girls."
Alexis Yager was the fastest swimmer in the 200 IM and is seeded second in the 100 breaststroke. Athena Ye swam the fastest 100 backstroke on Friday, and she swims in that race alongside teammate Emily Ryan. Sydney VanOvermeirer swims for the state title in the 100 IM alongside Yager and swims in the consolation final in the 100 breaststroke. The Beads have a powerful tandem in the 100 butterfly, where Katie Rentz and Camryn Streid are seeded 2-3. Rosary also has a pair of swimmers in the 200 freestyle consolation in Georgia Young and Linda Lucari.
The real battle on Saturday is for third place, and St. Charles North is one of two teams in contention for that trophy. Loyola Academy is the other, and the teams are separated by a single point in the unofficial scoring from prelims. While that point count means nothing heading into Saturday, it means the North Stars are poised not only for their best finish at the state finals, but will battle for the school's first swimming trophy.
"We had a great day for St. Charles North," North Stars' coach Rob Rooney said. "We put ourselves in position with Loyola and New Trier to compete for a trophy. All you can ask for is an opportunity, and we've got it. I'm excited about (Saturday) and the girls will be excited about (Saturday) and they'll come out and let it rip."
Keying the North Stars were their relays, all of which qualified for the championship finals. Each of those relays is seeded fourth, with room to improve on Saturday.
"It's kind of cool," Rooney said. "It's kind of cool that all three schools that are in the mix have relays in the top six. We've got to let it go (Saturday)."
Senior Monica Guyett and her sophomore sister Audrey Guyett each qualified to the championship final in two events. Monica swims for the state title in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle while Audrey swims in the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Samantha Sauer swims in the consolation final of the 100 backstroke.
"It's about the team," Rooney said. "It's not about one girl or two girls or our seniors or our freshmen. We're going to come out swinging and see what it can do."
St. Charles East takes aim at a possible Top 10 finish with one relay and four individual swims. In addition to the 200 medley relay, senior Isabel Herb swims in the championship final in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke while senior Jordan Morling swims in the consolation final in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke.
"We had great swims and the medley relay got off to a great start," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "We came back with (Morling) in the 200 IM and she dropped time and that was great to see. Then (Herb) lit it up in the fly and she came back in the backstroke and set a school record in the back, which was kind of cool too."
Herb is poised to have her most successful state swim meet, having previously only medaled as a relay swimmer as a sophomore.
"She just attacks it," Cabel said. "She has a never-say-die attitude. She's just extremely focused, and that's what it takes."
Morling will score in 200 IM and 100 backstroke in the state meet for the third straight year.
"We're looking forward to some big swims from her (Saturday)," Cabel said. "She's got a lot left in the tank."
The Saints had 15 entries coming into the meet, and Cabel said improvement can continue as the team heads toward 2016.
"We've got to get to where we're not swimming in suits at the sectional," Cabel said. "We were close on most of our swims today. But we have to get to the state meet, and then we can put on our suits and swim fast."
Bartlett has a pair of swims in Saturday's finals. Junior Kayla Filipek swims for the state title in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle, an improvement over her sophomore year, where she scored fifth in the 100 freestyle and eighth in the 50 freestyle.
The West Chicago-Batavia co-op also has a pair of Saturday swims, both from junior Myanna Cook, who swims in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle and the championship final in the 100 butterfly.
Competing for a possible state title is Crystal Lake co-op's Valerie Tarazi, who swam the fastest prelim time in the 100 breaststroke, which confirmed the sophomore's top seeding from last week's sectionals.