Girls swimming: Rosary seals the deal with state title

It was going to take something very strange to keep Rosary from winning the state title in Saturday's girls swimming finals at New Trier - and the Beads made sure that didn't happen. In fact, they performed better than they had in Friday's prelims, soaring to a 192-154 victory over second-placed Lake Forest.

"I'm really happy for these girls," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "They've never been on a state championship team. It shows how hard these kids worked. For all the competition on our team, there wasn't any complaining. They really care for each other and love each other, and that's why they step up when it's hard and race well."

While the Beads were steamrolling their way to the school's fifth state title and first since 2009, there was a meet-long battle over the final trophy between St. Charles North and defending champion Loyola Academy. When the North Stars finished third in the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay and Loyola placed sixth, St. Charles North had its first swimming trophy.

"The kids did awesome and I'm happy for them," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "For these girls, I couldn't ask more. They broke eight team records (Friday) and we've got a great group of freshmen who got to learn what this is about."

Rosary led the meet from beginning to end, starting with the victorious 200 medley relay. The 200 freestyle relay also finished first and the 400 freestyle relay capped a massive day of relay swimming with a second-place finish.

"I loved that we were able to pick up points along the way," Schalz said. "All our first-place swims from prelims won their events, which was huge. We had six school records this weekend - all three relays, back, breast and IM."

The Beads added strong individual performances. Junior Alexis Yager won the 200 IM and was fourth in the 100 breaststroke.

"This was our goal from the beginning of the season, and our team is the closest I think it's ever been," Yager said. "It's fun to see how other teams have changed and we still have a pretty strong team. (Friday) was more stressful, where today was more relaxed."

The Beads were so far ahead that they clinched the championship with two events to go, when freshman Athena Ye won the 100 backstroke.

"Coming into high school season, I wasn't expecting much," Ye said. "I was hoping to get a best time and to make the state team, because our team is so competitive. This season has been awesome. It's all been surreal. Even if I hadn't gotten an individual title, I would have been happy for the team."

The Beads scored in individual races two swimmers at a time. Linda Licari was ninth and Georgia Young 11th in the 200 freestyle. In addition to Yager's win in the 200 IM, Sydney VanOvermeier was fourth. Katie Rentz was second and Camryn Streid third in the 100 butterfly. Ye's win in the backstroke was coupled with a third-place finish from Emily Ryan, and Overmeirer was eighth in the 100 breaststroke to couple with Yager's fourth-place finish.

St. Charles North had a decent first half of the meet, but had dropped a few points and needed a spark from someone to kick start a trophy drive. That moment came when Samantha Sauer held her seventh-place seeding and won the consolation race in the 100 freestyle. Often deemed the most difficult seeding to hold, Sauer held off Palatine's Kristin Anderson and won the race by 0.05.

"That was a big race for us," Sauer said. "We needed to keep our spot in order to get that trophy. I was really nervous before that race, but I heard them yelling 'let's go Sammie' when I was behind the blocks, which really upped my motivation."

Then Sauer hit the water and did what needed to be done.

"I didn't go for time today," Sauer said. "I went after trying to beat the person next to me. I wanted to be the better person than the one next to me and out-touch someone. That was our goal today. We all worked harder to get our third-place trophy."

From that point, everything seemed to fall into place for the North Stars. Audrey Guyett was third in the 500 freestyle while sister Monica Guyett was fourth. The 200 freestyle relay, seeded fourth, finished third. Audrey Guyett finished second in the 100 backstroke, and the 400 freestyle relay capped the afternoon by finishing third.

"It's pretty exciting," Monica Guyett said. "What (Sauer) did, we just built off that, because what she did was amazing."

When Monica Guyett was a freshman, she scored her team's only point in the state finals. This year, she got to hold her team's first state trophy. In addition to her 500 freestyle swim, she tied for third in the 200 freestyle.

"Everyone has been doing an amazing job," Monica Guyett said. "Rooney has worked with us, and we've built and gotten better every year."

Other St. Charles North results from the meet included a fifth-place finish in the medley relay.

St. Charles East finished 12th with Isabel Herb's individual swims being a highlight. The senior was fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 100 backstroke.

"I'm so glad I got to cap off my senior year with my best high school season yet," Herb said. "It means so much to be able to score points for my team. I hope the younger girls will take from me that I didn't make the state team my freshman year and then I was top six in both my races my senior year. No matter where you're at your freshman year, you can get to the top by your senior year. Just never give up, because I never did."

Senior Jordan Morling capped her high school career when she finished eighth in the 200 IM and 10th in the 100 backstroke. This was Morling's third straight year scoring at the state meet.

"Each year, it's crazy," Morling said. "The stands are packed and everyone's going crazy. That never changes, which makes this the most exciting meet to go to. It's been our goal to have more of a presence at state, and this year, I think we achieved that."

Additionally, St. Charles East's 200 medley relay was 10th.

Bartlett-Streamwood co-op junior Kayla Filipek was fifth in the 50 freestyle and also fifth in the 100 freestyle for her best finals performance.

"It was really nice and hopefully, I can come back next year and place higher," Filipek said. "But I'm pleased with how this weekend went. I raced better than I expected considering I wasn't tapered for this meet."

Batavia-West Chicago co-op's Myanna Cook finished her junior year with a 10th-place finish in the 200 freestyle and the sixth-fastest time in the 100 butterfly.

"This was definitely exciting because it was my first time qualifying back for finals," Cook said. "This is my third year at this meet, and I wanted to make it back last year, but it didn't happen. But I did this year, so I'm happy."

Crystal Lake co-op's Valerie Tarazi was second to Yager in the 200 IM, then won the 100 breaststroke, leaving the sophomore very satisfied with her second state finals performance.

"I really wasn't expecting best times," Tarazi said. "I was fully tapered a week and a half ago. When I won, I was shocked. I wanted that state title more than anything, and now I've done that."