Neuqua, Waubonsie each place second at invites

Once again Neuqua Valley found itself without all its top swimmers for a meet, but once again, the Wildcats proved they are solid even when a bit short-handed.

Neuqua Valley finished second on Saturday to the hosts at the St. Charles North Invitational.

"This is when we start inching forward to the end," Neuqua Valley coach Jason Niferatos said. "We had a really good first half of our invitationals. We're still trying to find some loose ends."

Niferatos said injuries combined with a pair of varsity athletes on college visits to leave the Wildcats short-handed.

"We missed a lot of leadership and firepower that give us confidence," Niferatos said. "Hopefully, we tighten down through the Trevian Relays and toward the conference and sectional. By then everyone will be back and at full strength and ready to be a little better."

Neuqua Valley won two events. In addition to a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Wildcats won the 100 breaststroke when Amanda Brockmeier beat teammate Kale Divya to the finish.

Neuqua Valley also got strong performances from: Maxine Parkinson, who was second in the 200 IM; Kristen Stege, who took second in the 50 freestyle; and Athena Salafatinos, who was second in the 100 backstroke.

"Right now, everything's numb," Niferatos said. "The good teams find a way to push through and other teams fall. Every day is a daily grind and it's wearing on us. Hopefully, we'll end up with enough quality and quantity to be successful."

Hinsdale Central edged Bartlett-Streamwood for third place. While the Red Devils did not win a race, they had a series of strong performances.

"There's a lot of talent here, especially when you look at all the schools," Hinsdale Central coach Bob Barber said. "We're trying to figure the last pieces of the puzzle together. I think if we had everything together, we would have been third, so it was nice to be able to go this route and learn things out about the girls."

Red Devils junior Emily Graham had the best finishes, taking second in the 100 freestyle and third in the 100 breaststroke.

"Freshman year, she came in with an attitude of, 'I want to prove who I am,'" Barber said. "Her sophomore year, she's admitted to maybe not working hard enough for it. Now in her junior year, she looks at it and says, 'That's not going to happen to me again.' She attacks it wholeheartedly."

Mia Chiappe tied for third in the 50 freestyle while Clark Hollis was third in the 100 backstroke.

West Chicago-Batavia finished ninth at St. Charles North after swimming a dual meet with the North Stars on Friday night. Kelly Sego was seventh in the 200 IM and ninth in the 100 breaststroke.

"I thought we did OK for where we're at in the season," West Chicago-Batavia coach Nick Parry said. "Everyone's tired and everyone's legs and arms are shot. It's a chance to get up and race, but we've got to put some perspective to what we're doing. I want them to know that the time's not indicative to the work they're putting in."

Addison Trail-Willowbrook finished 10th. Elissa Haake was fourth in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle.

St. Charles East College Events:

Waubonsie Valley finished a solid second in the four-team St. Charles East College Events meet, won by New Trier. Lily Hunt won the 100-yard butterfly and third in the 50 freestyle, Rebecca Farber was second in the 200 backstroke while Hannah Hunt was second in the 200 breaststroke and third in the 100 breaststroke. Emily Hennessy added a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly.

"I think they did, overall, pretty good," Waubonsie Valley coach Katie Peterson said. "There are still some things we need to work on, and I think they've kind of realized it this meet."

College events meets include the usual high school events, but also 200-yard races for the various strokes, a 1,000 freestyle and also a 400 IM.

"It helps them with more turns in their races, and we've been focusing on that," Peterson said. "It was nice to see them adjusting to that as we saw them swim today."

Despite the typically heavy workload the Warriors have had this fall, Peterson said Saturday's performance was a good one for her team.

"They really wanted to go as fast as they could today to see where they are in the lineup as we plan for sectionals. They're trying to prove themselves, which is great, because they're getting up and racing each other and racing others every single time they get in the water."