Girls swimming and diving: Scouting the Mid-Suburban League meet

Scouting MSL swimming and diving

Where: Barrington High School

When: Diving begins at 9 a.m.; swimming begins at 1 p.m.

Team talk: The host Fillies are well positioned to claim the conference championship in coach Jim Bart's final go-round. Barrington has the top seed in all the relays and in every individual swimming event but one, so the MSL West champs figure to finish well in front. Fremd and Hersey are also a cut above the rest of the league, in terms of both their top competitor along with second-swimmer depth. The championship format will favor a Palatine team with several top competitors, while Prospect's challenge will be to produce points from a balanced but unproven lineup. Conant, Schaumburg and Buffalo Grove each have multiple finalists and could jump up to a top-half finish.

Record watch: Barrington junior Maggie Emary is the top seed in both the 100 back and the 200 IM. She probably has the best chance of any competitor at breaking a conference record; Emary is seeded in 2:08.36 and the time to beat is 2:07.08 (by Barrington's Emily Fogle in 2009). Emary is also the defending champ in the event.

Senior moments: Among the top seniors in action are Hersey's Jenny Lutz, who made the final heat of the 100 fly and 100 back. Other seniors seeded in the top six include Fremd's Emily Kini (100 free), Buffalo Grove's Alexandra Jedryka (200 and 500 free), Prospect's Megan Pfeiffer (100 back) and Conant's Lea Cejvan (100 breast).

Junior achievement: It's a very strong class. Hersey has a defending champ, Olivia Kusio (100 breast); this year, she's the top seed in the 50 free and the second seed in the breast. Barrington's Emma Graves is the top seed in the 100 fly, and she's also the defending champ in that race. Fremd's Rebecca Ballo, Palatine's Ellis Nelson, Fremd's Emily Bolger, Schaumburg's Ingrid Hay and Barrington's Mia Chen bring big point-scoring experience for their teams, and Conant's Aly Wooley is in the final heat of both the 50 and 100 freestyles.

Youth movement: All events have strong frosh-soph representation in the final heat. Among the top competitors swimming in their first MSL meets are Barrington sophomore Ally Penrod (top seed in 100 breast, third seed in the 50 free); Barrington freshman Becca Galovich (top seed in the 200 free and 500 free), Fremd freshman Sophia Kuehn (final heat of 200 IM and 100 back); Schaumburg freshman Hana Mollin (final heat of 200 IM and 100 fly) and Palatine freshman Jane Smith (final heat of 200 free and 500 free). Sophomore Bridget O'Leary gives Barrington an advantage with top-end freestyle ability; she's the second seed in the 50 free and the top seed in the 100 free. Another Fillies soph, Gracie Roper, made the final heat of the 200 free. Palatine's Megan Obernesser and Buffalo Grove's Emily Schulstad — both sophs — made the final heat of the 500 free, and Schulstad is also in the final heat of the 200 free. Barrington sophomore Catherine Kitzman is in the final heat of both the 200 IM and 100 breast. Fremd soph Kristina Buzuloiu and Barrington frosh Julie Vega both made the final heat of the 100 fly. Barrington frosh Tea Ragnini and Hersey frosh Claire Fink are in the final heat of the 100 free, Hersey soph Claire Lutz is in the final of the 100 free, and Fremd sophomore Lauren Savage made the final heat of the 50 free.

Diving right in: It's a great collection of proven athletes. The second- through fifth-place finishers from last year are back — in order, Hersey junior Madeline Bovino, Fremd junior Carly Goodsite, Hersey senior Allie Heidrich and Elk Grove sophomore Anna Sprenger. Standouts this season have also included seniors Emily Zukowski of Fremd and Meghan Schmit of Prospect, along with Barrington's Nicole Barcroft and Anna King, Palatine's Julia Hanson and Clarissa Domanus and Conant's Melynda Meyrick.

— Aaron Gabriel