Girls swimming: Antioch's Lonergan, Warren excel at Lake Forest

Ever pull off an amazing feat that you didn't think you had in you?

That was the general feeling for junior Aubrey Lonergan.

"It's more like shock. I'm speechless right now," the overwhelmed Antioch swimmer said shortly after just making the cut to qualify for the state meet at Evanston next weekend.

Lonergan placed seventh overall, and her time of 24.46 seconds was right on the state qualifying time for the 50-yard freestyle, as she became only the second female swimmer in school history to qualify for state. Dominique Bessette was the first after qualifying in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke 2010.

"This is the highest level I've competed at and I had a lot of people that wanted this for me," Lonergan said. "I can't believe I made it!"

While Lonergan and Antioch may be seemingly new to the state scene, others usual suspects were finding things a bit more relaxed perhaps at the Lake Forest girls swimming and diving sectional on Saturday afternoon.

Take, for instance, Warren senior Courtney Barker, who will swim for the Green Wave of Tulane starting next fall but still has a little unfinished business while donning the blue and gold.

"Our goal was to get a relay team to state and we did it - it's the first relay to go to state for Warren, so we're pretty excited," said Barker after swimming the opening leg of that qualifying 200 freestyle relay, where she joined juniors Danielle Glisovich and Megan Wong and sophomore Alyssa Church to finish first in 1:37.18. "High school is so different than swimming club because it's more team-oriented and I love that. It's definitely prepared me more for the state meet and upcoming college experience."

The Devils actually qualified a second relay when the same foursome joined forces again to finish second in the 400 relay (3:34.19).

Now a four-time state qualifier, Barker will also look for individual hardware at state as well after winning the 100 backstroke (56.13) and taking second in the 50 freestyle (23.78).

As a team, Warren finished second (233 points) to sectional champ Lake Forest (266).

Libertyville senior Emma Richert is also feeling pretty calm these days as she heads to state for the fourth time.

"Definitely more relaxed. It's been a fun season and it is what it is but we're trying to get after it," she said after winning the 200 individual medley (2:07.36).

Richert will also go to Evanston as part of the Wildcats' 200 freestyle relay team, joining fellow seniors Meredith Robbins, Lucy Saucedo, and Anne Barnett to finish fourth to swim a 1:37.84.

Robbins is no stranger to state after swimming the first leg of the third-place 200-medley relay (1:48.53), where she teamed with junior Allison Morettini, freshman Emma Gleason and Barnett.

Individually, Robbins also qualified after taking sixth in the 50-freestyle (24.26) and second in the 100 butterfly (57.65).

Senior Morgan Paul and junior Claire Neuberger also dove their way to Evanston after finishing 1-2 in diving. Paul tallied 422.30 points, while Neuberger had 387.10 for the Cats, who finished third in the team standings (215).

Vernon Hills will also be in the mix at state after the 200 medley relay team of freshman Aleksandra Skatchkov, senior Lilly Hemesath, junior Nicole Pinter and sophomore anchor Drew Petereit took second (1:48.35).

Petereit also qualified after taking second in the 100 backstroke (1:06.34) and fifth in the 50 freestyle (24.04), while Skatchkov took fourth to qualify in the 100 butterfly (57.84). Hemesath then joined Petereit in the 100 backstroke (1:06.44) after taking third for the Cougars, who finished fourth out of 13 teams with 169 points.

Mundelein finished sixth with 130 points and will see junior Maggie Franz make a return trip to state after taking third in diving (383.60).

And then there was quite an eruption from the Mundelein faithful when freshman Angela Bowes took second to qualify in the 100 backstroke (58.73).

"We're young but we're making progress and getting closer. Whenever we can get as many people through to state, it helps quicken the learning curve," said Mustangs coach Rahul Sethna.

In what is always an inspirational part of the sectional and state meet, athletes with disabilities to showcase their talents. Mundelein freshman MacKenzie Strong has a vision impairment but certainly made her point after qualifying for state in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle as well as the 100 breaststroke.

"We are so proud of her," said Sethna. "She works extremely hard and is very coachable. Give a lot of credit to our assistant coach Kristi Mazzuca, who has done an amazing job working with her."

The champion Scouts were lead by senior Madeline Smith, who qualified in two relays and two individual events.