Girls swimming and diving / State meet scouting

Girls swimming and diving: State meet scouting

Where: Evanston Township High School

When: Friday diving prelims 9 a.m., Friday swimming prelims 3:30 p.m. Saturday diving and swimming finals, noon.

At a glance: Defending team champion Rosary has another terrific collection of talented, capable competitors. Oswego East will bring its best-ever team to the mix, and New Trier, Loyola and Oak Park-River Forest also have trophy hopes. Stevenson has excelled over the last couple of weeks and could crack the top five, and Barrington has a chance at a top-10 finish in coach Jim Bart's final state meet.

Antioch: Junior Aubrey Lonergan will race in the 50 freestyle.

Barrington: Junior Maggie Emary is the top seed in the 500 freestyle and hopes to have an even better performance or two after her reserving her full taper for state. She'll also race in the 200 free and has a chance to score points there as well. Sophomore Ally Penrod has a top-six seed in the 100 breast and could also score there, sophomore Bridget O'Leary has point-scoring opportunities in both the 100 and 200 freestyles. Sophomore Catherine Kitzman made the breaststroke for a second straight year, and freshman Becca Galovich made the 500 free. The Fillies also had the second-best qualifying time in the 400 freestyle relay, and could get a big boost if either the medley or 200 free relays can also score points. Other qualifiers on Barrington relays are Emma Graves, Tea Ragnini and Julie Vega.

Lake Zurich: Sophomore Sophia Goushchina competes in both the 50 free and 100 backstroke.

Libertyville: The Wildcats will have the medley and 200 free relays in action, and seniors Meredith Robbins (50 free, 100 fly) and Emma Richert (200 IM) wrap up standout prep careers with their final state meet. Libertyville also has divers Morgan Paul and Claire Neuberger in action.

Mundelein: Junior Maggie Franz qualified with an at-large berth after scoring 383.60 at the Lake Forest sectional.

Stevenson: Junior Iza Pelka has the top seed in the 200 free, is a threat to score big points in the 500 free as well for the North Suburban Conference and sectional champs. Seniors Jessica Lenhart and Rachel Song are poised to final in the 100 fly, and Song could score individually in the 100 back. Sophomore Ashley Carollo is seeded fourth in the 100 back and will also race in the 100 free, and the Pats will also have Morgan Bosse (100, 200 free), Danielle Fang (breaststroke) and Eva Holsen (500 free) in action. Expect big points in the 400 free relay, where Stevenson is the meet's top seed, and in the medley relay as well. A trophy finish isn't out of the question if things break right for the Patriots, who will also be represented in diving by sophomore Sherry Mestan.

Vernon Hills: The Cougars have a two-event individual qualifier in Drew Petereit (50 free, 100 breast). She'll join Aleksandra Skatchkov, Lilly Hemesath and Nicole Pinter on the medley relay. Also with individual races are Skatchkov (100 fly) and Hemesath (100 breast).

Warren: Senior Courtney Barker is positioned for point-scoring efforts in both the 50 free and 100 back, and she'll be joined by Danielle Glisovich, Megan Wong and Alyssa Church on the 200 and 400 free relays.

Can she go faster? Urbana junior Ema Rajic was dazzling with her qualifying swims at sectional: 1:01.26 in the 100 breast and 2:00.23 in the 200 IM. If she can repeat those times at Evanston, she'll break state records in both races.

They're back: Defending champions include Rosary's Alexis Yager (200 IM) and Athena Ye (100 back) and Crystal Lake's Val Tarazi (100 breast).

- Aaron Gabriel