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.
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. A state finalist last year, Emary will 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.
Elk Grove: Sophomore diver Anna Sprenger is back for a second straight state meet.
Fremd: Junior Emily Bolger excelled in her qualifying efforts at the Stevenson sectional, making it to state as an individual in the 100 free. She was also the key to Fremd getting all three relays into the state meet. The Vikes will be represented individually by junior Rebecca Ballo (breaststroke), freshman Sophia Kuehn (backstroke) and senior Emily Zukowski and junior Carly Goodsite (diving). Qualifying on relays were Kristina Buzuloiu, Lauren Savage and Emily Kini.
Maine West: Senior sprinter Julia Boesche races for a second straight year in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Palatine: Junior Ellis Nelson joins the field for the 200 IM, and freshman Jane Smith is a two-time state qualifier and will race in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.
Hersey: Junior Olivia Kusio is back for a third straight state appearance in the 100 breaststroke, and junior diver Madeline Bovino is also back for another state effort.
Prospect: Senior Gracie Dix will race in the 50 free, while the Knights will be represented in diving by senior Meghan Schmit and sophomore Madison Malone.
Schaumburg: Freshman Hana Mollin was a success in her first qualifying attempt to state and will race the 200 IM.
St. Viator: Senior Elizabeth Drab was the Stevenson sectional champ and enters with the 10th-best sectional score.
Can she go faster? Urbana junior Ema Rajic was dazzling with her qualifying swims: 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