Fillies' goals look familiar
What will defending Mid-Suburban East champion Prospect do without an Andracki on its girls swimming roster for the first time in the last four years?
How competitive will Buffalo Grove be without Erin Rodriguez?
The only thing that does seem certain is Barrington will win its 16th straight MSL championship despite graduating five of its nine state qualifiers from last year's team that captured runner-up honors in the IHSA state meet.
"We lost a lot of seniors, but we have some kids like Sam (Simon), who gets third or fourth place," said Barrington coach Jim Bart. "We don't have the numbers at the top, but we'll be OK.
"We have four new freshmen. We'll have to wait to see how they develop."
Barrington lost Lizzie Stetson, who was second at state in the 200 medley relay and third in the 100 fly. Also gone are Emily Molzahn and Angela Yu, who swam legs on the third-place 200 free relay.
Molzahn also took ninth in the 50 free, while Yu was eighth in the 100 free.
Also graduating were Jacie Dick, who was on the fourth-place 400 free relay, and Erin O'Daniel, who was 12th in diving.
Returning for the Fillies are Emily Fogle, second in the 200 medley relay and in the 100 breaststroke; Simon, who swam on the third-place 200 free relay; Alexa Hamilton, third in the breaststroke; and Kim Steelman, who swam legs on the third-place 200 free relay and on the fourth-place 400 free relay.
"One of our standard goals is to be in the top 10 at state," Bart said. "To do that would be great. We also want to be faster than the year before. The returning girls put in a lot of work over the summer, so they should be OK."
"We realize we might not finish second in the state this year, but we definitely want to do well," said Hamilton.
Prospect will try to repeat as East champion without Julia Andracki, the defending state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Andracki decided to swim with her club team, the Arlington Alligators, this fall.
Andracki and her sister, Amy, who graduated last year, were also key members of the Knights' relay teams.
So far, Prospect has fared well, losing its season opener to Warren and defeating Schaumburg.
"We wish her well. We hope everything comes out well for her," said Knights coach Dick Mortensen of Julia Andracki. "We have five freshmen that are going to have to contribute. We still have Sarah Sohn, KC Dix and Molly Nordyke."
New to the team this season is a quintet of freshmen.
Greta Pietrasazk will likely compete in the breaststroke, IM or 200 free. Marissa Pettenuzzo is a sprinter who will see time in the 50 and 100 free and whose father Ray is the former Maine West football coach.
Grace Gruendel is a sprinter and butterflyer, Madeline Spacapan will join her sister Margaret on the Knights and compete in the backstroke and IM and Tori Shields will swim the breaststroke.
BG lost Rodriguez, who is also swimming for the Alligators this season. Rodriguez was undefeated in dual meets in the 500 free and the IM.
The Bison made a huge rise in the East last year and, even without Rodriguez, should contend for the title again.
Also in the hunt is Hersey.
In the West, it isn't likely that anyone will challenge Barrington, but Fremd again has a strong team. The Vikings won their own invitational Saturday with 206 points, winning eight of 13 events.
Girls swimming at a glance
State meet: Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16-17 at New Trier High School
Defending state champion: Rosary
Top swimmers to watch: Barrington - Alexa Hamilton (sr.), Sam Simon (sr.), Sara Fogle (sr.), Kim Steelman (jr.), Emily Fogle (soph.); Prospect - KC Dix (sr.), Sarah Sohn (sr.); Hersey - Nicole Gill (sr.); Hoffman Estates - Katie Deboo (sr.); Fremd - Nika Lauraitis (sr.), Brittany Bortz (jr.), Chelsea Roseri; Wheeling - Marissa Reeve (jr.); St. Viator - Nikki Holladay (sr.)
Top teams to watch: Barrington (finished second in the state in 2006), Prospect (defending Mid-Suburban East champion), Fremd, Hersey, Buffalo Grove
Top meets: Saturday, September 8: Evanston at Barrington (1 p.m.); Tuesday, Sept. 11: Prospect at Buffalo Grove (4:30 p.m.), Hersey at Rolling Meadows (4:30 p.m.); Wednesday, Sept. 12: Barrington at Fremd (4:30 p.m.); Thursday, Sept. 20: Prospect at Rolling Meadows (4:30 p.m.); Saturday, Sept. 22: Buffalo Grove Invitational (Conant, Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows - diving: 8 a.m.; swimming: 11:30 a.m.); Monday, Sept. 24: Lake County Meet (Barrington, Libertyville, Mundelein, Stevenson, Warren - diving:(at Barrington), swimming:(at Deerfield); Thursday, Sept. 27: Hersey at Buffalo Grove (4:30 p.m.); Saturday, Sept. 29: Conant Invitational (Hersey, Schaumburg, Stevenson - diving:9 a.m., swimming:1 p.m.); Thursday, Oct. 4: Prospect at Hersey (4:30 p.m.); Saturday, Oct. 6: Barrington Invitational (Schaumburg - diving:8:30 p.m., swimming:1 p.m.); Hersey Jamboree (Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove, Prospect, Maine West, Mundelein, Warren - 12 noon); Saturday, Oct. 13: New Trier Invitational (Barrington - 1:30 p.m.)
Three questions worth answering:
Can anyone stop Barrington from winning its 16th consecutive Mid-Suburban League championship?
Can Prospect survive the loss of defending state breaststroke champion Julia Andracki and her sister, Amy, who was also a multi-state qualifier in the breaststroke?
Can Buffalo Grove compete for the East title despite the loss of Erin Rodriguez, who was virtually invincible in the 500 free and 200 IM in dual meets the past two seasons?
Changes in state qualifying times: 200 medley relay (1:52.19); 200 freestyle (1:57.19); 100 butterfly (1:00.29); 100 freestyle (53.99); 200 freestyle relay (1:40.19); 100 breaststroke (1:08.59); 400 freestyle relay (3:41.19).
-- Kathy Rudolph