Sectional champ Libertyville boasts pool full of qualifiers
There's going to be a lot of orange and black in the stands at this week's girls state swimming meet.
That's because Libertyville earned its second consecutive sectional title Saturday, qualifying two relays, two divers and two individual swimmers for state.
Melanie Rowland of Vernon Hills and Dominique Bessette of Antioch each qualified in two events, and Mundelein is sending two divers.
The Wildcats had a top-six finisher in all but one event at the Vernon Hills sectional, as they scored 261 team points to top Lake Forest (248) and Glenbrook North (213).
Libertyville got off to a good start, with Brittany Tazzioli (412.75) and Megan Stubbs (377.65) taking second and fourth, respectively, in diving.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Melanie Blair, Dana Davidsen, Emily Ott and Whitney Mitchell (1:50.87) topped the Scouts in the first swimming event of the afternoon.
"That medley relay sets the tone for the meet every time," said Wildcats coach Greg Herman, who was voted sectional coach of the year. "When you can have a great medley and get them to state like that, then everybody feels like we can accomplish something. Overall we had great swims, and we had all personal-time drops for the season."
Mitchell qualified for state in the 200 individual medley (2:11.24), pulling ahead on the second leg to beat the state cut by more than a second and beat fellow qualifiers Bessette (2:11.32), Allie Davitt of Lake Forest (2:11.73) and Sarah Kawasaki of Deerfield (2:12.52). And Mitchell teamed with Taylor Rogers, Ott and Davidsen to qualify with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:39.54).
"It's really awesome to get to state," Mitchell said. "This is my freshman year, and I was expecting to go to sectionals, but wasn't expecting to go to state. When we got here today, the energy was just ridiculous and we thought, 'OK, let's go out and make state.' We had a really good meet."
Maggie Boling made the state cut in the 100 breaststroke for the second year in a row, beating her seed time by nearly two seconds to go 1:07.57 and win the event.
"I think I had a really good start, and it just felt good," Boling said. "We were tapering and shaved, and we were all really confident coming into this meet."
Rowland -- who became the first Cougars swimmer to qualify for state and placed in the top 12 in two freestyle events last year -- will swim both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke this time.
She won the former in 58.16, then took second to Lake Forest's Ellen Stoehr in the backstroke (59.75), more than a second ahead of the cut.
"I thought I was on pace and everything during the races, and it turned out I was," Rowland, a sophomore, said. "I want to get back to the top six this year in at least one event, and hopefully I'll be able to do that in both."
Antioch freshman Bessette picked up her second state berth with a fourth-place finish behind Rowland in the butterfly ( 59.97).
Mundelein diver Polly Hirt gained an automatic trip back to state by winning with 427.95 points.
Her teammate Taylor Reckert took third with 408.90.
The at-large diving berths will be announced today, but Tazzioli, Reckert and Stubbs are appear to be safe bets to join Hirt on Friday.
Libertyville earned its sectional trophy by getting strong swims throughout the lineup.
Top Wildcats finishers included Rogers (third, 1: 57.25) and Davidsen (sixth, 1:59.07) in the 200 freestyle; Ott in the 200 IM (fifth, 2:12.97) and butterfly (sixth, 1:01.40); Rogers in the 100 freestyle (fifth, 54.57); Sarah Cull (fourth, 5:24.79); and Jennifer Gilbert (fifth, 5: 27.94) in the 500 freestyle; Blair in the backstroke (sixth, 1:03.35); and Davidsen in the breaststroke (third, 1:09.08).
The 200 freestyle relay took fifth with a time of 1:46.03.
"Our kids swam fast, and when the opportunity was there they were able to shine," Herman said. "You have to give a lot of credit to our divers because they really set the tone at the beginning and both had a tremendous meet."
Melanie Lecaroz of Vernon Hills took second in the 50 freestyle (25.03), which also featured strong swims by Kristen O'Connor of Warren (fourth, 25.32), Sarah Falconer of Mundelein (fifth, 25.43) and Warren's Ally Calewarts (sixth, 25.78).
The Blue Devils, who finished fifth in the meet with 128 points, also had medal-winning swims from O'Connor in the 100 freestyle (third, 54.27 ), Lauren Alexander in the 500 (sixth, 5:28.76) and Calewarts in the backstroke (fifth, 1:02.82). Mundelein got a pair of top-six finishes in the breaststroke thanks to Cassie Brueckbauer (fourth, 1:10.55) and Falconer (sixth, 1: 10.96).