Stevenson swimmers deliver at state
A year ago, Stevenson finished fifth at the girls swimming state meet with 90 points, 73 behind state champion Rosary.
This year, the Patriots knew they could do better, and with good reason.
And this time, in Friday's preliminaries at New Trier High School, the Patriots came armed with the most qualifiers (16) of any team and a team loaded with experience.
And Stevenson delivered.
Leading the way was senior Ashley Wanland, who broke her own state record set two seasons ago by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.83.
It was sweet redemption for Wanland, who last season was disqualified at the sectional meet and was unable to defend her state title.
"Having that opportunity taken away from her was unfortunate, but she knows what she can do," said Stevenson coach Karl Milkereit.
Point totals and places are not earned until the meet's event finals, which begin at 1 p.m. today. The Patriots have qualified 14 into today's events.
Rosary has 10 qualifiers while Barrington, which finished second a year ago, has 8. New Trier is close behind, advancing 7 swimmers to Saturday's meet.
If Friday's results were duplicated in today's finals, Rosary would win the meet with 160 points and Stevenson would be second with 132, ahead of New Trier (110) and Loyola (104).
"We came into the meet with 119 points from where we were seeded and now we have 138 possible points," said Milkereit, whose team won a tough sectional meet at their own pool last Saturday and came up with that number based on seed placings out of all sectionals around the state. "Really, for a lot of them, this has been four years in the making. The last two years we knew we could possibly be in this situation."
The Patriots advanced two swimmers in the 200 free, the 200 IM, the 500 free and diving, where defending state champion Kerrin Seymour is fifth (267.85 points) and teammate Sam Stenn seventh (255.10).
Martha VanLieshout advanced to today's championship heat in both of her events. She came in fourth in the 200 free (1:51.95) and fifth in the 500 free (5:01.97), meaning she will medal in both events.
"I'm really excited about that," said VanLieshout, who already has two state medals after placing third in the 200 and fifth in the 500 last year. "Last year was the first time I made the finals at state. It was new to me and I didn't do my best. This year I'm confident in what I and the whole team can do."
Also making it to the finals in two events for Stevenson is Tori Alland. The junior was seventh in the 200 free and fourth in the 500 free.