Another fine finish
Losing more than half of the heart of the team that finished second in the state last year could have led people to overlook Barrington at this weekend's girls swimming state championships at New Trier High School.
But with returning state medalists Sam Simon, Kim Steelman, Alexa Hamilton and Emily Fogle leading the way, the Fillies made their presence felt.
With just one event to go, Barrington was tied for sixth place with Glenbrook South and Evanston. When the meet was over, the Fillies were in seventh place with 74 points.
"The kids did real well," said Barrington coach Jim Bart. "We went into the meet seeded ninth with 51 points and ended up with 74. We ended up with more points than we expected to."
A mix of seasoned state swimmers and talented newcomers to the varsity level led to an up and down meet for Barrington.
The team's biggest success came in the 100-yard breaststroke, where sophomore Emily Fogle finished second (1:03.60), behind two-time state champion Ashley Wanland (1:02.14) of Stevenson and just ahead of Hamilton (1:04.81).
"I actually was more nervous this year than last year," said Fogle, who also placed second (1:04.65) in the breaststroke a year ago. "Last year I was just a freshman and I thought, 'It's just another meet.' "
Swimming against Wanland and Hamilton gave Fogle even more motivation.
"(Ashley's) an extremely nice girl and an awesome swimmer," Fogle said. "I've swam against her since I was 13. Her and Alexa, we push each other. I didn't think I'd make it in four events but I did."
Also picking up medals for the Fillies were Hamilton, who finished fourth in the 200 IM (2:08.01), and Victoria Waring, Mary Fanslow, Emily Fogle and Steelman, who placed fifth (1:48.27) in the 200 medley relay.
St. Viator's Nikki Holladay made her fourth straight appearance at state and reached the finals in the backstroke where she came in 11th.
"It just wasn't my day, I guess," Holladay said. "I tapered and it didn't work out. We changed things a little bit, but nothing major. I swam the same time at sectionals last year and I went in third so this was a very, very fast meet."
In diving, Hersey senior Heidi Johnson wrapped up here career with a ninth-place finish at 342.20. Loyola's Lisi Rowland won with 426.50.
Stevenson came into the meet armed with a ton of talent and experience.
That kept the Patriots in contention from beginning to end, and they left with the third place trophy with 131.5 points.
It was the first girls swimming state trophy in school history. Rosary repeated as state champions with 154 points and New Trier was second at 139.
"The girls are experienced and they worked for this for quite a while," said Stevenson coach Karl Milkereit. "They came through when they needed to."
After breaking her own state record in the 100 breaststroke in Friday's preliminaries, Stevenson's Ashley Wanland came back to take the state title in the breaststroke for the second time in her career. She originally set the record (1:02.00) at the 2005 preliminaries, then did herself one better (1:01.83) on Friday. Her time in the finals (1:02.14) was a little slower, but it was still good enough for the win by more than a second.