Stevenson earns 3rd-place trophy
It's difficult entering the state meet as one of the favorites to win a trophy.
But Stevenson came into this weekend's state meet at New Trier armed with a ton of talent and experience.
That kept the Patriots in contention from beginning to end, and they left Saturday's meet 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.
Perhaps more importantly, this weekend made up for last year, when Wanland was disqualified for rocking on the blocks at the start at sectionals.
"Yes," said Wanland when asked if she was going for the record again in the finals. "It was because I didn't get a chance to go after it last year. I wanted to break the record this year."
Getting the record for a second time in two days was another one of Wanland's goals.
"I was trying to go for it again," said Wanland, who also placed eighth (2:06.58) in the 200 IM. "I was thrilled. I think with (Barrington's) Emily (Fogle) and Alexa (Hamilton), they're huge competition and definitely pushed me the last twenty-five."
Martha VanLieshout was a key to the Patriots' success. She earned the fourth-place medal in the 500 free (5:03.09) and the sixth-place medal in the 200 free (1:52.70).
The Patriots also picked up a lot of points in diving. Last year's state champion, Kerrin Seymour, came in fourth this year with 361.75 points.
"I wanted first, but anything I can do for the team is good," said Seymour, who missed half the season due to mono. "I've only been back two to three weeks.
"My dives were not very strong. My sectional meet was a lot better. I'm definitely not at the level I should be."
Placing sixth in diving for the Patriots was Sam Stenn with 347.10 points.
"This wasn't my best meet," said Stenn, who finished 20th freshman year and wasn't part of the sectional team a year ago. "My first five dives were pretty strong. The middle and last rounds were pretty decent."