Warren takes top honors at Jamboree
As usual at Hersey's Jamboree Invitational, much fun was had by all.
The festive atmosphere created by music, cheering and even a visit from the Hersey homecoming court helped everyone enjoy a Saturday afternoon at Olympic Pool in Arlington Heights.
"This meet is so much fun," said Hersey coach Dick Mortensen. "I've noticed, there's never any crying at this meet - everyone's wearing a smile."
Warren especially. The Blue Devils won only one race, the 200-yard freestyle relay of Micah Pritchett, Shannon McKearnan, Maddy Hennelly and Bethany Drebing in 1:45.41, just ahead of Prospect's Grace Gruendel, Greta Pietraszek, Meg Dix and Kelly Wilson in 1:45.69.
But Warren didn't have a single weak spot, either, and amassed 202 points to lead the way ahead of Mundelein (180), Hersey (179), McHenry (172), Buffalo Grove (157) and Prospect (152) in the 12-team field. Drebing took third invidually in both the 200 free (2:03.74) and the 500 free (5:33.78), and Hennelly was second in the 200 IM (2:22.31).
Mundelein had five victories, and four of them involved standout Cassie Brueckbauer. She swam the breastroke leg of the Mustangs' winning 200 medley relay with teammates Emma Engdahl, Lauren Anderson and Amy Klink (1:56.49); Brueckbauer then had only a few minutes before her next race, the 200 freestyle, and won in 2:01.17 in a tight finish with Hersey's Amanda Petro (2:01.22).
Brueckbauer also won the 100 breaststroke (1:09.83) and had a leg on the Mustangs' winning 400 free relay (3:50.07). Anderson won the 100 fly in 1:02.60 and Klink was third in that race in 1:04.32.
Hersey competed without Christine Rovani for the second meet in a row - she's cleared to rejoin the team Monday after getting treatment for a perforated eardrum - and that forced Mortensen to tinker with his lineup. The main adjustment was moving Ali Williams up to the 200 free relay, which placed second; Rovani also would have had a leg on the 400 free relay, which ended up placing second with Petro, Kristy Johnson, Bethany Figiel and Kathryn Korff.
With a healthy Rovani, it's likely Hersey would have won the meet. But Mortensen was pleased that in the midst of all the distractions of homecoming week, everything ended up coming together fairly well. Having diving winner and homecoming queen Kate Reszotko (220.25) and Korff participate in the homecoming court's visit only enhanced the event for the Huskies.
Petro won the 100 free in 55.69; Korff won the 50 in 25.75 and placed third in the 100 free (56.68).
"With everything we had going on, it would have been easy for us to kind of fall apart here," he said. "Instead, I thought we really showed great determination."
Perhaps the competitiveness of the field had something to do with that. With the top six teams separated by only 50 points, every heat and every race mattered.
"The best thing about this meet is that everyone swimming here knows they're going to have a race," he said. "We looked at the teams coming in, and six teams realistically could have won it."
Buffalo Grove got started with the medley relay of Veronika Jedryka, Angela Rodriguez, Sara Fasching and Margaret Lotzer taking third in a fast heat in 1:58.11. Jedryka later won the 500 free (5:27.25), and Fasching placed second in both the 100 free (56.16) and the 100 back (1:04.11).
Prospect had second-place individual finishes from Christine Pekar in diving (207.60) and from Kelly Wilson in the 50 free (25.83); Greta Pietraszek was third in the 200 IM (2:22.41) and fourth in the 100 fly (1:05.18).
St. Viator got a 2-3 finish in the 100 breaststroke from Stephanie Nolan (1:11.23) and Melanie Battaglia (1:11.25), and Megan Shover took third in the 50 freestyle (25.94) as the Lions finished eighth with 97 points.
Barrington Invite: The Fillies came out ahead in a close finish with Lyons as Barrington amassed 314 points to the Lions' 308. Loyola finished third at 240.
Victories for Barrington came in the 200 medley relay, where Jacqueline Holdsberg, Emily Fogle, Anne Jacobsen and Kate Valentine won in 1:47.82; from Fogle, who won both the 200 IM (2:08.12) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.36); from Anne Jacobsen in the 100 fly (58.76); and from the Fillies' 200 free relay of Fogle, Valentine, Jacobsen and Erika Elliott (1:38.64).