St. Edward's Venlos will compete in consolation finals

In her final trip to the IHSA girls state swim meet, Megan Venlos is going to come away with something that's eluded her previously - team points.

She could score a few points for St. Edward as well. A senior, Venlos qualified for the consolation final race in the 200-yard freestyle and also in the 100 freestyle in the state meet's preliminaries, which took place Friday at New Trier.

"I swam faster than I did in sectionals, which was good," Venlos said. "My 200 was a best time so I'm happy about that. It's the first time I'll get to swim on Saturday, so I'm happy about that."

Venlos qualified as the ninth-fastest swimmer in the 200 freestyle with her 1:52.85 time. Her 52.35 time in the 100 freestyle was seventh-best. In the IHSA's setup, the top six qualifiers from Friday's prelims swim today for the state title. The next six qualifiers compete for the consolation championship. So even if Venlos swims the fastest time in the water in finals, she can finish no better than seventh.

"That's disappointing," Venlos said. "A tenth (of a second) and I would have been through."

Venlos sat near the St. Charles East and St. Charles North teams, which sat side-by-side on one edge of the New Trier pool. Venlos swims for the St. Charles Swim Club, and took advantage of her seating arrangement to cheer for her club teammates throughout a long afternoon on a hot, crowded deck.

"It's fun and it's an exciting meet," Venlos said. "Just watching the other events is a lot of fun. I'm having fun with the (St. Charles) girls. I've been with them the whole time. They've been doing awesome and I want them to. They're my teammates."

Burlington Central senior Courtney Van Oost had a pair of good swims, but they failed to advance her to this afternoon's finals. She swam 58.27 and was the 15th-best finisher in the 100 butterfly. She then swam 1:00.22 and was 26th-fastest in the 100 backstroke.

"My fly, I felt good," Van Oost said. "I got my best time in the fly. My back wasn't what I wanted to go. But I'm still just happy that I made it here."

Like Venlos, Van Oost sat near her club teammates. A member of the Academy Bullets, Van Oost sat among the Rosary team as they competed.

"It's really fun," Van Oost said. "I really like the whole state experience. It really just kind of makes you feel a sense of accomplishment, just to get here. It's been really good."