Schaumburg meets Palatine's challenge
Schaumburg coach Tim Kasper had seen some impressive early times from Palatine's girls swimming team, and he was concerned about how his own group might hold up heading into Tuesday's dual.
"A lot of these girls know each other from club swimming," he explained, "and my girls were concerned. I told them, 'You just swim - I'll do all the worrying.' And I was worried."
Rightfully so. Palatine has a pair of state qualifiers back from last season in Monica Dorszewski and Nicole Huffman, an impressive freshman in Amy Zahn and a stellar trio of divers in Mallory Fisher, Stephanie Hamer and Paige Wainwright.
In the end, though, the host Saxons had nothing to worry about. A pair of victories from senior standout Sammy Schuckles and a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200-yard freestyle relay helped the Saxons to a 106-80 victory. Schaumburg's superior depth was the main difference.
Despite its state-ready talent, the Pirates weren't able to get any individual 1-2 finishes - with the very notable exception of diving, where Hamer (190.4), Fisher (186.8) and Wainwright (151.05) made it a clean sweep for Palatine.
The Saxons, though, got a 1-2 finish in the 100 free from Schuckles (58.22) and Kristy Bessler (59.99). And they were able to produce 2-3-4 finishes in races won by Palatine, such as the 200 free (Dorszewski, 2:01.31), the 100 fly (Huffman, 1:02.45), the 500 free (Zahn, 5:36.63) and the 100 breaststroke (Dorszewski, 1:10.46).
"Our numbers are down this year, so that makes it a little difficult," said Palatine coach Brittany Berleman. "But we've got some great kids, and everybody's working really hard."
Both Huffman and Dorszewski are roughly two seconds faster now than they were at a similar point last season, which bodes well for another big finish for them.
One key for Schaumburg, according to Kasper, was Schaumburg's victory in the 200 medley relay, where Schuckles, Sydney Skibinski, Emily Langlotz and Ema Cigerova won in 1:57.09 - their best time to date, significant because for home meets the Saxons dive off the side of the pool deck, without the benefit of conventional starting blocks.
"We'd gone 1:57-plus off the high blocks at Elk Grove, but I told the girls we needed to be 1:57 here," said Kasper. "They did a great job of getting us started the right way."
Schaumburg had an individual win from Langlotz, a senior tri-captain along with Schuckles and Angie Fee, in the 50 free (27.32).
Palatine, meanwhile, can expect continued improvement. The Pirates will add another capable freshman this week, Laura Mayer. Her best time is faster than the state qualifying standard in the 100 fly, but a broken collarbone suffered over the summer has kept her out of the water so far.
And it's clear Palatine will have enough depth to have at least two quality relays in each meet. Dorszewski came from behind to help the Pirates finish on a positive note with a decisive triumph in the 400 free relay with teammates Huffman, Nicole Theis and Zahn (3:53.89).
"We're in a phase right now with a lot of other teams where we're just working hard," said Berleman. "We're making progress and we're excited about getting to where we want to be this season."