Tired Rosary still tops

It's a given that girls swimmers are all pretty tired at this time of the year. A month of nonstop heavy training will do that to you - and October hasn't even begun yet, when the large-yardage practices usually really take a toll.

But even within that overall sense of swimming through fatigue, Rosary put itself just a little farther behind the 8-ball on Saturday when it swam its annual invitational meet the day after completing its annual 10-kilometer walk-a-thon.

The Beads still garnered a 370.5-301 victory over second-placed Naperville North in the five-team meet, which also featured strong programs such as Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central as well as Rockford Boylan.

"I think all of us were feeling that a little bit, but we all tried to get over it," Rosary junior Francesca Devine said. "We just wanted to swim fast. We're a really close team, so I think we all pulled through and worked together."

All the teams in Saturday's meet trained hard on Friday and every coach talked about the level of exhaustion felt by their swimmers. That's intentional. Kept tired through September and October and trained hard during those eight weeks, swimmers rest through the final meets of the season and their bodies recover and drop substantial time in their events, culminating in stellar state meet performances. So no one, including Rosary coach Bill Schalz, was using exhaustion as an excuse for any lackluster performances.

"I think everybody's tired, all the good teams probably," Schalz said. "We had some good swims. I think that because it's our own invite, some kids get a little more fired up for it. We swam decent."

Devine was one of those successful swimmers, winning the 100-yard backstroke.

"It felt really good," Devine said. "We've been working on a lot of different things in practice. It finally paid off so it was nice."

Devine said she has struggled a bit with her backstroke, but that some corrections put in place through training have helped smooth that stroke.

"I'm still fighting it a little, but we're working it a little bit," Devine said. "Hopefully it'll get smooth by the end of the season."

Rachel Burke had a solid meet for the Beads, who have not finished anywhere but first in the five-year run of the Rosary Invitational. Burke won the 200 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and anchored the victorious 200 freestyle relay.

"I told her at the beginning of the year that we needed her to step up and be a top swimmer," Schalz said of Burke. "I wanted her to get out there and challenge to be a state champion this year. She has really done a great job with it. She's worked hard."

Sarah Sykstus won the 100 butterfly, Emily Launer finished first in the 500 freestyle while Molly Coonce won the 100 breaststroke to complete Rosary's group of event winners.

From their meet-opening victory in the 200-yard medley relay through their meet-capping win in the 400 freestyle relay, Naperville North had the kind of Saturday invitational that would make a team whoop and holler.

And the Huskies were in celebratory mood after they finished second to Rosary at the Beads' own invitational meet.

"We came in excited," Naperville North coach Kristy Holben said. "The goal today was to come in and swim and have fun."

Michelle Law, Rebecca Bogle, Jennifer Law and Amy Novak swam Naperville North's medley relay and injected enthusiasm into their teammates and fans from the very first moments of the meet.

"Having a great start carries you through the meet," Holben said. "But these girls can bounce back too."

Naperville North won three of the first four events. Jennifer Law won the 200 individual medley and then Amy Novak won the 50 freestyle by .89 of a second, which is a huge margin over 50 yards.

"She is just on fire right now," Holben said of Novak. "She is working hard and pushing herself."

Neuqua Valley finished third in the meet in which Naperville North and Rosary took all individual titles.

"I think this meet was really successful for us because our girls are tired and have been working really hard in the practice pool," Neuqua Valley coach Robert Guy said. "Today, a number of them stepped forward in terms of identifying specific elements of their races that they are trying to work on that they can work on and reflect on and then bring into practice and become better swimmers."

Naperville Central may have finished fourth, but the quality of the opposition and the talent she sees in the pool left Redhawks coach Sue Welker in a very upbeat mood.

"My girls are tired but they've been doing well," Welker said. "My goal is to get a handful of them to make their state cuts. We're a little bit closer each meet. I just have an outstanding group of young ladies who work hard."