New Trier triumphs at St. Charles East invite

This year's tag team existence at St. Charles North's pool, where both St. Charles East and St. Charles North have been training and competing, has led to many long days of aquatic activity in the North Stars' water.

Saturday, the two schools hosted a day-long pool party and invited an array of top teams to come visiting as both the Saints and North Stars hosted their annual invitational meets.

For St. Charles East, that meant a chance to see top-ranked New Trier up close and personal at the Saints annual College Events Meet. The Trevians showed their pedigree with a 391-312 victory over Lake Forest with the Saints third on 286 points in the eight-team meet.

“I think we were trying to put pressure on Lake Forest, St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. “We were ahead early but slipped a little in the middle. We kicked it in at the end. I was real happy with the way the kids swam today. We were a little up-down, but swimming the different distances might have tricked them a little bit.

In the college events format, there are 200-yard races for the non-freestyle strokes and a 1,000 freestyle as well. Individual medley swimmers get a 400-yard race in which to compete. There are only two relays, a 400-yard medley and an 800-yard freestyle event.

“It's a good break from swimming the same stuff all the time, Cabel said. “We're starting to dial into the state lineup so, this helps us a little bit.

Of any number of highlights for the Saints, the two races that pitted Emma Smith against New Trier's Megan Marchuk ranked near the top. The two battled closely in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle.

Smith won the 200 free and then the two swam nearly side-by-side for the entire 500 free. Both Smith and Marchuk broke the pool record of 5:00.79, set by St. Charles East's Laura Lipskis in 2000. But in this race, Marchuk edged Smith by .08 with her winning time of 4:59.74.

“I think we did really well, Smith said. “I was happy with the way I swam and I think everyone else was too. This was definitely a good meet, the best of the season so far.

Making that 500 freestyle performance all the more interesting was that neither Smith nor Marchuk are anywhere near rested for the big season-ending meets. October is a training month, as evidenced by the extensive work the Saints did at the end of the meet. Daily practices have been brutal and won't relent for some time.

“It was good, Smith said. “I'm glad I had somebody to race. It was hard but a good experience a month before state.

The Saints had two race winners on Saturday. In addition to Smith, Nicole Chapko won the 200 breaststroke, culminating a strong day that also involved a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and a third-place performance in the 400 individual medley.

“I really wanted to focus on the 100 breast because that's the event I'm really hoping to go to state in, Chapko said. “I had good competition and it gave me a feel for what state is going to be like. I felt it pushed me.

A technical stroke like the breaststroke can easily suffer with all the heavy training, though Chapko's swims showed she is holding things together despite the heavy workload.

“I was surprised with the breaststroke that I felt good, Chapko said. “I was happy with my times. Every time I race, I'm told one thing to focus on and I focus on that. Hopefully at the end, I'll put it all together.

Smith, a junior, and Chapko, a sophomore, are two of the Saints main threats for success at the state meet. Both qualified in 2009. Smith was second in the 500 freestyle and 8th in the 200 freestyle while Chapko was the only non-senior on the team's 12th-placed 200 medley relay.

This year's state meet is over one month away, and it might as well be a year away given the work athletes still aim to do before heading to Evanston.from Nov 19-20.

“This is the critical part of your season, Chapko said. “You really have to focus on training. You can't slack off. You need the endurance and the ability to persevere at the state meet if you want to rise to the top.

Waubonsie Valley finished fifth. Madeline Hunt was fifth in the 100 backstroke and Megan Devine was fifth in the 200 backstroke. Lake Park finished seventh but got a fourth-place finish from Taylor Johns in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Johns was sixth in the 400 individual medley.