Neuqua, Waubonsie duo eye state medals

Divers Lauren Mikulecky of Neuqua Valley and Taylor Eggenberger of Waubonsie Valley continue to amaze everyone as they head into the postseason.

At the recent Evanston Diving Invitational, which featured most of the best divers in the state, the two Naperville girls best friends and former teammates at Neuqua Valley finished within a point of each other, with Mikulecky winning the meet by the incredibly close score of 382.8 to Eggenberger's 382.2.

At last year's state meet Eggenberger finished sixth and Mikulecky 11th.

Both are gunning for top three this year, but neither is ruling out the possibility of a state championship.

“Last year Taylor worked on her degree of difficulty,” said Waubonsie Valley diving coach Katie Williams. “This year, as a junior, she's concentrating on the finesse and the precision of her dives.”

Mikulecky, who has been injury-free and diving at her best as a senior after suffering two hand injuries last year, has something to prove this year

“The injury factor is a big part of it,” said Neuqua Valley swimming coach Mac Guy. “Lauren knows she left something on the table last year. She wasn't happy with 11th and she's showing everyone in the state what she's capable of.”

Off to a good start: Glenbard co-op, made up of swimmers from Glenbard East and Glenbard North is going into its first DuPage Valley Conference this weekend in what has been a good year and promises to get better.

The first-year program doesn't have the numbers to pose a serious threat for the DVC team championship, but there are a handful of quality swimmers who will make an impact.

“We only have 15 girls on the team and five are experienced year-round swimmers,” said Glenbard coach Chris Del Galdo. “And even though we're fighting for fourth place in conference, we could outscore a lot of the teams in the area at state.”

One reason for Del Galdo's optimism is the presence of two veterans who, last year, scored at state by finishing in the top 12 when they swam as independents.

Senior Sara Taege finished tenth in the 200 IM, and sophomore Mary Floren was eighth in the 100 breaststroke.

While those two are the team's anchors, Glenbard has three others who are knocking on the door to state qualification.

Senior Kaitlyn Campbell is close in both the 50 and the 100 freestyle.

And there is a pair of freshmen who should qualify this year and who have the potential to score in the future.

Marissa Savegnago is a good bet in the 100 butterfly, and Danielle Homere is within a second in both the 100 fly and the 100 backstroke.

“You wouldn't know these girls are freshmen,” Del Galdo said. “They attack practice like much older swimmers. This core group of five has served as great leaders and motivators for the less-experienced girls.”

Del Galdo believes these five will make some noise at sectionals and state.

“The perfect sectional meet would be those five girls and two relays making it to state,” he said. “We should score at state in the 200 medley relay. The 200 freestyle relay team will have to swim well to make it.”

Del Galdo said there is another group of eight or nine eighth-graders coming in with solid age-group backgrounds, whose presence will make things look even brighter in the future.

“We needed time this year to build a team and get the word out, and that should produce the numbers we need for the future,” he said.

Sister act: Naperville North's Law sisters, Jen, a junior and Michelle, a sophomore, finished one-two in the 200 IM at the Deerfield Invitational last week.

Jen's 2:09.96 was under the state cut, while Michelle swam a 2:12.53, which is within a second of the state qualifying time.

Jen Law also won the 100 butterfly in her best time of 57.54, and Michelle Law won the backstroke in 1:01.21.

“The both have great attitudes and they work well together,” said Naperville North coach Kristy Holben. “Jen, who's got just about the best work ethic on the team, is helping to motivate her sister. Michelle, who's usually more easy-going, has high goals in both the IM and the 100 backstroke this year, so she's really putting in the working she needs to make state. And she's very close in both events.”

The Deerfield Invite marked the third time the Huskies have finished second to Rosary this season.