Neuqua wins St. Charles N. invite
It appeared as though Hinsdale Central would end the Neuqua Valley run of girls swimming invitational titles when Genna Heidkamp passed her Neuqua counterpart on the anchor leg Saturday afternoon.
Heidkamp powered the Red Devils’ St. Charles North Invitational meet-ending 400-yard freestyle quartet to victory in 3 minutes, 37.55 seconds, but it was still not enough to deny the Wildcats.
Neuqua Valley, behind senior standout Courtney Taylor, captured its fifth straight major team event to start the fall with its 306-302 win over Hinsdale Central.
Glenbrook South was in the mix for the team championship at the 12-school tournament, only to settle for third at 292.
Host St. Charles North was sixth overall, followed by Metea Valley in eighth and West Chicago in ninth among local programs.
“Our top-end girls were kind of tired,” Neuqua Valley coach Brandon King said. “It was our second-echelon girls that all come through. Our depth has really carried us.”
Taylor won the individual medley and later came back to place second to Metea Valley senior Megan Sellers in the 100 backstroke.
“We’re just trying to pull through at the end of the week,” said Taylor. “(My overall day) was really good.”
Taylor was an integral member of the Wildcats’ runner-up medley relay, and Neuqua Valley also received important contributions from Gia Dalesandro and Megan Childs.
The former was runner-up to Heidkamp in the 100 butterfly, while the Childs’ point-earning ability in several variety of free races kept Hinsdale Central at bay.
“We don’t pay any attention to (team) points during the meet,” Heidkamp said.
Sellers, the first downstate qualifier in program history for Metea Valley, overtook Taylor in the waning yards to win the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.15.
Childs was fourth for the Wildcats in the same event.
“We swam here Tuesday for a dual against St. Charles North, so I got a good feel for the pool,” Sellers said. “Today weren’t the best of times. This season my times have been the same as they were last year at this time.”
West Chicago, meanwhile, had Maya Skorupski to anchor its cause in St. Charles.
The Wildcats’ junior was runner-up in the 50 free and third in the 100 backstroke.
“I kind of wanted to come in with a positive attitude,” Skorupski said. “I didn’t get my best times, but I came really close. I’m hoping I can place high this year (at the state meet).”
Individual sports subsumed within a team dynamic have a tendency for producing freshman sensations, and St. Charles North speedster Meagan Popp was the dominant freestyle performer at 100 and 200 yards.
In becoming one of only two athletes to record multiple individual titles, the North Stars’ freshman led the hosts with her respective winning times of 53.25 seconds and 1:53.71.
“The team was so encouraging today,” Popp said. “It’s contagious. Everyone was so happy that I swam well. I think my strongest event is the individual medley.”
“(Popp) is an extremely gifted athlete,” St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said.
Rooney noted Popp has made the transition to varsity competition seamlessly, battling the social nuances along the way.
“A senior does not like to lose to a freshman,” Rooney said.
Saturday capped a decisive week for four-year standout Lauren Zima.
The North Stars’ reigning state place-winner in the 100 butterfly committed to Minnesota this week over similar offers from fellow Big Ten programs Northwestern and Iowa.
Zima then placed third in her specialty event while accruing valuable points in the 100 freestyle and two free sprint relays.
“It has been a hard week,” Zima said. “I’m OK where I am right now (with my respective times).”
Rooney took the team finish in stride.
“There have been years in which we finished worse (than sixth) and placed in the top 10 at state,” Rooney said. “We’re trying to get healthy. Our pieces to the puzzle will be there in November.”