St. Charles E. edges rival for sectional crown
You could tell so much about the kind of day St. Charles East’s girls swim team had in the state sectional it hosted on Saturday just by following senior Ashley Shanel on-deck.
The Saints won the meet 286-280 over crosstown rival St. Charles North and it took every placing each team managed to decide a meet in which the two schools were tied 254-254 heading into the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay — which St. Charles East won and in which the North Stars were second.
Shanel was a cheerleader on-deck by that point, but she had put in a full shift in the water to help get her team to that point, starting with a second-place finish to teammate Izzie Bindseil in the 200 freestyle. Shanel was under the state qualifying cut and advanced to next weekend’s state meet at New Trier in the process.
Shanel later finished third in the 500 freestyle — which was won by teammate Emma Smith and was under the cut and she swam a leg in the school’s second-place finishing 200 freestyle relay. Just as important, the senior walked around on-deck with a smile all afternoon, the kind of infectious attitude that fed on her teammates and fueled her colleagues as well.
“At the start of the meet, to start if off in a positive way sets it up,” Shanel said. “It’s like a snowball effect. So after the relay, I was really pumped up to swim the 200. After the 200, I was like ‘all right, let’s just keep it going!’”
Swimming unrested for the sectional like most of her teammates leaves Shanel in a positive mood as she prepares for the state meet.
“My 200, I’ve never qualified for state in that,” she said. “To qualify for state in that in my senior year is really exciting. After that, I felt I was on top of the world.”
The Saints take 9 athletes to the state meet. In addition to Shanel, Bindseil and Smith — who won the 200 individual medley as well as the 500 freestyle, St. Charles East qualified Kimmie Scott in the 200 IM, Mary Snyder in the 100 freestyle and all three relays.
And while there seems to be a school of thought that the sectional title is a meaningless honor as it carries with it no benefits in terms of extra participation in the state meet, Saints coach Joe Cabel is not part of that school’s class.
“I think it means quite a bit,” Cabel said. “You focus on qualifying, not winning. But when you’re qualifying well, you expect to get that trophy too. This turned out to be a battle between us and North and it was great competition between the two. That’s an awfully close group of girls from here and also from there.”
The meet was ultimately decided when Stephanie Garvin, Nicole Chapko, Snyder and Smith defeated Lauren Zima, Hannah Zimmer, Lauren Reynolds and Chloe Tykal in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay by just over 2 seconds.
“We have a theme song, “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge and we really are a family,” Cabel said. “They get behind each other and support each other and that kind of feeling that we have — that’s why you coach.”
That North Stars’ quartet made the state cut and is one of a decent group of entries Rob Rooney and his staff take to New Trier. St. Charles North has built its team through the season as athletes such as Allie Smith and Lauren Reynolds recovered from injuries.
Both Smith and Reynolds — along with Zima and Meagan Popp — got their portion of the meet off to a strong start when they won the 200 medley relay and just missed the Saints pool record in the process. Smith, Popp, Reynolds and Emily Ponte later qualified by winning 200 freestyle relay and Reynolds was an individual qualifier when she won the 100 backstroke.
“This afternoon, I was just very excited to be competing at this meet again,” Reynolds said. “I’m excited to go to state.”
Reynolds had shoulder surgery this summer and only started competing in the last six weeks.
“Maybe a month afterward, (the doctors) didn’t think I was going to be able to swim sectionals or to compete in as many events as I did.”
The North stars also take Popp and Zima to the state meet after each qualified in their individual races. Popp was second in the 200 IM and won the 100 breaststroke while Zima won the 100 butterfly and was second in the 500 freestyle. Popp is a freshman while Zima and Reynolds are both seniors. None of the three was rested for the sectional.
“We swam phenomenally,” Rooney said. “For Zima and Popp and Reynolds to not be tapered and to swim through the meet, was a great thing. Popp’s sorting all this out but I think she’s internally focused and will be awesome.”
Glenbard North junior Mary Floren finished second in the 100-yard freestyle in the St. Charles East Sectional and also took second in the 100 breaststroke and qualified for next week’s state meet at New Trier in both events.
“I’m really excited,” Floren said. “It’s my first time making state in two events. It’ll be fun to train this week in two events instead of one.”
Floren is the only Panthers qualifier, though the team finished third in a meet dominated by the host school and crosstown rival St. Charles North.
“It’s sad about my team not qualifying anyone else, but it’ll still be fun,” Floren said.
Floren said she was fully-tapered for the sectional meet.
“I’ll have to hold on to this for the next week,” Floren said. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t have any specific plans. I hope to do well and maybe make finals.
The co-op that includes Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge qualified three individual entries and its 200 freestyle relay to next week’s state meet from the St. Charles East Sectional on Saturday.
Junior Marisa Barton led the way, winning the 50 freestyle and later winning the 100 freestyle.
“I’m really happy because all my times today were personal-best times,” Barton said. “My 50 free time (23.13) was my best by almost a whole second. And my 100 free time (52.20) was my best by 2 seconds. I’m really happy with these time drops.”
Barton, who is a Prairie Ridge student, said she was partially-rested for the sectional meet but will complete her taper prior to the state meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday at New Trier.
Nikayla Dahl was second to Barton in the 50 freestyle and made the state cut. Barton and Dahl combined with Courtney Lefevre and Jess Schwendau to place third in the 200 freestyle relay and to make the state meet by swimming faster than the state cut time.
“I’m really happy that I’ll have people back there with me this time,” Barton said. “Last year, I was by myself. It was fun to go, but it’ll be more fun with the relay.”