On to the Finals for 16 Lake Co. YMCA swimmers

A total of 16 Lake County Family YMCA swimmers have advanced to the Illinois/Missouri Area YMCA Championships by achieving qualifying times at the District Championships held March 3-4 in Pleasant Prairie, Wis.

This means that nine members of the Vernon Hills-based Turtles Swim Team will be joined by seven members of the Waukegan-based Northern Lake YMCA Seahorses Swim Team in making the trip to Sycamore, Ill. for the final meets on March 17 (boys) and March 18 (girls).

Turtles Head Coach Maureen Rancourt was pleased with her team's representation and effort in the District meets.

“We had some great swims from the 20 girls and six boys who qualified to compete against qualifiers from 11 other YMCA swim teams from Lake and Cook counties,” she said. “For the third straight year we've doubled the number of swimmers qualifying for the District Championships.”

Three Turtles advancing to the Area YMCA Championships won their individual events – one of them twice. Lauren Roth of Libertyville recorded first-place finishes in both the Girls 9-10 50- and 100-yard freestyles. Also winning their events were: Nathan McAdams of Libertyville, Boys 13-14 50-Yard Freestyle, and Hannah Yan of Buffalo Grove, Girls 11-12 50-Yard Butterfly. In addition, McAdams finished second in 100-Yard Freestyle and third in 100-Yard Backstroke while Yan also recorded third-place finishes in 50-Yard Freestyle and 50-Yard Backstroke.

The other Turtles advancing to the final meets are: Sasha Levin of Mundelein, Pam Lin of Vernon Hills, Jamie Jungenberg of Libertyville and A.J. Sovetova of Mundelein in Girls 13-14 200-Yard Medley Relay along with Omar Fathallah of Mundelein, Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Backstroke, and Sarosh Khan of Vernon Hills, Boys 9-10 50-Yard Butterfly.

Meanwhile, at the March 3 Girls District Championship, Ella Spratt-Szarzynski started the Seahorses off by qualifying in the first event, 11-12 200-Yard Freestyle. She also qualified in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Katy Flesher will join her in the 200-yard freestyle race. Megan Howard made qualifying times in the 9-10 100-Yard Individual Medley and 100-Yard Freestyle. In addition the 9-10 200-Yard Freestyle Relay team of Megan Howard, Rachel Jenkins, Ellie Nerheim and Vaughan Spratt-Szarzynski will be making the trip to Sycamore.

And at the Boys Championship meet on March 4, Tyler Howard qualified in the 11-12 200-Yard Individual Medley, 50-Yard Butterfly and 100-Yard Freestyle.

“This was the weekend the kids have been working toward all year and they really stepped up and swam well,” Head Coach Mike Hewitt said. “We have one of the fastest districts in the state and we are really proud that nearly every Seahorse represented the teams in the finals and placed at the meet.”

The Lake County Family YMCA swim program, which includes the Seahorse and Turtles competitive teams, is well-rounded in that it also includes fund raising, volunteering and social responsibility development. For more information, visit www.ymcalakecounty.org.

The Lake County Family YMCA is a cause-driven nonprofit that strengthens the community through programs and services that foster youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Chartered in 1912 as a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit, our association is comprised of the Central Lake YMCA in Vernon Hills, Northern Lake YMCA in Waukegan and Early Head Start in Waukegan. To learn more, visit www.ymcalakecounty.org