Experienced Libertyville team sinks Mundelein
It's no secret Libertyville and Mundelein are big rivals.
It's also no secret that these two schools boast two of the more storied swimming programs in Lake County.
Only on Thursday afternoon, the narrative clearly favored Libertyville, which earned a 121-65 advantage over the visiting Mustangs.
“We've kind of reversed roles this year. They (Libertyville) are loaded with upperclassmen, while we graduated a lot of seniors last year and have a lot of underclassmen,” said Mustangs coach Rahul Sethna, whose team slipped to 1-2 against North Suburban Conference foes. “But we're learning and making strides, which is all we can do. Just little steps here and there, but we're heading in the right direction. We have such a strong conference, so it helps to compete against teams like Libertyville to see where we stand.”
The Cats, with all of the upperclassmen, claimed victory in 10 of the 12 events.
Wildcats junior Morgan Paul is one of those upperclassmen making some waves this season on the diving board.
A state qualifier last season, Paul is closing in on a 16-year-old school record for most points earned in a 6-dive meet.
A year ago, she wasn't even sure she wanted to pursue diving. But what a difference a little success makes.
“I started doing well, and my confidence grew because I was realizing I had the potential,” said Paul, who finished second with 226.20 points on Thursday. “I'm progressing. It's all about technique and blocking everything out when I'm up there ready to dive.”
Last week against Warren, Paul narrowly missed that record by .05 points in a dual meet against Warren.
“I've been working really hard to break that and know it will come with patience and more hard work,” she said.
The Mustangs' Maggie Franz, another one of the area's finest in diving, won the event with 243.30 points.
Mundelein's other winner was the 400 free relay of Tara Lawson, Sasha Levin, Mikayla Gruber, and Molly Mishler, who swam a time of 3:57.31.
Libertyville's Emma Richert won the 200 IM (2:14.57) and finished second in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.78) She also swam on the victorious 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
Lucy Saucedo won the 500 freestyle (5:29.63) and was on the winning 200 medley relay with Richert, Siobhan Prince and Harriet Davies.
“With a good core of upperclassmen, we're able to shift some people around and still produce some good results,” said Libertyville coach Erik Rogers, whose team stayed unbeaten in dual meet action at 4-0. “And being a veteran team, it's always in the back of our minds that the ultimate goal is to get as many to state as possible.”
Both teams will compete in the Glenbrook North Invitational beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.