Girls swimming: St. Charles North brings plenty of talent, experience

From time to time, athletic coaches will speak about teams having no weaknesses.

In the case of the St. Charles North girls swimming team, there is no need to speak. It's all right on the table clear as day.

The North Stars are loaded for bear this fall with seven swimmers returning who would have qualified individually for state if a state meet had been held in 2020 - four are committed to colleges and a fifth undecided at the moment.

"We have a lot of depth," said North Stars senior Angelina Messina, who is headed to Division I Pitt. "Our team is good at every stroke. We shine in a lot of different aspects of swimming. We're not all freestylers, distance or backstrokers, we have somebody for everything and that is something that will really help us in the end."

In addition to Messina (sectional champion in IM and breast), Jillian Wilson (sectional champion in fly) is headed to Illinois, while Julia Fifer (swims sprint free) is going to George Washington and Quinn Bike (swims back and fly) is off to North Carolina-Wilmington. Paige Armstrong (sectional champion in the 200 and back) is undecided with her college choice.

Also back from the 2020 sectional championship team are Elizabeth Bawolek (sectional champion in the 500), Enya Linson (swims fly, distance free) and diver Rachael Straton.

"We have a deep bench," Wilson said. "We are strong in all strokes and relays and every class is represented. Everybody has so much to contribute right down to the freshmen. We have no real weaknesses."

Skill is one thing, but the team chemistry part of the puzzle is another, and Messina and Wilson said the North Stars have that rocking and rolling in abundance as well.

"We are super into it," Messina said. "We have a group of girls who are all for it and working toward the same goal. It's makes a super big impact when we are all showing up every day and feel like we are part of a team and part of something big. It makes all the difference in the world."

Wilson added: "We all are really hard working and love to be here. People think we are crazy that we have a 5:30 a.m. practice and then the second one gets over at 5 p.m. We are at North 12 hours because we love it. We all get along. The senior class has known each other since we were eight or nine (most on the team belong to the St. Charles Swim Team club). We have been friends for a long time and we love to push each other. That's where a lot of our success comes from."

North Stars coach Rob Rooney, who noted the team should have three strong relays of state-level caliber, has been impressed with the senior class, in particular. "Our seniors are very strong and very dedicated to the sport and the program," he said.

Also notable and worth keeping an eye on is the addition of freshman Izzy Beu, who comes into the North Stars program with a decorated age-group resume where junior national time cuts already are on the radar.

"Izzy will be my training partner most of the year and definitely will be a very big asset to the team," Messina noted. "She's a very good teammate. She's definitely has that motivation that you see through hard work and leading by example. It's nice to have those types of people on the pool deck."

With having a talented roster comes lofty goals and the North Stars aren't shying away from that talk.

"I think a really big goal is we want to win state," Wilson said. "Rooney always tells us winning a meet like that is all about luck. We have no control over what the other teams are doing. If you can get a state championship just through hard work along the way, we would have it in the bag, but if I had to pick a team to do it with, this would be it and if I had to pick someone to lead us there it would definitely be Rooney."

The coach added: "We will keep climbing until we reach our team goals."