Girls swimming: Lake and Cook County season preview
You might say Barrington featured the Fab Four at last fall's IHSA girls swimming and diving meet.
A quartet of swimmers combined for 100 points, tying the Fillies with Hinsdale Central for second place in the team competition, behind New Trier (182).
But that was then, this is now for Barrington, which enters this season sans two important 2021 state swimmers, Lily Reader, now swimming at North Carolina, and Emily Bucaro, at Pittsburgh.
But that doesn't mean the cupboard is bare for the Fillies. Far from it.
Returning this season is senior Jenna Kerr, an Iowa recruit, who had a strong state showing, taking fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (50.72 seconds); fifth in the 50 freestyle (23.37); ninth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.75); and a resounding second in the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay (3:25.32).
Here's the weird thing: Barrington and coach Alex Mikolajewski didn't come into the meet intending to finish second, or in any place. Rather, the Fillies focused solely on times, and the placing would work itself out.
"We don't really look at placings," Kerr said. "We kind of give it our best race. It doesn't really matter what the end result is. We're really time-focused. A lot of our practices are speed working, just trying to get our times as fast as possible, with doing sprint sets."
Mikolajewski said it's a simple formula: Whatever state finish, did we get faster?
The answer in 2021: A resounding yes.
"Before Friday, we weren't trying to get second in state," he said. "All of our athletes were primed and ready to go for that meet."
Obviously, with Reader and Bucaro onto bigger and better things, it's going to be up to Kerr and senior Lauren Holman to lead a different team this season.
Kerr had a great off-season. She finished 16th in the marathon 1,500 (17:17.24) at the 2022 Speedo Junior National Championships in Irvine, Calif., for Barrington Swim Club.
"That one definitely hurt," she recalled with little mirth of that race.
What's really interesting is that when Kerr was an 11-year-old, her coach at Barrington Swim Club was none other than Mikolajewski.
"She was very raw," he recalled of those days. "You could tell when she started sprinting, this 25 is going to be fast. In a short duration, she knew how to race, and as she got older, she got more confidence. After her freshman year in high school, she took off like a rocket."
Now she's headed off to Iowa after graduation, to where she committed in late October.
"I first started talking to Iowa last summer about this time," she said. "I recently got back from Junior Nationals in California, and I had a really good connection with (the coaches) and I had a lot of fun talking to them. I took an official trip and I loved it. My brother goes there. The decision wasn't really hard."
But there is still the matter of senior year and getting the times that will hopefully translate into another top finish team-wise at state, Nov. 11-12 at FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
She and Holman will lead a group buoyed by senior Caileigh Edstrom, who will likely swim the 200 and 500 freestyle, while sophomore Sophia Lin will handle the 100 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
Like Kerr, Holman is ready to roll.
"This year we're going to focus on improving ourselves and doing the best we can," she said. "Even if we don't get second at state again, I want to go to state and experience that again."
Girls swimming at a glance
Key dates: Sectionals Nov. 5; State meet Nov. 11-12 in Westmont
2021 sectional champions: Hersey, St. Ignatius, Hinsdale Central, Dunlap, Edwardsville, Andrew, Stevenson, Lincoln-Way East, Oswego East, Normal, Oak Park, Lyons, Byron, St. Charles North, Champaign Central, New Trier
2021 state top five: New Trier (182), Barrington (100), Hinsdale Central (100), Oswego East (98), St. Charles North (97)
Top Cook and Lake swimmers: Annabel Banicz, Schaumburg, sophomore; Maya Biela, Maine West, sophomore; Olivia Buccelli, Warren, senior; Milena Busma, Stevenson, senior; Gabby Chudoba, Conant, senior; Brooke Danca, Grayslake Central, senior; Sienna Della, Grayslake Central, senior; Katherine Dwyer, Hersey, senior; Reese Frighetto, Buffalo Grove, senior; Que Genet, Fremd, sophomore; Hannah Green, Carmel, sophomore; Evy Haggerty, Warren, sophomore; Kelsey Harmsen, Cary-Grove, senior; Lauren Holman, Barrington, senior; Hailey Huber, Palatine, senior; Olivia Klancnik, Hersey, senior; Zuzanna Krasnicki, Schaumburg, sophomore; Katie Kuehn, Fremd, junior; Jenna Kerr, Barrington, senior; Delaney Lentz, Cary-Grove, junior; Chloe Morris, Hoffman Estates, senior; Cassidy Pardini, Rolling Meadows, senior; Kayla Puchitkanont, Conant, junior; Izzy Ramos, Vernon Hills, senior; Mackenzie Resch, Crystal Lake Co-op, junior; Yugene Shin, Palatine, junior;Victoria Surdyka, Buffalo Grove, senior; Cristina Virlan, Hoffman Estates, senior; Grace Stauder, St. Viator, junior; Morgan Vis, Maine West, junior; Ava Walton, St. Viator, sophomore; Avery Watson, Crystal Lake Co-op, junior; Caitlin Widawski, Rolling Meadows, senior; Hana Wienckowski, Stevenson, junior; Kate Williams, Vernon Hills, senior.
- Compiled by Gregg Voss