Girls swimming: Stevenson swims to 8th straight conference title
Stevenson senior Sophia Berger had to do more than climb a podium and bow for a medal after each of her two first-place performances at Saturday's North Suburban Conference girls swimming and diving meet at Stevenson.
The Patriot - a reigning state water polo champion and Saturday's champion in the 50-yard freestyle (24.28) and 500 free (5:16.44) - also fielded a squishable hamburger that doubles as a small, fluffy pillow.
Libertyville junior Maya Anderson, from a poolside spot, chucked the object to her good friend twice - first after the sprint race, then after the grueling event - as the medalists beamed atop podium steps and cameras clicked, clicked, clicked.
Berger caught the burger, cleanly.
Both times.
Stevenson's Patriots fed off their success, in and out of the water, all afternoon, winning a whopping 11 events at the 12-event meet in Lincolnshire. Patriots coach Art Kasemets' formidable crew racked up 345 points to capture the program's eighth straight conference title.
Libertyville took second (259), followed by Mundelein (207), Lake Forest (145), Warren (139), Zion-Benton (42) and Waukegan (27).
"I compare a meet like this to water - lots of ups and downs, along with some sloshing going on," said Kasemets, sporting a black wizard's hat ahead of Halloween. "It's a long day (the JV NSC meet was held concurrently). You have to find your way through the challenges, the choppiness. I'm fortunate.
"I get to coach talented athletes."
Stevenson junior Lada Volkov had set quite a tone the previous day, capturing the NSC diving title at Libertyville with a meet-record 468.5 points on Friday. On Saturday the Patriots' 200 free relay of Linnea Florin, Shay Donovan, Nelli Sandor and Aria Grossenbach clocked a blistering 1:34.57, which supplanted NSC and pool records and edged another Stevenson quartet (Hana Wienckowski. Karina Cantero, Berger and Stephanie Kirova) by 0.15.
Illinois-bound Kirova touched first in the 200 IM (2:11.02) and the 100 free (53.1) and collaborated with Wienckowski, Sandor and Florin to top the 200 medley relay field in 1:45.86.
"Friendships," Kirova said of what emboldens the team to garner a plethora of gold medals at big meets. "We're all close. It helps when we do things together away from the pool, like going to Sophia Berger's house for a bonfire."
"My family's house," a smiling Berger said, "remains intact."
Other Stevenson entrants that scorched to victories Saturday were Donovan (200 free, 1:52.24); Florin (100 backstroke, 57.81), Claire Wang (100 breaststroke, 1:05.49); and the 400 free relay (Donovan, Sandor, Wang and Grossenbach, 3:31.19).
Mundelein sophomore Amelia Willis sped to first place in the 100 butterfly (57.53) to thwart Stevenson's bid for a meet sweep.
"I was hoping to break a minute," said Willis, who entered the race with a seed time of 1:00.18. "Fifty-seven? No way did I think I'd swim that kind of time. It excited me. I looked up at the stands and saw my parents (Kevin and Beth) pumping their arms.
"What helped me was the high energy of this meet," added the 2022 state qualifier in the 100 back. "You know what else did? My teammates. They swam so well."
Libertyville silvered twice and bronzed six times. Wildcats Alyson Humbert (453.75) and Madison Hughes (394) went 2-3 in diving; 200 medley relay mates Sofija Tijunelis, Ellison Shafer, Leah Chung and Logan Howard combined for a runner-up time of 1:48.49. Pitt-bound Tijunelis finished third in the 200 free (1:52.41) and in the 100 back (58.5) and served as the lead-off leg for the third-place 200 free relay (1:37.97; with Courtney McCall, Ann Lock and Howard).
"Swim fast - that's always the goal," Libertyville coach Greg Herman said. "Our main focus was to get through this meet with swimmers who aren't fully tapered. The conference meet is such a great 'team' meet, because the competitors get excited while supporting each other."
Libertyville's Anderson, Chung, McCall and Lock placed third in the 400 free relay (3:41.04), and Howard churned to third in the 50 free (24.4).
Willis added a runner-up effort in the 100 back (58.45) for Mundelein. Mustangs teammate Gracyn Gigiano dropped nearly 8 seconds off her seed time to take second in the 200 IM (2:12.46) and then clocked a third-place 5:22.81 in the 500 free.
Libby Richie paced Warren with a third-place showing (59.16) in the 100 fly. The Blue Devils' Alayna McCormick plunged her way to fourth place in diving (391.55).
Lake Zurich's Anna Howarth - slotted in the slowest of three heats in the 500 free - finished an impressive fourth (5:24.48) in a field of 17 distance swimmers.
Other top-three results: Grossenbach (2nd, 200 free, 1:52.26 and 2nd, 100 fly, 57.68); Stevenson's Amanda Chang, Kate Motl, Wang, Cantero (2nd, 100 free, 53.65 and 3rd, 200 medley relay, 1:49.45); Chang (3rd, 200 IM, 2:15.5); Cantero (2nd, 50 free, 24.37); Wang (3rd, 100 free, 53.76); Stevenson's Aman Martuszewski (2nd, 500 free, 5:18.74); Donovan (2nd, 100 breaststroke, 1:06.18); Motl (3rd, 100 breaststroke, 1:07.27); and Berger, Wienckowski, Florin and Chang (2nd, 400 free relay, 3:32.27).
"Many of our swimmers swam in off events today," said Kasemets, a Mundelein graduate who swam for Rahul Sethna, who coaches the Mustangs' boys and girls swimming squads. "They looked forward to racing in those ahead of the state series. And then those who won, or at least dropped time in such an event, got a boost of confidence.
"We're ready for what's next."
His Patriots vie for state berths at the Barrington sectional next weekend.
Now in his fourth season at the helm, Kasemets - a first-year math teacher at Stevenson - guided the Pats to an eighth-place finish at state two years ago and to fourth place last fall.
"Art," Sethna said, "is a student of the sport. He was the manager of my girls team when he was a student at Mundelein. I knew he'd get into coaching, and I knew he'd be great at it."