Girls swimming: Hersey leads locals with 2nd at Lindgren Jamboree
The sixth annual Rob Lindgren Jamboree girls swimming meet at Prospect was pretty close down to the finish Saturday, but powerful Whitney Young captured the championship of the 14-team meet by a score of 286-270 over host Hersey.
Stevenson had a solid third-place showing with 254.5 points followed by Maine South (232 points) in fourth, Mundelein (204 points) in fifth, and Crystal Lake South co-op (172 points) in sixth.
"We had a really good day today and I thought our relays did really well," said Hersey coach Dick Mortensen. "We are truly a team, and I know that every kid that swam today contributed to our score."
Stevenson's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Aria Grossenbach, Nelli Sandor, Amy Tan, and Aika Elzey took first place in 1:40.21. The Patriots also got a winning time of 3:39.36 from their 400-yard freestyle team of Grossenbach, Lydia Cobb, Christine Liu, and Vanessa Miecznikowski.
"Our only goal for today was to have a lot of fun and we wanted to make sure every one of our varsity girls got one swim in," said Stevenson coach Ayrton Kasemets, whose team got thirds from Amanda Chang (100-butterfly), and Anika Donovan (500-freestyle).
"They (relays) were impressive, and it was a mix of swimmers from different levels."
The Crystal Lake South co-op's Abigail Uhl (2:09.27) won the 200-IM over Maine South runner-up Maeve Przekota. The Hawks also got a second from Sarah Juiris in the 50-yard freestyle, and a second from Juiris in the 100-freestyle. Maine South's team of Juiris, Sophia Wandel, Amelia Aguila, and Kendall Bai also placed second in the 400-freestyle relay.
"I felt like we really competed today. We hosted New Trier last night for senior night, and we want to keep building each week," said Maine South coach Don Kura. "This is always a great meet with fantastic competition."
Mundelein's Amelia Willis continued to shine with a first-place clocking of 58.52 in the 100-yard backstroke while teammate Addie Hagel (342.10 points) easily locked up third place in the diving competition.
"(Willis) got us off to a great start diving, and we kept moving up in the standings," said Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna, whose team got a third from Gracyn Gigiano in the 200-IM. "She (Willis) placed at state last year and any time she can win against good competition. That is a good thing to prepare for the end of the season."
Seventh-place Buffalo Grove (167 points) got off to a great start behind freshman Allison Houston's first-place score of 383.10 points in the diving competition followed by teammate Emily Krause's second-place score of 360.75 points. The Bison also got a first place from Ella Houston (5:04.03) in the 500-yard freestyle, and a second from Payton Menely in the 100-butterfly.
"She (Allison Houston) has done some club diving in the past, and the two of them (Allison Houston and Krause) have been pushing each other in practice," said Buffalo Grove coach Mike McPartlin. "We've really been adding more power work for her (Ella Houston), and it was good to see her get out fast."
CLS co-op's Isabella Fontana placed third in the 200-freestyle while Uhl placed third in the 100-freestyle. Hersey's Claudia Glinko placed third in the 100-backstroke while teammate Delaney Lopuszynski (305.30 points) placed sixth in diving. Rolling Meadows' Elise North placed fourth in the 50-freestyle.