Alland, Patriots make splash again at NSC
It was business as usual as host Stevenson won its third straight North Suburban Conference girls swimming and diving championship Saturday.
"It was a great team effort, " Patriots coach Karl Milkereit said. "We finished in the top four in just about every event, which shows how deep our team is, and we had a lot of different people who dropped time today.
"For a long time, Lake Forest dominated this meet so I guess it's now our turn to win some."
Stevenson star Tori Alland won the 200-and 500-yard freestyles and also swam on the winning 200 free relay.
Stevenson captured the team championship with 346 points, while Lake Forest (219) finished a distant second, edging Libertyville (202). Warren (175) was fourth, followed by Vernon Hills (170), Mundelein (135) and Zion-Benton (58).
Stevenson's Kerrin Seymour started the day by winning the diving competition with 424.25 points. Mundelein's Taylor Reckert (403.38) was second and Libertyville's Megan Stubbs (380.55) third.
Stevenson opened the swimming portion of the meet by winning the 200 medley relay with Erin Cunningham, Christina O'Connell, Emma VanLeishout and Katherine Moy. Their time of 1:53.91 bested runner-up Warren by a second.
"We really did well in the beginning," Cunningham said. "It's really exciting for us to win as a team."
Alland then took the 200 in 1:55.23, with Lake Forest's Rachael Stoehr and Vernon Hills' Zoe Eldridge placing second and third, respectively.
"I went out pretty fast and was able to keep the lead," said Alland, who will be attending the University of Pittsburgh. "My teammates were cheering me on the entire race and it helped me."
Vernon Hills' Melanie Rowland broke the Patriots' streak by winning the 200 individual medley in 2:10.47, two seconds ahead of Cunningham.
"I had a very good race and was happy with it," Rowland said. "I think I could have gone a little bit faster, but as of now I'm not tapered. Next week (the sectional meet) is the one that really counts."
Dana Andrea made it two straight wins for Vernon Hills, touching first in a hotly contested 50 freestyle. She clocked a 25.39 to touch out Mundelein's Amy Klink (25.66), Warren's Bethany Drebing (25.78), Stevenson's Moy (25.97) and Warren's Ally Calewarts (26.05).
Rowland then won the 100 butterfly in 58.32, as she was the only swimmer to break one minute.
"That was a good race for me," Rowland said. "I went out pretty hard and I was happy that I was able to hold on to it at the end. We prepare by doing a lot of preparation and visualization to get yourself in the zone."
Eldridge took the 100 freestyle in 54.65, just ahead of Warren's Kristen O'Connor.
Alland was an easy winner in the 500 free, clocking a 5:11.37. Her teammate Michelle Pliskin placed second.
"I was just happy to do my part for the team," Pliskin said. "I was trying to stay with Tori."
Cunningham, Moy, O'Connell and Alland then gave Stevenson first place in the 200 free relay (1:41.96), barely ahead of Lake Forest.
Cunningham won the 100 backstroke by nearly four seconds, going 1:00.54.
Libertyville got its lone win from Maggie Boling, who raced to victory in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.09).
"It was a pretty good race," Boling said. "I swam as hard as I could, so I'm happy."
Vernon Hills took the last event, the 400-yard relay, as Eldridge, Andrea, Kelly Steininger and Rowland went 3:40.51.
According to Vernon Hills coach Kedric Greenawalt, the Cougars had their highest finish at conference.
"I'm happy with the way we finished," Greenawalt said. "We swam fantastic pretty much all around. Halfway through the taper, you don't know how kids are going to respond. Their bodies are going to be a little bit weak so we'll see how they respond next week."