Girls swimming: Fremd repeats as MSL champs

Fremd senior Erica Myers, a four-year varsity member, was the last Viking to compete in the pool for the Vikings at Saturday's Mid-Suburban League girls swimming championships at the Prospect Natatorium in Mt Prospect.

And she couldn't have closed out her MSL career any better, anchoring Fremd's first-place 400 free relay team (3:37.16) as the Vikings closed out their fifth MSL title in 15 years under coach Andrew Kittrell.

It was the Vikings' second straight crown as they scored 258 points to top Hersey (229), Schaumburg (203) and Prospect (152).

"It feels amazing," said Myers, who was part of her third MSL championship 400 free relay championship team in her four years. "This group of girls is so talented and we work so hard day in and day out. It's definitely a grind but we really pull through and I'm really proud of what we can do when we are under pressure."

Kittrell said the Vikes felt pressure from their competition right to the end.

""One of the fun parts is that we hadn't won at all three levels (frosh-soph and junior varsity) in 10 years, so that was super fun," Kittrell said. "But this (varsity title) is by far and away the toughest one.

"Hersey was outstanding today. I thought Schaumburg had incredible swims. Prospect was fantastic at the end. Ella Houston (junior) of Buffalo Grove was awesome in the 200 and 500. This is a great set up for the MSL teams and they should all be very excited about where they're heading into the sectional next weekend."

Kittrell said at one point, Myers was sure if she was headed to another 400-relay title with her teammates.

"She became very ill at the state finals last year and we actually had to pull her out," he said. " For Erica, I think there were some questions early in the season as to how well she was going to do. But she has really risen to the occasion. She is a special kid and it's been fun to see her really take that big step the last few meets. We just want to keep her healthy and enjoy the next two weeks.

"She had a long offseason after last year's state finals and I admire her character and how she has held in there. She has done a wonderful job."

Sophomore Mihika Tillu and junior Molly Kanupke gave the Vikings a wonderful start to the day as the diving finals took on an interesting twist.

For the second straight year, a pair of Fremd girls were first and third while Barrington's Eva Coonrad was second.

Two-time defending champion Que Genet would have been going for her third title, however, she graduated after her junior year at Fremd.

But Tillu kept the title at Fremd, winning with a career-best score of 464.60 ahead of Coonrad (career-best 444.00) and Kanupke (career-best 398.10).

"These were my best dives today," said Tillu, who was third last year with a score in the 380's. "I just had a positive attitude. I've been really consistent in practice and I guess today was just a good day."

It was also a good day for her teammate Kanupke, who took second in the junior varsity meet last year and posted a career-high score on Saturday.

"This was very exciting," said Kanupke, a three-sport athlete who is also a varsity softball pitcher and gymnast at Fremd.

Coonrad won the junior varsity meet (400.45) as a sophomore and then posted a 395 in the varsity meet last fall for second place behind Genet, who set the pool record with a 484.40.

The swimming event began with Prospect's Gracie Zimmer, Emme Jones, Alina Rimas and Karla Baird winning the 200-yard medley relay in their own pool (1:49.55).

Fremd sophomore Elizabeth Patla came home first in the 200-yard free (1:53.58), just edging Houston (1:53.09).

The 200-yard individual medley relay was captured by Hoffman Estates sophomore Lena Banaszewski (2:13.61) while Schaumburg Zuzanna Krasnicki stopped the timer in 24.02 to win the 50 free.

Banaszewski came back to win the 100-yard butterfly (58.86) over Schaumburg's Annabel Banicz (59.82).

Krasnicki also won the 100-yard free (52.36) while Houston came home in 5:03:06 to win the 500-yard free over Patla (5:03.48).

Schaumburg's 200-yard free relay team of Krasnicki, Diana Bobiv, Veronika Mieczkowski and Banicz won with a time of 1:39.45, just missing the pool record of 1:39.11.

Hersey sophomore Claudia Glinko was a strong winner in the 100-yard backstroke, winning with a time of 58.66 just before Fremd junior Noora Nahlawi who took top honors in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.04), just edging Prospect freshman Emme Jones (1:07.11) and Prospect 's Baird (1:07.31).

The meet wrapped up with Myers teaming up with freshman Sophia Pentchev, sophomore Anna Hinshaw and Patla to win the 400 yard free. They bested Schaumburg's Krasnicki, Banicz, Bobuiv and Nina Gwin (second, 3:38.26) and Hersey's third-place finishing team (3:43.31) of freshman Anna Anderson, senior Freedom Toll, Glinko and sophomore Abigail Stonequist.

"I am happy for all the girls on our team," Glinko said. "I'm glad I've been going faster lately and excited for what comes next at sectionals."

"Claudia did an awesome job in her 100 backstroke," said Hersey coach Dick Mortensen, who led the Huskies to their 13th MSL East crown in 16 years. "We had so many medalists get through and we're not tapered until next week. We're definitely a team in that we collect points for each event. That's our strength. We don't have a lot of elite, but a lot of great."

Mortensen has had a great run in the prep water sports. Combining his girls and boys water polo teams and his boys and girls swim teams over the years as head coach at Hersey and Prospect, Mortensen has won 34 MSL East crowns and one MSL title (Hersey girls swim in 2021).

"We have really great support from the staff at Hersey," he said. "The kids and the parents kind of set the table and the administration supports us. We just keep rolling year after year. The kids swam phenomenally today."

The Huskies were 5-0 in the East this fall and 9-1 overall, losing only to Maine South.

Schaumburg coach Tim O'Grady watched his Saxons take third place in the MSL for the third time in his nine seasons as head coach.

"The girls did absolutely fantastic," he said. "It was a tough meet because we do a different type of training leading up to it and they get pretty tired. We only put tech suits on for a few events and they really fought through it. Our 400 free relay team finished the meet in an amazing way. I don't believe we've ever gone a 38.26 since I've been here with just regular suits.

"I think they're pretty excited about it and have confidence about the sectional when they put on the tech suits. They did not wear tech suits today for any events they'll be in at the sectional. I'm just super proud of them. Repeating as 200-free relay champs was really fun."