St. Charles E. wins own invite
Versatility, depth, and endurance were three of the attributes best displayed by St. Charles East’s girls swim team during its first-place finish in Saturday’s annual College Events Invite at the Norris Aquatic Center.
While senior standout Emma Smith and Mary Snyder combined to capture 5 of the Saints’ 7 individual victories, there were other notable performances from teammates Stephanie Garvin, Ashley Shanel, Nicole Chapko, Izzie Bindseil, Lauren McCormack, and Kimmy Scott.
“We have a very deep team,” said Saints coach Joe Cabel. “And we got some good drops in places we weren’t really planning on. We had a lot of surprises today, which is always good to see.”
One of which was provided by Garvin, who rallied to overtake Waubonsie Valley’s Madeline Hunt and Lake Forest’s Mika Hlavin in the 50-yard freestyle — a race where the top 3 finishers were separated by just five-hundredths of a second.
“That was a great win, and we had a lot of spots like that,” said Cabel. “Kimmy Scott coming out of the second heat and scoring in the top heat there in the 400 IM was also pivotal for us. It gave us a seven-point lead going into the last event.”
Scott knocked nearly 11 seconds off her seed time during her fourth-place finish in the 400 IM (4:48.28).
Smith, who began the day combining with Chapko, Snyder, and Garvin to win the 400 medley relay (4:04.81), added individual victories in the 100 breast (1:08.64), 200 breast (2:26.15), and 400 IM (4:25.97).
“When I’m in my club season, I swim longer events so I’m used to this,” said Smith. “It’s kind of unusual because it’s right in the middle of the high school season but I really like it.
“I love both the 200 and 400 IM,” added Smith. “I had a really good time today (in the 400 IM). I was happy with it.”
Snyder added wins in the 200 and 100 free, while Shanel outlasted Lake Forest’s Colleen Harrison by .51 of a second to capture the 500 free.
“You definitely have to be in good shape because this is a 2-1/2-, 3-hour meet,” said Cabel. “Ashley went over 9,000 yards today between practice and the 1000, the 500, and being on our free relay. She had a great day today.”
St. Charles East needed every last point, as it edged Lake Forest, 434-421, for the team title.
“They’re a lot like us with great depth across the board,” Cabel said of the Scouts.
“It was nice to have another really good team to go back and forth with,” said Smith.
Fourth-place Waubonsie Valley received a pair of second-place showing from Hunt (50 free, 100 back) and a third-place finish from Megan Devine (500 free).
Taylor Johns captured the 1000 free (10:41.94) for Lake Park, which finished sixth in the team standings.
With 3 weeks remaining before the Upstate Eight Conference meet, Cabel likes his team’s position.
“I think we’re in good shape right now,” said Cabel.