Rosary puts itself in position for fourth straight title

In a state swim meet, the most swims a team can have on Finals Day, the second day of the meet, is 19.

Rosary enters Saturday's second day of competition in the girls state meet with 13 swims, by far the most of any competing team. And that fact alone is one of the best reasons the Beads are poised to win their fourth straight state title.

Of course, Rosary has some pretty high-quality swims as well. The Beads left New Trier on Friday with 166 unofficial points. Only points scored in today's finals count. But the fact the Beads are over 40 points ahead of New Trier in the unofficial standings means it will take something extraordinary for Rosary to not take the state championship trophy for a swim in the Trevians pool late this afternoon.

"It's really nice," Rosary senior Olivia Scott said. "We're all swimming well. I'm really happy. But (Saturday), we all have to step up and race so we can score points for the trophy."

Scott had a solid day herself. The senior is seeded first for today's finals in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly. In addition, all three of the Beads relays are seeded second.

"I thought today went pretty well for prelims," Scott said. "I had some nice races, which is really good for me for swimming in prelims."

Three other Beads race in the championship finals: Mackenzie Powers in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke, Rachel Burke in the 100 freestyle and Emily Launer in the 500 freestyle.

"It's just throwing bodies in the water and hoping they get the job done," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "Rachel Burke in the 100 (freestyle) and Emily Launer in the 500 (freestyle.) We had Mackenzie Powers in the fly and the back. That was big coming down the stretch. And our relays were solid."

St. Charles East is poised to have its best finish in recent years. The Saints have six swims in today's finals and have two swimmers seeded second in their events. Emma Smith is the No. 2 seed in the 500 freestyle and Kayla Scott is second-seeded in the 100 breaststroke. Scott's 1:04.88 breaststroke time set a school record.

"We had some bright spots," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "We had some dim spots too. We didn't taper for sectionals. But we didn't have quite the drops in some events that we should have."

The Saints advanced their medley relay and 400 freestyle relay to the consolation finals. Also swimming in consoles are Smith in the 200 freestyle and Scott in the 200 individual medley.

"We got some people into the bigs today and two relays coming back, so we've got some good swims tomorrow," Cabel said. "(Scott) swam awesome in the breast and the IM too. (Smith) had a great 500. She's got a lot of potential left in that 200 too."

St. Charles North opened the meet with a fourth-seed swim in the 200 medley relay. The North Stars then had to wait until the 500 freestyle to get another qualifier. Jessica England qualified for the consolation final in that event.

Overall, the North Stars have five swims in today's finals. The school's 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay will each compete for the consolation championship, as will sophomore Lauren Reynolds in the 100 backstroke.

"About halfway through the meet, I think things started going better for us," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "The medley relay making top six is great. We needed some other kids to understand where they were at today. For them, it was a learning situation. But the back half of the meet was much better."

West Aurora will score points in the state meet this year. Senior Jackie Iglesias qualified for the consolation finals in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. A year after suffering through shoulder surgery and being subpar when the postseason came around, Iglesias was smiling on-deck on Friday.

"It's great," Iglesias said. "I wasn't expecting to drop as much as I did in the IM. That was one that was iffy. I wasn't expecting to make it back in that."

Having qualified in one event, Iglesias had a long wait for her second race. But the boost from that initial race carried through into the early evening, when she swam the backstroke.

"It kind of calms the nerves a little bit," Iglesias said. "And doing so well, it helps a lot. This year just feels great. I think about last year and not being able to swim. It was horrible. But now I don't regret anything that happened because I wouldn't be swimming this fast."

Neither Geneva freshman Rylee Merges nor Batavia sophomore Shannon Adeszko advanced in their preliminary races.