Simon says Barrington doing just fine
In the first week of the season, Barrington's girls swimming team has showed it can dominate the Mid-Suburban East as well as it can in the West.
Last week, Barrington opened with a victory over Rolling Meadows. On Wednesday, the Fillies defeated Prospect 123-63 in Wheeling.
"We did so-so," said Barrington coach Jim Bart, who has a number of new faces on his roster this fall. "We mixed up our lineup to see how they would do in a varsity meet. They're doing pretty well."
Bart is trying different swimmers in different events in each meet.
"Especially without newer kids competing in high school or varsity for the first time," he said. "We go shorter events one meet, longer events the next meet."
Sam Simon, one of the Fillies' veterans, won the 100-yard free (56.66) and the 200 free (2:06.17).
"We did very good in our first two meets," Simon said. "Right now, we're still in the middle of training. We're not looking at times but we're working hard."
Prospect accomplished its goal Wednesday.
"Our goal was to score more points than last year," said Knights coach Dick Mortensen, whose team scored 62 points against Barrington last year. "Today was a mind-your-own-business meet. We weren't going to worry about Barrington."
Prospect has used a different lineup in all three of its meets.
One constant has been freshman Greta Pietraszek, who won the breaststroke (1:17.91). Pietraszek is stepping into some big shoes, taking over in the event in which Julia Andracki won state last year.
"I've been swimming the breaststroke a long time," Pietraszek said. "At one time I was a flyer, then I swam competitively and became a breaststroker.
"Amy (Julia's older sister) and Julia are a big inspiration to me. When I was younger they tried to help me."
Prospect veteran Sarah Sohn won the 100 fly (1:01.86) and the 200 IM (2:21.37).
"Right now I'm concentrating on my times, but I know throughout the season I'll go faster," Sohn said. "I'm just trying to get the strokes down, then the times."