Second-place meet finish, but overall NSC title for Libertyville

Libertyville coach Erik Rogers wasn't complaining after his Wildcats finished second in the North Suburban Conference girls swimming and diving meet at Vernon Hills.

His squad, after all, went 6-0 in NSC duals this season, and that was significant Saturday. While Lake Forest won the conference meet with 318 points, comfortably ahead of Libertyville (285), thanks to their runner-up finish, the Wildcats won the overall championship. It's their first NSC title since title 1988.

"They were real motivated to win, and it showed in their performance," Rogers said of his swimmers. "(Lake Forest) was awesome. But we were nipping at their heels the whole way."

Stevenson (232) was third, followed by Mundelein (174) in fourth.

Libertyville started the meet by winning the 200-yard medley relay, as Meredith Robbins, Macey Neubauer, Harriet Davies and Emma Richert broke the meet record in 1:47.47.

"We went into the relay with a good attitude," Robbins said. "We knew that if we did real well it would set (the team) up for the rest of the meet."

Neubauer sported a big smile after the race.

"I'm really proud of our relay," Neubauer said. "I think it was a real good job for all of us to get together and win."

Neubauer finished second in the 200 individual medley (season-best 2:10.64) behind Lake Forest's Reilly Lanigan (2:08.27), who captured four wins, including a pair in relays. In the 100 breaststroke, Mundelein's Jenn Kordik won in 1:06.88, with Neubauer finishing second (1:07.03).

Stevenson's Ashlin Ruiz won the 500 free in 5:07.64, ahead of teammate and runner-up Shayna Salzman (5:16.07).

Mundelein's Erin Falconer was a double-winner. She took the 100 free in 52.44, ahead of Lake Forest's Maddie Smith (53.53), who touched out Vernon Hills' Lisa Cheng (53.65) for second. Falconer also finished first in the 200 free (1:52.96).

Lanigan sped to a winning time of 57.88 in the 100 butterfly, with Ruiz (58.09) taking second. Lanigan teamed up with Olivia Lomax, Daria Pyshnenko and Smith to win the 200 freestyle relay (1:38.54), Smith, Haley Nelson, Ella Needler and Lanigan took the 400 freestyle relay (3:34.59).

"I'm pretty satisfied about today," Lanigan said. "I've had a lot of trouble in past years at this meet, but I've doing good so far and I'm proud of myself."