Girls swimming: Lake Forest leads the way at Vernon Hills sectional
Lake Forest's girls swimming team dominated the Vernon Hills sectional Saturday.
The Scouts rolled to the championship of the nine-team meet with 380 points, while Libertyville put together a second-place effort with 253 points.
Warren posted a third-place score of 211.5 points to easily topple the host Cougars (135, fourth) and Mundelein (128, fifth).
Libertyville's runner-up finish was led by senior Macey Neubauer, who won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.67 and 100 breaststroke in 1:05.04.
The Wildcats will also be well represented at state in the relays, as the team of Neubauer, Meredith Robbins, Emma Richert and Staci Herchenbach won the 200 medley with a school- and pool-record time of 1:45.79. Neubauer, Richert, Lucy Saucedo and Harriet Davies placed second in the 400 freestyle relay to earn a berth in the state meet, which is at New Trier.
"I was really happy with my times, and it puts me in a good position for next weekend," said Neubauer, who will be making her fourth straight appearance at the state meet. "The team had really good times all the way around today, and we did really well."
Richert also qualified for state with a second-place swim in the 200-yard freestyle. Herchenbach made the state time in the 100 butterfly, as well.
The Wildcats' 200 freestyle relay team of Robbins, Anne Barnett, Richert and Davies finished second and qualified for state. Robbins (24.22) also made the cut in the 50 freestyle.
"A lot of these kids have already made state before, and next week we're trying to win as many medals as possible," Libertyville coach Erik Rogers said. "(Neubauer) has the possibility to come home with four medals."
Warren's strong showing was led by junior Courtney Barker, who won the 100 backstroke in 56.31. Barker (24.15) also qualified for state in the 50 free, as did her sophomore teammate Danielle Glisovich (24.44).
The Blue Devils' 200 medley relay team of Barker, Glisovich, Megan Won, and Emily Wong made it through with its 1:48.75 clocking.
A disqualification prevented Warren's 200 freestyle relay team from qualifying for state.
Warren coach Chris Bertana was still happy with his squad's effort.
"(Barker) has not fully tapered in any of the events, so we think she can finish in the top six in both of her (individual) events," Bertana said. "I think we've still got a little bit more room for improvement next week in the relays too."
Vernon Hills sophomore Nicole Pinter cut a huge amount of time to qualify for state in the 200 freestyle (1:55.06).
"She did a wonderful job, and she had to drop three and a half seconds just to qualify for state," Cougars coach Kedric Greenawalt said. "She's a tremendously hard worker, she's a great leader, and she leads by example."
Mundelein senior Tara Lawson also came through big-time with a huge time cut in the 100 backstroke to qualify for state in 58.36.
"She barely missed state the last few years, and this year she finally broke through," Mundelein coach Raul Sethna said. "She's worked really hard. She's the captain of our team, and she's dedicated herself since last year when she missed the cut."
In the diving competition, Libertyville junior Morgan Paul advanced to state with a second-place score of 443.9 points. Mundelein sophomore Maggie Franz (407.15) also qualified for state, as did Libertyville sophomore Claire Neuberger (370.05), Warren sophomore Carly Baun (341.4) and Warren senior Megan Wantoch (335.45).
Lake Forest junior Daria Pyshnenko won the 50 freestyle (22.69) and 100 freestyle (50.91), and also swam legs on the Scouts' winning 200 and 400 free relays. Her teammate Reilly Lanigan touched first in the 200 freestyle (1:49.17) and 500 freestyle (4:50.84), and joined Pyshnenko on the two relays. The Scouts also qualified their 200 medley relay.