Girls swimming and diving: Another fun day awaits Penrod, Barrington
The high school girls swimming season starts in the sun-splashed days of early August.
For the very best athletes in the state, that same season ends on a chilly, dark day in November.
And for a still smaller group - the best of the best - the reward is advancing to the last pool party of the season: Saturday's state finals.
Plenty of swimmers from the Mid-Suburban League earned their invitations to that final swimming fling via stellar performances in Friday's state meet prelims at New Trier High School in Winnetka.
Leading the effort for MSL champion Barrington was junior Ally Penrod.
She grabbed the sixth qualifying spot in the 100-yard breaststroke and also nabbed a position in the consolation heat of the 100-yard freestyle.
Penrod and the rest of Illinois' aquatic revelers will begin the championship session at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Her inclusion in the festivities is a stark turnaround from last year. In Penrod's first state-meet experience, she came away thoroughly disappointed. But it turns out that experience may have served a clear purpose.
"Last year was my first time at the high school state meet, and it's not an easy place to swim fast," she said. "I think I was much better prepared this time, and that helped my confidence."
Penrod equalled her lifetime best in the breaststroke (1:03.65) and also excelled in the 100 free (51.71).
She'll anchor Barrington's medley relay, following Maggie Emary, Catherine Kitzman and Emma Pritchett. They'll race in the consolation heat after a ninth-place finish in 1:45.70.
Somewhat predicably, Emary, a senior, will race in the championship heat of the 500 freestyle. It's the third straight time she's accomplished that impressive feat.
Fillies junior Bridget O'Leary earned Saturday consolation swims in a pair of races. Her 1:52.47 placed her 11th in the 200 free, and she was 10th in the 500 in 4:59.90.
Kitzman was disappointed with her first individual swim of the day, the 200 IM. But she brought a very different attitude to her best race later in the meet, the 100 breaststroke.
"I was behind the blocks and one of the timers said, 'Hey, you're the only one up here that's smiling.' And I'm like, 'Hey, it's swimming - you gotta be happy and you gotta have fun.' "
That self-proscribed advice seemed to do the trick, as Kitzman came through with a lifetime best of 1:04.68 - almost precisely the time she and coach Alex Mikolajewski had settled on as a goal before the season.
"Today was about just trying to see how much we could improve on how we were seeded, and we saw some really good things happen," Mikolajewski said. "I think everybody's looking forward to Saturday."
That looking-forward contingent includes Palatine sophomore Jane Smith. She earned a spot in the consolation heat of the 500 free after finishing eighth in 4:59.33.
"What's great about Jane," said her coach, Brittany Berleman, "is that I can throw just about any challenge in front of her, and she'll just attack it.
"She'd like to swim in college eventually, and I was explaining that she'll have to show her worth on relays for that to happen. And what does she do? She throws down a 23 (in the 50 free). During the season, she broke our pool record in the 100 free. Somebody came in the next week and broke it - the very next week, she goes and re-breaks it."
Smith finished 17th in the 200 free but says she's looking forward to another opportunity in the 500.
"That's my favorite race," she said. "I'm not sure why, but it's the one where I feel the most confident."
Smith's teammate, Kate Burianova, wrapped up her one and only state meet appearance with a 26th-place finish in the 50 free (24.23). A senior exchange student from the Czech Republic, she'll return to her hometown of Pardubice in May.
Unlike Smith, Burianova needed no convincing that the 50 was the race for her.
"It's over quick," explained Burianova, "and you don't have to breathe much."
Fremd's medley relay of sophomore Sophia Kuehn, senior Rebecca Ballo, junior Kristina Buzuloiu and senior Emily Bolger came through with a season-best time of 1:47.87 and placed 17th.
Bolger and Ballo wrapped up stellar four-year careers which included regular trips to the last meet of the season with individual races as well. Bolger took 28th in the 100 free (53.22) and Ballo placed 36th in the 100 breast (1:07.29).
Schaumburg sophomore Hana Mollin, in her second straight state meet, placed 30th in the 200 IM in 2:09.79.
Rosary is well positioned for a third straight state team championship after a consistently strong first-day performance, with Oswego East and St. Charles North in good position for second and third place.
The lone state record to fall came in the last heat of the day, as Oswego East's Grace Cooper, Mari Kraus, Emily Giles and Georgia White finished the 400 free relay in 3:22.63.
Palatine sophomore Sydney Aikman was tops among the MSL's divers after eight dives with a score of 289.70, good for 15th place. Only the top 12 scores advance to finals.
Barrington sophomore Anna Mae King finished 18th (188.65), Buffalo Grove sophomore Vivian Wilson was 25th (182.60), Fremd senior Carly Goodsite was 27th (181.35), Palatine freshman Anais Gonzalez Posso was 34th (173.25), Hersey sophomore Amelie Smithson was 37th (166.70) and Prospect juniors Julia Schroeter (157.15) and Madison Malone (157.05) took spots 44 and 45.
New Trier's Jessie Creed (338.95) and Katie Lipsey (321.50) hold the two top scores after the semifinals.