Girls swimming: Scouting Fox Valley
All sports seasons have their beginnings, middles and endings, and then after a passage of some offseason, the process begins again. Sometimes, however, the beginning and middle leads to an ending that's more final, where the punctuation at the end of the sentence is a period and not a comma with more words still to write.
That's where Rosary's girls swim team finds itself this year. Certainly for the senior athletes - as with seniors everywhere this fall, the season points toward the November postseason and, hopefully, time at the Nov. 16-17 IHSA State Meet at New Trier.
The Beads, however, will say goodbye to long-time coach Bill Schalz when the season ends as well. Having coached Rosary since 1990 - and having coached Marmion since 1994, this will be Schalz's last season on-deck as a high school coach.
"It was a difficult choice, and since the news has come out, the outpouring I've received has made it more difficult. I'm 57 and I've been coaching Rosary more than half my life. But in order to pursue the goals my wife Robin and I want to pursue, I have to step back from high school coaching," Schalz said.
Schalz has coached Rosary to seven state titles and the team could win its fourth in a row for the second time should they finish first this year. But while he admits that winning trophies is "cool" - Schalz said there are a million other moments that he will take with him from his time as a prep coach.
"There have been kids over the years who were having problems at home or their parents were getting divorced (who I've talked to)," Schalz said. "Sometimes, it was just career advice - all sorts of things. I don't know if I really helped or not, but I did what I could," Schalz said.
The reality as the season moves through its early meets is that the Beads are favorites to win again this year, and the pathway to New Trier is what Schalz and his team are focused on now - not what will come afterward. Schalz will coach Marmion this winter before leaving high school swimming for good.
"I'm not approaching it any differently," he said. "The big thing isn't that it's my last year, it's the potential fourth year of a title run, and there are a lot of people who would like it to not happen. If we do the work and prepare properly, and swim well at the state meet, we can do it. But if we don't, there are people who can take it away from us."
There are seven seniors on this year's team, and Schalz named all of them co-captains, something he said he's never done before.
"All of those girls, if they swam for a different team, they'd be a captain," Schalz said. "This is the kind of girls they are. The first week of the school year, one of the freshmen on our team was sitting alone at lunch. A group of our seniors were sitting together at their table and saw that girl alone. A couple of them walked up and said 'come on, you're sitting with us' - and that's how it's going to be the rest of the year. Those are 'teamwork' things that they do that make it rewarding to work kids at this point in their lives."
One of those seniors who invited that freshmen to her table was Abby Pardridge, who helped qualify a relay for the state meet for the Beads a year ago.
"I remember being that scared little freshman four years ago. It's a great feeling to see these girls grow into the young women that Rosary's preparing us to be," Pardridge said.
Pardridge said it was "bittersweet" to know that her high school career is to coincide with the end of Schalz's tenure as Rosary's coach. Still, there's far too much work to be done to concentrate on "good-bye's."
"It's been one of the biggest privileges to swim for (Schalz)," Pardridge said. "He's taught me so many lessons in swimming and outside of swimming - lessons I'll carry forever. Believe me, he's working us just as hard or even harder to make sure we go out this year with a bang. We want to shut down the competition at the state meet, own it and make a statement to finish our fourpeat, and hopefully that's what we're going to do."
Fox Valley girls swimming at a glance
Five to watch this fall:
Rosary: The three-time defending champions are return abundant talent in their bid to win their fourth straight title for the second time in school history. The Beads have seven talented seniors and a number of star younger swimmers as well. Athena Ye, Kathryn Mueller, Anne Tavierne and Sydney VanOvermeiren are just four names to remember, but this team is incredibly deep.
St. Charles North: The North Stars are moving from perennial contenders to perennial trophy-hunters, and with a solid group of youthful talent, this should be another very successful year for Rob Rooney's team. The North Stars were third in 2015 and third again in 2017 and will contend again with talent like Megan Armstrong, Mallory Jump, Kayleigh Lewis and Sydney Maxwell.
St. Charles East: There's a buzz about the Saints program, which built steadily last year in coach Julie Oelslager's first year leading the program. Key swimmers this year include Mary Jania, Hannah Murray, Madison Supple and Molly Yetter.
Bartlett: The Hawks finished seventh in the state in 2016 and spent last year rebuilding with a young team that ultimately finished third in the St. Charles North Sectional. Paige Edmier and Sydney Kelly are among the team's best.
Jacobs: Last year's Fox Valley Conference champions finished fifth in the St. Charles North Sectional and gained a state qualifier in Jennifer Tokarz. Adding Kate Trembly to the team group and the Hawks should be a force again this fall.
Area's top swimmers:
Bartlett: Paige Edmier, Sr., Abby Hultquist Jr., Sydney Kelly, Jr., Kellsie Krisch, Jr., Emily Rygula, So. Cary-Grove: Emma Boldwyn, Sr., Payton Walsh, Jr. Crystal Lake: Sarah Niemann, So., Caitlin Pieroni, Sr., Dundee-Crown: Cailey Cimera, Sr., Mady Gomez, Sr., Sara Merkelz, Jr., Fiona Lukes, Jr. Huntley: Katelyn Carlson, Sr., Riley O'Donnell, Sr. Jacobs: Jenny Tokarz, So., Kate Trembly, So. Rosary: Linda Licari, Sr., Kathryn Mueller, Sr., Abby Pardridge, Sr., Samantha Rankin, Sr., Anne Tavierne, Sr., Sydney VanOvermeiren, Sr., Athena Ye, Sr. South Elgin: Lynnette Schlueter, Sr. St. Charles East: Mary Jania, Jr., Payton Matejko, So., Sophia Mruk, Fr., Hannah Murray, Jr., Madison Supple, So., Molly Yetter, So. St. Charles North:Megan Armstrong, Jr., Julia Engesser, Sr., Mallory Jump, Sr., Kayleigh Lewis, Sr., Sydney Maxwell, Jr., Mary Kate Phillips, Jr., Rachel Ponte, Sr., Maryellen Wolff, Jr.West Aurora: Haley Atkins, Jr., Sophie Bastian, Jr., Rhiannon Gustafson, Sr., Gina Jenkins, Sr., Ellie King, Jr., Chloe Leonard, Jr.
Dates to circle:
Sept. 8, Neuqua Valley Invitational; Sept. 13, Bartlett at West Aurora; Sept. 15, West Aurora Blackhawk Invitational; Sept. 22, Rosary Swim Invitational; Sept. 26, Jacobs vs. Cary-Grove; Sept. 27, St. Charles North at St. Charles East; Oct. 6, St. Charles North Girls Invitational; Oct. 6, St. Charles East College Events Meet; Oct. 10, Jacobs vs. Dundee-Crown; Oct. 16, Loyola at Rosary; Oct. 17, Jacobs vs. Huntley; Oct. 27, Upstate Eight, DuKane and Metro Catholic conference meets; Nov. 3, Fox Valley Conference Meet; Nov. 10, IHSA Sectional meets; Nov. 16-17, IHSA State meet.
- Darryl Mellema