Girls swimming: Jamboree honors Lindgren as Hersey wins championship
Swimming is a sport that brings athletes from different teams together. The Mid-Suburban League especially emphasizes friendly and fast competition, good sportsmanship, and most importantly, having fun. The Hersey Jamboree has long been the embodiment of these principles and is a meet most athletes look forward to. At the Jamboree the competition is good, but the laughs and cheers are even better.
Saturday the Hersey Jamboree honored coach Rob Lindgren, who was influential in inspiring many athletes across the MSL to achieve their goals, while just having fun and a positive attitude.
"This meet embodies what Rob stood for," said Rolling Meadows coach Monika Chiappetta. "He was all about sportsmanship and having fun. Rob was District 214 aquatics."
Lindgren has left a lasting impression on many of the athletes of the MSL and his legacy will be carried on through the Rob Lindgren Jamboree for many years to come.
After a lot of back-and-forth battles between Hersey, Warren and Maine South, Hersey's depth proved it had what it took to secure the lead and claim victory over their competitors Saturday.
The Huskies led with a score of 334, followed by Warren (323) and Maine South (296.5). Jacobs/Hampshire claimed fourth with a score of 220.5, followed by Buffalo Grove (193), Prospect (190) and Mundelein (184). Jones Payton (128.5) and Palatine (128.5) tied for eighth while Rolling Meadows (100), Cary-Grove (77), Elk Grove (59), Maine East (40), Taft (26), Wheeling (19) and Thornwood (4) rounded out the field.
Pool records still fresh in the minds of athletes from last year were crushed, showing just how competitive this year's Jamboree was going to be.
Diver Riley Bond of Maine South had an impressive morning posting a pool record breaking score of 393.40, with Maine South's Bronwyn Bond (386.90) and Buffalo Grove's Gillian Karsten (379.10) not far behind.
The afternoon started with a fierce dance competition and an even fiercer 200 medley relay with Warren's team of Carissa Barker, Maia Russel, Annie Stingle and Alyssa Church crushing last year's pool and meet records of 1:51.28 with a new record-breaking time of 1:50.44.
Impressive individual swims by the Blue Devils included Church's second-place 200 free (1:57.36) and her 100 free with the event-winning time of 53.78.
"It's a highlight in the season for a lot of teams to be here, to race, and just have fun," said Church after her victory in the 100 free. "The competition is fast, the pool is nice, and this meet just has a great atmosphere."
Warren secured a lot of top places across the board. Anni Stingle would win the 100 fly (59.05) while Barker and Hailey Benoit would place first and second in the 100 back with times of 58.88 and 59.88, respectively.
The Blue Devils kept things interesting with their 200 free relay team of Barker, Grace Bevers, Benoit, and Church securing a close victory against Hersey with a time of 1:41.06.
"We had a good chance to give these teams solid races and we did that," said Warren Coach Chris Bertana. "This has always been a great indicator of where we're at in the season and I'm very proud of these girls."
Maine South's Annika Wagner broke her own meet and pool record posting a time of 2:03.84 and held a commanding lead in the 500 free (5:07.25).
"Our team was really excited coming in, we love the dance competition and we had a lot of energy since we won our meet against Glenbrook South," said Wagner. "There's a lot of teams here and great competition that makes it feel a lot more like sectionals."
Maine South also won the 400 free relay with the relay team of Anna Sorbun, Wagner, Natalie Wajda, and Margaret Edsey getting an impressive time of 3:41.09
"It was an exciting weekend for us. It's homecoming so we have those festivities, we beat Glenbrook South (Friday) night and that was exciting," said Maine South coach Don Kura. "We swim here twice a year and always swim fast. It's a combination of the atmosphere and having a sectionals format that keeps things competitive and is a good midway point for us to move forward."
Other impressive swims included Jacobs/Hampshire's Jennifer Tokarz breaking the pool record time of 1:56.83 in the 200 free and Mundelein's Adry Kasemet's 100 breaststroke (1:07.48).
Throughout the meet the Huskies battled for the lead. While they didn't have any event victories, the Hersey girls secured top places in most individual and relay events.
"I'm so proud of the girls,'" said Hersey coach Dick Mortensen," We've been training hard and had a great meet against Prospect. We competed at all levels today and Rob would have been so proud."
Standout swims for the Huskies include Molly Lumsden in the 200 free (1:58.46) and 100 back (1:00.27), Bianca Teves in the 200 IM (2;17.22) and 100 butterfly (1:00.96), Ella Salms in the 100 free (56.13), and Shannon Blumenfeld in the 500 free (5:27.79).