Girls swimming: Rosary, Neuqua Valley in tight race for state title
Maybe it's not the cakewalk they might have wanted, but Rosary's girls swimming team still sits in a great position after Friday's IHSA state prelims in Evanston, and is ready for a battle with Neuqua Valley Saturday afternoon for the state title.
While it is often said that no team wins the trophy until Saturday - which is the only day points are officially scored - the Beads did just about everything they needed to on Friday in terms of qualifying entries to this afternoon's finals. Perhaps they didn't win it, but they most certainly didn't lose it either.
"We swam well," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "We didn't swim awesome, but we swam well. I told the girls we'd have some good swims and we'd have some swims we were frustrated with, and that's what happened today. But what I like about this group is that, even though they were up and down a little bit, they kept battling back. Now it's match play with Neuqua tomorrow."
Unofficially, Neuqua Valley enters Saturday's finals with a seven-point edge on Rosary, though Schalz said he liked his chances of gaining points in various events in which his athletes could move up.
"We're going to need to do that, because Neuqua's right there with us," Schalz said. "There are some areas where I didn't think we swam well. I told the kids all year that this would be a battle because other teams are getting better and we've graduated some good swimmers."
Rosary has all three relays qualified for the championship final for today's finals, which begin at 11 a.m. Additonally, the Beads have 10 individual swims - two each for Anne Tavierne (200-yard freestyle, 500 freestyle), Athena Ye (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Kathryn Mueller (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke) and Jessica Geriane (100 freestyle, 100 backstroke) while Sydney Van Overmeiren (200 IM) and Alyssa Brault (100 breastroke) have one finals swim.
"We caught some breaks, such as Kat Mueller hitting two Top 6 swims and Allie Brault swimming a lifetime best time swim to get seventh-best in the breaststroke. (Ye) was great today. Anne Tavierne came from outside the circle seeds and qualified fifth in the 500," Schalz said.
St. Charles North will compete for a top five placing and perhaps a trophy as well on Saturday. Unofficially, New Trier was third on Friday, the North Stars fourth with Oswego, Lyons and Barrington completing the schools that will vie for a coveted Top 5 finish in a one of the most competitive high school girls swimming states in the nation.
The North Stars put all three relays in to the championship final - and the 200 medley relay was the fastest on Friday. St. Charles North had some excellent individual performances as well. Mallory Jump is seeded first in the 100 butterfly and second in the 200 IM. Megan Armstrong had the top prelims time in the 100 backstroke. Kayleigh Lewis also advanced - to the 100 freestyle consolation final.
"I thought we started the meet with a bang, with the medley relay," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "We had a good meet and we've got enough good swims tomorrow. We've got some kids competing for some state championships and relays in the mix, and I'm excited for that."
St. Charles East had a series of solid results throughout the day, starting with a 16th-best medley relay - but couldn't find a way into Saturday's finals. That ended when Mary Jania recorded the fourth-best time in the 100 breaststroke. A junior, Jania swims in one of the most competitive finals races on Saturday.
"That's all she has to worry about tomorrow, that one swim. If she can figure out her turns and put a race together, it's anybody's race to win. Whoever wants it the most, it's theirs for the taking," St. Charles East coach Julie Oelslager said.
Overall, the Saints gained incredible experience through the meet. The entire swimming portion of their state team returns next year.
"They all see what it takes to be competitive in this meet. We have had a lot of conversations about what we need to do in order to get stronger and have more consistent training," Oelslager said.
On a day when Bartlett-Streamwood had the most state prelim swims in pram history, the team advanced Sydney Kelly to Saturday's finals in the 500 freestyle. Kelly is seeded seventh and swims in the consolation final.
"She had such a good 500 freestyle last week and there were a couple of big heats just before she swam. But she got in there, executed the plan really well and it was all smiles after the race was over," Bartlett-Streamwood coach Jeremy Meserole said.
Kelly swam in a lane between Barrington's Maggie Graves and Bridget O'Leary - who both finished with Top 6 times.
"I think that helped, having her between two people who were pushing the pace," Meserole said of Kelly. "I think she raced those two very well."
West Aurora did not qualify a swimmer for Saturday's finals, but was able to use the day as another building block as the program continues to improve. Three of the four swimmers on the team's 200 medley relay team return next year, and the fourth - Gina Jenkins - completed her fourth straight year at the state finals by swimming her personal best in the 500 freestyle.
"We have other kids sitting in the stands watching, and they'll push next year to take spots and make us better. We got experience in the water, and we can take that into the offseason too," West Aurora coach Chris Ranallo said.
Jenkins' leadership has been invaluable for the Blackhawks, and she swam in the medley relay, the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle on Friday. Her 500 freestyle time was 26th-best.
"She came here and did what she needed to do and she improved and had good swims today and she was happy, and we're happy," Ranallo said.