Neuqua Valley denies Rosary 4th straight title
The storybook ending is that Rosary, in the year Bill Schalz announced his retirement from high school swimming - won its fourth straight title and took the championship trophy for a swim at Evanston.
The reality for the Beads was something a little different as Neuqua Valley stormed to its first state title and the Beads narrowly missed on a quadpeat. That said, the Beads swam better than they did in prelims, did not fall behind until the final two events - and were more than able to hold their heads high after the meet.
"We swam great," Schalz said. "We improved almost 10 points from prelims. Neuqua was relentless today. Most teams, when they swim really, really fast on Friday, have a letdown on Saturday, and they didn't have that at all. There's a little disappointment, but we know we've done everything that's possible. Even though we finished second, I wouldn't have traded this season with them."
Rosary opened the meet by finishing second in the 200-yard medley relay. Sydney VanOvermeiren picked up some points when she moved from fourth to second in the 200 IM. Athena Ye moved from fourth to third in the 50 freestyle.
Points are only scored on Saturday at the state swim meet, but "scoring" the meet in prelims is always a way to see which teams are in contention. Teams move somewhat, but not tremendously. Friday's "scoring" showed Neuqua Valley ahead by 7 points, so the Beads needed the points they were gaining in finals.
The thing was, Neuqua Valley was also improving on its performances as well, making Rosary's path to victory much more difficult.
Then Ye, a senior, stepped up and won the 100 butterfly, in a race where teammate Kathryn Mueller finished sixth, and the momentum swung in Rosary's direction. The state championship was Ye's second in high school. She was first in the 100 backstroke as a freshman.
"Being here with the team and seeing the support they gave me helped me go really fast," Ye said. "I was just thinking about the team. All my events were really painful, but I just kept thinking about the team and about how much we've gone through made the pain go away."
Neuqua Valley responded with victory in the 500 freestyle and then in the 200 freestyle relay, where the Wildcats and Beads were side-by-side in the outside lanes. From that point, Rosary's path to victory was nearly nonexistent.
Schalz announced midseason that this would be his last as a high school coach. He will coach Marmion's boys season this winter, but his resume as Rosary's coach stands on its own - 7 state titles, 17 state trophies and countless state placewinners.
"I wouldn't be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed today, but it's a disappointment because these girls didn't get to experience the fourpeat," Schalz said. "It's not as bitter a pill because we swam well and Neuqua Valley swam well. We scored 169 points, and that's often enough to win the state meet. It was great theater for the fans, I am sure."
Schalz said he is justifiably proud of his team's successes.
He said, "When we won our first state trophy, I'd won national meets and I'd won with club and I didn't appreciate the impact that our success had on the team, the school and the city. We have parades and there's alums from 20 years ago coming up saying what our success meant to them. I am definitely going to miss it - and especially I will miss the girls. They have a great group coming back."
Ye is one of a number of talented Beads who leave the program and move to college.
"Bill has helped me improve so much, not only as a swimmer but as a person too. The life lessons he teaches are things that will carry on for the future. I couldn't imagine any other coach being ours," Ye said.
There's something about finishing fourth as a team - which is what happened to St. Charles North. There's no denying the qualify of the team or its accomplishments, which were plentiful and in some cases, unprecedented. But the state only hands out three trophies, so fourth place meant the North Stars left Evanston empty-handed.
"Obviously, we expected to do better at this meet, but we're still proud of how our season has gone. Some of the younger girls and how they swam this past year truly amazed me," St. Charles North senior Mallory Jump said.
There were, however, great things. The North Stars opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay. Then junior Megan Armstrong won the 100 backstroke and became the school's first individual event champion. Armstrong placed in both her previous state meets, but this year marked her best meet to-date.
"I'm pretty thrilled about what happened and I'm proud of what my team has done these two last weeks, from sectional to the state meet," Armstrong said.
Jump capped the individual portion of her career by finishing fifth in the 200 IM and second in the 100 butterfly. Jump had the fastest seed time in the butterfly and was beaten by Ye, who dropped more than a half-second from her prelims time in finals.
"Even though I didn't do what I was hoping to do today, I swam a really great race yesterday and I'm happy with how I swam. I wish I had done better, of course," Jump said.
St. Charles North has finished fourth, third, eighth, third and fifth in the most last five girls state swim meets and has established itself as one of the state's powers.
"We are a family," Armstrong said. "We support each other and help each other when we're down. We make sure that everyone's included. This is probably the closest group of girls I've been in the years of my high school years."
St. Charles East's Mary Jania concluded her junior season with a fourth-place finish in a hotly-contested 100 breaststroke final, ultimately won by New Trier's Kaelyn Gridley.
"I feel like my training this year was top-notch and Coach (Julia) Oelslager had me well-prepared," Jania said. "I always feel like I can do better. This pool is really difficult with the water. If you're not ahead, you're stuck together, but this is the best I've done in high school, so it's a good year."
Bartlett-Streamwood's Sydney Kelly capped her sophomore year by finishing eighth in the 500 freestyle.
"It's an amazing opportunity. This was my first time finaling individually at state, and it was a cool opportunity," Kelly said.
Kelly joins Kayla Filipek as the only Bartlett-Streamwood girls to win an individual event medal at the state meet, though there has been success in relay events.
"It's a really cool feeling. I'm proud of myself. We're still building as a team, with a strong junior and sophomore class. It's going to be really exciting next year," Kelly said.