Girls swimming and diving: Hersey tops Buffalo Grove to stay perfect in MSL East
Hersey girls swimming coach Dick Mortensen said that he was a little worried that his team was "swimming tired" at Buffalo Grove Thursday due to recent intense practices.
He needn't have been concerned.
"Working hard in practice is something that I love," said Huskies sophomore Mollie Lumsden, "and I know the other girls love it too, because it gets us to do bigger things in the future."
And it helps in the present as well as Hersey, led by strong efforts from Lumsden, Maggie Papanicholas and Allyson Blumenfeld, defeated the Bison 114-72 to stay perfect (4-0) in the Mid-Suburban East.
Lumsden took the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:00.22 and the 100 backstroke (1:00.24); Papinicholas won the 100 breaststroke (1:04.34) and the 200 IM (2:13.63); and Blumenfeld set a BG pool record in the 1-meter dive (mark of 263.40).
Mortensen said that Blumenfeld was only "a couple of tenths away" from breaking the Hersey school mark.
BG was very competitive on the evening as well as Gabreila Surdyka won the 100 fly (1:00.86) while Stefanie Surdyka triumphed in the 100 free (54.39) and the 50 free (24.83).
The Bison were victorious in the 200-yard free relay in a time of 1:39.79, with Stefanie Surdyka, Gabriela Surdyka, Emilia Jedryka and Reese Frighetto all participating in the win.
"We did pretty well tonight," said Stefanie Surdyka. "Hersey is a tough team to beat but we dropped a lot of time overall."
"We're progressing," said Bison coach Michael McPartlin. "The girls are dropping times which is setting us up for a good end of season."
Hersey started off on the right foot with a win in the first event, the 200 medley relay (1:48.98) behind Lumsden, Papanicholas, Brooke Martin and Ella Salm.
Then Lumsden got her 200 free victory in the next event, and Papanicholas capped off a 3-for-3 start for the visitors with the 200 IM win, allaying any fear from their coach of a slow start.
"I was a little concerned about the girls coming out and being aggressive," said Mortensen, "but that got us well on our way."
Shannon Blumenfeld of the Huskies took first place in the 500 free in a time of 5:23.43, while Hersey finished strong as well, winning the last event (400 free relay) with Lumsden, Ashley Hintz, Olivia Klancnik and Natalia Plewa earning the win.
Mortensen also praised the effort of Salm, who helped the Huskies to second place in the 200 free.
"We're getting ready for our championship season," said Mortensen. "It's a month and a half away, and we've got to get our team the yardage they need to be successful, along with being competitive in dual meets and invites. Buffalo Grove is a much improved team so I knew they'd give us a fight."
"Our team is constantly pushing each other," added Lumsden, "which is amazing. Every day we're trying to make each other better."