Girls swimming and diving: Having fun the priority at Hersey's Rob Lindgren Jamboree
Lauren Vrettos is the Jones-Payton girls swimming coach and a graduate of Maine South.
She's also one of the many people who felt privileged Saturday to be participating in or attending a meet that honored former Hersey swimming coach and District 214 aquatics advocate Rob Lindgren, who was a motivator and mentor to many area athletes.
Saturday's Swim and Dive Jamboree, hosted by Hersey at the Prospect pool, is an invitational that was established 26 years ago by Lindgren, who passed away in 2018 from pancreatic cancer.
The invite has been renamed the Rob Lindgren Jamboree in memory of the coach, who according to current Hersey coach Dick Mortensen was a big proponent of, "not only doing your best but also having fun while you're competing."
The jamboree is definitely one of the most enjoyable events of the year for the swimmers of the 16 schools who attended, as it includes upbeat music blaring during the events, a Hersey homecoming court match event versus some of the swim teams, and even a dance contest (won by Elk Grove).
"For us, we're happy to be swimming at a meet that honors such a great coach," said Vrettos. "To be a part of this is just a really meaningful thing for us."
Jones-Payton finished tied for third Saturday with Maine South. Buffalo Grove (302 points) took second while the host Huskies won with a point total of 381.
Hersey was led by sophomore diver Allyson Blumenfeld.
On Thursday, Blumenfeld set a BG pool record, and at the jamboree she bested both the school mark and the meet mark in wining the 1-meter dive at 439.10.
The diving records were among several invite and pool records to fall at Prospect.
"It's pretty exciting. I've been working really hard to beat my old scores," said Blumenfeld, who started diving in the sixth grade when she found that, "it could be a pretty cool sport."
Blumenfeld also talked about the lasting impression of coach Lindgren, a teacher, coach, advocate and mentor, of whom it was said that he was the "voice of District 214 swimming."
"He was a great inspiration to all of us," said the sophomore.
"We just try to honor the meet that he set up 26 years ago," said Mortensen. "You look around here, everybody has a smile on their face, everybody's dancing, and it leads to fast times. Some of the pressure of the big meets - it's not allowed to build here because the kids have the music and the fun, and they're not thinking about their race. They may be a little nervous, but it's not as much as when that music is playing."
Senior Annika Wagner of Maine South, the defending state champion in the 200 IM who has committed to Northwestern, won the 200 free (1:50.98) and the 500 free (4:59.06) at the Prospect pool.
"This is kind of our midseason meet to see where we're at," said Wagner, "and see what our lineup will be for sectionals later on. It's good to come here and have a good meet. It's our homecoming tonight so everything today is really so fun.
"Now that we're in October, our training gets really hard," added the senior. "We've just got to approach it with a good attitude and try to get through it."
Hawks coach Don Kura said he was pleased with his team's third-place finish.
"This is one of those meets that has a sectional format with limited entries," said Kura, "and with all the music, and with how competitive the meet is, the girls really get up for it. They look forward to it because of the dancing and the fun (homecoming court) relay at the end, but they also know it's a great pool to swim fast in. We had some really good swims today."
Adry Kasemets of Mundelein won the 200 IM in a time of 2:09.95. Erin Danielewicz from Prospect was first in the 100 fly (1:00.79) while BG won the 200 free relay with Stefanie Surdyka, Gabriela Surdyka, Emilia Jedryka, and Reese Frighetto earning the victory.
Maine South (Nelly Hadlaw, Natalie Bryant, Natalie Wajda, and Wagner) was victorious in the 400-yard free relay.
Frighetto of BG took second in the 500 free in a time of 24.96, while Grace Dembowski of the Knights was runner-up in the 100 fly (1:01.06).
Jane Smith of Palatine finished second in the 200 free (1:56.21) and the 500 free (5:05.33) while in the team race Prospect finished fifth, Mundelein was sixth and Warren finished seventh.
Other individual winners for Hersey included Mollie Lumsden in the 100 yard backstroke, Maggie Papanicholas in the 100 breaststroke, and the 200 medley relay with Lumsden, Papanicholas, Brooke Martin and Ella Salm.
"The 200, that was a fast time," said Mortensen, "That was under the state qualifying time. That broke our school record, the pool record and the meet record. I'm impressed with those four girls."