Girls swimming and diving: Lake Zurich's Dorshorst stakes claim for 500 free title

No pool, no matter for Lake Zurich's Olivia Dorshorst.

The senior, who attends Lake Zurich, can't swim at her school because they don't have a pool. Dorshorst, who competes with her club in Barrington, came up big for her hometown.

Dorshorst was the top qualifier in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:52.13. She held off Barrington's Lillian Reader by 36/100 at the IHSA girls state swimming preliminary finals in Westmont Friday.

"It just felt really good," Dorshorst, who will swim for the University of Illinois next year.

"I have been training really hard. I just wanted to go out and swim fast and see how long I could hold it. We were all really close in the first 200. I just wanted to hold that speed and just get ready for (Saturday)."

Dorshorst also finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:50.69.

The finals were held at the new FMC Natatorium in Westmont. It is the first IHSA state swimming finals not held at either Evanston or New Trier since 1986 when it was held at Hinsdale South.

Stevenson qualified a trio of its relay teams.

The Patriots' 200 freestyle relay team of Hana Wienckowski, Abby Collins, Milena Busma and Claudia Rzeznik combined for a sixth-place finish in 1:35.56.

They were also sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Wienckwoski, Rzeznik, Busma and Collins swam in a time of 3:30.08.

"I am really excited with our relays," Stevenson coach Ayrton Kasemets said. "I think it came down to our energy. All year we have been talking about crashing the party. That's why we are in these party hats. Every year it is the same six teams that come into the meet and rule the meet. And we wanted to make sure that we are one of them."

Earlier in the 200-yard medley relay, Stevenson's Jennifer Chen, Katie Makarska. Busma and Wienckowski combined to finish 10th in 1:46.30.

Busma had a solid race in the 100-yard butterfly. She shaved close to a second off her sectional time to reach the finals with a 55.30, good for fifth place.

Claudia Rzeznik also came up strong for the Patriots in the event. She finished ninth and qualified for the finals in 55.62. Rzeznik was 23rd in the 50-yard freestyle.

Katie Makarska was 27th in the 200-yard individual medley. Chen was 19th in the 100-yard backstroke.

Stevenson divers Eleanor Kowalski (25th, 183.65) and Shreeya Sinha (20th, 188.05) also competed, as did Libertyville's Maddie Ruppert (24th, 183.80).

Libertyville was able to qualify its 200-yard freestyle relay team. The group comprised of Sofija Tijunelis, Georgia Kahler, Sarah Wuh and Logan Howard finished 12th in 1:36.01.

Tijunelis qualified for Saturday's finals by finishing 11th in the 100-yard backstroke. The sophomore had a time of 56.93.

The Wildcats failed to qualifying for the 200-yard medley relay, finishing 14th in a time of 1:46.96.

Kahler was 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke and qualified with a 1:04.07. She was 15th in the 50-yard freestyle for the Wildcats.

Howard was 24th in the 50-yard freestyle and 28th in the 100-yard freestyle

Vernon Hill's Isabella Ramos finished 11th in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:04.98. Emma Zhang was 19th for the Cougars in the 100-yard butterfly.

Warren's Grace Bevers became a finals qualifier for the Blue Devils. The senior finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in 56.08. She also was 25th in the 200-yard individual medley and did not qualify there.

Her teammate Hailey Beloit was 16th in the 100-yard backstroke.

Mundelein's Riley Routledge tied for 26th in the breaststroke in 1:06.03.