Rosary rolls on opening day
No one has yet to score any official points at this year's girls state swim meet.
But based on the unofficial totals from Friday's preliminary heats, Rosary is well on its way to repeating last year's championship success.
The Beads had a solid if not spectacular opening day in the state meet at New Trier and have 160 unofficial points. Stevenson sits second with 132 points while New Trier (110) and Loyola (104) are also in trophy contention.
"I think it's going to be a much more exciting day for the fans than for me," Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. "But I think it's going to be a great meet."
While Friday's points do not count, athletes invariably move up or down in small increments as they head to the Saturday finals.
Still, Schalz said Saturday should be an exciting day. Stevenson is close enough and had plenty of places to move up and could make this a very close meet.
"I know where (Stevenson) started," Schalz said. "I know they got more points. They have both their divers in and that's like another relay. They got all their relays in "bigs'' just like we did. So we'll try to get out there and sweep the relays."
There were some disappointments for the Beads, who failed to advance swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke or the 100-yard breaststroke.
"I thought all our girls had a chance to score," Schalz said. "We had three girls in their first state meet, and with all the delays we had here today, some of them struggled with that. I feel bad for them. I'm not upset at them. They raced hard."
Rosary's 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay are seeded second heading into today's finals while the 400 freestyle relay was the fastest in prelims.
The Beads have a further 8 swims in finals. Kally Fayhee was second-fastest in the 200 freestyle and returned to record the fastest 500 freestyle time. Olivia Scott was fourth-fastest in the 200 individual medley and second-fastest in the 100 butterfly. Mackenzie Powers also swims in the championship heat of the 100 butterfly while Kara Savegnago competes for the state title in the 100 freestyle.
Sarah Coghlin completes her Rosary career with a consolation finals swim in the 500 freestyle.
St. Charles East's Caitlin Dauw aims for her highest-possible finish in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. She is seeded fifth in the freestyle and third in the butterfly.
"I think she'll swim a little different tomorrow," St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. "I think she'll swim with a little more presence."
The Saints qualified their 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay and Kayla Scott in the 100 breaststroke. Scott came the closest to moving to the finals. She finished 14th in her first state meet experience.
"For me, everything was positive," Cabel said. "(Dauw) swam well. (Scott) swam well. Our relays were right there. If we wanted to get in, we had to go a little bit faster and we didn't get it."
St. Charles North sophomore Angie Chokran had a breakout state meet. She is seeded third in the 200 individual medley and third also in the 100 breaststroke.
"She has a lot of opportunities in front of her right now," St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney said. "She opened some eyes last week, setting the pool record at St. Charles East."
The North Stars also advanced their medley relay to the consolation finals in a meet where a number of athletes gained experience of being on-deck after tapering for last week's sectional meet.
"I'm pretty proud," Rooney said. "Every one of these girls today had their second lifetime best today, except (Chokran.) We were rested for the sectional -- or we wouldn't have had any kids get through. We had a great learning curve today."
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
Rosary's Kally Fayhee celebrates after the 500 freestyle during the girls state swimming preliminaries Friday at New Trier.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
St. Charles North's Angie Chokran swims the breast stroke leg of the 200 individual medley in Winnetka. She posted the third best time heading into today's finals.