Rosary girls swimming wins the sectional title in this highlight of girls swimming competition on a Saturday afternoon. The Neuqua Valley Wildcats host swimmers from Metea Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Plainfield Central, Naperville North, Rosary, Benet Academy, and more. All teams and athletes are eager for this afternoon’s competition as it’s a qualification day for the state meet. Only the fastest swimmers who qualify have the opportunity to advance to state, representing none other than their school and program, but themselves. With a chance to punch their tickets to the FMC Natatorium next weekend, these athletes look to give it their all. Let’s dive in. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Rosary starts strong in the 200-yard medley
Rosary gets off to a fast start by securing an early victory in the 200-yard medley relay with a team composed of Abby Moore, Julia Bartula, Kaliey DelaCruz, and Allie Casanovas recording a time of 1:45. Naperville North would go on and finish in second with a time of 1:46, just a second shy of tying with Rosary. Naperville Central takes third in the event, with Alexa Goldstone qualifying for multiple events for the state competition next week. The top seven teams end up qualifying for state in the 200 medley relay, including Waubonsie Valley, Metea Valley, the Oswego Co-Op, and Benet Academy.
We take a quick transition to the 200-yard freestyle for Athletes with Disabilities. This afternoon’s sole swimmer is Oswego’s Addi Miller. Miller would go on to finish the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 3:16. Miller would go on to compete in other events, such as the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, as well. She would also qualify for the state in the 100-yard breaststroke. A job well done by Miller.
Up next is the 200-yard freestyle, and the host Wildcats look to secure their first event win of the day. Rosary continues to dominate the waters, Paige Kowal is having her first of many first-place finishes this afternoon with teammate Annabelle Nawrocki in second. Kowal’s dominance in the water does stop Neuqua’s own Carolina Piater from qualifying at state, coming in fourth place. Eight swimmers in the event qualify in total, including Avery Meisenheimer from Naperville Central and Annika Anderson from Neuqua.
They keep the competition hot in the 200-yard IM. Oswego looks to join the winning ways of Rosary as Molly Gonzalez secures an event win for the Co-Op with a time of 2:05. Waubonsie Valley Warrior, Abbey Brown, manages to qualify for state in fourth place, finishing with a time of 2:07, just two seconds shy of the top spot. Abby Moore and Ariyana Nieckula from Rosary take second and third. Nine swimmers qualify for state in the IM, including Sophie Diorio from Neuqua, Central’s Alexa Goldstone, Mirabelle LaCoursiere from Waubonsie Valley, and Jules Swatland from Naperville North.
It’s time for the fastest event of the afternoon, the 50-yard freestyle, where all competitors look to swing the momentum for their team with an event win. Everyone gets off to a fast start; however, it’s the Wildcats in lane five who can hold up strong as Sofia Piater breezes through the competition with a time of 23.49 seconds, securing a first-place finish for Neuqua, joining her sister Carolina by securing a qualification spot for the state meet. Anna Hancharuk from Waubonsie is heading to state in second place, while Metea Valley freshman Olivia Linduska earns a state spot in third place.
Rosary looks to keep the winning mentality alive in the 100-yard butterfly. Kailey DelaCruz handles business by finishing first with her teammate Ariyana Nueckula taking second, respectively. Waubonsie’s Abbey Brown would earn another state qualification, finishing third with teammate Mirabelle LaCoursiere earning a spot in fourth place. Madeline Liska from the Oswego Co-Op is also heading to state in fifth place.
Rosary girls swimming wins sectional title
Rosary set the tone for the remainder of the meeting as Kowal secures another event win in the 500-yard freestyle, as she cruises in with a time of 4:59, with Oswego taking second and third place in the event thanks to Lauren Szadorski and Claire Nadziejko. Seven swimmers in total qualify in the 500 free, including Annika Anderson and Carolina Piater from Neuqua.
The 100-yard freestyle has three state qualifiers, with Mia Ceballos from Plainfield North taking the win. Anna Hancharuk from Waubonsie heads to state in second place, as does freshman Delaney Lund from Naperville North.
Sophia Piater from Neuqua, Alexa Goldstone from Central, and Abby Morrissey from Benet are among the six swimmers to qualify in the 100 backstroke, with Anabelle Nawrocki from Rosary winning the event.
Showing the strength of the swimmers in this sectional, eight more are heading to state in the 100-yard breaststroke. Abby Moore from Rosary takes the win with Tasha Mantel from Naperville North in second place. Fellow Husky Jules Swatland takes fourth with Benet senior Clare Donnelly finishing fifth. Sophie Diorio from Neuqua grabs the final state spot in eighth.
Rosary girls swimming wins, proving to be too much for the competition. Rosary takes the sectional title as the sole team with 200 or more points, finishing with 262.50. Oswego finishes in second with 195, and Waubonsie Valley takes third with 177.50 points. The six Naperville area schools will be represented at the FMC Natatorium next weekend.
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