Stevenson wins State Championships in 2025, and the girls’ swimming season has led to this, the Illinois state meet for swimming and diving at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont. Schools from all over have shown up to compete with the best of the best, and from Naperville, we have Naperville North, Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Benet Academy, and Waubonsie Valley looking to leave it all in the water for the finals after a competitive day of preliminaries. Rosary enters the showdown as the state champion two years in a row, and today defends their title in search of a potential three-peat. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Naperville Central and North compete in the first heat for the 200 Medley relay
Beginning with the 200 Medley relay first heat, Naperville North’s Delaney Lund leads the team of Tasha Mantel, Sofie Rutkowski, and Katelyn Vonnahme in lane one, with Naperville Central’s Medley team of Alexa Goldstone, Macy Fults, Maddie Saccameno, and Shannon Hsu swimming in lane seven. When the breaststroke swimmers kick off the wall, Rosary leads the competition by a hair, but when the butterfly starts, they pull ahead to set up freestyle swimmer Kailey DelaCruz to secure her team a strong finish time of 1:44.19 and 9th place in the event overall. Naperville Central’s Hsu brings home the 5th place spot with a time of 1:47.46, and Naperville North’s Vonnahme brings home 8th with a time of 1:47.90, and the two teams finish 13th and 16th, respectively, in the overall standings. In the second heat, Stevenson emerges as the 200 medley champions ahead of Lyons Township and York.
In the 200 freestyle first heat, junior Carolina Piater competes for Neuqua Valley in the second lane. Every athlete keeps pace up to the first turnaround, when Annabelle Nawrocki from Rosary pulls ahead. Her strong swimming secures her the first finish of the race with a time of 1:51.01 and 9th place overall. Just behind her are Buffalo Grove’s Ella Houston, Moline’s Olivia Gustafson, and Lyons Township’s Anna Pansing. Piater claims the 13th overall spot in the state with a time of 1:52.72. In the top heat, Paige Kowal from Rosary is the state champion in the 200 free with a time of 1:47.14, just ahead of Ella Patla from Fremd.
Now the fastest competition of the day, the 50-yard freestyle first heat with Sofia Piater swimming for the Wildcats and Anna Honcharuk swimming for the Warriors. No surprise this race is close, and the top two swimmers are separated by less than a second. Aria Grossenbach of Stevenson High School claims the top spot and a time of 22.85 to help ensure Stevenson wins State Championships. Sarah Juiris from Main South earns second in the state with her time of 23.10, and Lia Roggi from Loyola is just behind with 23.22. The fourth-place medal goes to Piater, and her time of 23.24, and right behind her in fifth place is Honcharuk with a time of 23.36.
Caruso, Buchenauer, and Ursu all place in the top ten in state diving
Next up, we switch to the diving competition, with Lucia Caruso and Ella Buchenauer diving for Waubonsie Valley, and Gabby Ursu taking to the board for Neuqua Valley.
Starting us off is Caruso attempting an inward dive pike. A great dive that propels Caruso to the number ten spot overall to wrap up her Warrior diving career, with a final score of 444.00.
Here’s another Warrior as Buchenauer also attempts the inward dive pike. This performance earns her top marks and fifth place overall in the state competition with a score of 464.00.
Now Ursu dives for Neuqua, attempting a reverse one and one-half somersault tuck. That’s a fantastic entrance into the water, and that skillful showcase earns Ursu the third-place spot in the state competition with an overall score of 472.00, just behind Ellianna Moody from Wheaton North in second place with 478.90.
Our state champion is Katie Malm of the Oswego Co-Op, here attempting the difficult reverse one and one-half somersault, one and one-half twist free. That dive secures her first place in Illinois diving for a second straight season, with an overall score of 515.75. Congratulations to all the divers.
Honcharuk claims sixth place in the state 100 Freestyle competition to finish her Warrior career on a high note
Shifting back to swimming for the 100 Freestyle first heat event, where senior Anna Honcharuk competes for Waubonsie Valley. The race is on, and at the first turnaround, Aria Grossenbach, the junior from Stevenson in the top seed, pulls ahead. In the final stretch, Grossenbach maintains her lead with Ellie Patla from Fremd and Alyssa Albertyn from Oak Forest fighting for second place. Grossenbach secures a first-place finish and a time of 49.19, with Patla barely behind at 49.95 and Albertyn clocking in at 50.08. Honcharuk secures sixth place overall with a terrific time of 50.93.
Now let’s watch the second heat for the 500 free, where Carolina Piater swims for Neuqua Valley in lane number one. Close to the 150-yard distance, Livia Cremer from St. Ignatious begins to pull ahead, but there’s a lot of race left. Just over halfway, and New Trier’s June Dichtel is closing in on Cremer, and there is a flurry of swimmers just behind looking to do the same. It’s the final stretch, and New Trier’s Margaret Lietzau claims the top spot, with a time of 4:59.11, with Cremer less than a second behind at 4:59.95 and Alicia Czosnyka from Lake Zurich in third with 5:00.50. Piater earns the 15th spot overall, with a time of 5:04.84. Kate Farrell from St. Charles North holds off Paige Kowal from Rosary and wins the top heat for another first-place medal at 4:50.90.
Neuqua Valley competes in the 200 freestyle relay second heat, with the team of Taylor Tuch, Charley Satlak, and Carolina and Sofia Piater. Tuch starts the race off with a strong kick on the first turnaround for Satlak to take over. In the last moments, it is a fierce battle for the first finish, and out in front is Claire Conklin from West Chicago, to bring it home with a time of 1:34.95 in the second heat, and Mahomet-Seymour and St. Ignatious claiming second and third, respectively. The Wildcats secure a 14th-place finish in the relay with some strong swimming. Rosary adds another first-place finish to the total as the Royals hold off Stevenson to win the top heat.
Benet Academy’s sole swimmer competing in the finals is Abby Morrissey, taking part in the second heat for the 100 backstroke. The swimmers take off, and Morrissey keeps pace toward the front for the first fifty yards. As the race comes to an end, it’s Edwardsville’s Scout Jackson finishing first, followed by Rosary’s Annabelle Nawrocki and Morrissey finishing third, for an overall placement of 11th in the state, making the Redwings proud.
Now the top heat for the 100 backstroke, it’s Sofia Piater once again taking to the water for the Wildcats. Thea Bike from St. Charles North and Vera Conic of Rolling Meadows fight for first place in state, but it’s Bike in lane four who earns the top spot for St. Charles North with a time of 53.66. Conic locks in the silver medal with 54.10, and Rachel Johnson from Dundee-Crown earns third and puts a time of 54.61 on the board. Piater claims seventh in the state for the 100 backstroke in a great showing.
Naperville North has two swimmers in the 100 breaststroke. Jules Swatland and Tasha Mantel swim in the second heat for the Huskies today, and they’re off. Mantel is in the lead up to the first turnaround, but when the final kickoff the wall happens all lanes are even, and it’s anyone’s race in the home stretch! Bella Barrett from Lockport finishes first just .3 seconds ahead of the competition with a time of 1:05.37, followed by Noora Nahlawi of Fremd with a time of 1:05.64 seconds, and Livia Joern of Lyons Township in third with 1:05.74. Naperville North Swatland and Mantel earn fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively, with times of 1:05.79 and 1:05.89 for a race that was extremely close to the very end. Swatland and Mantel earned 12th and 13th in the state competition overall, with Nelli Sandor from Stevenson taking first in the state, a win that would help see Stevenson win State Championships.
Stevenson wins the 2025 girls swimming and diving state championship
Naperville’s last race for the day is the 400 freestyle relay, in the second heat. We have Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central, and Waubonsie Valley competing. The Wildcats team is the Piater twins once again, with Tuch and Bree Pepping the Warriors bring in Estelle Castaneda. Abbey Brown, Malini Madiman, and Honcharuk for their team effort, and the Redhawks see Avery Meisenheimer, Lily Wolski, Alexa Goldstone, and Hsu swimming for Naperville Central. In the final leg of the race, Loyola Sophomore Lia Roggi swims to victory with her team’s time of 3:29.57, earning the top spot, followed by St. Ignatious and York. Neuqua Valley secures the highest placement amongst Naperville schools for the 400 free with a 12th place finish, followed by Waubonsie Valley in 14th and Naperville Central in 15th. St. Charles North earns first place in the state for the 400 freestyle relay over Hinsdale Central.
However, Stevenson wins State Championships for their strong showings across the board, earning first in the 200-yard medley relay, the 50-yard free, 100-yard free, and the 100-yard backstroke, among other top finishes totaling 236 points. Second place goes to St. Charles North with 227 points, and former champion Rosary takes third with 211 points. Stevenson wins State Championships, but our heartfelt congratulations to all swimmers and schools for a fantastic season.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
