The last DVC regular-season girls swimming match takes place at Naperville Central. The Redhawks look to rebound after a tough loss to Neuqua Valley as they host Waubonsie Valley. The Warriors enter fresh off a conference win over Naperville North last week, and look to collect another before the conference championship later this month. Before the match, Naperville Central honors 13 seniors who will be swimming in their last meet in their home pool. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Redhawks start with a relay win
Let’s splash into the action with our opening event, the 200-yard medley relay. Three Central teams hit the water against a pair of Waubonsie groups and it looks like it will be a Redhawk win to start, but it comes down to the Redhawks in lane three against the Warriors in lane four. In the last 50 meters, the Warriors team overtakes the Redhawks, claiming a narrow win by just .14 seconds.
Moving to the next event, and our first individual race, the 200-yard freestyle. Four swimmers from each team hit the water, but the race ends with a three-on-one advantage for Central. It’s the Redhawk trio of Elyse Gensler, Lauren Murphy, and Madeline Doyle, against Warrior Madelyn Hartsell. It would come down to a photo finish between the four swimmers, and Hartsell channels her inner Mandalorian and says, ‘I like those odds’. The Warrior edges Gensler in the next lane over by just .54 seconds to give Waubonsie a two-for-two start on the day in back-to-back close races. The Redhawks go two, three, four.
Warriors rack up individual first place finishes
After that is the 200-yard IM, where the Warriors again find themselves outnumbered by one swimmer. But once again, they prove that numbers are just statistics. Abbey Brown in lane four outpaces the rest of the competition and swims home first to a five-second win over second-place finisher Redhawk Lily Potter, securing another Warriors win.
The shortest event in the evening is the 50-yard freestyle. We head back to the photo finish booth after this one, where the Redhawks break Waubonsie’s streak as Lexi Goldstone outswims Estelle Castaneda by half a second to put Central on the board and tighten up the team scoreboard.
After a 10-minute break, we get going again with the 100-yard butterfly. The photo finishes return, but this time it’s between a pair of teammates. Waubonsie’s Abbey Brown in lane four races fellow Warrior Mirabelle LaCoursiere in lane six. The swimmers bop in and out of the water, and Brown takes another win by .24 seconds over her teammate, allowing Waubonsie to pick up more points for the team total.
The 100-yard events continue with the freestyle race. No photo finishes here, but lane four is again the right lane to be in. Estelle Castaneda gets redemption after the 50, and beats Redhawk Tatum Meisenheimer by over two seconds for another Warriors win.
Madelyn Hartsell continues her big night
Now for the longest race on the evening, the 500-yard freestyle. It appears the Redhawks are on their way to a win with Natalie Wesolowski in lane three, but midway through, she is overtaken by Madelyn Hartsell for the lead. The Warrior is able to use proper pacing and pull ahead of the Redhawk to take the match by a second-and-a-half for another Warriors triumph.
Let’s go back to group racing, with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The photo finishes still have the Redhawks not far behind the Warriors, and in need of a heat win, they get just that. The lane three Central team of Elyse Gensler, Lily Wolski, Molly Moore, and Lexi Goldstone put the Redhawks back in the win column with another second-and-a-half win over the competition, keeping them very much within striking distance.
Moving right back to individual events with the 100-yard backstroke. The teammate photo finishes are back on again with Waubonsie. Mirabelle LaCoursiere looks for redemption after coming up short a few races ago, and she is able to take the race to the wall by a hair over Kamylle Centeno as Waubonsie gets back on track.
Waubonsie earns the road win to wrap up regular season
There are still a pair of races to go, as we move on to the 100-yard breaststroke. Central is able to get right back at the Warriors as Lexi Goldstone picks up her second individual win on the night for the Redhawks. The Redhawk captain swims ahead to take the heat by 1.40 seconds over Warrior Brooklyn Landtiser to keep it within reach heading into the final race of the night.
That last match is our 400-yard freestyle relay. Needing a good performance to put the victory on ice, the Warriors do just that. It is lane four getting the job done again, as the Waubonsie quad featuring Estelle Castaneda, Madelyn Hartsell, Saanvi Khopkar, and Abbey Brown pace the competition by over seven seconds! Their efforts hand Waubonsie not only the event win, but the match triumph in a narrow 97-89 score over Naperville Central to close out the regular season. Both teams have tournament competition on Saturday against non-conference opponents before the DVC conference tournament kicks off on October 24.
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