The girls swimming and diving season splashes into another week of DVC competition with Metea Valley visiting the pool at Naperville North. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Mustangs make the first splash
After the Mustangs win the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle swimmers jump into the water. Jules Swatland from North swims in lane five while teammate Jane Freeman glides through lane three. In lane four is Alyssa Rivero from Metea Valley, who emerges as the leader. Rivero hangs on and gets to the wall in first place thanks to a final reach with a time of 2:03.92. Swatland takes second while Freeman finishes third.
Next up is the 200 Individual medley, where Ellen Chua from Metea Valley battles for the front with Katelyn Vonnahme from North. Swimming in lane four, Chua steadily builds a lead and takes the first-place finish, pulling away in the freestyle. The Huskies show their depth with Vonnahme in second, Izzy Serscher in third, and Natalie Brown in fourth.
North gets on the board with a win from Sofia Oliveira in the 50-yard freestyle. After a brief break, the swimmers jump back in with the 100-yard butterfly. Another race and another Mustang win as Metea adds to its first-place total on the night. Molly Schalk pulls away from North’s Abby Pobozny and Jane Freeman to win by over five seconds with a time of 1:02.58. Isabel Sinzheimer from Metea finishes fourth.
Schalk also picked up a win in the 500-yard freestyle later in the meet.
After winning the 200 IM earlier in the night, Ellen Chua returns for the 100 freestyle and is able to hold off Jules Swatland from North competing in lane five. The Mustangs win six of the first seven races, but it’s still a narrow lead because of the points earned by the depth of Naperville North.
The Huskies rack up several wins down the stretch to pull away
Just a few races remaining when the 100-yard backstroke hits the water. Rylee Rhoads from Metea Valley swims in lane four. North freshman Sofie Rutkowski builds an early lead and expands it as the race goes along. Rutkowski takes the win over Rhoads with a time of 1:02.95 as the Huskies move into first place in the team standings.
Naperville North looks to expand on that lead with the 100-yard breaststroke in what turns out to be one of the most competitive races of the night. Laney Lund from Naperville North looks to overtake the early leader, Aarohi Bhatia, in lane four from Metea Valley. Fellow Mustang Olivia Linduska is in the hunt as well in lane six. Lund is able to hold off the two Mustangs at the wall by just over a second with a time of 1:12.25. Bhatia takes third, a half-second in front of Linduska.
The Huskies crank up the music for the final race of the night with the 400 free relay. The North team of Tasha Mantel, Sofie Rutkowski, Laney Lund, and Abby Pobozny competes in lane five. The top Mustang group consists of Alyssa Rivero, Makayla Paulding, Isabel Sinzheimer, and Yhari Resendiz. Despite Rivero giving Metea an early lead, Rutkowski and Lund swim the two fastest legs of the race as the Huskies pull away and end the night with a win. Naperville North wins a fun-filled night of competition by the score of 106-79 over Metea Valley.
Lucy Hunter of Naperville North wins the diving portion of the event, followed by teammates Derryn Milner and Madison Moungey. Mackenzie Olson was the top Mustang in fourth place.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
