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| Wheaton co-op wins first DuPage Valley championship
At the DuPage Valley Conference girls swimming championships there were a host intriguing storylines involving the Wheaton co-op squad and two-time defending state champion Naperville Central. WW South junior Kelsey Novotny and Naperville Central junior Heather Gardner engaged in a pair of classic duels in the two freestyle sprints, while the expected showdown between Amy Prestinario and Taylor Zafir never materialized in the 200 individual medley. The Redhawks’ Prestinario is the defending state champion in the event, and Zafir was two places behind her league counterpart last fall. The former elected to skip the event, enabling Zafir to cruise to victory as part of her four-event winning afternoon at Naperville Central on Saturday afternoon. The performance by Zafir, as well as several of her teammates, allowed the Wheaton co-op team to win its first league championship, 245-240, over the Redhawks. “This is not the stage for those two (Prestinario and Zafir),” said Wheaton coach Jacob Ayers. “They’re going to get their chance later (at the state meet).” “I was kind of looking forward to (competing against Prestinario),” said Zafir, who also won the 100 breaststroke and swam on two victorious relays. “I like swimming everything together in the medley.” For Prestinario it was a matter of being prepared for the looming state series. “This is the time of the year where everybody is exhausted,” said Prestinario, who destroyed the field by a combined seven seconds in both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. “I haven’t decided fully what I’m going to be swimming at the end of the season.” Novotny and Gardner, a reigning relay state champion for the Redhawks, reversed the results at 50 and 100 yards, respectively, at freestyle. After Novotny captured the shorter of the two distances by four-hundredths, 25.25-25.29 seconds, Gardner returned the favor by nipping her rival by a tenth of a second at 100 yards. “She touched me out in the 50, and I touched her out in the 100,” Gardner said. “I wanted to win that one (the 100).” For Novotny, winning the team championship superceded any individual accomplishments. “I’ve been swimming my whole life,” said Novotny, who also a member of two relay champions. “This is a big victory for us. It’s really exciting.” The Wheaton squad took the lead for good with a Sarah Wynn-Jessica Wellick sweep in the 500 freestyle, and key relay contributor Danielle Reminger sustained the effort by winning the 100 butterfly. Naperville North was third behind freshman twin runner-up Caroline Chang, while Caitlin Krengel paced the fourth-place West Chicago finish. West Aurora was led by Liz Chollet, who was second in the diving competition Friday night, and junior classmate Kim Engen, fourth in the 100 breaststroke in a school-record 1:10.7. “It was a big accomplishment,” Engen said. “Hopefully, I can break it even more at the sectional.” Engen was also fourth in the individual medley. “The IM is not my strongest (race), but I want to make state in the breaststroke,” Engen said. “That’s the main goal. I’m close (to state-qualifying time).”
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