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| Wheaton co-op crashes Redhawks' party The Wheaton co-op girls swimming and diving team made a statement last weekend at Naperville Central with major implications toward the state meet. The Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North swimmers dethroned two-time defending state champion Naperville Central for league supremacy at the DuPage Valley Conference championship. The co-op team, currently dominated by athletes from Wheaton Warrenville South, captured seven of the 12 events to win the team title with 245 points. Naperville Central was second with 225, while Naperville North (203), West Chicago (142) and West Aurora (85) rounded out the five-team field. "It really was a team effort," said Wheaton coach Jacob Ayers. "The girls at the varsity level did a great job of racing the girls in their heats." The Wheaton squad received brilliant performances from its top athletes and further solidified its ascendancy with depth. Junior Taylor Zafir had a field day for Wheaton, obliterating the field in the 200-yard individual medley. Zafir, who took third in the event at state last fall, won by nearly seven seconds. Zafir was expecting to do battle with reigning state champion Amy Prestinario in the event, but the Naperville Central elected to forgo the race to concentrate on other races. Zafir was the only four-event conference champion, propelling two relays -- the 200 medley and 400 freestyle -- to victory while picking up a second individual crown in the 100 breaststroke. "My strength is swimming one thing after another (in the medley)," said Zafir, who was clocked in the event at 2:07.74 seconds. "I was kind of looking forward to (a showdown with Prestinario)." The junior class is exceptionally talented for the Wheaton co-op, and Kelsey Novotny also had a big day on Saturday. Novotny was pitted against Naperville Central junior Heather Gardner in the two freestyle sprints, and the two were both up to the task. The two were only hundredths of a second apart in both the 50 and 100 events as Novotny bettered her league rival in the shorter race, only to have Gardner reverse the outcome at the longer distance. "I worked really hard in the 50 -- that's my specialty event," said Novotny. "It's really fun racing against (Gardner)." Novotny won the 50 in 25.25 seconds, four-hundredths faster than Gardner, but the Redhawks' state-champion relay performer was a tenth of a second quicker at 100 yards. The narrow defeat at 100 yards cost Novotny a chance to join Zafir as a four-event champion. The junior also participated in the winning medley and long freestyle relay championships. "Kelsey is a big-meet racer," said Ayers. "Taylor is an overall team leader." Wheaton was actually trailing Naperville Central until the eighth event, but the 500 freestyle dramatically altered the team standings. Senior Sarah Wynn and freshman Jessica Wellick were unchallenged in their one-two sweep of the longest race as the former edged her ninth-grade teammate by .28 seconds (5:14.28-5:14.56). "I just wanted to win so our team could gain the points," said Wynn. "Sarah Wynn has been a great senior leader," added Ayers. Senior Beth Henning provided the Wheaton co-op with a second sweep when she took second in the 100 breaststroke. Danielle Reminger joined Novotny and Wynn as three-event champions as the sophomore won the 100 butterfly at slightly more than a minute. Kim Ruehlmann was the final relay champion for Wheaton; the junior swam the opening leg of the medley relay. |
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