Illinois High school Champs: Descenza Finishes With A Flourish

By Jack McCarthy
(with additional reporting by Bill Bell)

WINNETKA, IL., Nov. 17 — Rosary High's Mary Descenza saved her absolute best for last.

Swimming in her final high school meet, the Illinois prep senior again etched her name into the record book twice, winning two individual championships in state-record times during the 27th girls' swimming and diving championships at the New Trier High pool.

Descenza was a member of the United States' World Championship team in the 100 fly last summer at Fukuoka after having won that race during the Trials
in Austin last March.

She bounced back from what she considered to be subpar preliminary swims on Friday to win her fourth-consecutive 100 fly title (pr 53.11), slightly
better than her state-record 53.13 as a junior in last year's championships.

That time ranked her No. 1 nationally for 2000-01, and her latest swim may also rank her fastest at the end of this season come next spring.

Descenza also outdueled New Trier's Jackie Goldman for
her second-consecutive 200 freestyle title in 1:48.44, bettering her old state-record and nation-leading 1:48.66 from last season.

Descenza did, however, fall short of her goal, which was Misty Hyman's 52.41 100 fly national prep record she had hoped to threaten. Hymanset her time as a senior while at Arizona's Shadow Mountain High during the Cactus State's state meet five years ago, then went on to a stellar career at Stanford that culminated in the Olympic 200 fly gold at Sydney last year.

"I'm a little bit disappointed that I didn't get the national [butterfly] record," said Descenza, who closed her high school career with six individual championship medals and firsts with two 200-yard medley teams. "But I'm really happy that I won [with my] best times and [set] another state record. It was a good swim."

New Trier, meanwhile, won the big prize. The host Trevians scored three firsts, including Goldman's career-best 50.48 in the 100-yard freestyle, as they won their second-straight title and 10th in 27 years.

"I'm happy for the kids," said New Trier coach Bruce
Woodbury, whose team piled up a state record 228.5 points. "It makes me feel good to see them succeed and do their best times at the end. We didn't have a bad time [Friday] and today they came back and swam better."

Lake Forest was second with 152 points and had a champion in freshman Lindsey Kelly, who won the 50 freestyle in 23.66. Rosary took third with 119.

Kelly has a pretty fair coach in Lea Maurer, a former stanford All-America backstroker who was World Champion in the 100 at Perth in 1998 and held the
American record until broken by Cal's Natalie Coughlin at Fukuoka. She's married to former Cardinal sprinter Eric Maurer.

Goldman, who successfully defended her 100 freestyle title from 2000, also figured in two relay championships. She anchored the 200 freestyle relay, which closed in 1:35.59, and the 400 freestyle relay, which finished in 3:27.91. Joining Goldman on the 200 relay were freshman Mairen Foley, sophomore Katie Welnhofer and junior Ashley Welnhofer. Senior Lindsay Cole joined the Welnhofers and Goldman in the 400.

All told, the Trevians' depth overwhelmed the rest of the field. New Trier also collected five seconds and two thirds and is the only school in state history to score more than 200 points, a feat it accomplished once before last year.

In other events, the Evanston quartet of Lindsey Kessler, Kacy Reams, Laura Wadden and Jessie Waller topped the 200 medley relay field for the second straight day, this time in 1:47.88.

Belleville Althoff's Jeanna Fuccillo defended two titles, the 200 individual medley (2:03.61) and the 100
breaststroke (1:05.16). Rockford Guilford's Britta Jansson captured the 500 freestyle in 4:53.56, while Latin senior Katherine Paglini successfully defended her 100 backstroke title in 56.66. She was even faster in the prelims (pr 56.27).

Deerfield sophomore Christina Loukas maintained her lead in diving through the finals, scoring 449.90 points to edge two-time state champion Sara Hershman of Barrington.

"I was a little nervous," Loukas said. "I wasn't sure if my dives were going to be hard enough. I thought I really had to nail them, so I put a little pressure on myself."

27TH ILLINOIS' GIRLS HS SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL
WINNTEKA, IL
NOV. 17, 2001

25 Yd. Pool

* State Record

Final Team/Individual Standings

Winnetka New Trier, 228.5; Lake Forest, 152; Aurora Rosary, 119; Evanston, 98; Barrington, 79; Champaign Centennial, 76; Hinsdale Central, 69; LaGrange Lyons, 54; St. Charles North, 48; St. Charles East, 44; Naperville Neuqua Valley, 35.5; Rockford Guilford, 31; Chicago The Latin School, 29; West Chicago, 28; Northbrook Glenbrook North, 26; Lincolnshire Stevenson, 24; Palos Hills Stagg, 21; Homewood-Flossmoor, 20; Woodstock, 17; Deerfield, 16; Urbana, 14; Quincy, Springfield, 13; Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, 12; Roselle Lake Park, 10; Sterling, 9; Downers Grove North, Mundelein, Tinley Park Andrew, 7; Freeport, Lockport, 5; Libertyville, 3; Orland Park
Sandburg, 2; Aurora West, Moline, Normal University, Peoria Woodruff 1.

200-Yard Medley Relay
1, Evanston (Laura Wadden, Kacy Reams, Jessie Waller, Lindsey Kessler), 1:47.88. 2, Winnetka New Trier (Lindsay Cole, Ashley Seymour, Lauren Zatorski, Katie Welnhofer), 1:48.14. 3, Lake Forest (Alyse Mauro, Lisa
Hamming, Lindsey Fox, Meg Vallaly), 1:48.39. 4, Aurora Rosary (Allie Rubino, Malarie Schmidt, Mary Descenza, Erica Scott), 1:48.71. 5, St. Charles East (Lauren Nosal, Monica Jones, Ashley Johnson, Kelly Hoffrage), 1:48.81. 6, Naperville Neuqua Valley (Jamie Lawler, Christina Vaca, Mary Jane Dennison, Laura Brodbeck), 1:51.05. 7, Northbrook Glenbrook North (Amanda Evans,
Samantha Leibold, Kara Fernitz, Mari Montgomery), 1:50.16. 8, Barrington (Lisa Secler, Meghan Grzelak, Christy Brunka, Becca Poetz), 1:50.39. 9, LaGrange Lyons (Erin O'Neil, Lauren Burel, Kate Stephens, Katie Fieldhouse), 1:50.86. 10, Hinsdale Central (Lauren Cammisano, Aimee May, Lindsay Warren, Lauren Meding), 1:50.92. 11, Champaign Centennial (Rachel Danielson, Kellie Stevens, Megan Brombaugh, Rachel Korellis), 1:51.53. 12, Homewood-Flossmoor (Meredith Nordbrock, Valerie Zaleski, Erica Strein, Kristin McCoy), 1:51.77.

200-Yard Freestyle
1, Mary Descenza, Aurora Rosary, 1:48.44*. 2, Jackie Goldman, Winnetka New Trier, 1:48.57. 3, Rachel Ridgeway, Chicago Resurrection, 1:50.75. 4, Britta
Jansson, Rockford Guilford, 1:52.63. 5, Michelle Cohen, Winnetka New Trier, 1:53.97. 6, Kellie Stevens, Champaign Centennial, 1:54.26. 7, Tracey Hendrickson, Champaign Centennial, 1:54.39. 8, Kristina Lennox, Lake Forest, 1:55.28. 9, Christine Magnuson, Tinley Park Andrew, 1:55.37. 10, Liz Geisler, Roselle Lake Park, 1:55.61. 11, Casey Schnack, Quincy, 1:56.11. 12,
Kristi Westrich, Lincolnshire Stevenson, 1:57.60.

200-Yard Individual Medley
1, Jeanna Fuccillo, Belleville Althoff, 2:03.61. 2, Katherine Paglini, Chicago The Latin School, 2:03.76. 3, Ashley Welnhofer, Winnetka New Trier, 2:04.43. 4, Lisa Hamming, Lake Forest, 2:04.82. 5, Ashley Seymour, Winnetka New Trier, 2:06.14. 6, Emily Rusch, Urbana, 2:08.26. 7, Kelly Hoffrage, St. Charles East, 2:08.95. 8, Kate Stephens, LaGrange Lyons, 2:09.68. 9, Meredith Nordbrock, Homewood-Flossmoor, 2:10.21. 10, Payton Johnson, Champaign Centennial, 2:10.38. 11, Ashley Johnson, St. Charles East, 2:10.60. 12, Amy Roller, Moline, 2:12.13.

50-Yard Freestyle
1, Lindsey Kelly, Lake Forest, 23.66. 2, Jackie Vavrek, West Chicago, 23.76. 3, Katie Welnhofer, Winnetka New Trier, 24.15. 4, Jenna Borta, Woodstock,
24.19. 5, Lindsey Fox, Lake Forest, 24.36. 6, Lynn Siemert, Sterling, 24.57. 7, Nora Schober, Palos Hills Stagg, 24.25. 8, Krista Norkus, Aurora Rosary, 24.36. 9, Laura Fehrman, St. Charles North, 24.42. 10, Heather Brehmer, Mundelein, 24.63. 11, Lindsay Mathis, Lockport, 24.78. 12, Beth Foxwell, Hinsdale Central, 24.81.

One-Meter Diving
1, Christina Loukas, Deerfield, 449.90. 2, Sara Hershman, Barrington, 425.75. 3, Julie Broms, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, 395.05. 4, Amanda
Witte, LaGrange Lyons, 387.85. 5, Kristin Schild, Barrington, 372.35. 6, Emily McAuliff, Springfield, 370.25. 7, Sarah Economides, Downers Grove North, 360.00. 8, Michelle Weaver, Freeport, 356.25. 9, Emily Hirt, Mundelein, 355.25. 10, Katie Eddy, Libertyville, 351.15. 11, Megan Weldon, Champaign Centennial, 340.10. 12, Annie Carpenter, Aurora West, 331.85.

100-Yard Butterfly
1, Mary Descenza, Aurora Rosary, 53.11*. 2, Katie Welnhofer, Winnetka New Trier, 57.30. 3, Elena Ramirez, Champaign St. Thomas More, 57.34. 4, Payton
Johnson, Champaign Centennial, 57.63. 5, Christy Brunka, Barrington, 57.86. 6, Jessie Waller, Evanston, 58.22. 7, Krista Norkus, Aurora Rosary, 57.86. 8, Laura Wadden, Evanston, 58.06. 9, Amber Schroeder, Rockford Guilford, 58.48. 10, Katelyn Bryll, Lockport, 58.53. 11, Mary Jane Dennison, Naperville Neuqua Valley, 58.62. 12, Ashley Johnson, St. Charles East,
58.71.

100-Yard Freestyle
1, Jackie Goldman, Winnetka New Trier, 50.48. 2, Ashley Welnhofer, Winnetka New Trier, 51.23. 3, Lindsey Kelly, Lake Forest, 52.39. 4, Laura Fehrman,
St. Charles North, 52.63. 5, Erin O'Neil, LaGrange Lyons, 52.95. 6, Jackie Vavrek, West Chicago, 53.53. 7, Jamie Lawler, Naperville Neuqua Valley, 53.01. 8, Meg Vallaly, Lake Forest, 53.17. 9, Lauren Meding, Hinsdale Central, 53.21. 10, Christine Magnuson, Tinley Park Andrew, 53.28. 11, Jenna Borta, Woodstock, 53.54. 12, Kelsey Kinsella, Normal University, 53.58.

500-Yard Freestyle
1, Britta Jansson, Rockford Guilford, 4:53.56. 2, Rachel Ridgeway, Chicago Resurrection, 4:56.43. 3, Lindsay Warren, Hinsdale Central, 5:00.50. 4, Kellie Stevens, Champaign Centennial, 5:01.13. 5, Taylor Bayless, Winnetka New Trier, 5:01.43. 6, Casey Schnack, Quincy, 5:10.25. 7, Tracey Hendrickson, Champaign Centennial, 5:04.95. 8, Kristina Lennox, Lake Forest, 5:06.95. 9, Liz Geisler, Roselle Lake Park, 5:08.33. 10, Suzanna Zifkin, Evanston, 5:09.21. 11, Emily Cole, Winnetka New Trier, 5:09.63. 12, Lia
Pogioli, Peoria Woodruff, 5:10.16.

100-Yard Backstroke
1, Katherine Paglini, Chicago The Latin School, 56.66 (56.27p). 2, Lisa Hamming, Lake Forest, 58.23. 3, Meredith Nordbrock, Homewood-Flossmoor, 58.77. 4, Kara MacLaverty, Winnetka New Trier, 59.21. 5, Erin O'Neil,
LaGrange Lyons, 59.30. 6, Kristi Westrich, Lincolnshire Stevenson, 59.79. 7, Lauren Nosal, St. Charles East, 59.55. 8, Allie Rubino, Aurora Rosary,
59.64. 9, Lindsay Cole, Winnetka New Trier, 59.75. 9, Jamie Lawler, Naperville Neuqua Valley, 59.75. 11, Rachel Danielson, Champaign Centennial, 59.79. 12, Alyse Mauro, Lake Forest, 59.95.

100-Yard Breaststroke
1, Jeanna Fuccillo, Belleville Althoff, 1:05.16. 2, Ashley Seymour, Winnetka New Trier, 1:05.64. 3, Samantha Leibold, Northbrook Glenbrook North, 1:06.62. 4, Kacy Reams, Evanston, 1:06.85. 5, Julia Quinn, Evanston, 1:07.00. 6, Andrea Bernthal, St. Charles North, 1:08.77. 7, Monica Jones, St. Charles East, 1:08.22. 8, Emily Rusch, Urbana, 1:08.29. 9, Ashley Moja, Springfield, 1:08.48. 10, Danielle Herrmann, Roselle Lake Park, 1:08.92. 11, Valerie Zaleski, Homewood-Flossmoor, 1:10.02. 12, Christina Vaca, Naperville Neuqua Valley, 1:10.40.

200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Winnetka New Trier (Mairen Foley, Ashley Welnhofer, Katie Welnhofer, Jackie Goldman), 1:35.59. 2, Lake Forest (Lindsey Fox, Meg Vallaly, Amy Ottensmeyer, Lindsey Kelly), 1:35.99. 3, Hinsdale Central (Lauren Meding, Beth Foxwell, Lauren Cammisano, Meghan Connor), 1:38.22. 4, Aurora Rosary (Krista Norkus, Stephanie Coutts, Caroline Moore, Erica Scott), 1:38.37. 5, Evanston (Annie Grossinger, Lindsey Kessler, Laura Wadden, Jessie Waller), 1:38.63. 6, Barrington (Christy Brunka, Keely Delcore, Laura Bunge, Becca Poetz), 1:38.85. 7, Palos Hills Stagg (Nora Schober, Kristen Cichocki, Amy Munin, Tracy Faxel), 1:38.55. 8, St. Charles North (Nicole Maples, Lindsay Kraus, Sam Brooks, Laura Fehrman), 1:38.87. 9, Lincolnshire Stevenson (Kristin Kuchel, Laura Pontecore, Stephanie Duncan, Kristi Westrich), 1:39.48. 10, West Chicago (Rachel Slattery, Emilie Biancalana, Heather Prochnow, Jackie Vavrek), 1:39.64. 11, Woodstock (Kelly Dougherty, Jenna Borta, Dana Schultz, Colleen Dougherty), 1:40.15. 12, Orland Park Sandburg (Megan Strode, Amanda Cody, Amanda Schilling, Meghann Mulbarger), 1:40.60.

400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1, Winnetka New Trier (Ashley Seymour, Ashley Welnhofer, Lindsay Cole, Jackie Goldman), 3:27.91. 2, Aurora Rosary (Mary Descenza, Krista Norkus, Megan Garland, Malarie Schmidt), 3:29.92. 3, Lake Forest (Lisa Hamming, Meg Vallaly, Lindsey Fox, Lindsey Kelly), 3:31.56. 4, Hinsdale Central (Lauren Meding, Beth Foxwell, Lauren Cammisano, Meghan Connor), 3:33.37. 5, Champaign Centennial (Kellie Stevens, Megan Brombaugh, Payton Johnson, Tracey Hendrickson), 3:34.70. 6, Barrington (Christy Brunka, Keely Delcore,
Kelly Steelman, Laura Bunge), 3:35.82. 7, St. Charles North (Lindsay Kraus, Nicole Maples, Sam Brooks, Laura Fehrman), 3:33.96. 8, LaGrange Lyons (Kathleen Imhoff, Rita Harris, Kate Stephens, Erin O'Neil), 3:35.69. 9,
Evanston (Lindsey Kessler, Lindsay Wich, Laura Wadden, Jessie Waller), 3:36.18. 10, Lincolnshire Stevenson (Kristin Kuchel, Stephanie Duncan, Laura Pontecore, Kristi Westrich), 3:37.36. 11, Naperville Neuqua Valley (Jackie Lopez, Laura Brodbeck, Mary Jane Dennison, Jamie Lawler), 3:37.40. 12, Quincy (Laura Johnson, Brooke Olson, Coralie Baumann, Casey Schnack), 3:39.23.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x