Led by Hononegah's Avery Miles, here's who has best shots at winning medals at state meet
With this weekend's state competition looming large, 11 locals and three relay teams soared out of last Saturday's Jefferson Sectional and kept their seasons alive.
Now they get to really see where they stand.
The IHSA girls state swim and dive competition will be held at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont this year, beginning on Friday and ending with Saturday's finals. And some of the locals set the table for a big finish, while others left some work to be done to finish strong.
"We had an unbelievable day; pretty much the best times of the year for all of us," Honononegah head coach Brian McGuire said. "Byron was really fantastic, too. Now all of us will see what we can do at state. I'm proud of what they've done so far."
Byron won the team title and got three individuals and one relay team down to state while NIC-10 champion Hononegah took second as a team at sectionals, qualifying for state in five different events. Rockford Christian star Brooke Corrigan bounded back to state in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle showdowns as well, and Harlem's Zoe Shields stepped up to the challenge by winning the sprint.
Here's a look at who advanced from the Rockford area, and what to watch for at state:
Girls swim and dive: Rockford Christian's Brooke Corrigan swims into postseason fray, joining other local stars
Byron soars to state
Byron started off the meet with not only a first-place finish from Addison Bausman in the diving competition, but she set a sectional record with a score of 491.60, and she's seeded sixth headed into state.
Byron's Rylie Vatch glided to state by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.44, and Madi Groharing will take a seat on the Tigers' bus bound for state after she made it down by taking second with a qualifying time of 58.12 in the 100 butterfly. They are both a big part of Byron's 200 medley relay crew which advanced to state in 1:53.63. The rest of that relay team includes Abby Krueger and Bailey Vincer.
More: Junior diver Addison Bausman gets primed for postseason by resetting Byron's records
Hononegah sets the table
Hononegah's Avery Miles qualified for state in all four of her events, and she'll look to close out her junior year with a bang. Her time of 1:53.81 was 14th best in the Illinois sectionals in the 200 free. And while she easily won the 500 free in 5:10.32, that time has her seeded in the bottom half at state, and she will have some time to make up in the prelims.
Lydia Nordgren won the 100 butterfly to advance to state for Hononegah as well, and along with Miles and Nordgren, Madison Engelhardt and Jocelyn Rumage joined in and helped Hononegah advance to state in the two freestyle relay events (200 in 1:41.55 and 400 in 3:42.85).
Corrigan, Shields and other qualifiers
Harlem's Zoe Shields clocked a 23.90 to win a hotly contested 50 free sprint showdown at sectionals, and her time was the 14th-best sectional time. She edged Rockford Christian's Brooke Corrigan (23.94), but Corrigan advanced on time and will be in the hunt for a finals berth as well. She had the 20th fastest sectional time in the state this year but swam a 23.08 during last year's sectionals. That would have had her seeded No. 1 heading into this year's state meet.
Corrigan also won the 100 free with a strong time of 51.36, and she heads to state with the ninth seed in that event. She did swim a 50.71 earlier this year, and that would have, again, had her as the state's top seed headed into this weekend's finale.
Boylan's Ruby Esparza won the 200 individual medley in 2:10.82 to make it to state as well, and Guilford's Hannah King won the 100 backstroke in 59.33 and will represent the Vikings at state.
Belvidere North's Faith Anderson (423.75) placed second at sectionals in the diving event, and Hononegah's Amelia Bronnimann (406.90) took third, and they both made it to state with at-large bids. (The at-large cut-off was 405.20.)
The state showdown begins with Friday's preliminaries, which start at 9 a.m. for the divers and switches over to the swimmers at 3:30 p.m. The top 16, up from the top 12 in the past, advance to Saturday's finals, which begin at 11 a.m.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford-area high school swimmers are headed to state meet
