On Nov. 14 and 15, North’s girls swim and dive team competed at the IHSA state finals. The team earned second place in the state, as well as taking home multiple individual awards and having multiple state champions and All American athletes among the team. The team also had multiple individual school records broken throughout the season.
Prior to the state championship, the team competed in sectionals, where they took first place. It was at this competition that the school diving record, previously held by Ava Atkins from 2019, was broken by sophomore Gabby Egan.
“I’m excited to see my name up on the board in the pool now and say, ‘wow, I’ve accomplished that,’” said Egan.
After their successful sectional meet, the team moved on to conquer state. Here, the team came second, with many individual athletes placing or even being state champions. Sophomore Thea Bike was the state champion in the 100-yard backstroke event. Senior Kate Farrell was the state champion in the 200-yard individual medley event as well as the 500-yard freestyle. Junior Lucia Negro, senior Kate Farrell, sophomore Hannah Maksimuk and senior Tess Stavropoulos were the state champion relay team for the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Thea Bike’s win in the 100-yard backstroke event also broke a previous school record, set by Avery Luedke last year.
“They’re definitely a team that grew from day one to the end to be united and put up a great fight at the state meet and compete at that level,” said Robert Rooney, girls swim and dive head coach.
The team had six All American athletes: Martyna Dobek, Kate Farrell, Thea Bike, Hannah Maksimuk, Lulu Negro and Tess Stavropoulos.
“All American means that you are one of the top swimmers in those events in the country,” said Rooney.
The girls’ training throughout the season proved to pay off. The girls lift at 5:30 a.m. three mornings a week, swim and dive one morning a week and swim and dive after school from 2:30-5 p.m. every day. Their extremely successful season ended on a high note.
“They are a very tight knit group of girls that enjoy each other’s company and friendship and everything else on that side, and through it all, their friendships are the most important part of the equation,” said Rooney.
