EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville High girls swimming team won nine events on the day. At the same time, O'Fallon's Alyssa Albertyn (see related story) was a triple winner individually. Still, in the end, the Tigers pulled out a narrow win as a team in the annual Swim For Hope meet Saturday afternoon at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center.
The Tigers won the meet with 490.5 points, edging out Lockport Township, who was second with 471 points, with Joliet finishing third at 315.5 points, Burbank Reavis was fourth with 297 points, the Panthers placed fifth with 291 points, Chatham Glenwood was 190 points, Springfield High finished seventh with 130 points, and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin Catholic was eighth at 44 points.
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The meet is a fundraiser for cancer research, and also features events that are not normally competed in a regular swimming meet, allowing the swimmers to race in fun events as the IHSA sectionals approach in November.
In the diving competition, Nicki Kuchyt of the Tigers won with 421.55 points, while teammates Natalie Kaiser was second at 389.95 points, and Anna Feco was fifth with 320.95 points. In a second flight of diving, Cecelia Blind of Edwardsville won with 162.65 points, with O'Fallon's Kate Riepe finishing fifth at 133.50 points, and teammate Harmony Duncan sixth at 121.85 points. The Edwardsville team of Scout Jackson, Greta Deist, Reilly Curry, and Grace Oertle won the 100-yard medley relay at 50.12 seconds, and the B team of Parker LeVasseur, Georgia Samet, Sidney Becker, and Morgan Mitton placing third at 54.16 seconds. O'Fallon's A team of Lydia Westphal, Albertyn, Ava Brown, and Riepe placed sixth at 56.71 seconds, and the Panthers' B team of Braeden Bailor, Claire Green, Azaria O'Rourke, and Zoe Gibbons was 15th at 1:08.49.
Albertyn won her first event of the day in the 100-yard backstroke, winning with a time of 56.70 seconds, with Reilly Curry second at 58.31 seconds, while Deist won the 50-yard breaststroke at 31.50 seconds, edging out Oertle, who was second at 31.53 seconds, Kate Burk of the Panthers was fifth at 35.01 seconds, with Gibbons 29th at 43.25 seconds. Albertyn also took the 50-yard freestyle for the Panthers at 24.13 seconds, with Edwardsville's Laine Curry second at 24.72 seconds, and Oertle was third at 24.97 seconds. In the semifinal heats, in which points were awarded, Albertyn was the top qualifier at 24.35 seconds, with Laine Curry second at 24.71 seconds, Oertle was third at 25.03 seconds, and Deist placed fifth at 25.36 seconds. In the preliminary races, in which points were also awarded, Albertyn was first at 24.06 seconds, with Jackson second at 24.36 seconds, Laine Curry was fourth at 25.07 seconds, Oertle was right behind in fifth at 25.09 seconds, Deist was seventh at 25.86 seconds, Reilly Curry was ninth at 26.83 seconds, Becker was 12th at 26.55 seconds, Samet finished 13th at 26.66 seconds, Brown was 14th at 26.71 seconds, and the Tigers' Vivian Lu was 15th with a time of 26.76 seconds.
The results of the 200-yard freestyle relay saw Edwardsville's A team of Laine Curry, Deist, Reilly Curry, and Samet win at 1:41.76, with the Tigers' B team of LeVasseur, Becker, Edy Cohn, and Lu coming in second at 1:48.34, and O'Fallon's A team of Riepe, Westphal, Ally Brown, and Burk placing seventh at 1:58.53. Albertyn took her third race of the day in the 100-yard butterfly, having a time of 59.18 seconds, wth Mitton second at 1:02.34, Brown came in fourth at 1:04.00, and Reilly Curry came in sixth at 1:04.32 Jackson won her first event in the 50-yard backstroke at 26.60 seconds, with Oertle finishing in a dead heat for second with Ava Gombosi of Joliet, both having a time of 29.07 seconds, with Westphal placing 15th at 34.55 seconds, and Gibbons was 26th at 39.95 seconds.
Lockport's Anabella Barrett was the first non-local winner of a race by taking the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:09.75, with Samet coming in second at 1:10.46, Green was ninth at 1:26.77, and O'Rourke came in 12th at 1:40.18. In the 100-yard freestyle relay, Edwardsville's A team of Jackson, Laine Curry, Oertle, and Lu won at 45.59 seconds, with O'Fallon's A team of Burk, Ava Brown, Ally Brown, and Albertyn third a 49.61 seconds, and the Panthers' B team of Green, O'Rourke, Maggie Dettman, and Gibbons was 13th at 59.23 seconds. In the 100-yard freestyle, Deist won with a time of 55.12 seconds, while Reilly Curry was second at 56.54 seconds, Riepe was 11th at 1:03.10, and Westphal finished 14th at 1:05.39.
Jackson won her second race of the day with a win in the 50-yard butterfly at 25.91 seconds, with Laine Curry second at 26.85 seconds, Ava Brown sixth at 28.98 seconds, and the Panthers' Kyla Gallagher was 11th at 30.60 seconds. In the final event of the meet, the 100-yard individual medley, Lockport's Haley Malloy won with a time of 1:04.87, while Mitton finished second at 1:05.67, Burk finished fifth at 1:08.40, Cohn finished 10th at 1:11.41, and Ally Brown was 15th at 1:15.80.
