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The jury continues to be out on which occasions Nina Gatchell and Vanya Gojakovic will compete in when postseason swim competitors begins in one other month.
But each Evanston swimmers proved their means to rise to a problem it doesn’t matter what occasion they’re entered in on Saturday on the twentieth annual Evanston Invitational women meet.
Gojakovic received the 100-yard backstroke in a season finest time of 57.84 seconds, and minutes later Gatchell took high honors within the 100 breaststroke together with her finest time of 1:07.73 whereas main the Wildkits to a 3rd place end within the group standings.
Gojakovic, a junior, and Gatchell, a sophomore, had been state qualifiers a yr in the past so Saturday’s performances had been actually no shock. But head coach Kevin Auger has all the time had a philosophy of inviting the perfect groups doable to compete on the invitational and there’s little doubt he’d give a passing grade for the primary actual check of the 2025 season to each Gojakovic and Gatchell.
“They both gave us four solid swims today, and for that matter so did (sprinter) Annika Wartowski,” Auger praised. “At a meet like this we really like to see how well the girls will compete, and when you have your best races when the pressure is on you, that’s even more impressive.”
Evanston was denied one other first place end when the 200-yard medley relay group was disqualified after the unit of Gojakovic, Gatchell, Tacy Jamison and Wartowski posted a time of 1:48.89 that was below the Illinois High School Association state qualifying commonplace. Jamison jumped into the pool early to start out her butterfly leg, however the Wildkits had been nonetheless quicker than Loyola Academy, which received that race in 1:48.93.
Auger famous that Gatchell’s glide to the end — as an alternative of ending off her personal leg sturdy — means the Kits nonetheless have some work to do whereas taking goal at postseason success in that exact race.
“I thought all of our relays were on point today,” the coach stated. “We bought a primary (medley relay) and a second (200 freestyle relay), and our B relays (groups may enter two relays in every race) gave us a bonus, too towards three of the highest 5 groups within the state. Any time we are able to beat Saint Charles North or Loyola in a relay, then I’m blissful. We simply have to wash up that one contact within the medley.
“Our only slower split in the medley was actually Vanya (27.1 in the backstroke) and that’s the first time she’s been over 27 all year. The others (Gatchell at 30.53 in the breaststroke, Jamison at 26.72 in the fly, and Wartowski 24.46 in the freestyle) all did a great job. We just wanted to see them get up and race today, and they did a great job of that.”
That foursome additionally claimed runner-up honors within the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.07 to Loyola’s 1:38.58. Wartowski closed out the trouble with an anchor leg of 24.64, and in addition contributed in her particular person races with a tie for third within the open 50 freestyle (25.47) and a fifth within the 100 freestyle (56.45).
“Annika has gone 24.11, and her slowest time has been about 24.8, so she’s been as consistent as anyone on the team,” Auger identified. “She really had a good day for us.”
The invitational makes use of the NISCA (National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association) level system that awards a sure variety of factors for sure established occasions in every occasion, and each competitor counts in the direction of a group rating. Loyola piled up 4,291 factors to rule the sector forward of St. Charles North (3,759), Evanston (3,652), Whitney Young (3,080) and Peoria Notre Dame (1,509) within the group standings.
Gojakovic settled for second place within the 200 particular person medley, though she was seeded No. 1, with a clocking of two:08.66. Joy Cheng of Whitney Young received that race in 2:08.66 and Gatchell, though she positioned seventh, chopped two occasions off her finest in-season IM efficiency thus far with a 2:15.52 effort.
“Nina dropped two seconds in the IM, didn’t do great in the 200 free relay, but she really bounced back well in her best event (breaststroke),” stated Auger. “We’re still playing with the idea of her on the 200 relay because we have others who can go there, too. She only swam the breaststroke last year and it’s a tough ride to do both like she did today. Having some (good) competition helped her get a few more 10ths (faster), I think, in the breaststroke, and it’s also because she’s just that good.”
Also scoring high 5 particular person finishes for the host group had been Jamison, fifth within the 50 freestyle in 26.10; and Merrill Short, fifth within the 500 freestyle in 5:30.40.
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