Rachel Stege Drops 4:40 500 FR at IHSA Sectional Meet

IHSA Girls Swimming & Diving (Virtual *Championship*)

• Saturday, October 24th
• Virtual Meet (All Sectionals results combined)
• SCY (Short Course Yards)
• Results

Projected Team Standings

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is not hosting state championships for its fall sports. In lieu of the traditional IHSA girls swimming & diving championship, we’re using the compiled results from all the IHSA sectional meets this past Saturday to create a virtual state meet. Note: This is not an official IHSA state championship. This is simply an analysis of the combined results from each sectional, so we can examine the top times for IHSA girls this season.

Another difference for IHSA swimming this fall is that there were no relays on the event schedule, again due to COVID-19 safety protocols. Instead, swimmers were allowed to compete in up to 4 individual events.

One such swimmer was Neuqua Valley senior McKenna Stone. A Cal commit, Stone raced the 200 IM, 50 free, 100 fly, and 100 breast, posting the overall top time in the 200 IM and 100 fly. In the IM, Stone recorded a new personal best by well over a second, swimming a 2:00.75. Stone found herself on top again in the 100 fly, where she swam another personal best of 53.04. Finishing with the 2nd fastest time overall in the 100 breast, Stone swam her 3rd lifetime best of the day with a 1:01.77. That swim marked Stone’s first time under 1:03 in the event, showing her versatility as a swimmer. The only event Stone swam where she didn’t clock a new personal best was the 50 free, where she posted the #2 overall time with a 22.70, just off her personal best of 22.61.

Another swimmer who earned top 6 finishes in 4 events was Metamora senior Anna Peplowski, who swam the 200 free, 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back. Peplowski, who is set to swim at Indiana University next fall, swam the fastest time in the field in the 100 free, touching in 50.10. That swim marked a lifetime best by .03 seconds for Peplowski. In the 200 free, Peplowski was 2nd fastest overall, racing to a 1:48.07 finish, which is about a second off her personal best. Peplowski nearly swam another lifetime best in the 100 back, where she clocked the 3rd fastest time overall with a 55.44, just .01 seconds off her top mark. She also swam the 50 free, touching with the 5th fastest time in 23.21.

Another Neuqua Valley senior, Rachel Stege, only competed in 2 events, but swam the top time by decisive margins in both. Stege, a Georgia recruit, kicked off her meet with the 200 free, where she swam a lifetime best of 1:46.40, finsihing as the only swimmer in the field under 1:48. Notably, Stege’s time was faster than her own IHSA state meet record of 1:46.66, which she swam at last year’s meet. Stege went on to post a massive best time in the 500 free, swimming a blistering 4:40.03. Not only was that a personal best and the fastest in the field by over 10 seconds, Stege was again under her own state meet record of 4:44.87, which she set last year.

St. Charles East senior Molly Yetter posted a massive best time en route to swimming the fastest 50 free out of all the sectional meets. Yetter, an Illinois recruit, swam a 22.68 in the event, coming in just ahead of Stone. She also swam the 8th fastest time overall in the 100 free, clocking another huge personal best of 51.29.

Notre Dame recruit and Aurora Rosary senior Jessica Geriane clocked the fastest time in the 100 back with a 54.77. Geriane’s swim was well off her personal best of 53.82, however, she was the only IHSA swimmer to crack 55 seconds this year. Geriane also swam the 100 free, where she finished in 51.82, which was also off her personal best of 50.09.

Kaelyn Gridley was the only non-senior to post a top time. Gridley, a New Trier junior, swam a 1:01.45. The time was off her personal best of 1:00.89, but she was still able to come in faster than Stone’s 1:01.77. Gridley also swam the 200 IM, where she shaved a little off her lifetime best with a 2:06.88.

Chicago Taft senior Regina Meirmanova tallied up the top score in diving, finishing with a final score of 532.00.

To view the results from each sectional meet, click here.