Nothing happened that wasn’t supposed to Saturday at the Downers Grove North swimming sectional.
There was some excitement-Thornwood’s Andrea Bintz qualified for next weekend’s state meet by swimming the exact cutoff time of 1 minute 3.09 seconds in the 100 backstroke.
And the 400 freestyle relay was restarted because of a technical malfunction.
That was about as racy as it got as Hinsdale Central lived up to its billing as the top team in the state by having its three relay teams and seven individuals qualify for the finals at New Trier.
“The kids that made their times all year were in there today,” said Hinsdale coach Carol Bobo.
So what else is new? Hinsdale Central has won the last three girls state swim titles and is favored to make it four-for-the-’90s because of its powerful freestyle relays at 200 and 400 yards and its freestyle sprinters and backstrokers.
The Red Devils’ Jennifer Steffen won the 100 and 200 free, Jennifer Roberts the 100 fly and the 100 back and Meredith Quast the 50 free. Divers Kerri Griess and Shannon Joseph are likely to qualify; diving qualifiers won’t be known until Sunday.
The only events Hinsdale didn’t win were the 100 breaststroke (Samantha Khoo of Downers Grove North) and three events won by Lyons Township: diving (Kathy Kunkle, 460 points), the individual medley and 500 free.
Both those races were taken by Adrienne Benz, a swimmer just getting her form back after suffering a broken kneecap a year ago. Now, the Lyons sophomore is looking forward to seeing how the week’s taper will bring her 2:10 and 5:14.57 times, respectively, in the events at state.
Most swimmers knew whether they were going to make the cut, and teams like Argo, Oak Lawn, Richards and others were just trying to make personal-best times.
Bintz drew the loudest cheers from her school when she hit the backstroke qualifying right on the button. She was the only swimmer not from Hinsdale, Lyons or Downers Grove North-all West Suburban Silver rivals-to qualify for state except for Stacy Siler (500 free) from team-less, pool-less Westmont.
She had to feel like a tiny island in the middle of a Red Devil sea.
A clue to the Hinsdale juggernaut’s invincibility was the recalled start in the day’s final event, the 400 relay. Because of a microphone glitch, some swimmers weren’t set when the gun went off.
Red Devil leadoff swimmer Quast was off the blocks, though. It took several fired blanks and a round of “whoas” before Quast was stopped just before the turn and called back for the restart.
That told you two things: one, that Hinsdale Central is focused, and two, not even gunfire is going to stop the Red Devils. The 400 relay team of Quast, Steffen, Natalie Larrick and Nelly Roberts, and the state-record holding 200 relay team of Quast, Steffen, Roberts and Krista Koranda are not likely to be stopped by anyone. The 64 points they could score, because relays count double in the state scoring scheme, could give Hinsdale yet another swim title.
“They want to do it,” Bobo said of her relays. “They want to perform, and when you have four kids going after something, it just makes it all the easier.”
