Deerfield’s Christina Loukas knows how to make an exit. With a standing ovation Saturday from the packed house at the New Trier swimming auditorium, the senior accepted the first-place medal after becoming the first diver at the state meet to break the 500-point barrier.
Loukas’ 507.55 final total erased the oldest state-meet record from the books. She surpassed Evanston’s Lona Foss, whose 498.35 had stood since 1979. The diving mark was the only state record at the finals.
“I improved a lot this year,” said Loukas, who won her third consecutive diving crown after finishing second as a freshman.
“The past couple of weeks I broke 500 twice, and I was really hoping to do it at this meet. I knew this was my one and only chance to do it. I stayed focused and it worked out well.”
Same old, same old: Defending champions repeated in seven of the nine individual events. The medal winners were Loyola Academy senior Rachel Ridgeway (200-, 500-yard freestyle), Champaign Centennial junior Payton Johnson (100 butterfly), Andrew senior Christine Magnuson (100 freestyle), Neuqua Valley sophomore Melissa Marik (100 backstroke), West Chicago’s Jackie Vavrek (50 free) and Loukas (diving).
New champ: Naperville North sophomore Katie Stratton made a splash, claiming the two remaining individual first-place medals.
“I [set] my goals for this year at the end of last year’s state meet,” said Stratton, who took the spot in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke, in which she finished second and third, respectively, in 2002. “I just knew I was going to come back and win my two events.”
