If the determination Lake Forest junior swimmer Reilly Lanigan displayed during the state meet personifies her team’s spirit, her statement after the competition may be prophetic.
“Every point winner is back,” Lanigan said. “Most of the other teams ahead of us graduate [some swimmers]. We can win state.”
The Scouts, who finished fourth at the state meet in Evanston on Saturday with 114 points (missing a third-place trophy by four points), return every swimmer who contributed to that total.
Lanigan’s grit was on display in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the final event. Lake Forest needed to win the race for the trophy. After three laps, the Scouts’ quartet of Lanigan, Madeline Smith, Haley Nelson and Ella Needler was fourth. Swimming anchor, Lanigan pulled the Scouts into second with a time of 3 minutes, 27.18 seconds.
“There is something special about her,” coach Carolyn Grevers said. “She is really one of our leaders.”
“I knew I had to dig deep because everyone was depending on me,” Lanigan added.
Lanigan was also third in the 200 individual medley (2:03.57) and seventh in the 100 butterfly (55.96) after posting the eighth-best time in the preliminaries. She joined with Olivia Lomax, Smith and Daria Pyshnenko to place fourth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.18).
Pyshnenko, a sophomore, is another Scout who put her spirit on display with a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle (23.44) and teamed with Nelson, Kayla Smith and Josephine Annin to take sixth in the 200 medley relay in 1:46.19.
Six weeks ago, Pyshnenko was not swimming. She was sidelined with a shoulder injury before the season began but spent every day in the pool kicking. She was cleared to swim Oct. 16 and felt 80 percent ready when she won the 50 free at the sectional Nov. 15.
“I was about 95 percent,” Pyshnenko said of her state performance. “I was a little nervous. The competition is very fast.”
She improved from third place in 2013 and is looking for a first-place medal next year. She also anticipates helping the 400 freestyle relay team win. She was not yet medically cleared to swim 100 yards at state.
“If we’re behind, I want to help us catch up,” Pyshnenko said.
Grevers thought Pyshnenko’s injury would sideline her for the season. The coach was impressed with Pyshnenko’s attitude and its infectiousness.
“Every day she was there,” Grevers said. “She outworked herself to get ready.”
Also scoring points for the Scouts was Nelson, who added six more points than projected after her performance in the preliminaries. She was fourth in the 200 freestyle in 1:51.38 after notching the sixth-best time Friday and eighth in the 100 backstroke (56.84) after finishing 12th best in prelims.
In addition to Pyshnenko, Lanigan and Nelson, returnees Madeline Smith, Kayla Smith, Needler, and Annin made the trip in individual events as well as diver Carmen White and Elise Vondra (500 freestyle). Only Claire Weiland graduates from the group at state.
“We’re going places next year,” Grevers said.
