LP_112217

38 | November 22, 2017 | The Lockport Legend SPORTS
lockportlegend.com
Merk leads young LTHS team at state
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
A disappointing experience
for Lockport’s Lindsey
Merk in the IHSA Swimming
and Diving state finals
at New Trier on Saturday,
Nov. 18, was offset by the
realization that she has two
more seasons left in her budding
high school career.
After finishing third in the
100-yard butterfly as a freshman,
this time Merk had to
settle for sixth with a 55.65
clocking. Then, she re-entered
the water after exiting
following completion of the
event and was disqualified
from her other scheduled
race, the consolation final of
the 100-yard backstroke.
Although the sophomore
was disappointed, she wasn’t
distraught.
“Overall, I’m happy with
my season,” Merk said.
“Successful or not, competing
in the state meet is a
great experience. I enjoyed
it.”
In helping Lockport win
the sectional meet it hosted,
Merk qualified for the butterfly
in 57.68 and the backstroke
in 57.99. In the state
meet preliminaries on Friday,
Nov. 17, she improved
her respective times to 55.39
and 56.88 to advance the finals.
“There definitely are
things to celebrate,” Lockport
Coach Grant Ferkaluk
said. “She made a mistake
[in re-entering the pool].
When you make a mistake
you learn from it and go
from there. It’s not the end
of the world.
“Lindsey is a fantastic
kid and a fantastic swimmer
who works really hard. She
wanted to finish better than
she did today, but she dominated
most of this season
and the girls followed her
lead. Now, she has to focus
on getting stronger and faster
and making a higher finish
a priority.”
Ferkaluk will have a lot
of talent coming back next
season, as the team was represented
in the state meet
by two individuals, Merk
and junior Emily Johnson,
in individual events and the
200-yard medley relay and
400-yard freestyle relay
teams.
Johnson swam in the 200-
yard and 100-yard freestyle
events in the preliminaries
but failed to advance to the
finals. The relay teams also
were unable to reach the finals.
“Emily had a great Sectional
[with times of 1:53.89
and 52.72],” Ferkaluk said.
“We also are looking for another
junior, Oliwia Wolek,
and a sophomore, Alexis
Webb, [both of whom were
on the relay teams] to be an
important part of our team
next season.
“We should be really
good. We don’t lose a whole
lot and I have some girls
waiting in the wings to take
the spots vacated by our seniors,
Molly Gerches, and
Kayley Uy.”
Three other South Suburban
schools — Homewood-
Flossmoor Sectional champion
Lincoln-Way East,
Lincoln-Way Central and
Sandburg — also had swimmers
competing in the state
meet, but none of them had
contestants who made the
cut for the final day.
Lincoln-Way East senior
Makayla Varga came close
to succeeding in the 100-
yard butterfly — 12 swimmers
advanced and Varga
finished 14th.
“Makayla always will be
one I’ll remember,” Coach
Kate Fingello Gabey said.
“She had a great career and
Sophomore Lindsey Merk finished sixth at the IHSA State Finals in the 100-yard butterfly
Saturday, Nov. 18, at New Trier. Geoff Stellfox/22nd Century Media
finished 13th as a freshman
and sophomore, 11th last
year and then 14th this year.
She always was just on the
cusp.”
Gabey had two others
competing as individuals on
the first day — sophomore
Braelyn Binkowski in the
100-yard butterfly and 100-
yard backstroke, and junior
diver Alyssa Rudsinski.
“Braelyn qualified last
year in the 100 fly and I
think for her that was a big
shock,” Gabey said. “I don’t
think she believed she could
do that as a freshman, but I
believed she could.
“This year she had her
best times in both the butterfly
and backstroke in the
sectionals. She was hoping
to have a little bit more left
this weekend but neither she
nor Makayla were what they
were the weekend before.
Not only our girls but a lot
of girls on other teams put so
much adrenaline and energy
into the sectionals that it was
hard to come back a week
later and keep it going.”
Lincoln-Way East’s 200-
yard medley relay team also
failed to make the cut following
a strong showing in
the sectional.
Varga and Reis Parkinson,
who was a member of the
relay team, were the only seniors
on the state tournament
squad.
“Reis was a great kid to
coach but I only coached her
the last two years,” Gabey
said. “We had the situation
in our district where it was
realigned after Lincoln-Way
North closed and she was
there for her first two years.”
Lincoln-Way Central is
another school that is graduating
only two seniors —
relay team swimmers Julia
Signorelli and Kiera Bulger
— from its state tournament
contingent.
“Kiera and Julia came
over from Lincoln Way-East
when Lincoln-Way North
closed,” coach Pat Shaughnessy
said. “That was a big
opportunity for them and
they took advantage of it.
They were able to compete
in state in relays the last two
years. I was very lucky to
get them. They’re both great
girls.”
Signorelli and Bulger
swam on the 200-yard and
400-yard relay teams.
In individual events, Lincoln-Way
Central’s representatives
were sophomore
Madi Jager in the 50-yard
freestyle and 100-yard freestyle
and junior Cetta Senese
in the 200-yard individual
medley and 100-yard breaststroke.
“They both went last year
and this year they went for
more events, which is good,”
Shaughnessy said. “The
more experience the better.
This year I think they realized
how difficult and competitive
the state meet is.
“Keara McGowan, a
freshman who was on the
relay teams, is another one
who stands out. She works
harder than anybody I’ve
ever seen and I think she’s
going to do something in the
next couple of years. We’re a
young group and we’ve got
some good young girls coming
in so we should be very
competitive in the future.
Our expectations are high.”
In contrast to Lincoln-
Way East and Lincoln-Way
Central, Sandburg had five
seniors swimming in the
state meet.
Leading the delegation
were Madison Stuursma,
who competed in the 50-yard
freestyle and was a member
of the 200-yard and 400-
yard freestyle teams, and
Isabella Wrobel, who swam
in the 500-yard freestyle and
was on both relay teams.
Also swimming on the
relay teams were fellow
seniors Tara Maher, Natalie
Bartkowski and Ashley
Asiddao and junior Erin
Falsey.
“We had to taper for sectionals
to make sure we
would qualify for state so
we didn’t think we’d see any
big times,” coach Anna Mc-
Bride said. “We were happy
to be there to represent our
school [in the preliminaries].
Being so senior heavy
this team was very mature
and had a lot of perspective.
They had some struggles and
challenges and took them all
in stride. They performed
well as a team.
“Madison and Bella were
four-year athletes for us,
while Natalie and Ashley did
not swim all four years. Natalie
was a cheerleader her
freshman year and Ashley
participated in volleyball as
a freshman and sophomore.
It was fun to see them come
back to swimming and be
successful.
“Erin is going to be good
next year. As a junior, she
competed at a high level
within our conference and in
the sectional.”