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30 | November 21, 2018 | The highland park landmark sports
hplandmark.com
Giants journeys end in state final prelims
David Jaffe
Freelance Reporter
Highland Park senior
Abby Smith will swim at
the college level next year
at Pomona College in California.
But on Friday, Nov. 16,
she capped off a great high
school swimming career
with her second straight
trip to the IHSA State
preliminaries at Evanston
High School. She finished
her career as a Giant on
the big state stage, which
Smith said meant a lot to
her.
“It’s a lot of fun competing
here,” Smith said.
“I was really glad that my
teammate, Alex Goldin,
also made it because it
makes it even more enjoyable.
Last year when I
first qualified, it was a little
crazy because there are so
many people. I was more
accustomed to it this time.
It’s an exciting meet and
it’s great that this is what
my last high school meet
is.”
Smith was 15th in the
100-yard butterfly in 56.56
seconds, but there were
some mixed emotions.
“I wanted to qualify for
the finals,” Smith said.
“My time was actually
higher than my sectional
time so I was hoping for
a faster time. But I went
out there, and raced, and I
think there’s still a lot I can
be happy with in terms of
how I competed.”
Smith also swam in the
200 individual medley;
she finished 25th with a
time of 2:09.89. Smith felt
she made big strides in
other strokes besides the
fly, her strength.
“The breaststroke is
definitely where I showed
the most improvement
because of the training I
did for it,” Smith said. “I
decided before the season
that I was going to
compete in the IM. In the
past I haven’t been able to
make up my mind what
my other event is. This
year my coach said, you
can’t do that this time. So
it benefitted me knowing
early on I would be doing
the IM.”
Goldin qualified for
state as a freshman. And
though she was told just
how big the crowd was,
seeing it was a whole different
experience.
“It’s kind of intimidating,”
Goldin said. “I honestly
didn’t realize how
crowded it was going to
get. It was a bit nervewracking
and I don’t know
if it had any affect on how I
swam but it was unexpected.
I think what I’m taking
from competing here
is you have to know what
meets are necessary to
expend energy and which
ones you may have to hold
back. It’s hard to persevere
through the whole season
and know what times you
need to get. I’ll have to
know which meets I need
to be more energized for
but I know what to expect
now.”
Goldin finished 34th in
the 50 freestyle in 24.58.
But just being able to compete
in the state meet is
what stayed with her more
than anything else.
“I was a little bit disappointed
with my swim and
my time,” Goldin said.
“But I’m happy I was able
to get here. You can’t always
expect to be able to
drop time in every single
meet. I felt better about
how I swam at conference
and sectionals but there’s
still a lot I can appreciate
being here.”
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Highland Park senior swimmer Abby Smith (left) and freshman Alex Goldin pose for a
photo at HPHS before heading to state swimming Friday, Nov. 16. photo Submitted
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