FS_112118

frankfortstation.com sports
the frankfort station | November 21, 2018 | 31
fastbreak
Girls swimming
East swimmers fail to advance to final day at state
22nd Century Media file
photo
1st And 3
Three things to
know about the
LWE-Edwardsville
football game
1. Kenny Palmer had
a big play
The LWE defensive
back intercepted
Loyola's Jack Fallon
near midfield and
returned it 42 yards
for a touchdown
that tied the game.
2. Matt Judd was a
standout player
The senior wide
receiver had six
receptions and
75 receiving yards
during the game.
3. It was the team's
first loss since
2016
Last year's team
went undefeated
and won the
IHSA Class 8A
championship,
and the Griffins
wrapped up this
season 12-1.
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
The theme song of the Lincoln-
Way school swimming teams to
end this season could be the Rolling
Stones song "You Can't Always Get
What You Want." While they didn't
get what they wanted, they got what
they needed.
None of the Lincoln-Way schools
had a swimmer advance to the final
day of the IHSA State final meet,
which took place Saturday, Nov. 17,
at Evanston High School. But all of
them had successful seasons.
While host Lincoln-Way East saw
its five-year streak of sectional titles
end in the narrow (296-292) loss to
Lincoln-Way Central on Saturday,
Nov. 10, the Griffins advanced a trio
of swimmers to state in four different
events. Plus, they are all juniors.
"I'm very proud of the girls," East
coach Kate Gaby said. "We got three
girls through in four events and qualified
people in eight events."
The three juniors are Braelyn
Binkowski (18th, :57.35) in the 100-
yard butterfly and (37th, :59.35)
in the 100-yard backstroke; Alicia
Pearson (39th, 1:08.59) in the 100-
yard breaststroke and (44th, :24.96)
in the 50-yard freestyle; and Kristina
Winter (39th, :54.42) in the 100-yard
freestyle and (39th, 1:57.49) in the
200-yard freestyle.
They were all part of the two
Griffin relays as well. Binkowski,
Pearson, freshman Lexi DiSera, and
Winter (27th, 1:50.06) competed in
the 200 yard-medley relay and the
foursome of Pearson, Binkowski, senior
Jordan Bruni, and Winter (29th,
1:39.96) competed in the 200-yard
freestyle relay.
"This was Braelyn's third-year
here in more than one event," Gaby
said. "Now we've had girls here and
know what it's like. We tappered and
did our best in the sectional to give a
run at Central and get everyone we
could to state. Next year we will look
to do even better at state."
Lincoln-Way Central didn't get
what it wanted -- a girl advancing to
the final day -- but it got what it needed
with the most successful season in
school history.
"We didn't get what we wanted,
but we got a lot of people there,"
Central coach Pat Shaughnessy said
of the state tournament. "We won the
[Red Division of the SouthWest Suburban]
Conference on both levels,
got our first sectional championship
in school history and came within
hundreds of a second from getting a
medal."
On the opening day, Friday, Nov.
16, sophomore Keara McGowan
came within .06 one-hundredth of a
second of advancing to the second
day of state and getting a medal. Instead,
she finished 14th with a time
of :24.09 seconds.
"There were two times that the
girls had to be reset before the start of
their heat," Shaughnessy said of the
start of the 50. "That's big in an event
where every millisecond counts."
McGowan was the second alternate
but didn't get to swim in the
finals. She also competed in the
100-yard freestyle (20th, :52.87).
Also competing for the Knights in
the 100-free was junior Madi Jager,
(36th, :53.89). Senior Cetta Senese
was in two events for Central. Those
were the 200-yard individual medley
(tied 30th, 2 minutes: 12.00 seconds)
and the 100-yard breaststroke (40th,
1:08.61).
Central qualified in all three relays.
In the 200-yard medley relay, it
Lincoln-Way East swimmer Alicia Pearson competes in the 100-yard
breaststroke event at the IHSA state final competition on Friday, Nov. 16, at
Evanston Township High School. Photos by Carlos Alvarez/22nd Century Media
Griffins swimmer Braelyn Binkowski participates in the 100-yard
backstroke competition at the meet.
was McGowan, Senese, senior Belle
Dutka, and Jager (19th, 1:47.76), in
the 200-yard freestyle relay it was the
foursome of Dutka, Senese, Jager,
and McGowan (18th, 1:37.46) and
then in the 400-yard freestyle relay
the team of junior Sierra Maze, sophomore
Mallory Brownrigg, along
with freshmen Josephine Moline and
Autumn Hufnagl (29th, 3:49.05).
"Now that some of our girls have
been through it two or three [Jager]
times at state we are more comfortable
and know what we have to do
in the future," Shaughnessy said. "It
was all a great experience."
Listen Up
“There is no reason not to be proud of being a part of this
football program and keeping our heads high. We just got beat
by a little bit better effort today by Loyola.”
Rob Zvonar — Lincoln-Way East football coach
What 2 Watch
Girls bowling
4:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 26, at East
• The Lincoln-Way East girls bowling team
kicks off its season with a home game
against Chicago Christian.
Index
29 — Lincoln-Way East signing
28 — Athlete of the Week
(FastbreakLoyola) 22nd Century Media file photo