HO_112719

30 | November 27, 2019 | the homer horizon sports
homerhorizondaily.com
Merk earns fifth state medal in girls swimming
2
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
Lindsey Merk stands
alone in Lockport Township
girls swimming history.
The senior earned her
fifth state medal this past
weekend at the Illinois
High School Association
Girls State Swim Meet.
The finals were held on
Saturday, Nov. 23, at New
Trier.
There, Merk was in the
final heat of the 100-yard
butterfly and took sixth
in the state with a time of
55.16 seconds. It was her
fourth straight Top 6 finish
in the event. She also
medaled in the backstroke
with a seventh-place finish
last year.
“I always hope to come
in and do my best,” Merk
said. “I wanted to make the
top six again in the fly, and
I did. When I knew that I
had made it [after the preliminaries
on Friday, Nov.
22], I was happy because
I made the finals all four
years. The most important
part then was to have fun.”
Merk managed to have
fun and make records along
the way. She is the first female
swimmer in Lockport
history with five state medals.
On the boys side, however,
Dave Kimmerly holds
the overall record with six
in a two-year span of the
1996-1997 and 1997-1998
seasons. Both years those
came in the 100-yard backstroke,
200- yard individual
medley and 200-yard medley
relay.
Merk is the first Porter,
boys or girls, to medal all
four years of high school.
“I made the most of my
four years,” Merk said.
“[On the medal stand at
the end], I did take it in. I
was like, ‘Wow, this really
is it.’ I’m proud of what
I’ve done, and it does feel
good.”
In the Athletes with Disabilities
category, Lockport
sophomore Ellie Fontanetta
was considered a Class A
participant. Thus, she won
the state title in her category
in both the 50- and
100-yard freestyle. She was
Lockport’s Hannah Ostrander finished 10th in the 50-
and 100-yard freestyle events in the regular Athletes
with Disabilities category at state on Saturday, Nov. 23,
at New Trier. Carlos Alvarez/22nd Century Media
second in the breaststroke.
“Ellie got certified for
the A category in a meet at
New Trier back in September,”
Lockport coach Grant
Ferkaluk said. “So, she is
considered a state champion
in that category.”
Ferkaluk also had high
praise for Merk, who will
continue her swimming career
at Georgia Tech.
“It was fantastic,” Ferkaluk
said of Merk placing
in the Top 6 once more.
“The impact and the pride
that she brought to Lockport
swimming is amazing.
To go out with another
All-State performance is
tremendous. Just her character
and what she brought
to our program is second to
none.”
In the 100-yard butterfly
preliminaries, Merk
was fourth with a time
of 55 seconds even. That
was only 11 hundredths
of a second out of second.
McKenna Stone, a junior
from Metea Valley, had
the best preliminary time
(53.27) and ended up winning
the finals by exactly
one second (53.38) over
Naperville Central junior
Paige Collins.
Coming into the state finals,
Merk hoped to once
again qualify for Saturday
in the 100-yard backstroke.
But this season, that was
going to be a tall task.
“The backstroke was a
fast meet,” Ferkaluk said.
“She was in the second
heat and finished well. But
it was a ways to go to get to
the final cut [Top 12]. She
handled it well.”
Merk had a preliminary
time of 57.28 in the
backstroke, which was 61
hundredths of a second
better than her seed time
of 57.89. She was only 24
hundredths of a second out
of 12th.
“My focus was on the
fly, so I wasn’t disappointed,”
Merk said of the
backstroke. “What I will
remember most is being so
close to my team and having
a great time with them.”
A great thing for Lockport
sophomore Hayley
Bogdan was getting to state.
While her time of 55.87 seconds
in the preliminaries left
her just over four seconds
out of the qualifying heat, it
was just about on par with
her seed time. Plus, it was a
great experience for someone
who hopes to be back
the next two years.
In the relay preliminaries,
Lockport’s group of
freshman Maddie Yehling,
Bogdan, Merk and junior
Alyssa Wengel had a time
of 1:52.65 in the 200-yard
medley relay to place 31st
overall. The Porters were
30th in the 400-yard freestyle
relay with 3:41.59.
That foursome was Merk,
senior Maddie Odeen, Bogdan
and Wengel.
In the regular Athletes
with Disabilities category,
Lockport freshman Hannah
Ostrander was 10th in the
50-yard freestyle and also in
the 100-yard freestyle.
“They were both great
and are such an inspiration,”
Ferkaluk said of Fontanetta
and Ostrander. “They work
very hard and help to reframe
thoughts on who belongs.”
Our staff’s predictions for the top games for all eight state championship games
OK, this is it for 16 football teams in Illinois and
six Press Box Pickers in the 22nd Century Media
office. We are picking all eight IHSA championship
football games and chances are good that many
on the panel could not tell you where some of the
teams in the smaller classes are, geographically.
Vorva’s one-game lead? That could shrivel up
quickly if Czaja, Millar or anyone else gets hot.
GameS of the Week
• Class 8A: LW East (13-0) vs. Warren (13-0).
56-13
Jeff Vorva |
Sports Editor
55-14
Thomas Czaja |
Editor
54-15
Steve Millar |
Sports Editor
51-18
Joe Coughlin |
Publisher
50-19
Sean Hastings |
Contributing Editor
48-21
Heather Warthen |
Chief Marketing Officer
Other Games
• Class 1A: Lena-Winslow (13-0) vs. Central A&M (13-0)
• Class 2A: Nashville (12-1) vs. Sterling Newman (12-1)
• Class 3A: Byron (12-1) vs. Williamsville (13-0)
• Class 4A: Richmond-Burton (13-0) vs. Murphysboro
(11-2)
• Class 5A: St. Rita (10-3) vs. Rochester (12-1)
• Class 6A: Prairie Ridge (12-1) vs. E. St. Louis (Sr.)
(13-0)
• Class 7A: Nazareth (13-0) vs. Mt. Carmel (13-0)
• LWE 30, Warren 21. Another state
title for the Griffs has been in the
cards since last year’s shocking loss
to Loyola in the semis.
• LWE 17, Warren 14. Griffins
emerge victorious from epic battle
to win state title.
• LWE 20, Warren 14. The two best
defenses in the state square off, but
it’s the Griffins who have enough
big-play potential on offense to
get it done.
• LWE 20, Warren 7. Defensive
slugfest with Griffins making big
plays necessary for a title.
• LWE 42, Warren 28. Griffins finish
season undefeated, AJ Henning has
a huge game.
• LWE 28, Warren 14. Griffins bring
home another trophy for the case.
• Lena-Winslow
• Sterling Newman
• Byron
• Richmond-Burton
• St. Rita
• East St. Louis
• Nazareth
• Lena-Winslow
• Nashville
• Williamsville
• Richmond-Burton
• St. Rita
• East St. Louis
• Nazareth
• Central A&M
• Sterling Newman
• Byron
• Richmond-Burton
• St. Rita
• East St. Louis
• Nazareth
• Lena-Winslow
• Sterling Newman
• Byron
• Richmond-Burton
• Rochester
• East St. Louis
• Mt. Carmel
• Central A&M
• Nashville
• Byron
• Murphysboro
• St. Rita
• East St. Louis
• Mt. Carmel
• Central A&M
• Nashville
• Byron
• Murphysboro
• St. Rita
• Prairie Ridge
• Mt. Carmel