The IHSA held its annual state finals this past weekend at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont and the Chicago Public League was well represented by entries from Taft, Lane and Whitney Young.
The CPL had a number of great finishes and even made history on numerous occasions.
For the first time in the 46-year history of the IHSA Girls State Meet, a CPS school scored for a relay. The Young 200-yard medley relay of Jaslyn Wu, Eliana King, Isabella Chow and Jillian Drake placed 10th. They entered Friday seeded 15th. After prelims they were 11th. And finished 10th at finals.
Also, Young finished 19th overall at state. It’s the first time a CPS school finished in the top 20 at girls state. After Isabella Chow was DQed for flinching at the start of the 50 free, she bounced back in the 100 free. She entered as the 15th seed, was the 4th seed after prelims and finished 3rd at finals. Chow’s 100 free time of 50.32 is also a league record.
Taft’s Kayla Duran, who qualified for the state meet in each of her four seasons, had her highest finish, taking fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. The University of Illinois recruit finished sixth the past two seasons. Duran qualified for the state meet her freshman season, but that meet was canceled due to the pandemic.
Other qualifiers for the state meet included Lane freshman Layla Miglietta, Lane sophomore Gabby McCracken, Lane junior Isabella Gronowski, Young junior Brooke Whitt, Lane junior Taryn Hickey, Young junior Eliana King and Lane’s 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relays.
Thank you to Young coach Gerald Winston for the historical information on the state swimming meet.
