The Oak Park and River Forest High School girls swimming team will be tested this week with a pair of matchups against crosstown rival/perennial state contender Fenwick, which finished third in the state in 2013 led by stars Mimi Schneider and Paulina Kaminksi. The Huskies and Friars square off initially this week in a dual meet and then meet again on Saturday, Sep.27 at 9 a.m. at the Friar Invitational.
While it wasn’t a varsity win, the Huskies will enter the Dan O’Brien Natatorium for both of these meets armed with the confidence of notching a first-place finish at the freshmen/sophomore Dan O’Brien Relays at Fenwick this season.
In fact, early season success exists throughout the program as the varsity has already won a pair of dual meets and the Riverside-Brookfield Invite. OPRF claimed the RBHS title over the weekend with a score of 362 to lead the eight-team field.
“We’re building up a lot of momentum so far this season,” OPRF senior captain Mia Andreoli said. “We definitely have a strong team this year.”
Along with their auspicious start at invitationals, the Huskies edged visiting Downers Grove North 94-92 last week. OPRF opened the season with a 118-68 victory over Sandburg.
In the marquee race of the day against Downers Grove North, the Trojans set a new pool record of 3 minutes, 35.63 seconds in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Huskies’ 400 relay team of Jilly Cronin, Genevieve Curry, Samantha Neilson and Hanna Blankemeier finished a close second, also breaking the previous pool record time.
“Everyone had a great swim [in the 400 free relay],” OPRF coach Clyde Lundgren said. “It’s fun to think of the girls who set the record last year and how our girls are now going to try to honor them this year and get it back to being an OPRF record.”
OPRF won the 200 freestyle relay against Downers Grove North with Chloe Guhlstorf, Cronin, Curry and Emma Smith posting an event-best time of 1:42.58. Guhlstorf also placed first in the 50 freestyle (25.05 seconds), while Blankemeier won the 100 backstroke (59.24).
Blankemeier, who qualified for state in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle and two relays (200/400 freestyle relays) as a freshman last season, is a burgeoning star. Her considerable ability coupled with the return of several other key swimmers, should help absorb the loss of Alanna Dassoff who graduated last year and is now swimming at the University of Wyoming. At the 2013 state meet, Dassoff became the first OPRF female swimmer to make it to the final round since 1999.
Aside from talent, OPRF is also putting the work in to be successful. The Huskies practice nine times a week before and after school.
“We’re spending so much time with each other and we’ve been really close,” Andreoli said. “We have a lot of new members this year. The varsity team is really big, but we’ve still really clicked. Swimming is usually an individual sport, but it’s nice to have a group of girls like this that make it seem more like a team sport.”
While it’s still early, Andreoli holds high expectations for the Huskies regarding conference and the state tournament.
“I want to have a really good end of the season meet and finish on a really good note,” she said. “I’ve never competed in the state competition before, so I’d really like to do that. As a team, we want to be in the top three in the conference and win our next few invitational meets. We want to send a really big team to state this year.”
